at least as far as digital photography goes is digital photography review They have tons of camera reviews, specs, samples, etc., tho they are tilted a bit towards the high-end side.
So I went to a local Best Buy in the bay area to check this out, and the place was quite a zoo. There was a separate line for people with the MSN instant rebates, and it was moving quite slowly; the sales manager had, at his discretion, limited the rebate to purchases of a single item (it sounds to me like the contract gives him the ability to do this, but it's really not very clear). The woman in front of me in line was quite upset about this, and claimed that stores in Milpitas and L.A. were allowing multiple-item purchases.
Best Buy was actually almost out of forms when I got there; however, my friend snagged a couple from somewhere in the back of the store. A woman I talked to up front was printing more out, but I am not sure if she actually got around to handing them out -- it seemed like they were trying to limit the number of people making purchases that day.
I hung around the front of the line for a while, and people were succesfully completing purchases (of a single, expensive item) with a rebate; they received their MSN accounts on the spot (oh boy). However, the line was moving at a snail's pace, and at around 8:15 someone announced on the PA that registers would close at 9:00 and they would not be able to process any more requests at that point. He explicitly stated that the program would continue through March, and suggested (pleaded) that people come back later. He made a similar announcement a few more times, although the closing time moved back to 9:15; my friends decided to take off, and I followed them, since I didn't want them to have to walk home. As we were leaving, one of my friends claimed he heard the sales manager say the Mercury would be printing a retraction tomorrow, but I cannot think of any reason to believe the sales manager. He seemed a little slimy. I suppose we'll find out more tomorrow.
I have read through the OR/CA offer thoroughly any number of times, and it seems very clear that the buyer is in no way obligated to repay MS in the event of cancellation, and the buyer is also not obliged to continue using MSN for any specific period of time. The offer is valid until 3/31/00; it seems to me that the only thing MS and Best Buy could do would be to switch to mail-in rebates, instead of instant credit (there is a line which says they may do that).
At any rate, pending any bizarre revelations, I plan to take advantage of this offer in the next few days. I would even be willing to get stuck with a month or two of MSN charges.
Go to this story for a less reactionary take on the article than the one with MSNBC spin. It's still bad, but this article says that they are _not_ banning the teaching of evolution, but neither are they promoting it.
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at least as far as digital photography goes is digital photography review
They have tons of camera reviews, specs, samples, etc., tho they are tilted a bit towards the high-end side.
if that first link doesn't work, try
http://photo.askey.net/
Yeah, I mean what are the chances v1.0 software will be full of bugs?
disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
So I went to a local Best Buy in the bay area to check this out, and the place was quite a zoo. There was a separate line for people with the MSN instant rebates, and it was moving quite slowly; the sales manager had, at his discretion, limited the rebate to purchases of a single item (it sounds to me like the contract gives him the ability to do this, but it's really not very clear). The woman in front of me in line was quite upset about this, and claimed that stores in Milpitas and L.A. were allowing multiple-item purchases.
Best Buy was actually almost out of forms when I got there; however, my friend snagged a couple from somewhere in the back of the store. A woman I talked to up front was printing more out, but I am not sure if she actually got around to handing them out -- it seemed like they were trying to limit the number of people making purchases that day.
I hung around the front of the line for a while, and people were succesfully completing purchases (of a single, expensive item) with a rebate; they received their MSN accounts on the spot (oh boy). However, the line was moving at a snail's pace, and at around 8:15 someone announced on the PA that registers would close at 9:00 and they would not be able to process any more requests at that point. He explicitly stated that the program would continue through March, and suggested (pleaded) that people come back later. He made a similar announcement a few more times, although the closing time moved back to 9:15; my friends decided to take off, and I followed them, since I didn't want them to have to walk home. As we were leaving, one of my friends claimed he heard the sales manager say the Mercury would be printing a retraction tomorrow, but I cannot think of any reason to believe the sales manager. He seemed a little slimy. I suppose we'll find out more tomorrow.
I have read through the OR/CA offer thoroughly any number of times, and it seems very clear that the buyer is in no way obligated to repay MS in the event of cancellation, and the buyer is also not obliged to continue using MSN for any specific period of time. The offer is valid until 3/31/00; it seems to me that the only thing MS and Best Buy could do would be to switch to mail-in rebates, instead of instant credit (there is a line which says they may do that).
At any rate, pending any bizarre revelations, I plan to take advantage of this offer in the next few days. I would even be willing to get stuck with a month or two of MSN charges.
Go to this story for a less reactionary take on the article than the one with MSNBC spin. It's still bad, but this article says that they are _not_ banning the teaching of evolution, but neither are they promoting it.