User: I need DropBox! You: I can't let you use DropBox, because legal says its not allowed.. I can order you software X that is very similar.. User: We don't want to have to pay for it. DropBox is free, I use at home alll the time. Were just going to use it.. You: NO really, You need to clear that with legal.. thats not us User: Damn You IT.. Why are you always getting in my way..
FTFY
The 'fix' you're talking about is still a symptom of bad communication from IT. If after a rational explanation they still think you're an obstructionist, then your department has spent too much time saying no and not enough time trying to help.
Alright, considering my post was modded down I guess I need to be a little more clear:
How are you intending to jam the tracking antennas and not people's cell phones? If the answer is "I'm not", then you're going to earn the title 'asshole'.
How's that work when they don't have anything I want in the mall?
Yeah, no kidding. Back in my early 20's I used to go to the mall like once a week. I'd go to the arcade and blow twenty bucks. Then I'd check out the toy store, book stores, food court, see if any movies were playing, the hobby store, and the video store. Today when I go to the mall, I can only do one of those things. All those other places closed, probably due to rent being really high. Now it's all... clothes shopping. Even the coffee shop I liked to go to closed up.
The mall near me did do SOMETHING right, though. There's a Best Buy and a Target there now. For this reason alone I've been to that mall a good deal more. Kudos to them for sorta finally getting it, but I still want the arcade and toy stores back.
But the way they uses this information to get money is by offering things people want.
Then why don't they just ask people what they want? Wouldn't the mall like to know that I miss the arcade and the toy store and those are two reasons I don't go to browse as often anymore?
Because it's a good thing amazon doesn't track where you go, and use that information for analyzing traffic patterns.
Amazon is one store. A mall is a huge collection of stores. You don't see the difference there...?
Also, I can only speak for me, but I don't want that ballooning into all properties doing that and effectively tracking me, the same way I don't want all of my browser movements tracked and shared with the highest bidder.
It's funny how people don't seem so nutso when you have a clearer understanding of a topic.
CNN did cover it over here. They even brought up a point that they could track you wandering into Victoria's Secret and record how long you were in there.
I wish they had been less up-beat about it but the fact that it was even covered is... well.. better than nothing.
The best part is the implication that government, funded by citizens paying taxes, has some grudge against businesses investing money and creating jobs.
So, just for clarification, you're a computer user that builds his own machines and doesn't understand the concept of paying more for stuff that other people don't understand the value of. Right?
I have a question for the people that'd want MS to 'protect' anti virus companies: If the gov't decided to shut Microsoft down for it's anti-competitive practices, would you object to that in order to save companies like Symantec?
Great economy you are having there. Glad to see you care about your environment and air and all that 'welfare'. Too bad the outcome of all this wonderful 'care' is a war economy. But ask yourselves this: once they have enough robots to kill people all around the world, why do they need you at all? You don't produce anything else and all the weapons they need they will have automated. I guess your purpose is to burn oil and their's is to make sure they get more power and weapons so you can burn more oil.
"You don't know what it's like to really create something; to create a life; to feel it growing inside you."
Putting wi-fi in a campground is contrary to its purpose. I don't care if the asker and the editors failed to notice this. I don't care if that rains on someone's little parade. It's a dumb idea. Whatever you're doing there, it isn't camping. It's using the Internet outside.
Not everybody at a camp ground is trying to disconnect. Some do it because it's cheaper than a hotel.
Some ball-less soul-less sack of shit will mod me down anyway because he hasn't the guts to argue against me, but that's okay.
Don't take it personally, he could just as easily be modding your post down because you're wrong.
I think the idea's a lil bland, I mean... yay you put some free apps they could go get anyway.
But.... its' a stocking stuffer, let's have a little fun, right? Why not run around a few sites like Fail blog or LOLCats and find a big heap of funny pictures, and plunk em on the drive? That way they'll plug the drive in and have some fun zipping through those and having a few laughs. You could even throw in a folder family photos and give them something unique.
But if you're dead set on giving away apps, I can tell you I'd dig it if somebody took a flash drive and put Portable versions of Chrome, Opera, Firefox, a good mail client, and... well surprise me! I say 'portable' because if I don't have to install them, I'd definitely poke around and try them out.
Time Warner tried to get me to do a contract once. They attempted to tantalize me by saying "a two year contract will lock in our rates!" I chuckled at this for a couple of reasons. 1.) They just told me they're raising their rates. 2.) Verizon FIOS is on the horizon.
