I double-majored in criminal justice and psychology - my true intention was to go into law enforcement but I had always been interested in computers and technology. The second semester of my freshman year I worked for the university doing network and IT support for students in the dorms. That work experience opened my eyes and I decided to pursue a career in IT. I started out by working for a local phone company to get some soft skills, then slowly moved up to being a helpdesk support person, then helpdesk manager, then into server and network administration.
It is true that most companies look at work experience and not degrees - at least that has been my perception on both sides of the interview table. Many of the good IT folks I work with have degrees in accounting, business, and marketing. Some companies, though won't hire programmers unless they have demonstrable experience in the languages they need.
Essentially I would just make sure you get hands-on experience or take a few classes at a local community college in whatever area of IT interests you. Even a certificate goes to show that you're serious about educating yourself and that you can do the job.
...services but refuse to follow-through after the fact?
I am the network admin/server admin/helpdesk manager for a small online-based college (not private but part of a state system). Our department is moving to a new building in February or March so, of course, I wanted to order a single server to provide file, print, antivirus, WSUS, DHCP, and other necessary services for our office. We are well-positioned to grow in the next five years (which is our lease period for the new place) so a single server should be sufficient while allowing for additional capacity later on.
Of course, our central IT department insists that they will provide these services to us. Our new director is onboard with this (anything to save a few bucks I guess) despite my repeated warnings and lamentations of the lack of support and follow-through that central IT has always had. This is the same central IT who gives us 6 hours of notice before a 20 minute non-emergency web outage in the middle fo the week. This may not seem like much but when you are completely online-based AND registration is in full swing the outage is less than ideal. This is the same central IT that takes 4 hours to make a permission change on a share that only a few of us access (negating the need for change management). This is the very same central IT who lost an entire communications server because the backups were corrupt and they had it configured to run RAID 0 on two drives. And yes, this was a production server.
So earlier this week when I put in my request to have access for WSUS, DHCP, etc. with a month and a half of lead time for them to figure things out I was told that they have several high-priority projects that they are working on now and cannot do this until February 1st.
I am compiling a list of issues already but I am not looking forward to the stares and glances I'll get from my coworkers when the server goes down or "maintenance" is conducted without warning at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. Our CIO can't manage to extract herself from a paper bag let alone an entire IT shop. The next few months are really going to be quite painful methinks.
I'm just sick and tired of the big IT departments that insist on providing services but no/slow support. All it is for them is a control issue and it drives me nuts. I think the last straw was when the tech ops director told my boss that "anyone in [citking's] position would ask for one just to have as a toy." This is why I sometimes hate my job.
Probably because I was 1) unaware of that process and 2) thinking that a simple edit shouldn't necessarily require an appeals process. Even now that I am aware of it the time commitment behind adding any sort of information to an article (add & cite, have it reverted, appeal, talk, discuss more, re-edit, reverted again, repeat ad nauseum) is just too great now. I don't need Wikipedia that much and if that community is going to be resistant to change then so be it.
My guess was that this was done under my IP address (before I had my account and before one was required to edit). I'm not sure I can find the exact edit.
All the edit was was to list him as the coach of the year after the First Superbowl *I think*. It was some fact like that, a fact with a source, and it was reverted. Whether or not I can find the exact edit/revert the fact of the matter stands that many people, including myself, have had issues with vengeful editors. Hell, I bet I could go into 5 articles with a misspelling, correct the misspelling, and at least 1 will get reverted. I'm at work now or else I would try this as a social experiment.
I would love to send you a link to a story I edited but it got reverted (and this was a while back...I don't know how far Wikipedia keeps revert histories nor can I look right now). Thanks for trolling though.
You're not the only one. Wikipedia editors and contributors are a self-appointed elite bunch who don't care about anything other than the changes/creations they've made. It's an elite world and outsiders aren't allowed (but their money is certainly welcome!)
With the problems I've had in the past I don't know if this is going to be nearly enough. Wikipedia's problems lies in the fact that many, if not most, of their long-time editors consider themselves the end-all be-all of Wikipedia. I've contributed to several pages, cited properly, and still get reverted because someone disagrees with the page for reasons other than factual accuracy. For example, when editing an article about Vince Lombardi and citing sources the changes were reverted for no given reason. When I asked why I was reverted I was not given a reasonable answer (and was trolled in the process). So I stopped contributing. I'm now content to let the self-appointed elites run the site.
