I've had good luck with writing a calm, rational, well written letter to Office of the President/Michall Dell. In the letter lay out the facts, perferably with dates and notation of who you talked to and when. This got my issue assigned to a customer service specialist who was friendly and helpful in getting the problem resolved. I've actually found Dell to be somewhat reasonable in fixing hardware issues -- although I've never had a no-ship problem with them. If you want to increase your chances, send the letter via certified mail (for an extra one or two dollars...) this provides a slight increase in the importance of the letter.
You should also double check that the problem isn't on the receiving end--can you confirm that the item has been shipped and not signed for somewhere.
Remember when Apple used to claim that they were in the super computer league. Now I don't even see Apple in the top 500--HP and IBM make up nearly 75% of the total and even a bunch of dells are listed.
Perhaps Apple should try networking a cluster of iPods or Apple TV units.
Where are the days thats Apple ran the ads of a "super computer in box." The Mac OS barely even qualifies as 64-bit these days.
How did it do in categories like connecting with Exchange? Processing large spreadsheets with VBA macros? Running company-critical active-X components? Running Photoshop, indesign or illustrator? Being updated by group policies. Who really cares how fast a machine boots? With any modern OS (OS-X, Vista, XP, or Linux) machines are maybe rebooted once a month (or less).
It's really about applications-- and for companies about fitting in with a corporate network.
Speed is rarely an issue for what most people use their computers for.
It's not surprisign that software for embedded devices is much more reliabile. The manufacturers control the hardware, software and all the interfaces. It's much easier to quality control and handle and wierdness of the device. General purpose software with arbitary (and often questionalble) hardware is much harder.
You're missing lots of other formats... -- punched paper tape (oiled and non-oiled) -- DecTape -- Old-style 80 MB and 300 MB CDC removable hard drives (the ones that looked like washing machines) -- Punch cards 80 column and whatever the other format was
It might be time to replace those macs... the new Mac OS (from Apple) will not run on power pc processors either. That big 30" monitor might look pretty cool when you're running Vista. Stop complaining about 10+ year old OS and machines not being supported.
Or $129 for a new dot release version of the OS. Only the new version of the OS will have the patch--but it will be listed as one of the one billion new features that are included in the OS. Older versions will no longer be supported...and oh by the way... neither will older versions of the CPU. Sorry... If you don't like it, tough. We're apple. We don't care.
A more common, and efficient way of isolating from the power grid is via a flywheel. The grid runs a motor that's connected to a moderate sized flywheel and then the flywheel is connected to a DC (or AC with a converter) generator that charges the UPS batteries. This provides excellent isolation from the grid and not much loss of power efficiency. If there is a spike/lightening strike the motor/generator set can ride it out without any problems. If there is a short (less than 2 seconds) drop out the flywheel will keep everything going.
Motor/generator sets are off the shelf technology that have been proven for many years in data centers. And besides they look really cool.
See http://www.pscpower.com/pages/industrial%20motor%20generator%20rt.htm "The Series IMG-RT Ride Thru Motor Generator integrates state-of-the-art controls, a single-shaft motor generator and a mechanical flywheel into a power conditioning system that can deliver up to 5 seconds of ride-thru during an interruption of power. The typical induction-synchronous MG set delivers this ride-thru with a maximum frequency drop at full load of 1%, or 0.6Hz on a 60Hz system. For sensitive applications where no frequency variation is acceptable, a synchronous-synchronous MG set is available. Series IMG-RT ride thru motor generator systems are sized and customized to meet a wide range of customer driven application criteria. MG sets are available in size ranges up to 2500 kVA for low voltage applications up to 600V. For medium voltage applications, please consult the factory."
What's the need to save 2 minutes on booting? Most modern computers can cold boot in less than 2 minutes (any OS) and warm boot in under a minutes. Network connections may add a few second for authentication.
What example did you have in mind that needs instant on -- for a general purpose computer. (Specialized devices, e.g., cable boxes, routers do this by going into low power mode or using embedded OSs.
