• more about #failure more comments →
    ZLevee: Some people, having not realized they were overpaid, might no longer be financially in a position to return the overage. If they are subjected to some... more »
    frigg: This is what happens when everything is written down on paper, filed, and lost. Microsoft should really look into computerizing their records, and usi... more »
    holographicProfessorMoriarty: and you could always pay them back in rolls of pennies :D more »
    holographicProfessorMoriarty: if you are over paid on the way out the door... just how are they going to get the money back anyway? more »
    Truth Bringer :D: I'd have to go with the cliche' "The Check's in the mail"... NOT or the ever popular " I never recieved the letter." They sent or handed these people ... more »
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: What was the accounting department using, MS Money? more »
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: Looking at the size of the blocked out area I'd say that is a good $1000+ they're asking for back... more »
    GiltProto: This is what happens when you use Microsoft database software. more »
    tillman: Were the payroll guys who made the mistake laid off? more »
    Samifumi: I'd tell them to f*ck themselves and keep the money (unless there is a contractual provision breached on which they can sue). more »
  • #failure

    Microsoft Cuts 1,400 Employees And Then Asks For Severance Package Refunds

    What's the best way to create an HR firestorm in three easy steps? If you're Microsoft, layoff 1,400 employees, give them severance on the way out, and then ask for part of it back. More »
  • #mobileme

    MobileMe "Not up to Apple's Standards," Says Steve Jobs

    We all know that Apple's MobileMe had a difficult birth: but it's quite another thing to be able to read the criticisms of the service from his Steveness himself. And over at Ars Technica they've got hold of an internal Apple email that Steve Jobs sent out to Apple employees detailing his displeasure that MobileMe was "not up to Apple's Standards." It needed both more time in testing, and a piece-by-piece launch, rather than attempting to launch it as a "monolithic service," he thinks. More »
  • #prematureexcavation

    First Time Jitters Cause Inaugural Mars Lander Load To Miss Target

    Our favorite Martian gadget of the moment is experiencing some performance anxiety. While all of Phoenix's parts are working just fine, including the 8-foot scoop arm, the little guy just couldn't seal the deal when NASA scientists gave the green light to scoop dirt and put the bun in the oven. None of the inaugural sample made it into the first oven, you see, and scientists at the University of Arizona are scrambling today to find out why. More »
  • #oops

    Fournier's Skydiving Record Attempt Fails When His Balloon Floats Away

    Bad news for wannabe record breaker Michel Fournier. While he was foiled by weather yesterday in his attempt to freefall from 25 miles up, today he was foiled by what appears to be ineptitude. The weather was fine. The problem? His fancy balloon that was supposed to take him up so high wasn't attached properly while they were filling it and floated away. Uh, oops? No word on whether or not he's going to try again or slink away with his tail between his legs in embarrassment. When even the news broadcasters are making fun of you for failing, you know it's been a bad day. [BBC]
  • #gaming

    The Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death Shirt

    Finally joined the Xbox 360 red ring club? Make it official with this Red Ring of Death T-Shirt from Split Reason. Besides the 2001 reference and the HAL-esque design of the lights, you'll also make a bold fashion statement when wearing this—one that says, "Hey, I'm not too proud to admit I play Xbox, but I've also been forcibly deprived of it and made to go outdoors for 22 days while it was in for repair. The line starts here, ladies." That, unfortunately, doesn't fit on a shirt. [SplitReason via Joystiq]
  • #gaming

    Xbox 360 Failure Rate: 30%, Says Retailers

    We always knew the Xbox 360 failure rate was high, but the only time Microsoft's put any sort of solid numbers on the thing it was always somewhere around 5%. Retailers, on the other hand, have just reported a failure rate of somewhere over 30%. That's pretty ridonkulous. It's a good thing Microsoft support is usually pretty good about taking them back, so you don't have to go all Picard and shout about how many lights there are over the phone. More »
  • #failure

    Tablet Mouse is a Crappy Version of Both

    Hey, look, a dumb idea! The Hanwang (LOL) Two-in-One Tablet Mouse combines a small, nearly useless tablet and a big, awkward mouse. Fortunately, this is a product too poorly thought out to make it to American shores. It's instead doomed to a life of dust-gathering on Far East electronics store shelves, otherwise known as where bad ideas go to die. Try harder next time, Hanwang. –Adam Frucci More »
  • #gadgets

    Google Teaches Us Five Things About Hard Drive Death

    Robin over at StorageMojo waded thought Google's "Failure Trends in a Large Disk Population," a document that details the search engine's first hand experience with hard drive failure rates by way of polling 100,000 of their own drives. More »
  • #gadgets

    Exploded Satellite-Launching Seacraft Finds its Way Home

    Remember last week when that un-manned satellite launch didn't go so well? The large Sea Launch launch pad that the satellite exploded on is actually making its way back to land under it's own power. The massive explosion had me thinking that this seacraft would have an underwater burial, but I was wrong. Too bad this technology doesn't work for vehicles or my broken 1998 Cavalier would have already driven itself to the mechanic. Jump for more pictures. Thanks, Josh More »
  • #gadgets

    Uh-Oh: Satellite Launch Ends in Tremendous Explosion

    Let's start your day off with a bang: This is what happens when an unmanned launch vehicle with nearly a million pounds of fuel on board explodes. As the 209-foot Zenit-3SL rocket slumped to its Sea Launch platform, an enormous conflagration consumed its payload, a 96-transponder communications satellite belonging to SES New Skies. More »
  • #digitalcameras

    Like a Frog in a Pot of Boiling Water, Camera Makers are Slowly Dying

    Very nice article about the death of film camera makers. From Konica Minolta to Kodak, these folks are getting nailed left and right. That, however, is the way the cookie crumbles. For example, I was just talking to a friend who bought a 35mm Canon Rebel. He told me "This will be the last film camera I ever buy." While he had a point—it's a good camera and you can take good pictures with film—he eventually succumbed and bought a digital Rebel. While there's no accounting for taste and there is an immense body of work that proves that film is in many ways superior to the bit-fiddling that goes on inside a CCD, there's just no way to warrant the purchase of a film camera in this day and age, especially on the consumer side. More »
  • #cellphones

    ESPN Phone Cheaper, On Way Out

    ESPN's Sanyo 900 aka the MVP is selling for $99 and, well, who cares? The $499 video phone sank upon release and it appears that ESPN Mobile is either updating the line or dropping the idea entirely, as this newly cheap Sanyo is available "while supplies last" which in carrier-speak means "we have lots of these in a warehouse in Taipei and we don't have enough fire insurance to make torching the place worthwhile." More »