Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"

[tServo]

OK, here's a fleet of drones playing Also Sprach Zarathusrta, Carol of the Bells, and The Star Spangled Banner: http://arstechnica.com/information-t...-musical-band/

I especially like the custom slide guitar !

[Xyzzy]

…slide guitar…

[kladner]

Originally Posted by tServo

Courtesy of a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, our Lord prefers a shotgun when not using His samurai sword.
It's near the end of this 2 minute clip: http://vimeo.com/59975315

Seems OK to me.

[tServo]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Jimi Hendrix would be proud !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ppmcMiLn_I

I wonder what's harder; playing with your teeth or with a spoon in your teeth?

[chalsall]

From: Amazon Web Services, LLC

Dear Amazon Web Services Customer,

Your AWS Account will be suspended. You have not resolved the outstanding problem with your account. Our previous communications were not able to produce a satisfactory payment of past due AWS charges. We were unable to charge your credit card for the amount of $1.32 for your use of AWS services during the month of Mar-2014. We will attempt to collect this amount again. Unless we are successful in collecting the balance of $1.32 in full by 04/30/2014, your Amazon Web Services account will be terminated.

ROFLMFAO...

I was testing their service -- and I actually found it rather lacking. To the best of my knowledge, I didn't use anything beyond the promised "free testing year".

But, hell, they dare to try to scare me with a $1.32 charge!

Go fsck yourself. And try to sue me for the damages.

Trust me that I will never use, nor no-longer recommend, your service.

[Batalov]

There is no such thing as a "free testing year". There is the "free tier" and only basic elements are included with it. If, e.g. you add a provisioned storage (EBS), or any of other innumerable little things, then a few cents will be charged.

This is like drinking free coffee at a diner, but then also eating a muffin. Sure, you can get away with leaving without paying - but the diner's owner simply will not serve you ever again. He will not go to court with you for the dollar-and-change.

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by Batalov

This is like drinking free coffee at a diner, but then also eating a muffin. Sure, you can get away with leaving without paying - but the diner's owner simply will not serve you ever again. He will not go to court with you for the dollar-and-change.

I understand that.

I was very careful to only use the storage and CPU made available for the first year for testing. Then I shut everything down after I found it less than satisfactory.

I do, however, find it interesting that they sent me a "scary" message for a USD $1.32 bill.

"My god!!! I might be forbidden from EC3!!! What ever will I do!?!?!?"

[Mini-Geek]

Originally Posted by chalsall

I do, however, find it interesting that they sent me a "scary" message for a USD $1.32 bill.

"My god!!! I might be forbidden from EC3!!! What ever will I do!?!?!?"

If it helps, it was probably an automated thing. For serious users of AWS, an interruption/termination of their service would be a big deal (and the cost is probably significant), so a scarily-worded email is useful.

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by Mini-Geek

If it helps, it was probably an automated thing. For serious users of AWS, an interruption/termination of their service would be a big deal (and the cost is probably significant), so a scarily-worded email is useful.

if ($Outstanding < 5 && $TrialTester == 1) { next; }

This isn't rocket science....

[tServo]

Originally Posted by chalsall

"My god!!! I might be forbidden from EC3!!! What ever will I do!?!?!?"

I remember having a running battle with a magazine subscription department decades ago over a trivial charge like this. I then sent them a payment for all of it except 1 cent. The threatening letters persisted until I finally got the "We will refer this to our attorney" threat. I then got a letter from the attorney saying the matter was closed! I wonder how much it cost them?

However, I wouldn't do that now due to credit rating systems in place. They are likely to report you and this would appear on your credit report and possibly affect interest rates and credit score, even tho it's a trivial amount. It might just be recorded as an overdue or delinquent account with no amount. Just my 2 cents.

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by tServo

However, I wouldn't do that now due to credit rating systems in place. They are likely to report you and this would appear on your credit report and possibly affect interest rates and credit score, even tho it's a trivial amount. It might just be recorded as an overdue or delinquent account with no amount. Just my 2 cents.

A very important and insightful point!

There is a lot to be said for the attitude that one should pay in cash when and where possible, and only borrow from friends and family.

That said... At least in North America one is allowed to review one's credit report at least once a year for free. I remember going into an office and asking for my credit report, and then the woman at the terminal bringing up the record.

"Oh", she said, "that's wrong" (deleting a record), "Oh, and that's wrong" (deleting another record). I stopped her there, and asked her to print out the records still in the database.

There were several records which were "wrong" which were negatively affecting my credit rating.

It is trivial for someone to put a negative entry on your record. Even for a few cents. And you likely will never know about it, unless you explicitly ask.

Ask.