I work in higher ed in the state of Wisconsin. We, of course, have a purchasing contract (a mandatory one no less). Because of this, I've been working with Dell (ordering PCs and doing warranty replacements) for a long time now.

In the past, even just 3 years ago, Dell would bend over backwards for us. We got waived on the fees and got waived through the "exams" for warranty parts replacement certification. We could also could get spare parts on hand for PCs. Lastly, we got huge discounts for the UW System and for personal purchasing. Now, however, our sales rep is forcing us to take these stupid, 2 hour exams for replacing parts. We are, of course, overworked and understaffed and I have no time in my week to sit down and "learn" how to replace RAM or swap a power supply. Yet Dell will not budge. When I questioned our sales rep on this he became irate and downright pissy with me.

But, that point is moot really when one looks at the atrocity that is the DOSD (Dell Online Self Dispatch) that replaced the Warranty Parts Direct site. Before my certs expired I needed to get a new DVD R/W drive. I had to scroll through lists and lists of parts, many of which were printer parts, server parts, plastic bezel pieces, etc...things that had nothing to do with the service tag of a standard desktop system.

Dell has hit bottom. Their customer service is shit, their tech support is horrible, and the issues with the bad caps was pretty much the last straw (it's OK to have bad components; the bad part is how they tried to cover it up). I'm done with Dell. I won't recommend them to anyone now.

I wonder what the MCAT/SAT/ACT/PSAT proctors would say if you came in with an arm full of math fodder during a placement or aptitude test. I imagine that would be an interesting conversation:

Aptitude Test Proctor: "Say, what are those tattoos you have there?"

Sam Submitter: "Well, we have Fermi's Law here, the Pythagorean Theorem here, Henry's Law, Hook's Law, Pi..."

Aptitude Test Proctor: "Um...well, I...uh...erm, hmm. But you don't have a calculator, right?"

Sam Submitter: "Uh, no. But I do have the TI-80 schematics tatooed on my chest. Is that OK"

Aptitude Test Proctor: "Um, yeah?"

I used to help find and fix bugs quite a lot. I'd write up the procedure, send screenshots, and then test the fix. About 5-6 years ago this worked well - I'd document and find bugs at essentially the same time and developers would be able to pinpoint code that needed to be updated or fixed and that was that.

Sometime in the last few years, however, it appears that code, whether correct or incorrect, well-written or hastily hacked together, is tied directly to the author's ego. Finding a bug became the same as criticizing their mother's birthright (and this is NOT just the open source community, where pride rarely goeth before a fall as it is, but most coders I know now fall into this category). Not only that, but most developers are so focused on Feature! Feature! Feature! that they let bug reports languish in some tracking software while, all the while, new Feature! Feature! Feature! is written and buggy as well. Thus the cycle is complete.

I've written poor code before and reacted poorly to criticism. The difference is, I stopped writing code and went into support and any criticism I get I use to try and improve myself (unless the criticism contains words which the filter won't allow me to type :/). But until ego is separated from product it is difficult, nay, impossible to write good bug reports without someone thinking you just have it in for them.

A good follow-up poll should ask "What is the earliest bug filed in your favorite open source project?". I bet we tap back into the mid 90's on some long-running projects (not to mention pages and pages of developer vs. end user back-and-forth drivel in the often-futile world of "My idea is better than yours.")

I give them admin rights with the agreement that, if they mess something up on their computer, they are on my schedule to be fixed (i.e., when it is convenient for me, not for them). So far I haven't had any issues whatsoever. Then again, we are a pretty small department.

My personal thoughts on the matter are simple: If the IT staff feels they can trust someone with local admin rights then that person should have them if necessary. If that person messes something up, even if it is unintentional (malware, deletes the boot.ini file, etc.) then they lose the privilege.

Obviously driving a car, truck, golf cart, etc. requires fine and gross motor skills. So if this gene is present does it affect only driving skills or other areas where fine and gross motor skills come into play? I'd like to see, for instance, if the 30% or so of people with this gene can't play video games on modern systems because they forget what the buttons do or just can't get the jumps, dives, runs, etc. down. It might also be interesting to see if neurosurgeons, sculptors, or sports players have this gene or not.

I used to buy lots and lots of DVDs. I still have a pretty decent collection after selling some and trading others. Then one day I was watching a new DVD ("Se7en", or "Seven") when it skipped. I watched it jostle and jiggle for a few minutes, ejected it, wiped it, same effect. Tried the upstairs DVD player. It was even worse.

The store I bought it from looked at the open shrink wrap and said "Sorry". They wouldn't even let me exchange it because, according to the manager, they'd have to eat the cost of it.

So having some free time I wrote to New Line Cinema, finding an address online for consumer feedback. I asked them if I could obtain another disc from them and I would gladly ship back the old one and pay to ship a new one to me. The canned response I received back basically told me I was SOL and to go buy another DVD at full cost. Have a nice day.

Instead, I now spend the equivalent to one DVD a month on Netflix, my fiance and I can each rent our own movies and return them whenever, and if it skips I have a new one in a day or two. I won't buy a DVD anymore unless I have a very compelling reason to, such as a gift for someone or if it is a movie I will enjoy over and over, such as "The Shawshank Redemption".

Like many, I am tired of paying $19.99 or higher for new DVDs and getting rebuked when the time came to get a replacement disc when another disc became unreadable. So I'll Netflix it, stream it if I am unsure about it, and rip it if I want a copy and it costs too much. I feel a little guilt, but then I remember how the store and New Line screwed me and then I feel OK with it. Bottom line: If you make it difficult for a customer to get something legally that he or she paid for, you better believe that customer will find ways to get around that (and keep getting around it). No one likes to be screwed. I just can't afford to be screwed as much as the studios, distributor, producers, etc. can.

After learning this was likely caused by a failed single SAN upgrade by Hitachi, I have to think that the architecture built to support the Sidekick didn't have an adequate budget to be built right.
Budgets ultimately decide what we techs/admins get to work with. We can always ask for what we want. But someone else (procurement, finance, project management, architect) can shoot it down, resulting in Plan B. And in most cases the person(s) signing/approving the final purchase order hasn't got a clue. By the time a failure occurs, the parties responsible for the system in place have long gone to their next position to screw up.

And i just finished using this superconductor to build a fusion reactor in my kitchen. I am also releasing the design with no patent protection.

I feel compelled to correct your signature:

I believe it's "for all intents and purposes", which would make more sense too.

First, there was less money going around - not "we made less and someone else made more".

Secondly, the job market always lags behind all other areas of the economy when going into a recovery. There will be jobs again, it just takes time to get back to where companies feel confident enough to hire / have enough business to justify hiring new people.

As for your last bit, that only applies if they somehow had TONS of money invested and sold it ALL at the same time. If you had that much invested, you wouldn't be the type to sell it all at once. Also, your last bit just sums up your jealousy that some people have more money than you.

Superconductivity was originally found in mercury, and it was turned off by magnetic fields. This turned out to be a distraction, since alloys and ceramics were discovered that had no such problem.

Some how I found a site, not quite what I was looking for, that mentions submitting filings on IBM 3480 or 3490 tape cartridge. Perfect!

I think I'd like to do this just to see the look on the face of the state employee that has to take such a cartridge...

Let it never be said California is some how behind the times technologically!

Ok Perhaps I'm missing something obvious...