I'm thinking that you may see stars if you've just arrived at the bottom of a well, but they won't be in the sky. You may also hear bells, birds and a lot of wincing.
They most certainly are. I've been a customer since 1997, have probably downloaded several terabytes of movies, mp3s and applications. I've tried the torrents and various BT clients and I can't see where any of them are as fast and reliable as Usenet. Not to mention, your connectivity isn't hammered by a swarm of downloaders trying to grab the movie, TV show or mp3s you just downloaded.
IMO, Usenet beats any torrent and so far, the RIAA and MPAA seem to ignore it.
Or...even better...get those handheld 100K candlelight spotlights you can plug into your cigarette lighter. THAT will get the message across very quickly that they have their brights on...
Of course, if that oncoming car is being driven by a state trooper the message YOU'LL get is "license and registration..."
Or talk to someone like that about security. Watch as their eyes glaze over and they look for a way to escape.
Just tell them that the next time they get acquire a PC virus, having one repaired at a shop is going to cost them more than $90. That may help sway their thinking.
Of course, mom might start charging you for dinner.....
What this sounds like is that the agent who received the call didn't know that they were supposed to transfer the call to that specialty team and instead tried to handle it themselves. That agent will probably be out of a job very shortly.
So no, this wasn't something that happened because of a corporate policy, this is something that happened because the agent who received the call didn't know what to do and didn't properly follow the corporate policy.
If you really were a Verizon employee, then your response is welcome. I'd like to think that the people in charge at Verizon understand situations like this can and will occur and have created policies for employees to follow. Ultimately, it's the individual employee that is responsible for carrying out those policies and, without any more detail available, it certainly seems s/he failed in this case. Perhaps termination is the correct course for this individual, as long as s/he is not being scapegoated for Verizon.
If nothing else comes from this discussion, we can see how a simple news story lacks so much detail. It's difficult to believe this really could happen, but without having more detailed knowledge of the carrier's policies or the individuals in question, everything is pure speculation, and that doesn't make for enlightening discussions.
Nowhere in TFA does it indicate there is any law, rule or regulation requiring Verizon or any cell carrier to activate a delinquent account. Can there be an agreement that this may be a unique situation that has possibly not occurred before?
What about the customer service rep - is s/he really heartless or just following company rules to prevent losing his/her job? How many times have we heard stories of 911 operators ignoring calls for help? Being unthinking is not limited to employees of major businesses.
The last thing I'm going to do is defend a giant corporation, but before the nuclear bombers are called in for an air strike, let's all take a breath. I think the situation is just so unique, there is no procedure for the police to reach the right person to override problems like this. If this were a landline, there are certainly contact people who can be reached to assist with a police investigation.
Cell phone technology is still new, and the capabilities are still being learned. The cell carriers, who many believe should be regulated, must make an effort to prevent situations like this from happening. If events like this happen on a regular basis, the carriers will find themselves heavily regulated, and that will serve no one well. As more and more people eschew landlines in favor of cellular service, carriers need to be proactive in making sure they are ready to help and prevent corporate policies from benefiting the communities they serve.
For the NY Times (and others like it) to "improve" their content, Pinch Sulzberger would have to get run over by a bus and have 2/3 of the existing staff be fired. Unfortunately, a change in the politics of the American print media wouldn't save it now, as the failure to change with the times has done permanent damage.
This is an interesting thread, but all the posters are missing an important point. Whether the newspaper is printed on dead trees, downloaded onto a reader or appears as an apparition in the sky, it's not the delivery of the news that's the problem.
The newspapers are failing because they no longer generate the income from advertisements from auto dealers, real estate brokers and large retailers that have pulled back on their advertising due to the US economy sucking wind. In many papers, these categories generated more than two-thirds of their income. Classified ads have moved to Craigslist and have taken another income source away.
It would be nice if a tech solution could cure the problem, but it's just not that simple.
Why is it the publishers job to censor or police what people publish?
A publisher, at least one in the dead tree business, always served as a gatekeeper. Admitting contributions that enhanced the publication's overall presentation to the consuming readership could be printed, while flamebait and trolls were consigned to the trash bucket.
Unfortunately, that practice does not seem to have carried over to the internet.
You can do this in your living room. I did decades ago. Interleave aluminum foil and the pages of a newspaper.
Newspaper? What's that?
