I picked up pizza for the kids on Friday. I don't usually buy Dominos, but had to get something next door. I ordered online to see a 25-35 minute pickup time. Showered and got dressed, arriving there 25 minutes later. I see a monitor over the counter with three pages of names cycling though, around 10 names per page.

My name had a pizza wait time of 11 minutes when I arrived at 5:48pm. It was down to 9 minutes by 5:50, then 8 minutes at 5:51. I thought to myself, wow, this was impressive tech. Except that the countdown froze at 8 minutes until 5:59 when the pizza hit the oven. I think it was in a box by around 6:08.

It was very busy, so I'd guess that their software isn't accounting for the finite production rates of the human workers. They were all rushing about, but it's too bad their software time estimation is so bad. You'd think it would be easy to look at the rate that pizzas are hitting the oven (in pizzas/minute), and then calculate the remaining time for the queue using live production rates. Very disappointing since the initial appearance of accuracy was belied by the reality of their low quality time estimate and the frozen countdown timer.

tl;dr. Don't give exact times if they are not accurate

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/04/19/bc-diggingbill.html

One family on Vancouver Island got charged $35,000 for archeologists to check for arrowheads. I've heard of archeologists in BC (same firm as the $35k one) who registered a site near where I live onto the archeology registry without the owner's knowledge, because they thought they found arrowheads. Later on, when the local First Nations archeologist looked at them, she said "They're just rocks", and tossed them.

The adage for ranchers when it comes to endangered species used to be (and still may be) "shoot, shovel, and shut up". Same with artifacts in Canada, if you're smart.

You are an idiot for making the statement "over shining a light". Please don't breed.

Regardless of any problems with the prison system, or any debate on punishment versus rehabilitation, it was not "shining a light".

When you use a laser in that manner, you turn it into a weapon with the ability to blind people. Trying to blinding people at the controls of an airplane is attempted mass murder in my books.

If he can do PLCs, I'd hire him tomorrow for water utility work. Wonder if he wants to move to Canada?

Small utilities and municipalities do not usually have in-house instrument technicians, and in some areas, the local instrument tech companies have a virtual monopoly. Every water, wastewater, and traffic light system is run with PLCs and SCADA, and it all requires constant maintenance, updating, and improvements. We probably spend 60-80k a year on our contracted instrument technicians, and we're a small utility with less than 15 staff.

As far as older workers, maybe I'm an aberration, but a 58 year old guy has a ton of experience to add, and isn't going to be job hopping. I'll get a solid 7 years, rather than a variable 1-10 years from an inexperienced 25 year old.

It's the person behind the camera that matters. Get some training, read and learn the basics, and most importantly, practice.

photo.net is a good starting point.

In many places, you cannot legally build on floodplain.

In North America, 50 years is pretty short for design standards. Bridges will normally be built for flood events in excess of 100 years. Laws where I live restrict construction inside a 200 year floodplain.

Did it occur to you that any nation capable of doing in the future will have ballistic missiles and the ability to create nuclear weapons? And that any nation capable of doing this today has large stockpiles of both?

Fearmonger much?

What they are proposing is pretty safe. They need to increase the velocity to reach earth. It will take months or years, allowing for plenty of time to make measurements and corrections. They are talking about pick asteroids with orbits such that an equipment failure will ensure that it doesn't quite catch up to earth - which means it won't hit us right away.

Backyard astronomers can find asteroids that have a chance of hitting earth and identify their orbits. There will be plenty of attention on any of these, and you can't really hide an asteroid.

As for the rest of your tirade, life is a risk sport. There is a risk associated with coal emissions from refining steel here on earth, and an environmental impact from the coal and steel mines, not to mention the production chains of the explosives and fuel.

Just because you are used to existing risks doesn't make them more safe. Our current mining methods likely pose a higher risk and greater environmental and social impact, but because they are familiar, you are not evaluating the risks consistently. Admittedly, appeals to fear and ignorance have worked very for the Fox network, so at least you're picking a winning formula.

I guess slashdot is running out of nerds who post anymore. I don't post much or read many comments here anymore, but when I saw the direction this was heading, I had to log in for the first time in ages.

The first few comments I saw were like the parent comment above - a bunch of bleating from a group of pussies who are still cowering after Sept 11, 2001, waiting for the gubermint to protect them from any and all potential harm or risk.

I grew up on sci-fi, reading about the possibilities - things humanity can do if it sets out to accomplish something grand. Bike helmets didn't exist, I ate dirt, skinned my knees climbing trees, and broke bones on (unsafe by today's standards) playground equipment. I dreamed of the stars, and of people inhabiting the entire solar system one day.

Which is worse - mining the asteroid belt or open pit mines in sensitive areas? I fully recognize that sci-fi has as much fantasy as science, but I recall novels from the 1980s that included LEO refining of asteroids, followed by dropping the materials down to earth by shaping them into gliders or capsules similar to those used in the Mercury program. There should be enough silica waste to make some heat-resistant tiles up there, and the metal can be foamed or made hollow to drop the density.

If the first few comments are representative of today's /. audience, no wonder CmdrTaco bailed.

Please provide a reference for your claim.

