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Comment Re:i ignore voice mail (Score 1) 393

...I have a coworker that leaves 3+ minute messages for me...

Yes, I have a client who does that as well. He is usually "thinking out loud" and ends up answering his own question by the end of the message (he dose the same thing in emails!).

A voice message doesn't need to be more than 30-40 seconds. Just enough information so that I know what you want with the possibility that I can give an answer if I get _your_ v-mail.
A message of "Give me a call" is almost as bad as the 3+ minute dissertation.

Comment Re:i ignore voice mail (Score 1) 393

They'll call you back or text you if their not already dead. That's happened to me like 3 times... I ignore voice mail too.

Wow, 3 people died after leaving you voice messages. Tough neighborhood;-)

Seriously, if I leave someone a voice message and they aren't ready to respond to my questions when they call back I won't be doing business with them for long.

I also expect a message from anyone calling me so I am prepared to answer their questions when I call them back (at my convenience). If they don't leave a message I assume they changed their mind about talking to me or they dialed the wrong number.

Maybe this is a generational thing?

Power

CFLs Causing Utility Woes 859

dacut writes "We've seen compact fluorescent lamps start to take over shelf space at the local hardware store. Replacing a 60 watt incandescent with a 13 watt CFL seems like a great savings, though many consumers are disappointed with the slow warm-up times, lower-than-advertised lifetimes, and hassles of disposing the mercury-containing bulbs. Now EDN reports they may use more energy than claimed due to their poor power factor. Mike Grather, of Lumenaire Testing Laboratory, 'checked the power factor for the CFLs and found they ranged from .45 to .50. Their "real" load was about twice that implied by their wattage.' The good news: you're only billed for the 13 watts of real power used. The bad news: the utilities have to generate the equivalent of 28 watts (that is, 28 VA of apparent power for you EEs out there) to light that bulb. Until they fix these issues, I'll hold on to my incandescents and carbon arc lamps, thanks."

Comment Re:Memtest not perfect. (Score 4, Interesting) 724

While you're testing memory using Memtest, the GPU is not used at all, for example. When playing a game and/or running some heavy compile-jobs, on the other hand, overall power usage will be much higher.

I think memtest is a good first level test - it will pinpoint gross errors in memory. But probably won't detect more subtle problems. For me the best extended test is to enable all the opengl screen savers and let the system run overnight cycling through each of them. If the system doesn't crash with this it will probably be solid under a normal load. For me this has been the best test of overall system stability. Unfortunately if it fails won't know exactly what is wrong.

The Courts

Internet-Caused Mistrials Are On the Rise 414

The NYTimes is running a tip-of-the-iceberg story about how the age of Google is resulting in more mistrials as the traditional rules of evidence, honed over many centuries, collide with the always-on Internet. Especially when jurors carry the always-on Internet in their pockets. (We discussed one such case recently.) "The use of BlackBerrys and iPhones by jurors gathering and sending out information about cases is wreaking havoc on trials around the country, upending deliberations and infuriating judges. ... Jurors are not supposed to seek information outside of the courtroom. They are required to reach a verdict based on only the facts the judge has decided are admissible, and they are not supposed to see evidence that has been excluded as prejudicial. But now, using their cellphones, they can look up the name of a defendant on the Web or examine an intersection using Google Maps, violating the legal system's complex rules of evidence."

Comment Re:No - Not at all (Score 1) 539

What he explicitly said is that the kindle creates extra value for the work. In return the people who created the material should share in that extra value.

Why should they share in the extra value? They had nothing to do with adding the value.

The fact that the Kindle has TTS makes it more popular. Isn't it enough that the more popular the Kindle is the more e-books will be sold over all?
The Guild should be doing everything they can to support their future medium.

Censorship

Startup Threatened Into Settling Over Hyperlinking 333

An anonymous reader writes "A tiny startup that was threatened by a massive law firm over nothing more than a humble hyperlink has been forced to settle and change its linking policies, handing Goliath the win in this gratuitous trademark case. Under the agreement, real estate startup BlockShopper can no longer include hyperlinks anywhere on its website to Jones Day, a massive Chicago law firm, except explicitly on URL text. Essentially, jonesday.com is okay, but not blah blah blah." I wonder if the owners of jonesdaysucks.com feel the same way.
Censorship

Lie Detector Company Threatens Critical Scientists With Suit 367

An anonymous reader writes "The Swedish newspaper DN reports that the Israeli company Nemesysco has sent letters to researchers at the University of Stockholm, threatening legal action if they do not stop publishing findings (Google translation). An article called 'Charlatanry in forensic speech science: A problem to be taken seriously' was pulled by the publisher after threats of a libel lawsuit." Online translations can be a little wonky; if your Swedish is as bad as mine, this English-language article describes the situation well.

Comment Re:Yeah (Score 1) 176

In school you might be close enough to talk, but talking might not be allowed, or desired. Texting is private and discreet (except many teachers will notice).

The most recent example I was given happened in a restaurant. Maybe it was just force of habit in that case but what does that say about paying attention in school? Kind of like sitting next to someone and constantly whispering back and forth.

If you look round you'll probably see your younger co-workers texting friends.

You are right about that at least those with blackberrys and iphones. Although more often they are on chat talking to the person in the next cubicle;-)

Comment Re:Yeah (Score 1) 176

Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I don't understand the appeal of texting. First off, emailing is free so there's no point paying for a text. And second, I'd rather HEAR the person I'm communicating with.

It's my understanding that much of the texting kids do today is to friends that are near enough that just talking without any electronics involved would work. This according to a co-worker who who has 3 girls in HS and 2 in college.

And to think my parents didn't understand why I would use a walkie-talkie to talk to my friend two houses down when I was a kid;-)

Comment Re:Netflix Handles It (Score 1) 235

Remember, however, that Netflix doesn't show you the rating of a movie; it shows you its best estimate of how well you will like the movie.

No, it gives both the average rating of people who have watched the same movies as you and the total average of all ratings for the movie.
Example:
Average of raters like you: 4.5 stars
Average of 254,138 ratings: 4.1 stars


Otherwise you make some very good points.

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