I'm sure this has been asked on previous
Does anyone know of a good alternative to PayPal? As far as function goes, PayPal works really well for me. It allows me to easily buy and sell things on bricklink.com (a LEGO marketplace), it has a worldwide acceptance that pretty much ensures compatibility with the user on the other of the transaction, and it handles currency conversions.
Of course, all the moral side of things, PayPal blows. So is there an alternative? Or am I to continue bending over, taking it in the ass, and then thanking them for the privilege afterwards?
You'd think that, of all events, security conferences would have tight security.
Why?
I suspect the cost/hassle of doing more than basic security outweighs the benefit of catching a few people who didn't want to pay the $100 conference fee. I doubt the information being presented is secret and needs protecting. And I imagine of all conference organizers, the organizers of a security conference would have best grasp on this security cost/benefit.
How long before you decide to rail against the cafeteria for not offering you the foods you want
Why shouldn't you rail against the cafeteria for not offering foods you want? Sure, it might be unreasonable to complain that your cafeteria doesn't offer caviar and smoked salmon, but if all they offer is ham sandwiches isn't it reasonable to ask them to expand their offerings?
Universities provide a service in exhange for money. It's not unreasonable for ask for adjustments to that service, especially when the service that is being provided is so far below what others in the "industry" are providing (as is the case here).
not that the staff in the store couldn't put the price inclusive of tax up
They can't. This is a consequence of the need to remain competetive. When we walk into stores we expect to see prices that don't include tax. A well-meaning store that tries to break from this and include tax in the price ends up looking way more expensive than its competetors, even though in reality it is not. Even if you include "taxes included!" on the sign there is a subconscious bias in the customer's mind against these seemingly high prices.
No, until every store is forced to do the same and include taxes it won't work. It's an unfortunate consequence of human nature.
And how often do we check the condition of the car? Do you need to go in monthly to validate the good condition of your tires? What about when the 16 year old son of the race car driver takes the car out? Does he get the +20kph license plate? Or does he have to unscrew it and put his on?
I think the logistics of the whole thing make it a rediculous undertaking for marginal benefit (is there even a benefit?)
Nice straw man.
According to Wikipedia, "On average 41,400 people died each year in the United States between 1979 and 2001 from influenza."
My mom is a nurse, and her best friend was paralyzed from the flu shot. How's that instead of a @#$@ three days of down time?
And for every person paralyzed by the flu shot a greater number have been saved by it. No one is saying vaccines don't have risks, but that the benefits outweigh those risks. There's a reason we look at statistics instead of anecdotes.
CEO's and executives are convinced they know more than the engineers.
And engineers assume their perspective is the only one that matters. Part of being a manager is hearing input from every group in the company/organization/unit and evaluating their various perspectives to make a decision. Engineering considerations are only one aspect of a successful operation. Sometimes it's better to release a sub-optimal product (from an engineering perspective) for other benefits in timing, marketing, financial efficiency, etc.
I'm not weighing in on the correctness of the management decision in this case; I don't know enough of the details. But the statements you made seem to me to be very self-centred and naive of the complexities of the world.
If you think the system is working, ask someone who's waiting for a prompt.
