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Comment The underyling cable company problem (Score 1) 334

The real problem with the cable companies (and, unfortunately, even their competitors) is that they've stuck with their legacy monopoly model of service. Their objective isn't to give you want you want. Their objective is to sell you the packages they create.

Here, I just picked up cable service again and got the DVR from my cable company. It is littered and strewn with tons of junk channels. And I mean truly junk channels. I believe I marked over 200 channels to be skipped in the interface.

Of course, you can't say no to the cable company. When you mark 200 channels to be skipped, they still show up in the electronic program guide, cluttering it so much that it is really hard to use. But each channel that you see that you don't have is a selling opportunity.

This explains why they have not one, but three different channel numbers, scattered throughout the channelspace, for their on-demand service. (In addition to all the PPV channels, the porn channels, sports channels, special event channels, etc etc.)

Even when I pay for a huge package of channels that I don't want, they still manage to take away my ability to remove the ones I don't want.

Thanks, Cox. You've gotten better, but you still don't serve me. You make me serve you.

PS: Yes, I'd be happier if I abandon their DVR offering. Even after all these years, and all the revisions, it still isn't made with the end-user in mind. So very sad. Now if I could only pay for only the channels that I want.

Comment Re:Palm keeps falling flat? (Score 2, Insightful) 300

Yeah. I've done a few of the Palm PDAs over the years, starting with the Palm Pilot Pro. Back then, those things were cutting edge, lots of software, lots of support. You looked at the device and you knew it had a future.

It just seems like, since then, the company has had high goals, but has been on a behind-the-curve downhill slide ever since.

I now look back with regret on my decision a little over a year ago to buy a Palm T|X. Little third party development these days. Almost no vendor support on the built-in software. And yet, somehow, these are still selling today for $250-$300?

Sadly, it only performs the following functions for me to today:

1. MP3 player
2. Notepad
3. Emergency wifi web browser

Palm only has one shot left, IMHO. They need to put something out there, and it needs to be WOW.

If this isn't a Killer OS, then it'll be the OS that killed the company.

Privacy

Submission + - Does your automobile GPS keep a log file on you?

AtariDatacenter writes: I recently connected my Garmin Nuvi 205W to my computer and discovered that it maintained an ongoing log of my position at regular intervals. Their customer service confirms that there is no way to permanently disable the tracking feature. All you can do is manually clear out the travel log on a regular basis. Is it a breach of customer's privacy expectations for their automobile GPS to be storing logs on them? Is the legal profession aware enough to start using these in civil or criminal cases? Could someone remotely pull the data from bluetooth capable models?

Comment Oh. Steve is going to be taking 'roids? (Score 1) 320

Reading between the lines on the 'hormone imbalance' and weight loss, and not a stemming but a rapid regain of lost weight (by late Spring), it seems what Steve isn't saying here is that the doctors have put him on a Steroid (testosterone) supplement (testosterone replacement therapy) to put on weight.

Is there another underlying issue for the weight loss, or is Steve just becoming an old man (with the loss in testosterone that goes with it)? Who knows.

But I, for one, look forward to the new roid inspired designs yet to come from Apple.

It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Time's Person of the Year 2006 is... You

An anonymous reader writes: Time Magazine's Person of the Year selects the person (man, woman, group or idea) that, "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year". Previous recipients have included Charles Lindbergh (1927), Adolf Hitler (1938), the Generation Twenty-Five and Under (1966), the Computer (1982) and the Endangered Earth (1988). The Person of the Year for 2006 is you. Time believes that you are the most influential person in 2006, by using the "Web 2.0" (i.e. Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace) to control the media and change the world. So give yourself a round of applause and a teary acceptance speech.
Businesses

Submission + - China bought 4 nuclear reactors from Westinghouse

Pud writes: "http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/br eaking_news/16253343.htm Westinghouse to build 4 nuclear reactors in China Associated Press PITTSBURGH — China and the United States on Saturday signed a deal meant to pave the way for Westinghouse Electric Co. to build four civilian nuclear reactors in China. China is building scores of new nuclear power plants, seeking the latest technology from industry leaders while working to shore up its own expertise. Westinghouse, the U.S. unit of British Nuclear Fuels PLC, had been vying with the French nuclear group AREVA and Russia's AtomStroyExport to win the lucrative contract for building facilities at Sanmen, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, and at Yangjiang in southern China's Guangdong province."
Christmas Cheer

Submission + - Re-Stock Fees

zoomshorts writes: "How many times has THIS happened to you? You arrange a RMA for some obviously defective product you have purchased, and the manufacturer tries to stick you with a restocking fee? Do they really expect you to think that they RESTOCK DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS? How do you deal with this obvious scam? Buyer remorse, deserves a restock fee, but DEFECTIVE product??? Let's Cuss and Discuss this. I know a lady who purchased an Alienware laptop during the buyout period when they were purchased by DELL. She was hit with restocking fees for a unit that did not boot. What say you all? She was charged a "re-stock" fee. Grrrrrr."
Movies

Submission + - Choosing a video codec that will work anywhere

bruguiea writes: "Hi all, For a project, I need to distribute a 3 minute video to people who will not be able to contact me for feedback or help. It is a cartoon-like animation made of moving circles of various sizes and colors (800x600). I tried Google video, but the rendering is of poor quality. I also tried an AVI/XVID but it doesn't work on every Windows machine. Any suggestion about what codec to use? I would like it to run on the vast majority of MS and MacOS machines."
Biotech

Submission + - Pulse no longer sure test for life

Timex writes: "On November 23, Gerard Langevin became the only living Canadian without a pulse. He was the recipient of the Heartmate II, a device about the size of a flashlight battery, and is powered by an external power supply. It works by providing a continuous flow of blood, which means there is no pulse. Though it is not yet approved for use, the "Heartmate II" is currently part of a clinical trial at several hospitals in Canada and the United States."
The Internet

Submission + - Running out of Steam

An anonymous reader writes: Valve's Steam is great for Valve, and its not so bad for the users when it works, but what happens when it doesn't work? Well now's the time to find out because Steam is down, and if like me you haven't set up offline use in advance you can't use any of the Steam assets you legally bought and paid for. What really hacks me off is that if I was running a cracked dodgy version without having paid etc.. I probably wouldn't have any problems... apart from finding my legit clanmates online... It's DRM again, when things go wrong the legitimate users suffer, not the users the wrong side of the moral fence. How much inconvenience should legal users face when trying to use something they have paid for, when the dodgy crowd face no such penalty for being illegitimate? Maybe Valve are hoping by thier actions to entice a buyout bid from Sony. I would inculde a link to the Steam site, but its being DOSed by people who want to know why they can't play and a voulenteer admin is helping to calm things down and answer questions by locking every thread :( On a side note I'm the IT admin for a small company, and if I had all my eggs in one basket in such a vulnerable way as Valve seem to do I'd expect to be looking for a new job....

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