That's the other reason I will never give a red cent to Wikipedia. So long as the Wikipedia mafia of editors continue to run things the way that they do I think the site will suffer and eventually wither out as it's last gasp of neutrality and openness disappear behind the power-hungry editors who run the site the way that they want to run it. If Jimmy wants Wikipedia to succeed he'll start with the cadre of idiots who currently run the place.
I bet Ms. Janet Napolitano is wet just hearing about this*.
I'm disappointed that this article is not from the Onion. Can no one realize that 9/11 was just a fluke and the likelihood of it happening again that way is astronomical (I know this is in Australia but I can almost guarantee that all heightened security is a direct result of 9/11, the British train bomb, and other random events)? Let's get rid of the security theater we have in place now and just live because life is pretty much bad enough as it is without having to invent reasons to make it even more miserable.
I'd rather die on a hijacked plane than have to undergo full body cavity searches - at least my wife will be richer that way.
Hope the person(s) who wrote that algorithm aren't writing nuclear reactor code. I'll admit though that I'm a bad programmer too. Back when I did write code I used such gems as DIM TotalSales AS INTEGER. That didn't work so well.
The trolls are the ones who say that we're turning into Cuba, trains are for idiots, and high-speed only exists at 149 MPH+. I'll admit readily that a train between Madison and Milwaukee is a great idea. Yes, the up-front costs will be high and it'll be a few years before it's going due to infrastructure changes but it's a great idea. The trolls are just mad because, well, they have nothing better to argue at the moment IMHO.
My local newspaper site, madison.com , is pretty new to comments. They disable them on crime stories I've noticed but anything doing with politics, the proposed high-speed rail service between Madison and Milwaukee, or state workers will attract trolls by the dozen. It makes reading the news stories like taking a walk through Craigslist's Rants and Raves section. When it turns to/b/ I'll just quit reading I suppose.
The concept of paying to comment seems a little too far though. That said, I'm all for having to publish your real name, address, phone number, and a JPEG when leaving a comment on a news site. Anonymity breeds stupidity and the best way to combat trolls is to force them to stand by their comments. Slashdot's system works, and I've seen other half-assed attempts to mimic it, but in the end people just need to be held responsible for their own actions.
In fact, I'll start. My name is Jay and yes, I've trolled before. I try very, very hard not to do it now and I've said things in online forums that'd I'd never say to someone's face. I'd promise not to do it again but the dumb republicans are still out there and need to be told what's what.
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"
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.
The older generation of HP printers are about the best one can get. The LaserJet 4/5 series were built like tanks, using steel for the frame and being very, very simple to repair.
Since HP 4s and 5s use standard PCL and PS languages they are very easily able to work across platforms. (One note however - if using PostScript with a LaserJet 4 or 5 be sure to have enough printer memory or you'll have a few issues with the printer becoming overwhelmed).
Before Carly Fiorina destroyed HP they used to be the leader in printers (or at least in the very top tier). Now they crank out plastic pieces of shit that break after a year, are difficult to repair using off-the-bench tools, and try to market a new toner cart to you when the old one is still at 20% capacity. Seriously, our LaserJet 4200 will not go into powersave mode when it is telling me to order a new cartridge with 1/5th the life remaining. It is very annoying.
While the LaserJet 4/5 series of printers are not small, personal-type lasers they are workhorses. As I stated before parts are cheap and are easy to replace should that be necessary. Toner carts are prevalent and are reasonable. I'd go with these tried-and-true printers if you are looking for another decade-plus of worry-free operation. Personally I'd go specifically with the LaserJet 5m, but if you don't like the size/heft of that perhaps a LaserJet 4p would be more to your liking, though they can be a bit more difficult to work on because of their small stature.
I usually pay for a game if I know I will like it (i.e. tried the demo, played it at a friend's house, etc.) but I am hesitant to pay for anything I can't return if I don't like it. The last game I bought was "Jeopardy!", which, as anyone here who has played it will know, sucks royal ass. Granted, I paid $10 for it at Target but I didn't have the choice of returning it if I didn't like it. So I sucked it up.
On a game more than $10 I wouldn't pay full price unless I had the ability to take the game, play it for a few days to see if I like it, then return it if it doesn't work out (is buggy, not fun, needs a better graphics card, etc.) I'm not sure if it is the manufacturers who impose this return policy or the stores themselves. I imagine it is a collusion of both. It's a smaller scale on the "return Windows for a refund if you don't accept the EULA" conundrum: Microsoft says it's OK, but you have to take it back to the retailer. The retailer doesn't honor the return because they are losing money. It's a no-win situation.
wouldn't trust them any further than I can throw them
Given the reliability, it's likely that someone has already measured that particular parameter for you. Have you checked the data sheets?