I'm guessing if one were to use the New York Times, only the left speaker would work. If using the Boston Globe, the speakers would only work when there's a discussion of gay marriage. And, if the speakers were made from the Chicago Trib - well, it wouldn't work at all.
I always laugh when people use 'a valid credit card' as a form of age ID. I had a 'valid credit card' at 16. I mean sure, technically it's a debit card, but it works as a credit card, and I've used it on such sites without any problems.
Now you can see how useless a credit card is as a filter. In fact, if a site really wanted to, they can determine if that debit card is a debit card or a valid credit card. The account number may look like a valid Visa or MC, but there are subtle differences that the merchant processor can feed back to a merchant. It's a value added function most merchants just don't want to pay for.
Please tip your newspaper boy for all those mornings he was up at 4am and walking during rain, snow, 40-below weather and placed your newspaper inside your outside storm door. For 6 weeks, I delivered with a broken foot, in a cast, double bagged to keep the rain out. I think I wouldn't tip anyone throwing newspapers from a car.
Coward, today it's nearly impossible to find a kid delivering papers for two reasons. The remaining newspapers don't want the liability of having an underage contractor get injured on the job. The other is there are so few subscribers on almost any one route it's difficult for a kid on a bike to cover the route. Adults in cars have been doing the routes for many years around the Boston area because they are so spread out and a driver can get it done more quickly.
Slashdot Mirror
OK, so next week, all Microsoft OSes are made illegal, and users have just thirty days to switch to another. What's your pleasure - Mac or Linux?
So everyone has changed to one or the other. Wanna take a bet how long it will take for viruses and exploits to start showing up in large quantities?
We need to see a post from the guy who's sig is "Pigs can't fly but swine flu.."
I'm thinking that you may see stars if you've just arrived at the bottom of a well, but they won't be in the sky. You may also hear bells, birds and a lot of wincing.
I can say GigaNews is the #1 premium provider.
They most certainly are. I've been a customer since 1997, have probably downloaded several terabytes of movies, mp3s and applications. I've tried the torrents and various BT clients and I can't see where any of them are as fast and reliable as Usenet. Not to mention, your connectivity isn't hammered by a swarm of downloaders trying to grab the movie, TV show or mp3s you just downloaded.
IMO, Usenet beats any torrent and so far, the RIAA and MPAA seem to ignore it.
Or...even better...get those handheld 100K candlelight spotlights you can plug into your cigarette lighter. THAT will get the message across very quickly that they have their brights on...
Of course, if that oncoming car is being driven by a state trooper the message YOU'LL get is "license and registration..."
Laser range finder, preferably in the visible spectrum. Not that I would buy it, I'm not a fan of Apple.
Couple it with an "attachment' manufactured by Smith & Wesson. I'd buy it because then the iPhone would definitely be useful.
Obviously, this professor is a loony. (PUN ishment)
You mean (OXY moron).
You beat me to the punch, so thank you for your insightful comment.
Or talk to someone like that about security. Watch as their eyes glaze over and they look for a way to escape.
Just tell them that the next time they get acquire a PC virus, having one repaired at a shop is going to cost them more than $90. That may help sway their thinking.
Of course, mom might start charging you for dinner.....
What this sounds like is that the agent who received the call didn't know that they were supposed to transfer the call to that specialty team and instead tried to handle it themselves. That agent will probably be out of a job very shortly. So no, this wasn't something that happened because of a corporate policy, this is something that happened because the agent who received the call didn't know what to do and didn't properly follow the corporate policy.
If you really were a Verizon employee, then your response is welcome. I'd like to think that the people in charge at Verizon understand situations like this can and will occur and have created policies for employees to follow. Ultimately, it's the individual employee that is responsible for carrying out those policies and, without any more detail available, it certainly seems s/he failed in this case. Perhaps termination is the correct course for this individual, as long as s/he is not being scapegoated for Verizon.
If nothing else comes from this discussion, we can see how a simple news story lacks so much detail. It's difficult to believe this really could happen, but without having more detailed knowledge of the carrier's policies or the individuals in question, everything is pure speculation, and that doesn't make for enlightening discussions.
Nowhere in TFA does it indicate there is any law, rule or regulation requiring Verizon or any cell carrier to activate a delinquent account. Can there be an agreement that this may be a unique situation that has possibly not occurred before?
What about the customer service rep - is s/he really heartless or just following company rules to prevent losing his/her job? How many times have we heard stories of 911 operators ignoring calls for help? Being unthinking is not limited to employees of major businesses.
