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Ars Technica reports
A second-tier German professional basketball team has been relegated to an even lower tier as a result of being penalized for starting a recent game late—because the Windows laptop that powered the scoreboard required 17 minutes to perform system updates.
The March 13 match between the Chemnitz Niners and the Paderborn Baskets was set to begin normally, when Paderborn (the host) connected its laptop to the scoreboard in the 90 minutes leading up to the game.
In an interview with the German newspaper, Die Zeit (Google Translate), Patrick Seidel, the general manager of Paderborn Baskets said that at 6:00pm, an hour and a half before the scheduled start time, the laptop was connected "as usual."
"But as both teams warmed up, the computer crashed," he said. "When we booted it again at 7:20pm, it started automatically downloading updates. But we did not initiate anything."
After all the updates were installed, Paderborn was ready to start the game at 7:55pm.
By the end of the match, Paderborn won 69-62. But then Chemnitz formally protested, saying that because Paderborn had delayed the start time of the match by 25 minutes (instead of the 15-minute maximum as allowed under the German basketball rules), they should be penalized. As a result, Paderborn lost another point in the standings (Google Translate), according to a Basketball Budesliga press release, which meant that it would certainly be relegated to the "ProB" league of German pro basketball.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 09 2015, @03:26AM
I mean obstacles in getting your business going ;)
Fighting people in a position of power inside a company is a rigged playing field.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday April 09 2015, @07:40AM
I would say primarily operating capital.
I have to do everything myself, and there are a lot of things I have very little experience in. Enormous amounts of time get wasted... #1 culprit being forms governments require in order to open shop. I have avoided the issue so far by going under the radar and not involving anyone else in my affairs. The instant I hire someone, I leave myself very vulnerable to not filling out all the paperwork governments at all levels expect.
So, I end up spending a lot of time doing a lot of things that have no bearing on my product, simply because I cannot afford an accountant and tax attorney to interface to my government for me and get permission to operate in exchange for exaction of tax.
Hell, trying to research the tax owed costs me a lot more in time than the tax itself.
Although I would like to sell my stuff to businesses, for now I cannot afford to as much as accept payments from them, as the costs of processing the paperwork to government standards would overwhelm me. I keep hearing about all this "help" governments are supposed to be making available to small business, but the biggest help they could possibly give me is just get out of my life and let me try to get this thing started. Some of my Mexican friends have this down pat... they only work for homeowners, who cannot deduct expenses, for cash.
So, for now, I have been applying my product line to stuff I do for small business that hires me as a contractor. They 1099 me, and I pay the tax on that, and everyone goes away happy. I simply do not have the time to design my product and understand all the tax code. I guess in a country as prosperous as the United States, its not very important that people actually produce anything. If it was, our tax code would encourage, not discourage, productivity. For now, they even see fit to take what little I do get which leaves me just that much less to work with.
I am just happy I foresaw the writing on the wall and prepared for the "seven years of drought". I have a lot to learn on the business aspect of this, and likely will just end up taking social security in a few years. From what I can see, there just isn't all that much call for people who do what I do. A lot of skilled tradesmen have the same story as manufacturing goes overseas. I thought I was doing the right thing studying engineering, but in hindsight, I should have gone into auto mechanics. Only reason I do this is because this is what I was "wired" to do, just as some were wired for art, music, sports, or whatever their passion is.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 09 2015, @12:34PM
Move to another country where regulations are more business friendly?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday April 10 2015, @01:04AM
That is definitely in the cards.
For right now, I just want to get this running. Where the weather is such that I can develop and test this thing.
I am so convinced this thing will work that I am devoting every resource I have left to it, and flat refuse to have anyone else involved. Especially investors.
Once I have the whole thing known good design, I will then be free to take what resources I have left and reconstruct another one somewhere else. Out of the jurisdiction of the takers.
I saw where in the old company I used to work for, there were like three people who "made it happen". Once the financial and government crowd got involved, the fire went out.
Very few can kindle the fire of innovation. However, any entity funded by cash-rich entities such as the government or investment groups can hire the skills to put the fire out.
Its also my belief that more than half of the people here on this forum have seen that same thing happen... personally.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 10 2015, @01:26AM
Guess the answer is to exclude, manage or deceive those entities?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday April 10 2015, @03:15AM
Exclude. They are about as helpful as tin whiskers on solder joints.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]