TechMan - All Comments

re: Dell, you lose

Sooska — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:55:29 GMT

My entire family used to buy Dells. Following a similar but more prolonged version of your story regarding delivery of a computer for a college freshman (ordered July delivered in December) and it was the wrong one. Customer service was nonexistent despite the fact that a couple thousand dollars were involved. After that time that particular computer (and others) gave us trouble and, even though we had extended warranties for in-home service, it was a nightmare. The overseas customer reps continually ordered the wrong components because they don't understand everyday English - only the book variety- and their scripts.The local tech would arrive with the wrong part and ensuing delays were weeks long. Outrageous. Since then we have all bought Macs and have none of those issues.

re: Dell, you lose

gsabass — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:41:09 GMT

That's very odd...I ordered a new laptop with Windows 7 from Dell about a week ago, and it was shipped yesterday; I should receive it on Thursday. I don't disagree with the customer service aspect-I work in a similar capacity, and their lack of communication is really unacceptable.

Speeding Fines » Red light cameras – how they work – TechMan – post-gazette.com

Speeding Fines » Red light cameras – how they work – TechMan – post-gazette.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:04:50 GMT

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re: Google buys ReCAPTCHA

Digital TV Advice — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:45:15 GMT

Those Captcha things are fine as long as they're vaguely readable - some of them are impossible to make out and it's not unheard of to use up 3 or 4 attempts to read it. Essential tool nonetheless.

re: Drivers are necessary but pesky

alan2 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:14:45 GMT

Jody:

Thanks for your thoughtful response. Having said that,. I'm just an "end user", about as far removed from being an IT type as could be imagined. The story with my younger brother send his son is quite different, both being "computer engineering/computer science" types, well grounded in design, manufacturing, development and programming.

Re item 3 in your response, both of the above mentioned, other people too have been critical of Microsoft, other software outfits too, for the following reason, this reflecting expressed views. They rush stuff out the door, to quickly, without having properly debugged programs, which goes a long way toward what appear to be Microsoft's seemingly endless stream of "critical updates". Of course, debugging costs money, the software release being delayed while debugging is ongoing. One wonders however concerning whether or not it might be less expensive, in the long run, to hold release until bugs have been found and eliminated, perhaps saving users a whole lot of trouble. The foregoing could be full of holes, but please remember that, as I stated, I'm simply an end user.

As to your last, many would likely share your expressed concerns.

re: Drivers are necessary but pesky

Jody Farr — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:02:10 GMT

Alan, the basic problem is this:

1. Software (including operating systems) are written by humans, which guarantees that bugs and unforeseen security holes will exist in it from day one.

2. Other people (hackers and other miscreants) make a living at finding and exploiting these bugs and holes. Software companies must expend considerable resources to plug these holes to keep your computer safe.

3. After a while, it makes sense to make large updates to the software to account for advances in technology and that usually means enough rewrites to make it a whole new version of the software. Otherwise there would be no incoming revenue since there's nothing new to sell.

Example: those folks who are still running Windows 2000 and below are marooned because Microsoft has moved on. They can't afford to keep groups of people involved in keeping those old operating systems running.

Of course, all of this would go away if computer wrote their own software, but something about that makes me uncomfortable (see SkyNet, Terminator robots, the Matrix, etc).

re: Drivers are necessary but pesky

alan2 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:05:28 GMT

Being both old and old fashioned, as well as a devote of "old saws", reading your bit about it being Operating System Upgrade Season, I wonder as to why, after all, re old saws, there is The Kiss Principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), no offense intended, and then there is If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It, which my grandmother was wont to offer.

Let's say that an individual has brand X computer, with WXYZ Operating System. Both perform entirely adequately for our individual. Why would this individual want to rush off to the uncertainties of OS Upgrades, when all is working fine, other than for the great push of, from and by "marketers", which by the way, doesn't strike me as anything like a good reason. Of course, the foregoing is obviously a subjective judgment, to which others can attribute merit, malice or nothing at all. To each their own.

re: An apology for Alan Turing

alan2 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:02:57 GMT

The apology seems just a bit late in the day. One also wonders ad to whether the world has outgrown the prejudices that led to the ill treatment of Alan Turing.

Live updates of Apple announcement – TechMan – post-gazette.com

Live updates of Apple announcement – TechMan – post-gazette.com — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:24:06 GMT

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Apple Announcement Today | FTP2FTP News

Apple Announcement Today | FTP2FTP News — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:14:23 GMT

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