Yet Phillup never said he left his kids in front of the tube all day. Regardless, parents dop have the right to let their kid watch TV all day if they so choose; this doesn't mean they are always unsupervised. Neglect is a wholly different issue and would be abuse.
Personally I also agree too much TV is bad for kids (everyone, for that matter). I look at it as I do freedom of speech, though. Just because we don't agree with how others conduct their lives doesn't give us the right to direct how they should do so. Again, assuming no abuse, if someone didn't ask your opinion on parenting and you're not a blood relative, keeping yer yap out of their business is the polite and proper way to go.
Neither test document worked for me on a Windows XP box all patched up and using Acrobat Reader 7.0.8. What I get is a Security Warning stating the document is trying to connect to the domain. I'm not totally convinced this is an Adobe warning as it looks a lot like IE's warnings and I haven't yet tested exhaustively.
Either way, it's time to start letting clients know that PDFs have been added to the list of "potentially risky" file types.
It seems a fine line but I think many would consider this an exploit. A vulnerability would be a non-feature that can be exploited in some manner. I could be wrong (as far as speaking for others) but this is my take on it.
Again, it seems a little like semantics but it's a line that can be defines quite well.
Then perhaps you should have kept reading. The only thing they "admit" is they are, indeed, an Ontario Corporation.
2. Upon information and belief, defendant Desire2Learn ("D2L") is and has been a corporation organized under the laws of Canada, having its principal place of business at 72 Victoria Street South, Suite 401, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2G 4Y9. ANSWER: Desire2Learn states that it is a corporation organized under the laws of the Province of Ontario with its principal place of business is located at 72 Victoria Street South, Suite 401, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2G 4Y9. Desire2Learn denies the remaining allegations of this paragraph.
I've considered the possibility but it's reproducible on multiple systems (3 before I got bored). That's why I saved it. Maybe it'll win me a bet someday or something. More likely it'll end up in my little box of "geek treasures" like the 8 MB of 30 pin SIMMs I paid $800 for years ago and the "original SLI" Voodoo 2 setup.
I don't see a need for this. Unless you're going to be there when they're not you have no real need for it. What are you going to do, trip and take out a wall?
Sure, I suppose you could be sued for something at some point but I've been going 5 years now and never had a need for liability insurance. Just make sure the customer understands up front what's going to happen. This is basic "setting expectations". See my other post about terms, too. The phrase "All labor is fully earned" on a paper the client signed when the work is completed should stand up in court if they re-infect the PC or trash the computer somehow.
Getting paid by the hour by the person nagging you is surprisingly soothing. I've had to sit around getting rich while a couple argued about where to move a desk. Boo hoo. If I'm on the clock my client can start singing falsetto renditions of Paris Hilton songs for all I care.
Indeed. My favorite example of this is the client who likes to pay me to go shopping for tech toys with him. He spends more time arguing with the sales jerks about stuff then asks me what to buy anyhow. Hey, it's all billable time and he's happy to pay so what do I care?
Another common one are the people who call me to figure out how to sort their e-mails a certain way. They end up paying me for the time and every invoice is paid promptly. The key is not charging too much while being happy to help them.
That's why you use memtest86. If somebody can't diagnose bad RAM, then they shouldn't be charging for this type of service anyways. I do this kind of work, and in my experience, the people are reasonable about letting you work through the problem.
I have a DIMM I keep about strictly because it's bad and causes massive data corruption yet passes MemTest86 no sweat every time. I've allowed this sucker to run for weeks before without a single error yet you can barely get an OS installed. Odd but it happens once in a while.
I actually ran my own computer consulting business and I found the term 'nerd' and 'geek' have pretty negative meanings to the average user. While it might imply technical skill, it also implies a lack of communication skills, manners, and to some extent reliability. I actually was doing pretty well by marketing above the nerd/geek level.
I have found the opposite to a degree. As long as you communicate well, advertising yourself as a Geek usually gets a laugh at least. People want geeks, they just want ones that speak their language as well. Heck, since I added "Head Geek" to my business card, I get chuckles about it all the time. It's a great ice breaker.
I currently own and operate an onsite "PC Repair" (home client)/"IT Consulting" (business client) business. I started a little over 5 years ago. I handle home users and small to medium businesses in the greater Seattle area.
First and foremost: you are not thinking of starting a computer repair business. You are thinking of starting a business that helps customers resolve the problems with their technology. This may seem odd but the customer service aspect is what will get you repeat business. Many good techs fail at this because they think of the computer before the client.
Second: network, network, network. I'm not talking about computers; join a Chamber of Commerce or something similar. Your face time will get you customers; maybe not right away but eventually, you'll be the guy they think of first. This is critical. No other form of advertising has paid off like personal networking (and I've burned a lot of money on it over the past 5 years).
