Gearfuse

Did you think that all of your movies were shoved into those little red envelopes using a huge array of machines? Up until today, we thought that much of the Netflix system was ran by software and machinery, but as it turns out, a lot of manual human labor goes into the Netflix shipping cycle.

At the Netflix plant in Northborough, Massachusetts, about 50 employees sort through and repackage DVDs, manually deciding which are fit for recirculation. Employees sift through about 700 discs an hour. Some of the depots have repackaging machines which can stuff around 3,000 envelopes an hour, but many are still done manually. Save the Netflix crew some work and start streaming all the movies you can. More action after the jump. (more…)

Oh, Microsoft. You love to just fuck things up royally, don’t you? You almost have a certain knack for it it seems. This time around, Microsoft is now declaring that it will no longer pay for shipping on broken Xbox 360 units. Says Consumerist reader Zach:

“My Xbox red-ringed for the second time this weekend. Which is almost a relief after hearing how bad my disc drive was sounding, but not so much after hearing the new policy. I was told that Xbox no longer ships out a box to you and you must find a box to ship it out in. Yeah I guess its not a big deal, but I think it gives them another thing to hold over your head; “We are sorry, Sir, but you didn’t back it well enough and it appears the damage was due to shipping, we cannot help you.”

See? Fucking the customer squarely in the ass once again. Get a goddamned clue, will you already, Microsoft? I’m so sick of writing about how you constantly subject the public to pain and terrible excuses. It’ll come back to haunt you fuckers one day, I’m sure of it.

Link

Some online retailer is selling the HTC Dream, otherwise known as the T-Mobile G1 and Google Phone, unlocked and ready to roll. Get ‘em while they’re hot. At $700 a pop, however, I’d think twice about plunking down that hard-earned cash. That is, unless you’re a drug dealer. Then it’s not hard-earned whatsoever.

Link