Somehow many of the features of this failed product found it's way into the Microsoft office line we have also learned to hate.
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It seems Office 2007 breaks the spell checking capability in English, Spanish and German within Outlook Express 6. I've heard reports that French still works but the others are incompatible. The fix according to MS is to install a free third-party app. Hmm
Last I recall, Microsoft was based in the US. English being the primary language fllowed closely by Spanish and then German maybe. They knowingly did this also. Doesn't make too much sense.
- The computer manufacturers are paying less to the service providers
- The service providers have to hire employees (technicians) at lower wage rates
- Lower paid technicians mean many of them possibly are no more than glorified parts changers...not technicians.
- Out-Sourced Technical Support to foreign countries by individuals who likely have no field experience or even own a personal computer.
- Customers being asked to fix the computer themselves,
- You probably have to be home to sign for the parts. If you are not there or somebody can't sign for the package, a note is often left on the door where you can go and pick it up. This causes a repair delay.
- You are responsible to remove the defective part.
- You are responsible to send back the old part. If you don't, you could be billed for the defective part at a rate often exceeding current market price of that item.
- You lose the opportunity to ask additional questions from possibly a "real" technician who maybe performing this service for you.
- Onsite technicians often have access to higher levels of support with lower wait times than the consumer does if additional problems are discovered, the wrong parts were sent, or what they sent didn't correct the problem. When the consumer calls back in...let the wait begin!
What is RoHS ?
RoHS is an acronym for "Reduction of Hazardous Substances", a directive of the European Community (EC) which is designed to reduce the amount of waste electronic equipment containing toxic substances. Electronic equipement containing Chromium, Cadmium, and other named toxic substances cannot be sold in or imported into EC countries after July 1, 2006 unless specifically exempted.
I see this warning in my documentation I receive for printers I need to repair. Usually, I will be replacing a fuser in a laser printer. It seems that there is a higher percentage of lead than this standard mandates a product to contain. I grew up with lead-based paint on everything. My fishing weights are made of guess what...lead. I used to work in a tire shop. We balanced tires with lead weights.
I'm still here to write about it.
There may be times that for what ever reason you may be forced to use a public computer. Covering your tracks can be difficult....These are some of the areas you may want to address to be safe.
- Delete Browser History, cookies, Temp Internet Files
- Don't Save Files Locally
- Don't save Passwords
- Don't Do Online Banking
- Don't Buy anything using Credit Cards
- Clear the Page File.
- Reboot or Power off the machine
Clearly, you may have difficulty performing some of these tasks from say a computer you rent time on for access. The kiosk software may have you litterally blocked out. But there may be a work around you can use even on a friends pc you may be using.
LIVE CD
There are several Linux distibution cd's that allow booting the computer from the CD and offer "almost" full use of a computer. The operating system loads in to memory and doesn't even need a hard drive. Providing the ethernet device is compatible, you should be able to surf safely because after you power off the machine...all traces of you are gone. These distributions often have OpenOffice and FireFox among other applications so you can get your basic tasks completed. Email of course being limited to being web-based only.
Personnaly I have had good luck with the Ubuntu Live CD available at Ubuntu.org. The Ubuntu team takes a stable version of Debian Linux and builds upon that. Debian is changing thier builds so frequently that you may end up with an unstable version. Ubuntu helps eleviate that issue.
Anyway, you can't get blamed for screwing up someone elses computer or have to worry your tracks will be left behind by going this route.
I could pay for one of the Air Cars with what my employer reimburses me in mileage. I spend around 800/mo. on fuel. plus a couple hundred a month in car payments...payoff in about 15 months!
My Technical Assistant alerted me to this problem.
It seems that some of the brand-new gadgets we buy that we connect to the computer...could be infected with viruses, trojans, etc.
Read the Full Story here!
This peticular topic has created quite a stir among several of us who belong to a video editing group on Yahoo. While the technology is currently being developed for photography, it certainly could eventually find its way into video.
Initially when viewing the website with the developers examples, I pushed it off as webtricks done with flash and DHTML. After further discussion and investigation, the technology actually involves a special modified camera and special software they have developed. For me it was worth eventually digging a little deeper.
So what you see on the website, is just a representation of what they are developing. You have to dig into the press releases and other areas of the website via thier links to discover the finer points of the technology.
So if your a photographer, you may want to check this out. This has the potential to turn even the worst shot into something to be proud of.
Tip: In the gallery, click on the images to go to the larger view. They have a slider you can manipulate the focus on the right side of the photo.