He didn't really explain the savings from keeping the machine powered off. Perhaps he could use the BIOS option (available in some machines) that automatically powers off at the end of the day and back on in the morning... this would save about 2/3 of the power (the machine would be on for only 8 hours). For the odd off-hours use, the 2 minutes to boot the machine could probably be tolerate. The cost savings from the power use really willn't amout to much. He could get an equivalent savings by replacing the monitor with an LCD screen (although the eco-footprint from disposing of the monitor is substantial). He could tape a big sign on all the monitors (LCD included) "turn off when not in use".
What I'm really confused about his need for "instant booting" at a company that is too cheap to pony up for a couple of dollars a year worth of electricity. Are the employees' time so valuable, that the 2 or 3 minutes spent while the machine is booting incredibly costly? A new machine--and/or OS will probably take two or three hours per machine to install; if the speed up in booting is 2 minutes (from 3 to 1 minute) than it will take 90 boot cycles (180 minutes / 2 minutes) to pay for the time savings (ignoring the cost of the new machines and disposal on the old ones). If these machines are used "infrequently" (say twice a week) then the time saving will take about a year. The employees have to make sure they start working the instant the machine boots--no turning on the machine and getting a cup of coffee (not at what these employees are being paid!).
This is a solution searching for a problem--if the OP wants to buy some new gadgets/OS then fine... but this isn't a "business case".
To be fair, you really should use a 4 or 5 year old version of RH7 or Mac OS9 and make sure it's not behind any firewall/NAT device.
This article is an example of anti-virus FUD. Almost no consumers are left running without a cable/DSL NAT/firewall device. Perhaps a more telling story (but not as sensational) would be that a automatically patch version of XP SP3 (or Vista) behind a $20 cable router doesn't get infected. Wouldn't that be a headline!
I've had really good luck with the mid-level linksys devices like the RV082/RV016. Two+ years between reboots, lots of features.
The problem with Microsoft OS isn't generally the OS--it's bad applications and compatibility. If you only install quality drivers and hardward, a MS system can go months without a reboot. Stop downloading drivers and installing random fixes.
If you look at the more efficient (overall) companies you'll see that they standardize on a few tools and get really good at it. For example, in the airline business, Southwest (one of the most consistent profitable airlines) flies only 737. This makes maintenance, pilots and service much easier. The less efficient airlines (e.g., US Air) fly a combination of almost everything--Boeing, Airbus and whatever. UPS has standardized on one or two types of vehicles for each need (local, long distance) again improving efficiency.
The era of the cowboy programmer is pretty much dead at large efficient companies. Random tools and processes might be ok for very small teams (less than 5 people), but they don't scale very well. Any project with more than 10 people lasting more than a year is likely to have turnover (given that the average employee stays on the job about 4 years...so over the 2 year project life, there will be 5 new employees). This forces management to impose development standards--image if every new employee decided that they want to use their own development environment, tools, naming convention, etc.
Professionally managed projects are more likely to be "slightly above average" -- an occasion cowboy (aka skunk work) project may be a spectacular success, but they are more likely to be a quiet failure. For big projects aiming at slightly above average isn't a bad goal.
/. readers are excused from all standards because they are all super programmers, save the company tens of dollars by using free stuff (or cracked warz) and are all brilliant.
Isn't what Google Office (or whatever they call it) a service? I thought the whole web 2.0 thing is about software as a service "in the cloud". What difference does it make if there's some installed components. Someday, Google will probably add tiers of office service--and perhaps those free programs (and the documents stored on them) will suddenly stop working if you don't sign up for a paid version.
From an economic perspective renting and buying are very similar, it just has to do with the time value of money.
Don't deactivate in AVG contol panel, just disenable the add on in IE or FF. For IE, Tools->Manage Add-ons...->Enable or disable add-ons then disable the AVG control. Probably something similar for FF.
It works out to less than $7 per month--less than what most people are paying to "rent" Netflix or "rent" cable TV. You can find free "open source" equivalents of both Netflix (most public libraries have a selection of videos) and cable TV (over the air). Somehow/.'ers are appalled at paying for software, but think nothing of buying electronics or other toys.
