ManyMedia

A new line item for our office budgets: replacement cars. This expense is getting harder to avoid, given hazardous roads, mindless drivers, and unexpected circumstances.

Costly air bags, expensive electronics, and lightweight body materials are driving up the cost of fixing new cars. Not only do many more parts have to be replaced rather than repaired, but fewer and fewer body shops can afford the special equipment and training required to do the work.’We’re moving closer and closer to the disposable car,’ says Dan Bailey, an executive vice president at Carstar, the largest auto-body repair franchise in the United States.

Devices automobile, car, disposable, repair, replace

Search engines boast a favored place in technology, but they fail if text can’t describe what you’re looking for.

In hopes of wrapping their arms around more of that stuff, computing researchers have developed new search engines that can mine catalogs of three-dimensional objects, like airplane parts or architectural features.

All the users have to do is sketch what they’re thinking of, and the search engines can produce comparable objects.

Content 3D, objects, search, text

I’ve been watching the notion of “customer support” swirl toward the drain lately. It’s not just the offshoring, certainly part of the larger problem. It’s the attitude, limits, impatience, downright surliness, anger and obliviousness in the support staff that lead me to believe that 1) the HR and management departments aren’t paying attention, 2) support staff isn’t being paid enough to care (is there “enough” for some of these jerks? I doubt it.), and/or 3) the companies don’t WANT to support their customers. After all, it’s only a HUGE expense to a company… why would they want to do it right?

For example, here’s an actual chat from Nov. 9, 2003. Note that this particular example is one of tech support not knowing the first thing about tech support. Happens here as well as there.

> Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly.

Tired of Spam? With Earthlink’s free spamBlocker you can customize your settings to eliminate all of your unwanted email!

>
Please wait for a site operator to respond. While you are waiting, please feel free to begin typing your issue in the box below. Try to be as descriptive as possible. Once an operator responds, click SEND to transmit what you have typed.

Tired of Spam? With Earthlink’s free spamBlocker you can customize your settings to eliminate all of your unwanted email!

> Please wait for a site
operator to respond. While you are waiting, please feel free to begin typing your
issue in the box below. Try to be as descriptive as possible. Once an operator
responds, click SEND to transmit what you have typed.

Tired of Spam? With Earthlink’s free spamBlocker you can customize your settings to eliminate all of your unwanted email!

>
‘Paneendar P’ says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?

[customer]:
seeking info on mailing lists at our domain: [our-domain.com] which currently are open to any-screwball-or-spammer-in-the-world can post. We want to change to members-only can post email to this list. Is there a config file for mailing lists? Or perhaps some kind of .file that will limit the list to being private?

Paneendar P:
Please hold on for a moment while I process your request.

Paneendar P:
To access certain features of your web hosting account such as password protection, POP accounts, PERL debug, site stats, etc, you will want to visit the Web Hosting Control Panel. It can be located at http://control.business.mindspring.com/#PFR#/WH/ATL/ControlPanel

[customer]:
yes, I’m there (in another window). In fact I’m in the post office manager where our two lists are. However there’s no way to change a list configuration.

[customer]:
That’s why I’m requesting your help

Paneendar P:
Please hold on while I work over the issue.

Paneendar P:
Are you able to see E-mail list in Post Office manager after logging into Control Panel ?

[customer]:
yes, but only the list names, and a “create” or “edit” or delete options. If I select one mailing list and choose edit, it only allows me to add or subtract members.

[customer]:
There are no options to change the list behavior or configuration.

[customer]:
That’s what I need.

Paneendar P:
Please let me know if you would like to set the e-mail list to members only right ?

[customer]:
yes, that’s right.

Paneendar P:
You can click on Edit -> Delete all the list that have and just add all the members in the mailing list.

[customer]:
I want the list open to members’ discussion, but I don’t want it open to spammers.

[customer]:
what good will it do to delete and re-create the list? That does not change its nature (open to anyone).

Paneendar P:
Yes. You need to add just the e-mail addresses of the members and the issue will be resolved. You need to delete any other e-mail address other than the member.

[customer]:
I don’t understand. Are you suggesting that if I “edit” the current mailing list, delete all the addresses then add them again, that fixes something?

Paneendar P:
No. I mean that click on Edit -> Delete all the addresses which you do not have in the list and then add the members in the list.

[customer]:
I still don’t understand. When you say “delete all the addresses which you do not have in the list,” what does that mean? If they are in the list, I have added them. There are no spammers listed as members. What’s the meaning of members that I do not have in the list? (If they’re not in the list, where would they be?)

Paneendar P:
Please let me confirm once again whether you are referring to any guestbook or e-mail mailing list.

[customer]:
do you need to confirm with me or someone else?

Paneendar P:
Yes. I mean with you only.

[customer]:
ok, I’m referring to an email list. This is what it says in the Post Office manager window, where the middle tab, Email List, is selected.

Paneendar P:
Yes. If you are referring to a mailing list, if you send the e-mail to a list, only the members in that mailing list will be able to receive the e-mail and not any spammer.

[customer]:
The spammers are not receiving email, they are sending email. The members of the list are receiving that spam email. This is what I’m trying to prevent.

Paneendar P:
I am sorry for any inconvenience caused or any confusion made. The spam e-mail is not due to mailing list and the spammers usually send the e-mail in some other way thinking that this would be a valid address. Also, unfortunately, there is no spam blocker for the Domain hosted accounts like @[our-domain.com] and is present for the Internet access e-mail addresses like @earthlink.net. If you have a dial up account, you can forward all the e-mail to an Internet access e-mail address and then set the spamblocker on the Internet Access e-mail address.