According to Businessweek, Bill Gates has given $28 billion out of a net worth of $59 billion, placing him second on the list after Warren Buffett. That appears to be considerably higher than 1-2%.

Everyone makes mistakes. That apology was merely the first step in rebuilding trust. Turbine will have to tread carefully for a while to come, as many of their players will remain watchful, if not outright suspicious should anything similar arise in the future.

I'm taking it at face value, unless given evidence otherwise. It's not 100% for me either, but it got them into the 80's or 90's for now. When I compare Turbine's response to almost any other organization that has made a mistake that affected me, it was faster, and more complete.

They're trying. Hard. And I appreciate that. So while I criticised them for doing something stupid (and would do so again in the future if necessary), I will also make sure to applaud them for doing the right thing without much of a delay.

Ever look at the UID range of most comments? It's pretty sad when the lowest UID of any commenter to this story is in the 50k range. I rarely comment anymore, and apart from stories that directly interest or affect me, and rarely read the comments either. Most of the time, I don't even log in, just scan the front page, and carry on with my day.

I think that management had a rosy picture in their minds, that was dispelled by the cruel, harsh light of reality. The original post appears to only live in Google's cache. Unclassy.

Here's the full link from the DDO forums front page (obtained from google cache):

Get More FREE Turbine Points with New Offer Wall!
April 12, 2010
Want to get your hands on more Turbine Points? Visit my.ddo.com/getpoints, log in, and check out the latest offers from our friends at SuperRewards. Simply complete a qualifying offer and SuperRewards will credit your account with Turbine Points* to use in the DDO Store! This new feature is just another way for players to get points in addition to earning them in-game or buying them directly. Unlike earning or buying points, however, players may complete offers right on the website and do not need to be logged into the game.

This new feature is an addition to our current DDO Store system and does not replace the existing ways you already get points. We will continue to add new offer providers and payment methods in the coming months - if you have a preferred payment method, we’ll probably support it. For now, the fastest and easiest way to get guaranteed points is still to buy them in the DDO Store directly from Turbine.

Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. What is the offer wall?
A. The offer wall at my.ddo.com is a feature that allows players to earn Turbine Points for completing offers from various Offer Vendors.

Q. What’s an offer?
A. An offer is an advertisement for a product or service that typically requires you to perform an action. That may include registering for a newsletter, signing up for a subscription service, or buying a product. Offers may also include market research such as surveys, online focus groups, and more.

Q. Do I have to do this?
A. Of course not! This system is provided as a service to those who would like more Turbine points and who prefer not to pay for them in the traditional fashion.

Q. What about my personal information? Is it safe?
A. We do not share any personal information with the offer vendor other than an anonymous unique ID and an e-mail address for your receipt to be sent to. This information is not transmitted unless you participate in the offer wall system. You may be (and probably will be) asked to provide additional information to complete an offer. Turbine has no way to control what happens with that information or how it is handled. We recommend that you use your discretion when signing up for offers. As always, protecting your privacy requires vigilance.

Q. Where is SuperRewards’ Privacy Policy located?
A. Online at http://www.superrewards-offers.com/super/privacy

Q. I have a problem with X Offer or Y Offer Advertiser. What do I do?
A. Turbine provides no direct support for issues with our offer providers. If you have an issue with something related to the offer system please direct your inquiries to the Offer Vendor.

Q. Who is the Offer Vendor?
A. Our first partner in this program is SuperRewards. Their support information may be found at http://www.srpoints.com/help

Q. I have more questions. Who do I talk to?
A. The detailed service FAQ for the offer wall is in our public KB at http://na6.salesforce.com/_ui/selfservice/pkb/PublicKnowledgeSolution/d?orgId=00D80000000L4s5&id=50180000000QJka. For general questions, visit our offer wall forum at http://forums.ddo.com/. This forum is for general feedback and information only. Support issues must be resolved with the offer vendor directly.

*Players participating in this offer program do not earn points from Turbine directly. All points are granted by the offer vendor (e.g. SuperRewards) at the vendor’s sole discretion. Turbine does not provide any end-user support for this system. For questions about point rewards, offer content, or payment details please contact the Offer Vendor or advertising company (the company whose offer you complete). Turbine is not responsible for Super Rewards points or transactions. Turbine is not able to assist with Super Rewards purchases or interactions. For inquiries about Super Rewards or your purchase with them, please visit http://www.srpoints.com/help. If you believe that you have not received Turbine Points purchased or earned through Super Rewards, please contact Turbine. The Turbine Terms of Service apply to all Super Rewards transactions involving Turbine Points.

Have you sought professional help? You should, really.

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. I think someone screwed up in finance or marketing. An interview with the executive producer in March 2010 referenced this as follows:

Fernando also mentioned that Update 4 will include as-yet-unspecified "Character Bank Upgrades" and the ability to announce certain accomplishments in DDO to your Facebook feed. He also mentioned that Turbine will soon announce details of a deal with a third-party vendor to allow players to earn Turbine Points through some kind of "offer-based payment options", which means you'll do something like take a short survey for some commercial entity and earn Turbine Points in return (Netflix does something very similar to this.)

Turbine appear to have been looking at this as a good thing, another option for players. Perhaps with more careful implementation next time (if there is a next time), it could become what they hoped it would.