I politely ignored it. But if I had it to do over again, I would have answered their request for feedback. If they really wanted me to sign a contract with them, there would have to be a few stipulations in place. I wish I had told them what I'd want in the contract:
1. There will be absolutely NO throttling of of my service for any reason. I don't do piracy, so if I do use BitTorrent it's for a legitimate reason. In exchange, you can disable that 'boost' feature that shoots me up to some ridiculous speed for a few seconds to make the benchmarks look good.
2. Unlimited means unlimited. Under no circumstances will my connection be capped. In exchange, if I was causing an actual problem, I'd grant permission for a polite phone call or email request to tone it down. That doesn't mean I will, but I'm actually a reasonable guy and don't need to be shut down. The odds are good that I'd just say "Okay, I'll slow down the Netflix usage a bit."
3. There will be no phone calls or adverts in the mail for new services. If I'm signing a 2 year contract, it means I'm happy with exactly that level of service. Should I decide I want to make my monthly bill bigger, then I can use my whiz-bang internet connection to find out what you're offering.
4. There's an expectation of quick turnaround when something breaks. My connection will not go down for more than a day. (Well, I'm not talking about outages due to natural disasters or anything like that.) Any longer than that and I have the right to break the contract without an ETF. Of course I'd be a lot less likely to want to do that if my bill for that month was reduced due to the outage.
They'd never go for this, and that's a shame. The real tragedy of it is I'd be willing to pay more per month if these conditions were put into place. They may see it as increasing costs, but they should see it as increasing value.
You can rationalize it any way you like, but when you say things like "people that matter don't use iOS" you still sound just like those obnoxious Mac fanatics from the mid-to-late 90's.
Slashdot Mirror
Fuck Users!
What Is This Bullshit About Giving Half An Hour Explanations To Every Single Fucking Whim They Have?
Your inability to communicate clearly is your fault, not the users'.
User: I need DropBox!
You: I can't let you use DropBox, because legal says its not allowed.. I can order you software X that is very similar..
User: We don't want to have to pay for it. DropBox is free, I use at home alll the time. Were just going to use it..
You: NO really, You need to clear that with legal.. thats not us
User: Damn You IT.. Why are you always getting in my way..
FTFY
The 'fix' you're talking about is still a symptom of bad communication from IT. If after a rational explanation they still think you're an obstructionist, then your department has spent too much time saying no and not enough time trying to help.
Wow, you almost sound serious! Okay, you've convinced me that we need a sarcasm font.
Uh, yeah, reaaaaaaaaal good idea. Pfftbt.
Yeah, Drop Box dropped my storage 150%!!
Whos fault is this really?
We elected the politicians, we put them in office, we empowered them to look out for Corporations...
Not me! I always voted for the dudes who said they were honest, hard working, and is just like us little guys!
Alright, considering my post was modded down I guess I need to be a little more clear:
How are you intending to jam the tracking antennas and not people's cell phones? If the answer is "I'm not", then you're going to earn the title 'asshole'.
How's that work when they don't have anything I want in the mall?
Yeah, no kidding. Back in my early 20's I used to go to the mall like once a week. I'd go to the arcade and blow twenty bucks. Then I'd check out the toy store, book stores, food court, see if any movies were playing, the hobby store, and the video store. Today when I go to the mall, I can only do one of those things. All those other places closed, probably due to rent being really high. Now it's all... clothes shopping. Even the coffee shop I liked to go to closed up.
The mall near me did do SOMETHING right, though. There's a Best Buy and a Target there now. For this reason alone I've been to that mall a good deal more. Kudos to them for sorta finally getting it, but I still want the arcade and toy stores back.
But the way they uses this information to get money is by offering things people want.
Then why don't they just ask people what they want? Wouldn't the mall like to know that I miss the arcade and the toy store and those are two reasons I don't go to browse as often anymore?
Because it's a good thing amazon doesn't track where you go, and use that information for analyzing traffic patterns.
Amazon is one store. A mall is a huge collection of stores. You don't see the difference there...?
Also, I can only speak for me, but I don't want that ballooning into all properties doing that and effectively tracking me, the same way I don't want all of my browser movements tracked and shared with the highest bidder.
It's funny how people don't seem so nutso when you have a clearer understanding of a topic.
CNN did cover it over here. They even brought up a point that they could track you wandering into Victoria's Secret and record how long you were in there.
I wish they had been less up-beat about it but the fact that it was even covered is ... well.. better than nothing.
You'll earn the title of asshole?
The best part is the implication that government, funded by citizens paying taxes, has some grudge against businesses investing money and creating jobs.
