How will we ever conquer those mindless savages from across the galaxy?

I remember their horrible store layout with a diamond-shaped center section in the middle blocking the view of half the store from the entrance. It felt like I was doing a dungeon crawl just to get to the back where they had their CDs, videos, and video games. They were opening new stores with a proper big-box layout a few years before they crashed, but at the end there were still stores with that original layout.

There was a Fry's two blocks away and you still went to Best Buy? I hope you've learned your lesson.

Then you didn't look around enough. They should have a full aisle full of component parts on hang cards. (The hang card probably doubles the cost of the cheaper parts, but makes it possible to display them sanely.) Also, as of a few months ago, Fry's now has Arduino and Propeller stuff next to the dusty old Basic Stamp stuff.

And don't underestimate Wal-Mart. They're already killing off weaker grocery chains. (But you're still not going to see Arduino or a 5-pack of resistors on Wal-Mart shelves.)

I once had to get a "camcorder" A/V cable (1/8" 4-pin plug) on a Sunday in San Antonio (Fry's is 100 miles away, Altex is closed), and while it wasn't the first place I went, I ended up paying $35 for one at a mall Radio Shack. Sometimes just having the right part at the right time is worth a few bucks.

The reason I had to get it was that my mom got a new TV. It had plenty of HDMI ports, and one component (to which I hooked up the DVD player), but the Wii doesn't do digital out, and the only other analog video input was a 1/8" plug.

I was at the Austin one a week or two ago. The retail internal HD shelf was pretty bare, but they did have a few different kinds available. I didn't even look at the panel where they put the OEM drive prices. Good thing I got me a 2TB before the floods.

When I return defective stuff to Fry's, I make sure they RTV it. Also, I think there's a "three strikes rule" on re-stickering. I must have returned a stickered item once because I didn't want it and they RTVed it even though it was still okay.

In any case, I'm sure it depends on the employee if you don't go out of the way to encourage them to RTV a broken item. I'm sure a place like Fry's doesn't do much to keep motivated employees around or pay them enough to care. (though they're still probably a fraction better than the average big box place)

If only we could moderate article headlines and summaries as "-1, Flamebait".

So why wasn't his password EFPTOZ?

I thought it was "CPE1704TKS".

...or was it Zero Zero Zero Destruct Zero?