The cost of office for a home user is relatively cheap (about $120 to buy) or $7/month to rent, and the best that can be said for OO is that it's "almost as good" as Office (like over the air TV is "almost as good" as cable).
If the home users want to bring home work, full Office compatibility is really worth a couple of bucks. FYI, most corporate licenses allow home use at no or minimal cost.
The background that you've learned in CS is valuable in a wide variety of positions. You should look at technical sales (also known as sales engineers), marketing (especially for technical/software products), consulting, product management. Presumably you've gained some good technical skills and how to learn complex materials quickly--all important job attributes. You should be better qualified for many of these positions than liberal arts majors.
However, all of these jobs require good communications skills--the ability to write well and communicate clearly. I hope you didn't skip those courses--the liberal arts candidates often have an advantage in those skills.
Depending on the university you went to, your grades and presentation skills, starting salaries could be in $30 to $40's for most of those positions. Another alternative would be to pursue a professional degree like an MBA or JD.
If you really want to confuse someone... talk about service 8x5 or 10x5 -- not many people (/.'er excepted) actually understand what 24x7 really means. There are lots of service options that only offer 8x5 (normal business hours) or 10x6 (extended hours).
In the auto world everyone talks about 4x4 -- without really knowing what it means; your normal sedan is a 2x4 (two driving wheels, 4 total); other options are 4x6, etc.
Non-technical people should not attempt to speak tech without a translator/editor.
You could always use a Wan wireless card (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint) all offer wireless data packages with roughly unlimited (= 5GB) usage. Configure your machine to automatically connect the wireless on the event of failure on the main link. (Sprit even offers a box preconfigured with a router for this purpose.)
On the other hand, if your cable and DSL are down, maybe it's time to do something else. Read a book. Talk to some one. Take a walk. Clean the house. Bake a surprise cake for someone. Go out and have a drink. Take someone to dinner. Get a life.
Your life probably will not end if you're not online 24x7x365.
I like the RV016 (and the smaller versions RV042 and RV082) they do a decent job a load balancing and autofailover. A fair amount of flexibility, decent fireware and features. I found them to be reliable and relatively inexpensive.
i believe that's what you get if you buy a COTS (commercial off the shelf) router from linksys, d-link, etc. Depending on the brand they will either use a flavor of linux or a proprietary RTOS. Other than using built-in flash rather than USB that's what you've just recommended. In addition, the board, cooling, ram and everthing else will be designed for 24x7 operation with an expected unit life of 3+ years. Even better, it will cost around $100 and probably use less power than anything you put together yourself--and come with a 1 year (or more) warantee.
This system worked for nearly 100 years with phone numbers. People got used to dialing just digits--and they published directories for those who didn't know the digits. With only 10 digits, nearly every family and business in the US could have there very own, private 10-digit number.
There were a could of crazy schemes to add letters to the phone dial pad--but could you image how complex and confusing that would be! If you're older than 35, when you were growing up do you remember anyone looking for the letters on the dial.
And in my day, we had real dials on the phone--none this fancy DTMF stuff for us.
When the Mac G5 came out, Apple trumpeted the "new super computer". I think there were even a couple of project that put together a Mac super computer out of a cluster of G5 servers--perhaps it even made the list for a while. In looking at the list, I didn't even see one Apple machine listed (you'd think there would be someone who clustered a bunch of Apple/Intel servers).
Another example of the reality distortion field...remember the "first 64-bit desktop" and "the thinnest laptop*"?
If you are a web developer or server admin that uses XP Home, you've got bigger problems to worry about. How many XP Home users really need to join a domain or run a web server.
I believe to be effective, tin foil hats must be made out of silver foil -- or at least the wearer must believe that it's silver foil (although the roll says aluminum foil).