It's true that there are a lot of home users who may bounce a check and so on if you're working on the low end. I've never had that issue with a home user; the only bounced check was a business and 2 other businesses ended up refusing to pay. All of these have been successfully prosecuted as appropriate. I feel this is mainly because I do not accept plastic of any kind. Credit cards are subject to all kinds of hassles; this keeps most of the "budget" crowd from hiring me but that's fine with me.
Charge a little bit less than the average in shop rate. This shouldn't be the cheapest but not the most expensive. You also aren't going to have the huge overhead of a lease; that's how you undercut the competition while not being the "welfare computer helper". Contrary to what many feel, I don't see a need to charge for travel time; why should anyone get paid to drive to work? Nobody likes the plumber or locksmith charging them to just knock on the door. Charge an hourly rate and bill by the quarter hour. The effective minimum is the first quarter hour. I find that operating this way, I have plenty of work to keep me busy full time. People don't hesitate to call me and I've had referrals from 65% of my customers to date.
Have terms and stick to them. Make sure when you first set an appointment you cover your rates and such. This way they know what to expect. I personally never offer an estimate until I've seen the issue. When the issue's fixed, I use a two part Invoice form from Staples. I stamp a URL which contains my terms on it, having the clients sign that. I print terms and provide them on request. A critical item to include is "All labor is fully earned". This means if you aren't liable for refunds you clean spy-ware from the PC and it gets re-infected. If you do this long enough, you will think you fixed an issue and didn't. If you screwed up, don't charge to fix it. If you didn't screw up explain why and bill them.
I also don't mind customers watching me work. They almost never comprehend exactly what I am doing anyhow so it just makes them that much more comfortable with having had to call me in. In many cases, I think they just want to see that I am doing something other than reinstalling a program but sometimes that's all you need to do. Explaining the basics without too much techno-babble is one of the most difficult aspects of this. Just keep it simple and explain sometimes it's not what to do but the order in which it's done that matters.
One thing I find works quite well is work shirts. Wear Guard (Google them if you like) is a company I sue that embroiders my business name on button down or polo shirts for a reasonable fee. People always relax when they see you're a "real business". It sounds silly but it's a major part of what separates the successful business from the "friend of a relative's neighbor" that is so common. Make sure you're running a business, not playing around. The only "real business" tool you don't need IMO is office space. Set aside a portio
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Yet Phillup never said he left his kids in front of the tube all day. Regardless, parents dop have the right to let their kid watch TV all day if they so choose; this doesn't mean they are always unsupervised. Neglect is a wholly different issue and would be abuse.
Personally I also agree too much TV is bad for kids (everyone, for that matter). I look at it as I do freedom of speech, though. Just because we don't agree with how others conduct their lives doesn't give us the right to direct how they should do so. Again, assuming no abuse, if someone didn't ask your opinion on parenting and you're not a blood relative, keeping yer yap out of their business is the polite and proper way to go.
If you don't like it... tough.
They aren't your kids.
Quoted for truth. More parents need to stand up for the right to raise our kids as we friggin' see fit, assuming no abuse.
Neither test document worked for me on a Windows XP box all patched up and using Acrobat Reader 7.0.8. What I get is a Security Warning stating the document is trying to connect to the domain. I'm not totally convinced this is an Adobe warning as it looks a lot like IE's warnings and I haven't yet tested exhaustively.
Either way, it's time to start letting clients know that PDFs have been added to the list of "potentially risky" file types.
It seems a fine line but I think many would consider this an exploit. A vulnerability would be a non-feature that can be exploited in some manner. I could be wrong (as far as speaking for others) but this is my take on it. Again, it seems a little like semantics but it's a line that can be defines quite well.
Then perhaps you should have kept reading. The only thing they "admit" is they are, indeed, an Ontario Corporation.
2. Upon information and belief, defendant Desire2Learn ("D2L") is and has been a corporation organized under the laws of Canada, having its principal place of business at 72 Victoria Street South, Suite 401, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2G 4Y9.
ANSWER: Desire2Learn states that it is a corporation organized under the laws of the Province of Ontario with its principal place of business is located at 72 Victoria Street South, Suite 401, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2G 4Y9. Desire2Learn denies the remaining allegations of this paragraph.
I've considered the possibility but it's reproducible on multiple systems (3 before I got bored). That's why I saved it. Maybe it'll win me a bet someday or something. More likely it'll end up in my little box of "geek treasures" like the 8 MB of 30 pin SIMMs I paid $800 for years ago and the "original SLI" Voodoo 2 setup.
Heh; computer wizard works. One client actually called me a god recently on a voice mail. Like an idiot I deleted it before recording it to an MP3 ...
Indeed. I have several "known goods" I have on hand. Likewise I keep a box of basics in my truck at all times just in case. Great thread, overall.
I don't see a need for this. Unless you're going to be there when they're not you have no real need for it. What are you going to do, trip and take out a wall?
