Comment Re:HAHAHAHA (Score 0) 85
It's time to pay the piper!
Comment memorial (Score 1) 1613
RIP Steve. I'll wear a black turtle neck tomorrow for you.
Comment Re:LOST without power (Score 1) 253
...
If a plane were to crash on a deserted island I don't think a flight chart is going to make a difference.
and I'm sure there would be more paper weights than just the ipad... besides, at least you could play some angry birds
Comment Re:Rogers Pay As You Go? (Score 1) 270
Here's the link.
It really is handy for off the beaten path travels.
Comment Re:Comcast has a service that does the same thing (Score 1) 171
As someone who manages Virtual Queuing equipment and other call center equipment, like PBX's and such, as an outsourcer, I've found that the primary use of Virtual queuing and customer call backs isn't for the benefit of customers at all. Most times this technology is deployed is when the company is providing regulated service. Often the regulators require calls to be answered in a certain amount of time (let's say 3 minutes), and if the Virtual Hold system answers the call immediately and places the call back when they customer would be next in line then company meets their mandate of answering calls within the 3 minute time frame.
This is great news for the company as they avoid paying penalties in an understaffed call center, as a call that would normally take 30-90 minutes to be answered appears to be answered almost immediately, despite the customer not reaching an agent for an extended period of time.
For what it's worth, the outsourcer certainly can be required to use 3rd party software as requested by the client. It all depends on what's written in the contract.
Comment Re:Price? (Score 1) 195
you're even more ripped off when you consider that the AUD is pretty much on par with the USD.
In the states the phones are retailing for $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB).
How do you like them apples?
Torqer.
Seller of Counterfeit Video Games Gets 30 Months 165
wiredmikey writes "The FBI reported this week that Qiang 'Michael' Bi, of Powell, Ohio was sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling more than 35,000 illegally copied computer games over the Internet between 2005 and 2009. According to a statement of facts read during Bi's plea hearing, agents executed a search warrant at Bi's house and found multiple CD duplicators and more than 1,000 printed counterfeit CDs. Some of the CDs were still in the duplicator. During their investigation, agents learned that Bi would buy a single copy of a game, illegally duplicate it and sell the copies on eBay.com and Amazon.com. He also set up a website for customers to download the games they bought. Bi accepted payment through eBay and PayPal accounts in his name and in others' names."
ATMs That Dispense Gold Bars Coming To America 482
tetrahedrassface writes "As the US economic woes continue unabated, a German company is bringing gold-bearing ATMs to Mainstreet America. The machines accept credit cards, and will dispense 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce units, as well as various gold coins. The company hopes to install 35 bullion machines in the United States this year, and will hopefully have several hundred up and running by next year. The machines will be decorated like giant gold ingots and be over two meters tall. Physical gold has both pros and cons, but from a safety standpoint would it be fine to have a couple of ounces in your pocket while walking around the mall? The giant, gold-dispensing ATMs will monitor the market conditions for gold every 10 minutes in order to reflect spot price changes as they occur." We already covered similar machines installed in travel hubs across Germany.
Woman Wins Libel Suit By Suing Wrong Website 323
An anonymous reader writes "It appears that Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader Sarah Jones and her lawyer were so upset by a comment on the site TheDirty.com that they missed the 'y' at the end of the name. Instead, they sued the owner of TheDirt.com, whose owner didn't respond to the lawsuit. The end result was a judge awarding $11 million, in part because of the failure to respond. Now, both the owners of TheDirty.com and TheDirt.com are complaining that they're being wrongfully written about in the press — one for not having had any content about Sarah Jones but being told it needs to pay $11 million, and the other for having the content and having the press say it lost a lawsuit, even though no lawsuit was ever actually filed against it."
Comment Re:HD screen/ (Score 1) 202
Where'd you get that number from? Please don't try to sell anyone a TV (or a tablet) and say such nonsense.
Comment Re:HD screen/ (Score 1) 202
I'd look again...
Wii can output at 480p, but it certainly isn't HD.
Gamer Plays Doom For the First Time 362
sfraggle writes "Kotaku has an interesting review of Doom (the original!) by Stephen Totilo, a gamer and FPS player who, until a few days ago, had gone through the game's 17-year history without playing it. He describes some of his first impressions, the surprises that he encountered, and how the game compares to modern FPSes. Quoting: 'Virtual shotgun armed, I was finally going to play Doom for real. A second later, I understood the allure the video game weapon has had. In Doom the shotgun feels mighty, at least partially I believe because they make first-timers like me wait for it. The creators make us sweat until we have it in hand. But once we have the shotgun, its big shots and its slow, fetishized reload are the floored-accelerator-pedal stuff of macho fantasy. The shotgun is, in all senses, instant puberty, which is to say, delicately, that to obtain it is to have the assumed added potency that a boy believes a man possesses vis a vis a world on which he'd like to have some impact. The shotgun is the punch in the face the once-scrawny boy on the beach gives the bully when he returns a muscled linebacker.'"
Darth Vader Robs Long Island Bank 190
Apparently the destruction of the second Death Star has stretched the Galactic Empire's coffers so thin that Lord Vader himself is robbing banks. From the article: "Impotent Rebel Alliance security forces tell Newsday (paywall) that Vader marched into a Chase bank in Setauket around 11:30 a.m. today. Brandishing a completely unnecessary handgun — as he had the power to choke the oxygen out every teller's throat — the fallen Jedi demanded cash."
Apple, RIM, Google All Bid On Palm 117
imamac writes "It seems HP was only one of many bidders for the struggling Palm. The others included Apple, RIM and even Google. You may now commence speculation on why the various companies wanted Palm."
36-Hour Lemmings Port Gets Sony Cease and Desist 268
Zerocool3001 writes "The recently featured 36-hour port of the original Palm version of Lemmings to the iPhone and Palm Pre has received a cease and desist letter from Sony. Only one day after submitting the app for approval on the two app stores, the developer has put up a post stating that he 'did this as a tribute to the game — we can only hope that Sony actually does a conversion for platforms like iPhone and Palm Pre in the near future.' The text of the cease and desist letter is available from the developer's website."