The last thing I'm going to do is defend a giant corporation, but before the nuclear bombers are called in for an air strike, let's all take a breath. I think the situation is just so unique, there is no procedure for the police to reach the right person to override problems like this. If this were a landline, there are certainly contact people who can be reached to assist with a police investigation.
Cell phone technology is still new, and the capabilities are still being learned. The cell carriers, who many believe should be regulated, must make an effort to prevent situations like this from happening. If events like this happen on a regular basis, the carriers will find themselves heavily regulated, and that will serve no one well. As more and more people eschew landlines in favor of cellular service, carriers need to be proactive in making sure they are ready to help and prevent corporate policies from benefiting the communities they serve.
My tags are WNDOWS. The damn car keeps stalling and restarting.
It's remotely possible Kindle will never be in my house.
The TomTom or Garmin unit sitting on your dash is passive, but there is this technology which is probably similar to what TFA is about.
What we ought to be asking for is for some clever engineering /. reader to develop and market a device that can find a GPS unit on your vehicle.
it wasn't (in the minds of most consumers) $400 better, especially when it needed $400 more RAM as well.
That was about 8 MEGAbytes IIRC.
For the NY Times (and others like it) to "improve" their content, Pinch Sulzberger would have to get run over by a bus and have 2/3 of the existing staff be fired. Unfortunately, a change in the politics of the American print media wouldn't save it now, as the failure to change with the times has done permanent damage.
This is an interesting thread, but all the posters are missing an important point. Whether the newspaper is printed on dead trees, downloaded onto a reader or appears as an apparition in the sky, it's not the delivery of the news that's the problem.
The newspapers are failing because they no longer generate the income from advertisements from auto dealers, real estate brokers and large retailers that have pulled back on their advertising due to the US economy sucking wind. In many papers, these categories generated more than two-thirds of their income. Classified ads have moved to Craigslist and have taken another income source away.
It would be nice if a tech solution could cure the problem, but it's just not that simple.
Why is it the publishers job to censor or police what people publish?
A publisher, at least one in the dead tree business, always served as a gatekeeper. Admitting contributions that enhanced the publication's overall presentation to the consuming readership could be printed, while flamebait and trolls were consigned to the trash bucket.
Unfortunately, that practice does not seem to have carried over to the internet.
Sure, if you know nothing about security. Why does everyone think wired is so secure?
I don't know about everyone, but to get to my wired network, you'll have to come through a door, a window or a skylight.
If you feel lucky, punk, our security is provided by Smith & Wesson, so go ahead - make my day.......
You can do this in your living room. I did decades ago. Interleave aluminum foil and the pages of a newspaper.
Newspaper? What's that?
I'm guessing if one were to use the New York Times, only the left speaker would work. If using the Boston Globe, the speakers would only work when there's a discussion of gay marriage. And, if the speakers were made from the Chicago Trib - well, it wouldn't work at all.
"pirate repellents "WTF are we talking about... TICKS???"We're getting boarded... must not have sprayed the pirate repellent last night..."
That bit of PC speak is brought to you by the same people that banished the phrase "war on terror".
I always laugh when people use 'a valid credit card' as a form of age ID. I had a 'valid credit card' at 16. I mean sure, technically it's a debit card, but it works as a credit card, and I've used it on such sites without any problems.
Now you can see how useless a credit card is as a filter. In fact, if a site really wanted to, they can determine if that debit card is a debit card or a valid credit card. The account number may look like a valid Visa or MC, but there are subtle differences that the merchant processor can feed back to a merchant. It's a value added function most merchants just don't want to pay for.
We are apparently continuing fast down the Bush road to a completely independent, unaccountable, all-powerful presidency.
Now that's change we can believe in.
Please tip your newspaper boy for all those mornings he was up at 4am and walking during rain, snow, 40-below weather and placed your newspaper inside your outside storm door. For 6 weeks, I delivered with a broken foot, in a cast, double bagged to keep the rain out. I think I wouldn't tip anyone throwing newspapers from a car.
Coward, today it's nearly impossible to find a kid delivering papers for two reasons. The remaining newspapers don't want the liability of having an underage contractor get injured on the job. The other is there are so few subscribers on almost any one route it's difficult for a kid on a bike to cover the route. Adults in cars have been doing the routes for many years around the Boston area because they are so spread out and a driver can get it done more quickly.