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I've had good luck with writing a calm, rational, well written letter to Office of the President/Michall Dell. In the letter lay out the facts, perferably with dates and notation of who you talked to and when. This got my issue assigned to a customer service specialist who was friendly and helpful in getting the problem resolved. I've actually found Dell to be somewhat reasonable in fixing hardware issues -- although I've never had a no-ship problem with them. If you want to increase your chances, send the letter via certified mail (for an extra one or two dollars...) this provides a slight increase in the importance of the letter.
You should also double check that the problem isn't on the receiving end--can you confirm that the item has been shipped and not signed for somewhere.
Remember when Apple used to claim that they were in the super computer league. Now I don't even see Apple in the top 500--HP and IBM make up nearly 75% of the total and even a bunch of dells are listed.
Perhaps Apple should try networking a cluster of iPods or Apple TV units.
Where are the days thats Apple ran the ads of a "super computer in box." The Mac OS barely even qualifies as 64-bit these days.
How did it do in categories like connecting with Exchange? Processing large spreadsheets with VBA macros? Running company-critical active-X components? Running Photoshop, indesign or illustrator? Being updated by group policies. Who really cares how fast a machine boots? With any modern OS (OS-X, Vista, XP, or Linux) machines are maybe rebooted once a month (or less).
It's really about applications-- and for companies about fitting in with a corporate network.
Speed is rarely an issue for what most people use their computers for.
It's not surprisign that software for embedded devices is much more reliabile. The manufacturers control the hardware, software and all the interfaces. It's much easier to quality control and handle and wierdness of the device. General purpose software with arbitary (and often questionalble) hardware is much harder.
You're missing lots of other formats...
-- punched paper tape (oiled and non-oiled)
-- DecTape
-- Old-style 80 MB and 300 MB CDC removable hard drives (the ones that looked like washing machines)
-- Punch cards 80 column and whatever the other format was
It might be time to replace those macs... the new Mac OS (from Apple) will not run on power pc processors either. That big 30" monitor might look pretty cool when you're running Vista. Stop complaining about 10+ year old OS and machines not being supported.
Or $129 for a new dot release version of the OS. Only the new version of the OS will have the patch--but it will be listed as one of the one billion new features that are included in the OS. Older versions will no longer be supported...and oh by the way ... neither will older versions of the CPU. Sorry... If you don't like it, tough. We're apple. We don't care.
A more common, and efficient way of isolating from the power grid is via a flywheel. The grid runs a motor that's connected to a moderate sized flywheel and then the flywheel is connected to a DC (or AC with a converter) generator that charges the UPS batteries. This provides excellent isolation from the grid and not much loss of power efficiency. If there is a spike/lightening strike the motor/generator set can ride it out without any problems. If there is a short (less than 2 seconds) drop out the flywheel will keep everything going.
Motor/generator sets are off the shelf technology that have been proven for many years in data centers. And besides they look really cool.
See http://www.pscpower.com/pages/industrial%20motor%20generator%20rt.htm "The Series IMG-RT Ride Thru Motor Generator integrates state-of-the-art controls, a single-shaft motor generator and a mechanical flywheel into a power conditioning system that can deliver up to 5 seconds of ride-thru during an interruption of power. The typical induction-synchronous MG set delivers this ride-thru with a maximum frequency drop at full load of 1%, or 0.6Hz on a 60Hz system. For sensitive applications where no frequency variation is acceptable, a synchronous-synchronous MG set is available. Series IMG-RT ride thru motor generator systems are sized and customized to meet a wide range of customer driven application criteria. MG sets are available in size ranges up to 2500 kVA for low voltage applications up to 600V. For medium voltage applications, please consult the factory."
See also http://www.pscpower.com/pages/series%20xc.htm for upto 10,000 kVA (parallel modules and "ring bus" configuration), claims to have 20 year service life.
Caution--some serious high voltage/current here. Do not attempt at home.
What's the need to save 2 minutes on booting? Most modern computers can cold boot in less than 2 minutes (any OS) and warm boot in under a minutes. Network connections may add a few second for authentication.
What example did you have in mind that needs instant on -- for a general purpose computer. (Specialized devices, e.g., cable boxes, routers do this by going into low power mode or using embedded OSs.
