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Comment Re:It's not only programmers vs bosses (Score 1) 469

I think its rather an interesting point you make.  I have made a career out of taking 'technical' people and teaching them to be sales people.  Its stunning how well this works especially when I advise the tech's not to say they are a salesperson, instead they need to keep their technical perspective.

This allows many people to relax better and think they are the ones making 'informed' decisions since our tech's simply 'advise' and not 'push'.
Facebook

Submission + - Facebook Is Most Hated Social Media Company

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Inc. reports that Facebook, the most visited site on the Internet, is also among the most hated, scoring 64 on a 100-point scale, which puts the company in the bottom five percent of private sector companies and in the same range as airlines and cable companies, "two perennially low-scoring industries with terrible customer satisfaction," according to the results of a survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. "Customers have shown that, so far, they have been willing to suffer through a poor user experience in order to enjoy the benefits Facebook provides," according to the report. "For companies that provide low levels of customer satisfaction, repeat business is always a challenge unless customers lack adequate choices, as in the case of near monopolies." Overall, social media is one of the lowest-scoring industries measured by the ACSI—only airlines, newspapers, and subscription television services score lower. However, among social media companies, Wikipedia tops the list with a score of 77. "Like Google, Wikipedia’s user interface has remained very consistent over the years, and its nonprofit standing means that it has not been impacted by commercialization and marketing unlike many other social media sites.""

Comment Re:Lone Wolf (Score 1) 346

Not at all, as already stated IE gained market share because at the time it was the better browser. Netscape was in a perpetual state of decline and cost money. Sure the Anti-Trust issue became apparent later when it was stated that MS was abusing it's privileges but most of 'over 20's were actually there, and know that IE raised the bar in web browsing from versions 1-5.

Privacy

Submission + - Debtors Sue Medical System over Privacy Breach (jsonline.com) 1

BarneyRabble writes: "If you go bankrupt in the State of Wisconsin--make sure your ass is covered, literally! Patients who are in
bankruptcy court are finding out their personal medical information is being placed in a public record database
thanks to Aurora Health Care, one of the state's largest health systems. Their electronic medical records not only
disclosed the amount the debtor owed, but what kind of care they recieved, in direct violation of pattent privacy laws.

In a class action lawsuit, the state is suing Aurora for $25,000 per violation."

Security

Security In the Ether 93

theodp writes "Technology Review's David Talbot says IT's next grand challenge will be to secure the cloud — and prove we can trust it. 'The focus of IT innovation has shifted from hardware to software applications,' says Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson. 'Many of these applications are going on at a blistering pace, and cloud computing is going to be a great facilitative technology for a lot of these people.' But there's one little catch. 'None of this can happen unless cloud services are kept secure,' notes Talbot. 'And they are not.' Fully ensuring the security of cloud computing, says Talbot, will inevitably fall to emerging encryption technologies."
NASA

Critics Call For NASA TV To "Liven Up" 305

An article in the LA Times calls NASA out for failing to make broadcasts on their dedicated television network as entertaining as they can be. The author, David Ferrell, complains that fascinating subject matter is often fraught with boring commentary and frequent, extended silences, making most people quickly lose interest. Quoting: "Witness one recent segment about the recovery of a Soyuz capsule upon its return to Earth. The dark, bullet-like object landed in the featureless steppes of Kazakhstan, about 50 miles outside the unheard-of town of Arkalyk. Coverage consisted of video shot from an all-terrain vehicle approaching it — mostly soundless footage of tall grass going by — with an occasional word by an unnamed commentator. 'You can see the antenna that deployed shortly after landing,' the commentator said in that deadpan tone shared by scientists and golf announcers. The camera chronicled the tedious extraction of three crew members weakened by spending six months in orbit; they were loaded one by one onto stretchers. 'Again, a rather methodical process,' the commentator noted, as if grasping for something — anything — to say. Later: 'The official landing time has been revised to 1:15 and 34 seconds a.m., Central Time. The official time was recorded at the Russian Mission Control Center . . . by the Russian flight-control team.' ... Where is Carl Sagan when you need him?"
Science

Submission + - Body Heat Energy Generation (physicscentral.com)

BuzzSkyline writes: Researchers in Belgium have developed devices to harvest the waste heat our bodies throw off in order to convert it to electricity to run devices such as a wristband blood oxygen sensor and an electrocardiogram shirt. As a side benefit, the power sources help cool you down and keep you looking cool, all while running sundry micropower devices. In fact, the researchers mention that the energy harvesting head band works so well that it can get uncomfortably cold. In that case, they say, "This problem is solved in exactly the same way as someone solves it on the body level in cold weather: a headgear should be worn on top of the system to limit the heat flow and make it comfortable." But it would be such a shame to cover up the golden heat-harvesting headband with a hat. The research was published last month in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

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