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Submission + - Facebook Is Most Hated Social Media Company

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Inc. reports that Facebook, the most visited site on the Internet, is also among the most hated, scoring 64 on a 100-point scale, which puts the company in the bottom five percent of private sector companies and in the same range as airlines and cable companies, "two perennially low-scoring industries with terrible customer satisfaction," according to the results of a survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. "Customers have shown that, so far, they have been willing to suffer through a poor user experience in order to enjoy the benefits Facebook provides," according to the report. "For companies that provide low levels of customer satisfaction, repeat business is always a challenge unless customers lack adequate choices, as in the case of near monopolies." Overall, social media is one of the lowest-scoring industries measured by the ACSI—only airlines, newspapers, and subscription television services score lower. However, among social media companies, Wikipedia tops the list with a score of 77. "Like Google, Wikipedia’s user interface has remained very consistent over the years, and its nonprofit standing means that it has not been impacted by commercialization and marketing unlike many other social media sites.""

Comment Re:No thanks (Score 1) 215

by kamikazearun (#30844422) Attached to: YouTube To Allow Video Rentals
Hulu is ad supported. Youtube is charging money. Hulu finds it profitable to discriminate because some regions bring them less ad revenue than others. Youtube on the other hand will profit equally from countries other than the US.

Comment Re:My word! (Score 1) 52

by kamikazearun (#30738110) Attached to: Swiss Millionaire Hit By Record Speed Fine

They don't hate cars, you exceedingly small prick, just the exceedingly small pricks that use them to break the law. Perhaps this is too difficult for a person with such an exceedingly small prick to understand.

People using their pricks for more than they were intended cause posts like parent
Technology

Submission + - GM rolls the last big block V-8 off the line (buffalonews.com)

Submitted by
DesScorp
DesScorp writes: "It's the end of an era in auto technology, as the very last big block V-8 engine from GM has rolled off the production line. The L18 engine was the last variant of an engine that had been in continuous production for over 50 years. The big blocks powered everything from the classic muscle cars of the 60's and 70's, to heavy duty trucks today. News last June triggered a rush of orders for the engine. The Buffalo News reported "When GM said last June the L18 would be eliminated by year’s end, the announcement triggered another show of devotion to the product. Some customers ordered two years’ worth of L18s, to put on the shelf for future use". More than 5 million big blocks have been produced over the engine's history."
Cellphones

Android's Success a Threat To Free Software? 416

Posted by Soulskill from the unintended-consequences dept.
Glyn Moody writes "Two years after its launch, Google's Linux-based Android platform is finally making its presence felt in the world of smartphones. Around 20,000 apps have been written for it. Although well behind the iPhone's tally, that's significantly more than just a few months ago. But there's a problem: few of these Android apps are free software. Instead, we seem to be witnessing the birth of a new hybrid stack — open source underneath, and proprietary on top. If, as many believe, mobile phones will become the main computing platform for most of the world, that could be a big problem for the health of the free software ecosystem. So what, if anything, should the community be doing about it?"
Google

Submission + - Android's Success a Threat to Free Software? (linuxjournal.com)

Submitted by Glyn Moody
Glyn Moody writes: Two years after its launch, Google's Linux-based Android platform is finally making its presence felt in the world of smartphones. Around 20,000 apps have been written for it: although well behind the iPhone's tally, that's significantly more than just a few months ago. But there's a problem: few of these Android apps are free software. Instead, we seem to be witnessing the birth of a new hybrid stack: open source underneath, and proprietary on top. If, as many believe, mobile phones will become the main computing platform for most of the world, that could be a big problem for the health of the free software ecosystem. So what, if anything, should the community be doing about it?

Submission + - When Developers Work Late, Should Manager Stay? (earthweb.com) 4

Submitted by jammag
jammag writes: A veteran developer looks back — in irritation — at those times he had to work late, and his unskilled manager stayed too, just to look over his shoulder and add worry and fret to the process. Now that same developer, lo and behold, is a manager himself — and recently stayed late to ride herd over late-working developers. "And guess what? Yep, I hadnâât coded in years and never in the language he had to work with." Yet now he understood: his own butt was on the line so he was staying put. Still, does it really help developers to have management hovering in late evening, even if the boss handles pizza delivery?
Transportation

Submission + - A Requiem for Saab

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The NY Times reports that auto enthusiasts across the country are dismayed by the news that General Motors is planning to shut down Saab, the Swedish carmaker it bought two decades ago, after a deal to sell it fell apart. Even with its modest and steadily declining sales, Saab, an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, or Swedish Airplane Company, long stood out as a powerful brand in spite of itself. “It wasn’t designed to be a fashion statement,” says Ron Pinelli, president of Autodata, which tracks industry statistics. “It was designed to provide transportation under miserable weather conditions.” Many Saab owners consider the brand’s glory days to be the 1980s, when Americans began buying cars again after a recession and energy crisis. “The cars were communicative,” says Pinelli. “They didn’t try to numb the experience like cars do today.” The cars had odd touches and appealed to those who appreciate the unconventional. Swedish engineers assumed drivers would be wearing gloves, so they designed big buttons for the dashboard. Though the cars were compact, with long hoods and short rear ends, there was plenty of headroom inside. Now Saab, a brand that once had one of the clearest identities in the industry, seems headed for extinction just as automakers are searching for more distinctive designs to help set them apart. “It’s a shame that Saab is a victim,” adds Pinelli ."

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