He didn't really explain the savings from keeping the machine powered off. Perhaps he could use the BIOS option (available in some machines) that automatically powers off at the end of the day and back on in the morning... this would save about 2/3 of the power (the machine would be on for only 8 hours). For the odd off-hours use, the 2 minutes to boot the machine could probably be tolerate. The cost savings from the power use really willn't amout to much. He could get an equivalent savings by replacing the monitor with an LCD screen (although the eco-footprint from disposing of the monitor is substantial). He could tape a big sign on all the monitors (LCD included) "turn off when not in use".
What I'm really confused about his need for "instant booting" at a company that is too cheap to pony up for a couple of dollars a year worth of electricity. Are the employees' time so valuable, that the 2 or 3 minutes spent while the machine is booting incredibly costly? A new machine--and/or OS will probably take two or three hours per machine to install; if the speed up in booting is 2 minutes (from 3 to 1 minute) than it will take 90 boot cycles (180 minutes / 2 minutes) to pay for the time savings (ignoring the cost of the new machines and disposal on the old ones). If these machines are used "infrequently" (say twice a week) then the time saving will take about a year. The employees have to make sure they start working the instant the machine boots--no turning on the machine and getting a cup of coffee (not at what these employees are being paid!).
This is a solution searching for a problem--if the OP wants to buy some new gadgets/OS then fine... but this isn't a "business case".
To be fair, you really should use a 4 or 5 year old version of RH7 or Mac OS9 and make sure it's not behind any firewall/NAT device.
This article is an example of anti-virus FUD. Almost no consumers are left running without a cable/DSL NAT/firewall device. Perhaps a more telling story (but not as sensational) would be that a automatically patch version of XP SP3 (or Vista) behind a $20 cable router doesn't get infected. Wouldn't that be a headline!
I've had really good luck with the mid-level linksys devices like the RV082/RV016. Two+ years between reboots, lots of features.
The problem with Microsoft OS isn't generally the OS--it's bad applications and compatibility. If you only install quality drivers and hardward, a MS system can go months without a reboot. Stop downloading drivers and installing random fixes.
If you look at the more efficient (overall) companies you'll see that they standardize on a few tools and get really good at it. For example, in the airline business, Southwest (one of the most consistent profitable airlines) flies only 737. This makes maintenance, pilots and service much easier. The less efficient airlines (e.g., US Air) fly a combination of almost everything--Boeing, Airbus and whatever. UPS has standardized on one or two types of vehicles for each need (local, long distance) again improving efficiency.
The era of the cowboy programmer is pretty much dead at large efficient companies. Random tools and processes might be ok for very small teams (less than 5 people), but they don't scale very well. Any project with more than 10 people lasting more than a year is likely to have turnover (given that the average employee stays on the job about 4 years...so over the 2 year project life, there will be 5 new employees). This forces management to impose development standards--image if every new employee decided that they want to use their own development environment, tools, naming convention, etc.
Professionally managed projects are more likely to be "slightly above average" -- an occasion cowboy (aka skunk work) project may be a spectacular success, but they are more likely to be a quiet failure. For big projects aiming at slightly above average isn't a bad goal.
/. readers are excused from all standards because they are all super programmers, save the company tens of dollars by using free stuff (or cracked warz) and are all brilliant.
Isn't what Google Office (or whatever they call it) a service? I thought the whole web 2.0 thing is about software as a service "in the cloud". What difference does it make if there's some installed components. Someday, Google will probably add tiers of office service--and perhaps those free programs (and the documents stored on them) will suddenly stop working if you don't sign up for a paid version.
From an economic perspective renting and buying are very similar, it just has to do with the time value of money.
Don't deactivate in AVG contol panel, just disenable the add on in IE or FF. For IE, Tools->Manage Add-ons...->Enable or disable add-ons then disable the AVG control. Probably something similar for FF.
Actually this is in their support file.