No, I haven't. But I choose, in this case, to predict the future based on past events. It's not an investment so I feel safe doing so. Many computer users do the same - if you've had a bad nVidia graphics card or a bad ASUS motherboard people tend to shy away from buying those particular brands again. With storage being as cheap as it is combined with the importance of reliability I'd rather stay with a brand like Western Digital and, up until recently, Seagate than use a brand that has had performance and reliability issues in the past.
We used MPC in a higher-ed setting quite consistently over Dell since they had better deals, more configuration options, and USA tech support.
Once they purchased Gateway however the service was horrible. Installing XP on a RAID-enabled SATA controller required the RAID drivers which Gateway/MPC techs refused to send to us. It took 10 minutes for them to find the system in the database and over an hour for one of their techs to scour their website for the proper driver.
MPC's only original 2 flaws were their oddly-interfaced website and their billing. You know how you get configuration errors if you have more cards than PCI slots? Well, their "default" configurations would always have a configuration error right off the bat. Things like that, plus poorly-updated tracking info made it useless.
And then their billing...I moved to a different department and therefore had a new purchasing card issued to me (and the old one canceled). 3 Months after a PC purchase I received a threatening e-mail from their accounts Receivable stating that the payment on the system was denied and that we'd better pay up now or go to court. A quick e-mail and a call with the new card number resolved things quickly, but waiting 3 months to bill for a system is a little odd.
MPC had a good thing going right up to that point (for the most part anyhow). The Gateway curse continues.
There is an interactive map on their site that allows you to zoom into the IP space pretty nicely. Our uni has a B range of addresses and we use only two Cs of that right now. When we split off from the main building and got onto city fiber, they decided that, rather than give us a private IP range like the other campuses, we would be allocated one of the C ranges.
Of course, no one knew what they were doing so getting the ASA and default routes set-up properly was a nightmare, but hey, we're using more of our IP space now! (sarcasm intended)
Slashdot Mirror
I think the Q continuum is at war again.
I double-majored in criminal justice and psychology - my true intention was to go into law enforcement but I had always been interested in computers and technology. The second semester of my freshman year I worked for the university doing network and IT support for students in the dorms. That work experience opened my eyes and I decided to pursue a career in IT. I started out by working for a local phone company to get some soft skills, then slowly moved up to being a helpdesk support person, then helpdesk manager, then into server and network administration.
It is true that most companies look at work experience and not degrees - at least that has been my perception on both sides of the interview table. Many of the good IT folks I work with have degrees in accounting, business, and marketing. Some companies, though won't hire programmers unless they have demonstrable experience in the languages they need.
Essentially I would just make sure you get hands-on experience or take a few classes at a local community college in whatever area of IT interests you. Even a certificate goes to show that you're serious about educating yourself and that you can do the job.
...services but refuse to follow-through after the fact?
I am the network admin/server admin/helpdesk manager for a small online-based college (not private but part of a state system). Our department is moving to a new building in February or March so, of course, I wanted to order a single server to provide file, print, antivirus, WSUS, DHCP, and other necessary services for our office. We are well-positioned to grow in the next five years (which is our lease period for the new place) so a single server should be sufficient while allowing for additional capacity later on.
Of course, our central IT department insists that they will provide these services to us. Our new director is onboard with this (anything to save a few bucks I guess) despite my repeated warnings and lamentations of the lack of support and follow-through that central IT has always had. This is the same central IT who gives us 6 hours of notice before a 20 minute non-emergency web outage in the middle fo the week. This may not seem like much but when you are completely online-based AND registration is in full swing the outage is less than ideal. This is the same central IT that takes 4 hours to make a permission change on a share that only a few of us access (negating the need for change management). This is the very same central IT who lost an entire communications server because the backups were corrupt and they had it configured to run RAID 0 on two drives. And yes, this was a production server.
So earlier this week when I put in my request to have access for WSUS, DHCP, etc. with a month and a half of lead time for them to figure things out I was told that they have several high-priority projects that they are working on now and cannot do this until February 1st.
I am compiling a list of issues already but I am not looking forward to the stares and glances I'll get from my coworkers when the server goes down or "maintenance" is conducted without warning at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. Our CIO can't manage to extract herself from a paper bag let alone an entire IT shop. The next few months are really going to be quite painful methinks.
I'm just sick and tired of the big IT departments that insist on providing services but no/slow support. All it is for them is a control issue and it drives me nuts. I think the last straw was when the tech ops director told my boss that "anyone in [citking's] position would ask for one just to have as a toy." This is why I sometimes hate my job.
