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Comment Re:The Kilowatt, minute, cubic foot, Gigabyte (Score 1) 203

Case in point, a game I just bought online, 3 bucks to ship it, its 4 gigs in size on a DVD, why should it cost me more to download it, than to have someone pack it, carry it 750 miles, transfer it by hand onto 3 different trucks and walk it to my doorstep?

How long did it take for you to receive the said 4 gigs by mail? What was the throughput in kbps? Would you be happy with internet connection that had similar download times?

Comment Re:Funny but true.... (Score 1) 461

Simple changes require simple training. It doesn't always have to be 5 days workshop and in many cases it doesn't need to be done in person for every users.

Most simple form of training is informing the users about the changes. Way too often we think that users should be able to pick the changes on the fly and there is no reason to "train" the users; they should be smart enough.

I consider myself to be fairly competent when it comes to IT and am absolutely sure that I could figure out any changes thrown at me, but quite often I don't want to. I mean, why should I figure all the changes as I use the system and spend hours and hours of cumulative time trying to understand what has changed and how? More often than not, that would be waste of time. Quick 30min or 1 hour training could easily save hours for the people who would otherwise figure out the changes on their own. I find that pretty counter productive.

I'd suggest that everybody makes training as part of the change management process. One of the key things to remember is to keep it simple so that it doesn't waste everybody's time. Smart users need less training. If the guy in warehouse uses computer once a week, then the training needs to be completely different level. If you perform a simple change then training doesn't need to be all that complex, either.

Comment Re:I've seen this first hand (Score 1) 576

I'm sure that's a mutual feeling.

OP was working in management, not as techie. One of the key tasks of IT management is to be on the same page with rest of the management team. It's their job to make sure that everybody understands the ideas proposed by the IT department. Way too often techies come up with excellent ideas which they can't pitch to the business side.

In the same way as marketing staff doesn't really "get" IT, IT staff doesn't understand what's going on in marketing. Both sides probably see each other as completely irrational and defying logic.

IT management needs to be able to argue their point clearly so that the intended audience can understand it and escalate the problems, if needed.

Comment Re:Hmm (Score 0) 144

That's precisely the attitude of a black hat.

No, that's hard-core capitalism - supply and demand; all that jazz. Apple doesn't see any value in his product (exploit) so they aren't willing to pay. Somebody else could be willing to pay for what he has so he could sell it to them instead.

Normally when there is much more supply than demand then manufacturer needs to start advertising to make sure that the potential buyers are aware that product exists. When there is more demand but almost no supply, then potential buyers will advertise to every potential manufacturer (or author in this case) that they are willing to pay for certain product, if anybody has it.

Comment Re:FAT (Score 1) 270

Entry barrier to computing has gone down, a lot, in past 10 years. Also like you said back then most of the disks were shipped unformatted thus most of the people knew they'd need to format them before use.

Nowadays flash drives are predominantly shipped formatted so people assume that they work once you plug them in. If they don't, people assume that they are broken.

Physics Nerds Rap About the LHC 91

Engadget has pointed out a small band of people even we can consider nerdy that decided to cut loose and demo CERN's fancy new toy, the Large Hadron Collider. The resulting music video is certainly enough to "rock you in the head," and maybe even enough to cause a rip in space-time. Between Alpinekat and Dr Spatzo, I think my iPod just got a new entry.
Censorship

Submission + - Comcast Terms Change: You Lose Right to Sue (wtop.com)

dupeisdead writes: "Thankfully I don't even have the option to use Comcast where I live, but this is troubling. Almost all companies "reserve the right to change the contract" blah blah blah, but very few people actually read that. Comcast wishes to change existing contract with customers... Why would Comcast need to change this provision, and would this actually hold up if it came to it?"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Hotels equip mini-fridges with weight sensors (com.com) 1

prostoalex writes: "Hotel mini-fridges, known for carrying mini-bottles of various beverages for non-mini-prices, are now getting weight sensors that charge the hotel customer as soon as any item is picked up: "...the fridges are now equipped with motion sensors, the helpful woman at registration told me. That is, if I move a drink to make room for something of my own, it'll charge me. If I accidentally knock something over, it'll charge me. If I put something of my own on top of something, it'll charge me.""
The Internet

Submission + - Are mobile carriers ready for YouTube Mobile?

mrspin writes: With YouTube's exclusive deals with mobile operators Verizon (in the US) and Vodafone (in the UK) coming to an end, the video sharing site has launched a mobile-friendly version that can be accessed by anyone with a compatible handset (capable of playing back .3gp video) and an appropriate data plan. With regards to the later, the first time you visit the site from your phone you're given the following warning: "YouTube Mobile is a data intensive application. We highly recommend that you upgrade to an unlimited data plan with your mobile service provider to avoid additional charges." What the site doesn't highlight is that many providers impose a 'fair use' policy which means that in reality they're unlimited plans aren't unlimited at all, as well as prohibiting access to non-partnering video sites as part of their terms of service. It will be interesting to see how the mobile industry responds to non-exclusive access to YouTube Mobile.
Patents

Submission + - Patent Lawsuit - Providing Photos via a Network

An anonymous reader writes: from http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/196764-recent-pa tentcopyright-infringement-cases-filed-in-u.s.-dis trict-court

Plaintiff Peter Wolf claims he owns the rights to U.S. Patent No. 7,047,214 for "Process for Providing Event Photographs for Inspection and Distribution Via a Computer Network." The process allows photo proofs to be viewed and ordered online. He is suing Brightroom, Island Photography, Bird's Eye View, Digilabs, Printroom, SmugMug and Master Photos for infringement on the patented process.
Edward Goldstein of Houston is representing Wolf.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge David Folsom
Case No. 2:07-cv-00238-DF
Security

Submission + - New AACS Processing Key Discovered

An anonymous reader writes: The movie studios recently released new HD-DVDs that can no longer be circumvented using the infamous 09 F9... AACS processing key that floated around the Net last month, but today a new key has surfaced. Like hundreds of other readers of Freedom-To-Tinker's "Own Your Own Integer" story, someone named BtCB posted his "randomly generated" number in the comments, asking, "What are the odds that this is the new processing key?" As it turns out, BtCB's key was not so random, and, a week after he posted it, the hackers over at doom9 realized that it really is the new processing key. With this kind of hacker "luck," it doesn't look like AACS will last for long.
Privacy

Submission + - Google likens Sweden to dictatorship

lobStar writes: Google criticizes the Swedish government heavily and does even go as far as liken it with dictatorship because of the proposed bill that would allow wiretapping of all data crossing the countries' borders. The proposal stems from a tradition begun by Saudia Arabia and China and simply has no place in a western democracy," says Peter Fleischer, Google spokesman. "Sometimes Google needs to take a clear stance and my impression is that everybody has listened very intently to what we have had to say," Although the bill has been delayed, not even a such strong statement from the search giant seems to make the government change it's mind.

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