It works out to less than $7 per month--less than what most people are paying to "rent" Netflix or "rent" cable TV. You can find free "open source" equivalents of both Netflix (most public libraries have a selection of videos) and cable TV (over the air). Somehow /.'ers are appalled at paying for software, but think nothing of buying electronics or other toys.
The cost of office for a home user is relatively cheap (about $120 to buy) or $7/month to rent, and the best that can be said for OO is that it's "almost as good" as Office (like over the air TV is "almost as good" as cable).
If the home users want to bring home work, full Office compatibility is really worth a couple of bucks. FYI, most corporate licenses allow home use at no or minimal cost.
The background that you've learned in CS is valuable in a wide variety of positions. You should look at technical sales (also known as sales engineers), marketing (especially for technical/software products), consulting, product management. Presumably you've gained some good technical skills and how to learn complex materials quickly--all important job attributes. You should be better qualified for many of these positions than liberal arts majors.
However, all of these jobs require good communications skills--the ability to write well and communicate clearly. I hope you didn't skip those courses--the liberal arts candidates often have an advantage in those skills.
Depending on the university you went to, your grades and presentation skills, starting salaries could be in $30 to $40's for most of those positions. Another alternative would be to pursue a professional degree like an MBA or JD.
If you really want to confuse someone... talk about service 8x5 or 10x5 -- not many people (/.'er excepted) actually understand what 24x7 really means. There are lots of service options that only offer 8x5 (normal business hours) or 10x6 (extended hours).
In the auto world everyone talks about 4x4 -- without really knowing what it means; your normal sedan is a 2x4 (two driving wheels, 4 total); other options are 4x6, etc.
Non-technical people should not attempt to speak tech without a translator/editor.
You could always use a Wan wireless card (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint) all offer wireless data packages with roughly unlimited (= 5GB) usage. Configure your machine to automatically connect the wireless on the event of failure on the main link. (Sprit even offers a box preconfigured with a router for this purpose.)
On the other hand, if your cable and DSL are down, maybe it's time to do something else. Read a book. Talk to some one. Take a walk. Clean the house. Bake a surprise cake for someone. Go out and have a drink. Take someone to dinner. Get a life.
Your life probably will not end if you're not online 24x7x365.
I like the RV016 (and the smaller versions RV042 and RV082) they do a decent job a load balancing and autofailover. A fair amount of flexibility, decent fireware and features. I found them to be reliable and relatively inexpensive.
i believe that's what you get if you buy a COTS (commercial off the shelf) router from linksys, d-link, etc. Depending on the brand they will either use a flavor of linux or a proprietary RTOS. Other than using built-in flash rather than USB that's what you've just recommended. In addition, the board, cooling, ram and everthing else will be designed for 24x7 operation with an expected unit life of 3+ years. Even better, it will cost around $100 and probably use less power than anything you put together yourself--and come with a 1 year (or more) warantee.
This system worked for nearly 100 years with phone numbers. People got used to dialing just digits--and they published directories for those who didn't know the digits. With only 10 digits, nearly every family and business in the US could have there very own, private 10-digit number.
There were a could of crazy schemes to add letters to the phone dial pad--but could you image how complex and confusing that would be! If you're older than 35, when you were growing up do you remember anyone looking for the letters on the dial.
And in my day, we had real dials on the phone--none this fancy DTMF stuff for us.
When the Mac G5 came out, Apple trumpeted the "new super computer". I think there were even a couple of project that put together a Mac super computer out of a cluster of G5 servers--perhaps it even made the list for a while. In looking at the list, I didn't even see one Apple machine listed (you'd think there would be someone who clustered a bunch of Apple/Intel servers).
Another example of the reality distortion field...remember the "first 64-bit desktop" and "the thinnest laptop*"?
*Ports and DVD drive not included.
If you are a web developer or server admin that uses XP Home, you've got bigger problems to worry about. How many XP Home users really need to join a domain or run a web server.
I believe to be effective, tin foil hats must be made out of silver foil -- or at least the wearer must believe that it's silver foil (although the roll says aluminum foil).