lbgator - Slashdot User

Comment Happened to me in the states too. (Score 1) 173

by lbgator on Monday November 17, 2008 @10:27AM (#25785401) Attached to: In AU, Dodgy Dell Deal Faces Consumer Backlash

I wish I had saved my chat log. I had an very frustrating chat with a Dell sales associate. The price shown online was $99 for a Mini9 (at this site). Too good to be true, I know, but there it was. The site wouldn't let me check out so I opened a chat window. The person helping me couldn't confirm or deny the price and promised to call or email soon. This is what I got:

we apologize for the misinformation we are currently having error on the website. but ill make sure to let someone call you if things clear up. just log backin online to check if its still the price but i will be callig you when this is already cleared.

No further attempts to contact me. Good to see a professional interface with the customer, huh?

Comment Any hotels want to pile on? (Score 1) 541

by lbgator on Friday November 14, 2008 @02:00PM (#25762715) Attached to: Online Carpooling Service Fined In Canada

Hopefully no Canadian hotels hear about this and jump into the fray. Sites like couchsurfing charge a small fee for membership. Members are provided a forum to find people willing to let other users stay at their place free of charge (while on travel or whatnot). No licenses, no taxes, no government involvement whatsoever. Sounds like we need some government intervention!

Submission + - One Brand of Alcopop off Shelves - Sparks next? (cspinet.org)

Submitted by lbgator on Monday June 30, 2008 @08:29PM

lbgator writes: The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has succeeded in convincing Anheuser-Busch, Inc. to 'stop producing and marketing caffeinated alcoholic beverages such as Bud Extra and Tilt.' The reports used to score this win include a correlation between caffeinated alcohol and accidents. One goes so far as to postulate that 'caffeine consumption can have adverse health consequences' (with an admission that they have no evidence). Grassroots organizations are looking to turn this victory into a pattern by focusing efforts on Miller Brewing Company and their popular Sparks brand.

Note: the Wake Forest Study also showed Greek societies were significantly more likely to use alcohol 'laced' with caffeine. The report concluded that caffeinated beverages cause an increase in accidents and sexual abuse. I wonder if that is because the study was funded by a Anti-Alcohol group and not an anti-Greek group.

Americans Don't Care About Domestic Spying ? 485

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday March 18, 2008 @08:44AM from the you're-blocking-the-view-of-the-big-game dept.

S1mmo+61 writes "Salon is analyzing a Time Magazine article today, a piece that essentially claims Americans do not care about the domestic spying. The analysis of the Time magazine piece (which is longer than the article itself) is interesting, if only as a quick history of domestic spying in the last eight years. 'Time claims that "nobody cares" about the Government's increased spying powers and that "polling consistently supports that conclusion." They don't cite a single poll because that assertion is blatantly false. Just this weekend, a new poll released by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University proves that exactly the opposite is true. That poll shows that the percentage of Americans who believe the Federal Government is "very secretive" has doubled in the last two years alone (to 44%)'"

One Minute of Science Per Five Hours of Cable News 184

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday March 18, 2008 @07:21AM from the you-don't-learn-things-by-watching-the-news dept.

ideonexus writes "The Pew group has released its annual study into the state of news media. They conclude that science and technology content is a rare treat for cable newscast viewers; some five hours of programming could pass with the average viewer seeing only one minute of science news coverage."

Mass Website Hack Compromises 200,000 Sites 153

Posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, 2008 @11:23PM from the that-is-a-lot-of-angry-pr0n-bots dept.

Stony Stevenson writes "Hot on the heels of a recent hack in which 10,000 sites were compromised, researchers have disclosed a new large-scale attack. Researchers at McAfee estimated that the attack has been active for roughly one week, and in that time frame has managed to place itself on roughly 200,000 web pages. Most of the infected pages are running the phpBB forum software, said McAfee. The compromised pages are embedded with a Javascript file that links to the site hosting the attack."

UK Reconsiders 1986 Decision To Ban Astronauts 279

Posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, 2008 @09:18PM from the brits-iiiinnnn-spaaaaccceee dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The British space agency, BNSC, is reconsidering its 1986 decision to reject all human space missions. The decision has dominated British space policy ever since, leaving Britain out of many American and European space projects. The UK is the only nation in the G8 group of leading economies that does not have a human space flight program. But space enthusiast groups like the British Interplanetary Society are trying to persuade the British government to participate in both manned and unmanned space activities."

100-Year-Old Electric Car Design Makes a Comeback 385

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, 2008 @12:54PM from the they-do-make-em-like-they-used-to dept.

CNet's Green Tech Blog is reporting that Detroit Electric plans to release a small number of cars based around a car designed nearly 100 years ago. Detroit Electric is a joint venture between Santa Rosa, CA-based electric transportation specialist, Zap and China's Youngman motors. "Back in 1917, a Detroit Electric cost anywhere from $1,775 to $2,375--in other words, fit for the proletarian or plutocrat. The cars could go 65 miles to 100 miles on a battery charge, but only go at speeds ranging from 6 miles per hour to 25 mph."

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