If another Wikipedia editor behaved in a blatantly uncivil manner after your attempt to apply BRD, why didn't you take the issue to one of Wikipedia's numerous options for dispute resolution?
Probably because I was 1) unaware of that process and 2) thinking that a simple edit shouldn't necessarily require an appeals process. Even now that I am aware of it the time commitment behind adding any sort of information to an article (add & cite, have it reverted, appeal, talk, discuss more, re-edit, reverted again, repeat ad nauseum) is just too great now. I don't need Wikipedia that much and if that community is going to be resistant to change then so be it.
My guess was that this was done under my IP address (before I had my account and before one was required to edit). I'm not sure I can find the exact edit.
All the edit was was to list him as the coach of the year after the First Superbowl *I think*. It was some fact like that, a fact with a source, and it was reverted. Whether or not I can find the exact edit/revert the fact of the matter stands that many people, including myself, have had issues with vengeful editors. Hell, I bet I could go into 5 articles with a misspelling, correct the misspelling, and at least 1 will get reverted. I'm at work now or else I would try this as a social experiment.
It was well over four years ago. Is that history still available?
I would love to send you a link to a story I edited but it got reverted (and this was a while back...I don't know how far Wikipedia keeps revert histories nor can I look right now). Thanks for trolling though.
You're not the only one. Wikipedia editors and contributors are a self-appointed elite bunch who don't care about anything other than the changes/creations they've made. It's an elite world and outsiders aren't allowed (but their money is certainly welcome!)
With the problems I've had in the past I don't know if this is going to be nearly enough. Wikipedia's problems lies in the fact that many, if not most, of their long-time editors consider themselves the end-all be-all of Wikipedia. I've contributed to several pages, cited properly, and still get reverted because someone disagrees with the page for reasons other than factual accuracy. For example, when editing an article about Vince Lombardi and citing sources the changes were reverted for no given reason. When I asked why I was reverted I was not given a reasonable answer (and was trolled in the process). So I stopped contributing. I'm now content to let the self-appointed elites run the site.
That's the other reason I will never give a red cent to Wikipedia. So long as the Wikipedia mafia of editors continue to run things the way that they do I think the site will suffer and eventually wither out as it's last gasp of neutrality and openness disappear behind the power-hungry editors who run the site the way that they want to run it. If Jimmy wants Wikipedia to succeed he'll start with the cadre of idiots who currently run the place.
I bet Ms. Janet Napolitano is wet just hearing about this*.
I'm disappointed that this article is not from the Onion. Can no one realize that 9/11 was just a fluke and the likelihood of it happening again that way is astronomical (I know this is in Australia but I can almost guarantee that all heightened security is a direct result of 9/11, the British train bomb, and other random events)? Let's get rid of the security theater we have in place now and just live because life is pretty much bad enough as it is without having to invent reasons to make it even more miserable.
I'd rather die on a hijacked plane than have to undergo full body cavity searches - at least my wife will be richer that way.
*No need to thank me for that visual.
You didn't have to tell us you where a bad programmer, the VB code was a big enough clue~
Yeah, I know, I know. That's why I went into support and eventually network administration. I know when to take the high road!
Hope the person(s) who wrote that algorithm aren't writing nuclear reactor code. I'll admit though that I'm a bad programmer too. Back when I did write code I used such gems as DIM TotalSales AS INTEGER. That didn't work so well.
The trolls are the ones who say that we're turning into Cuba, trains are for idiots, and high-speed only exists at 149 MPH+. I'll admit readily that a train between Madison and Milwaukee is a great idea. Yes, the up-front costs will be high and it'll be a few years before it's going due to infrastructure changes but it's a great idea. The trolls are just mad because, well, they have nothing better to argue at the moment IMHO.
My local newspaper site, madison.com , is pretty new to comments. They disable them on crime stories I've noticed but anything doing with politics, the proposed high-speed rail service between Madison and Milwaukee, or state workers will attract trolls by the dozen. It makes reading the news stories like taking a walk through Craigslist's Rants and Raves section. When it turns to /b/ I'll just quit reading I suppose.
The concept of paying to comment seems a little too far though. That said, I'm all for having to publish your real name, address, phone number, and a JPEG when leaving a comment on a news site. Anonymity breeds stupidity and the best way to combat trolls is to force them to stand by their comments. Slashdot's system works, and I've seen other half-assed attempts to mimic it, but in the end people just need to be held responsible for their own actions.