Paneendar P:
Else, you can just forward all the header information of the spam e-mail to abuse@earthlink.net

[customer]:
I am not trying to filter my mailing list. I AM trying to close the list so that it can not be used by anyone in the world. Will you please confirm that this can not be done?

Paneendar P:
Would you like to delete that mailing list ?

[customer]:
NO!

Paneendar P:
I am sorry. There is no such option so that you can set like no one else in the world other than the members can e-mail you.

[customer]:
Ok, thank you for your time.

Paneendar P:
You’re welcome and thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

>
Chat session has been terminated by the site operator. When you close the chat window a survey window will open. Please take a minute to fill in the survey and let us know how your chat session was.

Do I think there’s an answer to this problem? Sure, but not just one. Perhaps that’s the real problem: underlying uncertainty, bad attitudes, poor design which causes customers to call for help, departments that don’t talk to each other. SprintPCS is high on my list right now for being guilty of the latter: right hand promises that left hand bills for and argues about. An uncomfortable time for all.

Network Earthlink, help, ISP, relationships, technical support

New storage technology uses mostly paper as the medium. Very practical!

Using the disc-structure of Blu-ray Disc technology, the new paper disc has a total weight that is 51% paper. … “Using printing technology on paper allows a high level of artistic label printing on the optical disc. Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc.”

Devices data, paper, print, storage

Hertz claims the phrase “neverlost” but now technology may fulfill the dream for those not renting a car.

You are lost in a foreign city, you don’t speak the language and you are late for your meeting. What do you do? Take out your cellphone, photograph the nearest building and press send. For a small fee, photo recognition software on a remote server works out precisely where you are, and sends back directions that will get you to your destination.

Content cell phone, GPS, mobileTech, photo recognition

Touted as a potential fire suppression breakthrough, Sapphire is the latest marvel that may save homes, libraries and offices thousands of dollars in clean up costs. “It looks like water, but it’s not,” says Charles Gibson of Good Morning America.

As part of a demonstration, Pelton submerged several items into a tank of Sapphire that was on the Good Morning America set. Books did not get wet. Electronics were not be destroyed. Items that were submerged in the liquid were dried in a matter of seconds, and showed no ill effects according to Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and other members of the Good Morning America staff who saw items plunged into it.

Devices fire, fire suppression, water

The magazine c’t (Computertechnik) and RapidSolution Software have developed a way to get around all music copy protection schemes.

All CDs can be copied by recording the analogue output from a regular CD player, but reconfiguring the recorded data into a useable digital file can be time-consuming. UnCDcopy performs this task automatically. Once the analogue output has been captured, the program then checks with a database hosted by c’t to determine where the digital file should be split up, in order to make separate tracks for each song. The quality of this recording will be significantly less than that of a digital copy. Jim Peters, a representative of the UK’s Campaign for Digital Rights, agrees that the technique is low-tech, but says it should be effective. ‘This is like CD to tape copying, only brought into the 21st century,’ Peters told New Scientist. ‘It will let you defeat any copy prevention system, but in an obvious low-tech way.’

Content CD, copy protection, DRM

Online dispute resolution is a growing field. The Center has a blog, listserv, and lots of info. (Beware: the “database” of resources is a .doc file. heh.)

The Center exists to support and sustain the development of information technology applications, institutional resources, and theoretical and applied knowledge for better understanding and managing conflict. The Internet is global and thus conflict management resources and expertise can be delivered from anywhere asynchronously. We are only at the beginning of understanding how individuals separated by great physical, cultural, or technological distances can utilize resources and expertise virtually.

The Center views cyberspace is an increasingly significant part of our personal and professional lives. Cyberspace is not a harmonious place, and the Center is dedicated to understanding the nature and origins of online conflict and of appropriate responses to it. In addition, we conceive of the online environment as a “place” where increasingly powerful tools will be available for working to find solutions to many forms of offline/online conflict, whether they are public or private, whether they involve commercial transactions or other social relationships, and whether they are international or domestic.

Also see this Google search for more.

Content, Scenarios commercial, conflict, conflict management, dispute, dispute resolution, institutional, IT, online conflict, resources, social, virtual

Findlaw is trying to bring law (and lawyers) to the people with their new feature, Findlaw for the Public.

Welcome to FindLaw for the Public! This site is here to help you find solutions to your legal issues by providing you with easy and comprehensive access to lawyers and legal information. To get started, select a topic from the list below or search our directory of lawyers.

Starts out with a nice list of common problems, which takes you to a zip code request to respond with local resources.

I tried to get info on what to do about the neighborhood slackers who don’t pick up after their dog makes a pitstop on my lawn. (It’s really irritating to find those packages the next day as I’m running to my car.) Pets are in the real property section, but no specific advice was offered.

I may turn to video surveillance.

Content, Policy law, lawyers, legal, public

Will the courts get it right? Will the FCC? Who will be the first governmental body to show future wisdom in determining guidelines for our regulatory future?

A US court of appeal has rejected a request by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take another look at its October decision which defined cable TV companies as bit carriers, thereby falling under the FCC guidelines for telecommunications services.

If this court decision remains unchanged, it will mean that all of the wholesale and network sharing rulings that apply to US telcos will now apply to cable companies.

This is the reason that all the telco DSL providers in the US work hand-in-glove with ISPs, but so few of the cable TV companies deliver their services through ISPs. The same applies to Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs).

Network, Policy cable TV, CLEC, court, FCC, guidelines, ILEC, incumbents, telcos, telecom, telecommunications