Slashdot

If Apple sends down an update that bricks your jailbroke phone there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You can't return it for a refund.. you can't send it in for warranty repair, etc. It's just short sighted hipster stupidity.

 

Apple is and always has been a hardware company. They fear competition on the hardware front, because that's their primary business product: overpriced "luxury" computers. (cue the fanboy bashings)

In 2003-2004 at my previous employer the company rolled out Blackberries to management and "key" personnel. Being responsible for a relatively large part of the infrastructure at this joint, I also got one.

One day I arrived at work and found the messaging group folks had delivered the BBs to some of the people in my area, and there was a box in my desk as well, with a little booklet (the must have cost a fortune to print, it was that well done) with usage policy (of course), instructions and steps for setting it up. The younger kids were besides themselves and already setting up the sync cradles and sending messages to each other. I picked up the phone and called the project manager, who was a friend of mine. I asked him to send one of his people to pick the box up.

"But everyone's getting one."
"I don't care, I don't want it."
"You are on Tier 1 and you're supposed to be on call..."
"I am. I have a cell phone, and if the IPC melts down at 3 AM, someone can call me."
"But this lets you check your email!"
"That's exactly why I don't want it"

A few days of back and forth politik ensued, and eventually my boss relented and let me be. Note that this was the time when the devices could not make phone calls - I hear they can now. Oh joy.

I figured that once I had that thing I'd never be able to get away from it, even on vacation. And that's exactly what happened to everyone else. People won't think twice about sending you an email for stupid little things at 10:00 PM, because they're working and figure everyone else should be as well. But making a phone call is very different, and most people won't do it unless it's something really important. People think it's no big deal because it's just a message. Bullshit.

If the data center is on fire, sure I want to know, no matter what time it is. But I don't want to hear little pings and murmurs from a PDA next to my bed because some VP couldn't find a file for tomorrow's presentation, or a fscking file server is down and Julie in accounting can't get to it. All that can wait until the morning.

If I had taken the thing and ended up in that 24/7/365 situation I don't think I'd sue my employer, but I would have probably ended up leaving a lot sooner than I did. Probably even if I were eligible for overtime. A case of "they ain't paying me enough for this crap" if I ever saw one.

I think that would be an ideal setup to run Vista on. I heard that with SP1 you might only need half of the equipment you currently have.

give him the -1 troll he deserves.

So what you're really asking is what sort of evidence of tampering you should be sure to avoid leaving behind?

DoE had $20M to offer for this contest, but couldn't find $4M to save Fermilab ?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of energy efficient lightning, but what the hell?

solitas writes "http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article3368000.ece

India has already built the world's cheapest car — the £1,200 Tata Nano — now the country has delivered the telecoms equivalent: the £10 "people's phone".

The mobile handset, developed by Spice, an Indian conglomerate listed in Bombay and worth £1 billion, is angled at the lowest end of the market.

This means that it has jettisoned all "non-essential" features — such as a screen.

"It is just a phone," Bhupendra Kumar Modi, the Spice chairman, who hopes to sell about ten million in the next year, confirmed."

solitas writes ""Experts are trying to identify a huge metal container that has been washed up on a beach in the Western Isles."

The tank, which is 27m tall standing upright, has no markings and is thought to have fallen from a ship before being washed up on the west of Benbecula.

Considering the wide range of experiences and occupations of Slashdotters, maybe someone here has an idea?"

solitas writes "SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Apple Inc. (AAPL) no longer accepts cash for iPhone purchases and now limits sales of the cell phone to two per person in a move to stop people from reselling them.

The new policy started Thursday, said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. Before then, there was no cash restriction and the purchase limit was five per person.

"We're requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers."

I can see a purchase limit, but whatever happened to "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private"?"
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20071027/D8SHGQMO0.html

solitas writes "An interesting article for the mechanical engineers and baseball fans on /. about the guard Bonds wears on his right elbow, and the possible physical and mechanical advantages it gives his swing.

Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the "armor" that he wears on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds' unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003621797

solitas writes "BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — The Energizer bunny is looking for its place in the iPod industry with an external battery that could extend the life of millions of Apple's portable media players, which use rechargeable batteries that are notoriously difficult and expensive to replace.

For $29.99, Energizer's Energi to Go external iPod battery will provide up to 46 hours of playing time with two AA Lithium e2 batteries."

solitas writes "Full article title: "DHS Wants Cell Phones to Detect Chemical, Radioactive Material"

Apparently Homeland Security now is thinking about "distributed detection", of a sort, and exploring the idea of cellphones that have chemical/biological/radiation detectors built-into them (as GPS units are now).

They figure they could monitor the widely distributed network, weed-out the statistical noise over many sensors, and be able to pinpoint possible trouble areas (i.e. bio-bombs, rad-bombs, etc.) more efficiently.

...and THEN they'll quietly have alcohol/smoking detectors installed to monitor you."
http://public.cq.com/docs/hs/hsnews110-000002524221.html

solitas writes "Two Russian cosmonauts climbed out of the international space station Wednesday to install protective panels designed to shield the orbiting outpost from dangerous space debris... [while] The station's third occupant, U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, remained inside.

An independent safety task force in February said that there was a 9 percent risk that the space station, once completed in 2010, could be hit with space debris severe enough to cause the loss of the outpost or crew members. That risk estimate was reduced to 5 percent if protective panels were installed on Russian portions of the space station.

Sections of the space station built by NASA and the Japanese and European space agencies were protected sufficiently against space debris, the task force said.

—
It's been 40-odd frickin' years since Star Trek and we still don't have forcefields. Apalling."

solitas writes "A Breitbart news story interviews certain StarWars alumni about what the trilogy has done for them.

They were part of one of the biggest movies in history but almost without exception the cast of "Star Wars" faded from view after lighting up cinemas during the 1970-80s.

While George Lucas' intergalactic fairytale proved to be a launch pad for the career of Harrison Ford, other prominent members of the blockbuster franchise have not come close to enjoying Ford's iconic status.

..."Without naming names, you meet some stars and afterwards you go 'Gee, I wish I hadn't met him,'"... Oh yeah? Do: tell."