In fact, I'll start. My name is Jay and yes, I've trolled before. I try very, very hard not to do it now and I've said things in online forums that'd I'd never say to someone's face. I'd promise not to do it again but the dumb republicans are still out there and need to be told what's what.
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 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.
The older generation of HP printers are about the best one can get. The LaserJet 4/5 series were built like tanks, using steel for the frame and being very, very simple to repair.
Since HP 4s and 5s use standard PCL and PS languages they are very easily able to work across platforms. (One note however - if using PostScript with a LaserJet 4 or 5 be sure to have enough printer memory or you'll have a few issues with the printer becoming overwhelmed).
Before Carly Fiorina destroyed HP they used to be the leader in printers (or at least in the very top tier). Now they crank out plastic pieces of shit that break after a year, are difficult to repair using off-the-bench tools, and try to market a new toner cart to you when the old one is still at 20% capacity. Seriously, our LaserJet 4200 will not go into powersave mode when it is telling me to order a new cartridge with 1/5th the life remaining. It is very annoying.
While the LaserJet 4/5 series of printers are not small, personal-type lasers they are workhorses. As I stated before parts are cheap and are easy to replace should that be necessary. Toner carts are prevalent and are reasonable. I'd go with these tried-and-true printers if you are looking for another decade-plus of worry-free operation. Personally I'd go specifically with the LaserJet 5m, but if you don't like the size/heft of that perhaps a LaserJet 4p would be more to your liking, though they can be a bit more difficult to work on because of their small stature.
I usually pay for a game if I know I will like it (i.e. tried the demo, played it at a friend's house, etc.) but I am hesitant to pay for anything I can't return if I don't like it. The last game I bought was "Jeopardy!", which, as anyone here who has played it will know, sucks royal ass. Granted, I paid $10 for it at Target but I didn't have the choice of returning it if I didn't like it. So I sucked it up.
On a game more than $10 I wouldn't pay full price unless I had the ability to take the game, play it for a few days to see if I like it, then return it if it doesn't work out (is buggy, not fun, needs a better graphics card, etc.) I'm not sure if it is the manufacturers who impose this return policy or the stores themselves. I imagine it is a collusion of both. It's a smaller scale on the "return Windows for a refund if you don't accept the EULA" conundrum: Microsoft says it's OK, but you have to take it back to the retailer. The retailer doesn't honor the return because they are losing money. It's a no-win situation.
wouldn't trust them any further than I can throw them
Given the reliability, it's likely that someone has already measured that particular parameter for you. Have you checked the data sheets?
No, I haven't. But I choose, in this case, to predict the future based on past events. It's not an investment so I feel safe doing so. Many computer users do the same - if you've had a bad nVidia graphics card or a bad ASUS motherboard people tend to shy away from buying those particular brands again. With storage being as cheap as it is combined with the importance of reliability I'd rather stay with a brand like Western Digital and, up until recently, Seagate than use a brand that has had performance and reliability issues in the past.
So it appears that Google uses Hitatchi/IBM DeskStars (DeathStars) for hard drives. Now I am starting to see how they've saved costs.
I had 2 or 3 of these things and wouldn't trust them any further than I can throw them.
We used MPC in a higher-ed setting quite consistently over Dell since they had better deals, more configuration options, and USA tech support.
Once they purchased Gateway however the service was horrible. Installing XP on a RAID-enabled SATA controller required the RAID drivers which Gateway/MPC techs refused to send to us. It took 10 minutes for them to find the system in the database and over an hour for one of their techs to scour their website for the proper driver.
MPC's only original 2 flaws were their oddly-interfaced website and their billing. You know how you get configuration errors if you have more cards than PCI slots? Well, their "default" configurations would always have a configuration error right off the bat. Things like that, plus poorly-updated tracking info made it useless.
And then their billing...I moved to a different department and therefore had a new purchasing card issued to me (and the old one canceled). 3 Months after a PC purchase I received a threatening e-mail from their accounts Receivable stating that the payment on the system was denied and that we'd better pay up now or go to court. A quick e-mail and a call with the new card number resolved things quickly, but waiting 3 months to bill for a system is a little odd.
MPC had a good thing going right up to that point (for the most part anyhow). The Gateway curse continues.
There is an interactive map on their site that allows you to zoom into the IP space pretty nicely. Our uni has a B range of addresses and we use only two Cs of that right now. When we split off from the main building and got onto city fiber, they decided that, rather than give us a private IP range like the other campuses, we would be allocated one of the C ranges.
Of course, no one knew what they were doing so getting the ASA and default routes set-up properly was a nightmare, but hey, we're using more of our IP space now! (sarcasm intended)