So, just for clarification, you're a computer user that builds his own machines and doesn't understand the concept of paying more for stuff that other people don't understand the value of. Right?
...do people really have that kind of disposable cash laying around these days?
How much did you spend on your video card?
I have a question for the people that'd want MS to 'protect' anti virus companies: If the gov't decided to shut Microsoft down for it's anti-competitive practices, would you object to that in order to save companies like Symantec?
Great economy you are having there. Glad to see you care about your environment and air and all that 'welfare'. Too bad the outcome of all this wonderful 'care' is a war economy. But ask yourselves this: once they have enough robots to kill people all around the world, why do they need you at all? You don't produce anything else and all the weapons they need they will have automated. I guess your purpose is to burn oil and their's is to make sure they get more power and weapons so you can burn more oil.
"You don't know what it's like to really create something; to create a life; to feel it growing inside you."
Putting wi-fi in a campground is contrary to its purpose. I don't care if the asker and the editors failed to notice this. I don't care if that rains on someone's little parade. It's a dumb idea. Whatever you're doing there, it isn't camping. It's using the Internet outside.
Not everybody at a camp ground is trying to disconnect. Some do it because it's cheaper than a hotel.
Some ball-less soul-less sack of shit will mod me down anyway because he hasn't the guts to argue against me, but that's okay.
Don't take it personally, he could just as easily be modding your post down because you're wrong.
Ah, getting back to nature and disconnecting.
Ah, posting on Slashdot instead of reading a book.
No kidding. People say America is a corporatist country, but even we don't do bullshit like this.
Wait for it.
I mean if they can get a government to agree to this even though they can't show any actual damages, we'll be doing that here soon.
I think the idea's a lil bland, I mean ... yay you put some free apps they could go get anyway.
But.... its' a stocking stuffer, let's have a little fun, right? Why not run around a few sites like Fail blog or LOLCats and find a big heap of funny pictures, and plunk em on the drive? That way they'll plug the drive in and have some fun zipping through those and having a few laughs. You could even throw in a folder family photos and give them something unique.
But if you're dead set on giving away apps, I can tell you I'd dig it if somebody took a flash drive and put Portable versions of Chrome, Opera, Firefox, a good mail client, and... well surprise me! I say 'portable' because if I don't have to install them, I'd definitely poke around and try them out.
The whole point of this article is that usage bills are going down. No, that didn't help.
Time Warner tried to get me to do a contract once. They attempted to tantalize me by saying "a two year contract will lock in our rates!" I chuckled at this for a couple of reasons. 1.) They just told me they're raising their rates. 2.) Verizon FIOS is on the horizon.
I politely ignored it. But if I had it to do over again, I would have answered their request for feedback. If they really wanted me to sign a contract with them, there would have to be a few stipulations in place. I wish I had told them what I'd want in the contract:
1. There will be absolutely NO throttling of of my service for any reason. I don't do piracy, so if I do use BitTorrent it's for a legitimate reason. In exchange, you can disable that 'boost' feature that shoots me up to some ridiculous speed for a few seconds to make the benchmarks look good.
2. Unlimited means unlimited. Under no circumstances will my connection be capped. In exchange, if I was causing an actual problem, I'd grant permission for a polite phone call or email request to tone it down. That doesn't mean I will, but I'm actually a reasonable guy and don't need to be shut down. The odds are good that I'd just say "Okay, I'll slow down the Netflix usage a bit."
3. There will be no phone calls or adverts in the mail for new services. If I'm signing a 2 year contract, it means I'm happy with exactly that level of service. Should I decide I want to make my monthly bill bigger, then I can use my whiz-bang internet connection to find out what you're offering.
4. There's an expectation of quick turnaround when something breaks. My connection will not go down for more than a day. (Well, I'm not talking about outages due to natural disasters or anything like that.) Any longer than that and I have the right to break the contract without an ETF. Of course I'd be a lot less likely to want to do that if my bill for that month was reduced due to the outage.
They'd never go for this, and that's a shame. The real tragedy of it is I'd be willing to pay more per month if these conditions were put into place. They may see it as increasing costs, but they should see it as increasing value.
Oh well, I can dream.
Uhm... Why didn't you do this earlier?
Because I need the people on the other end to do it, too.
Or are you going to say it's revolutionary or easy to use or some BS?
Several people I do SMS chats with upgraded to iOS 5 and instantly I have far fewer paid messages going through. This example of ease-of-use is BS?
You can rationalize it any way you like, but when you say things like "people that matter don't use iOS" you still sound just like those obnoxious Mac fanatics from the mid-to-late 90's.
The righteous don't know they're a cult.