Sure, I suppose you could be sued for something at some point but I've been going 5 years now and never had a need for liability insurance. Just make sure the customer understands up front what's going to happen. This is basic "setting expectations". See my other post about terms, too. The phrase "All labor is fully earned" on a paper the client signed when the work is completed should stand up in court if they re-infect the PC or trash the computer somehow.
Getting paid by the hour by the person nagging you is surprisingly soothing. I've had to sit around getting rich while a couple argued about where to move a desk. Boo hoo. If I'm on the clock my client can start singing falsetto renditions of Paris Hilton songs for all I care.
Indeed. My favorite example of this is the client who likes to pay me to go shopping for tech toys with him. He spends more time arguing with the sales jerks about stuff then asks me what to buy anyhow. Hey, it's all billable time and he's happy to pay so what do I care?
Another common one are the people who call me to figure out how to sort their e-mails a certain way. They end up paying me for the time and every invoice is paid promptly. The key is not charging too much while being happy to help them.
That's why you use memtest86. If somebody can't diagnose bad RAM, then they shouldn't be charging for this type of service anyways. I do this kind of work, and in my experience, the people are reasonable about letting you work through the problem.
I have a DIMM I keep about strictly because it's bad and causes massive data corruption yet passes MemTest86 no sweat every time. I've allowed this sucker to run for weeks before without a single error yet you can barely get an OS installed. Odd but it happens once in a while.
I actually ran my own computer consulting business and I found the term 'nerd' and 'geek' have pretty negative meanings to the average user. While it might imply technical skill, it also implies a lack of communication skills, manners, and to some extent reliability. I actually was doing pretty well by marketing above the nerd/geek level.
I have found the opposite to a degree. As long as you communicate well, advertising yourself as a Geek usually gets a laugh at least. People want geeks, they just want ones that speak their language as well. Heck, since I added "Head Geek" to my business card, I get chuckles about it all the time. It's a great ice breaker.
I guess it's just to each their own. Heh.
I currently own and operate an onsite "PC Repair" (home client) /"IT Consulting" (business client) business. I started a little over 5 years ago. I handle home users and small to medium businesses in the greater Seattle area.
First and foremost: you are not thinking of starting a computer repair business. You are thinking of starting a business that helps customers resolve the problems with their technology. This may seem odd but the customer service aspect is what will get you repeat business. Many good techs fail at this because they think of the computer before the client.
Second: network, network, network. I'm not talking about computers; join a Chamber of Commerce or something similar. Your face time will get you customers; maybe not right away but eventually, you'll be the guy they think of first. This is critical. No other form of advertising has paid off like personal networking (and I've burned a lot of money on it over the past 5 years).
It's true that there are a lot of home users who may bounce a check and so on if you're working on the low end. I've never had that issue with a home user; the only bounced check was a business and 2 other businesses ended up refusing to pay. All of these have been successfully prosecuted as appropriate. I feel this is mainly because I do not accept plastic of any kind. Credit cards are subject to all kinds of hassles; this keeps most of the "budget" crowd from hiring me but that's fine with me.
Charge a little bit less than the average in shop rate. This shouldn't be the cheapest but not the most expensive. You also aren't going to have the huge overhead of a lease; that's how you undercut the competition while not being the "welfare computer helper". Contrary to what many feel, I don't see a need to charge for travel time; why should anyone get paid to drive to work? Nobody likes the plumber or locksmith charging them to just knock on the door. Charge an hourly rate and bill by the quarter hour. The effective minimum is the first quarter hour. I find that operating this way, I have plenty of work to keep me busy full time. People don't hesitate to call me and I've had referrals from 65% of my customers to date.
Have terms and stick to them. Make sure when you first set an appointment you cover your rates and such. This way they know what to expect. I personally never offer an estimate until I've seen the issue. When the issue's fixed, I use a two part Invoice form from Staples. I stamp a URL which contains my terms on it, having the clients sign that. I print terms and provide them on request. A critical item to include is "All labor is fully earned". This means if you aren't liable for refunds you clean spy-ware from the PC and it gets re-infected. If you do this long enough, you will think you fixed an issue and didn't. If you screwed up, don't charge to fix it. If you didn't screw up explain why and bill them.
I also don't mind customers watching me work. They almost never comprehend exactly what I am doing anyhow so it just makes them that much more comfortable with having had to call me in. In many cases, I think they just want to see that I am doing something other than reinstalling a program but sometimes that's all you need to do. Explaining the basics without too much techno-babble is one of the most difficult aspects of this. Just keep it simple and explain sometimes it's not what to do but the order in which it's done that matters.
One thing I find works quite well is work shirts. Wear Guard (Google them if you like) is a company I sue that embroiders my business name on button down or polo shirts for a reasonable fee. People always relax when they see you're a "real business". It sounds silly but it's a major part of what separates the successful business from the "friend of a relative's neighbor" that is so common. Make sure you're running a business, not playing around. The only "real business" tool you don't need IMO is office space. Set aside a portio