Silly resistor values

Dell got me out of a serious pickle once. Laptop hung, very hardcore, after some RF "experiment" that got too close to it. The gal had a fairly thick India accent but she sure knew how these computers worked and within about 15 minutes we had it running (I really needed the laptop right then).

you

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IBM (Lenovo's service) has done similar things for me. They also do a great job with depot repairs. I've had my laptop returned to me in less than 72 hours. They have an Atlanta accent. ;-)

M$, not so much. They require a credit card just to talk to someone who knows nothing but what's on the script.

Is it still the deal where you're required to enter a CC number to talk to someone, but you're told your card won't be charged if it turns out your "issue" really is something within the bounds of the support that's included when you purchased the full retail copy of Windows?

Certainly a good way to scare off people who aren't completely certain where their problem lies...

Probably. When was the last time anyone bought a full license?

Yep. They don't have to service their products; they're M$. Tomorrow health care will be the same.

I think some "enthusiasts" who tend to re-install the OS on a sometimes monthly or even weekly basis do, as they rotate through different video cards, motherboards, etc. do. The price is something like 2-3 times that of the "system builder" version (in quantities of 1), and some people find paying that premium preferable to repeated over-the-phone Windows activations (which you have to do after just a couple of over-the-Internet activations, since of course they think you're a pirate), trying to figure out just which components you can change and still have the license apply (e.g., with an OEM license, I think the motherboard has to be replaced by an identical model or the license is invalidated... although there are exceptions if your motherboard dies and the original model is no longer being manufactured), etc.

It's a quagmire.

Borderline extortion, really. :-)

Probably well under 1% of all copies of Windows sold, though.

No, no, it'll be more like the hour+ wait you get with some technical support lines... they can advertise 24/7 "free" health care, but they're really hoping you'll just give up and go away, and then it's not their "fault" if you end up dead from some readily curable ailment.

There are plenty of good arguments why socialized medicine is a bad idea, but I am surprised that those who oppose it often start out with the "your heatlh care will be rationed!" argument: While absolutely true, how many people currently *don't* have rationed health care? Almost none, I'd say -- it's just that the rationing agent is some private insurance company rather than the government.

---Joel

When it's the government, there is no choice. I can (and did) vote with my feet and find another state to live in. I can always find a different insurance company, even if I have to find another job. There is only one Fed and they now know everything about you and control every move.

As Keith said it'll take away the choice. If a single-payer system says this or that ain't covered then that's the end of the rope. Only choice will be to travel overseas where it's affordable and do it there. Meaning top care only for top earners. That's what lots of people do in Europe. They travel to Hungary, Poland etc.

OTOH, looking at the yearly rate hikes of 10-20% I (as a conservative) must conclude that our current health care "system" is quite out of control.

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Well, Jawjah is really close to where you live :-)

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from MS that needs support. Only the mundane stuff.

You're an idiot.

And dopes like you are to blame for it.

It amazes me when an MS hater like you makes shit up to explain your failures.

You can change ANY component of your computer, and NO change "invalidates" your license. on ANY version of Windows.

Use a little common sense, ya dope.

Obama likes to claim differently (that private heatlh care plans will still be around), but it does seem that the actual wording of some of the legislation attempts to remove a lot of "choice," at least long-term as private insurers slowly die off.

Valid point, although a lot of people don't have quite that flexibility -- if you're a relatively low-skilled worker, and have some chronic disease (aka, "pre-existing condition"), it can be nearly impossible to find another job where your condition will be covered. A government-run system will at least address that problem (even though, yes, it will surely create plenty of new ones in its place too).

I suppose that if one doesn't like the impending U.S. health care system they could try to move to Canada, the U.K., or Oz? :-)

Personally I'm willing to take a "wait and see" attitude with the Obama plan. It is insanely expensive, it will create plenty of new problems, it won't work for everyone... but it just might fix more problems overall than it causes, and possibly even do so at a lower overall cost per capita than what we're spending now. I'm not at all completely confident about this, though -- feel free to tell me, "I told you so" in a couple of years...

---Joel

Sure, but if your current insurer says something isn't covered, how many people *really* have the option to go off and find a different insurance plan? Of those who are in employer-provided plans, I'd say very, very few.

Those of you who are self-employed clearly do have more options here... although my understanding is that you tend to end up paying even more for a given level of coverage than what most employers would be paying.

At some point we also have to acknowledge that there's only so much money to go around and in trying to determine what's covered and what isn't we need to look at what provides the most bang for the buck: It doesn't make sense to spend, say, $10k on a procedure for 1 person where there's only, say, a 20% chance of success when you could perform 10 $1k procedures with, say, 90% success rates.

The most disturbing part of the Obama health care plan is the purposed desire to limit alternative insurance; that doesn't make any sense, and in other countries there are systems where private and government-run insurance peacefully co-exist.

But are they just trying to save money? Or certain procedures just aren't available in Europe?

---Joel

So tell me, then, why is it well known that you can't take the (OEM) Windows license you get with a Dell PC and then use it on a home-built system?

Since by your argument, you're just taking the Dell and first replacing the motherboard, then all the cards, then the case, etc., right?

Take a look here --

"In general, OEM software may not be transferred from one system to another system. However, the computer system can certainly be updated with new components without the requirement of a new software license. The only exception to this is the motherboard 1. If the motherboard is replaced 2, the computer system is deemed "new" and a new license would be required. Other PC components may be upgraded, including a hard drive. Though if the hard drive 3 is replaced/upgraded, the operating system must first be removed from the old hard drive. To restate: the operating system is "married" to the computer system on which it is originally installed."

---Joel

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"Jim Thompson" wrote in message

Hmm... I'd definitely go to Israel -- the weather is better. :-)

Don't write off Oz or New Zealand though -- pretty nice places, and even today the U.S. dollar still goes further in terms of purchasing real property, paying wages, etc.

Parts of Oz might just remind you of Phoenix, even. :-)

Yep. I have a client in Adelaide, and a potential client in Auckland.

...Jim Thompson

Each of those three countries has had publicly-funded (AmE: "socialized") medical care for ages, of course.

Yeah, but as Jim points out, he's already on the dole in this country for most of his health care. :-)

Yep. I've been on Medicare since August 2004. But I also pay extra for parts B & D, and a supplemental.

...Jim Thompson

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Did any of your former employers offer on-going health insurance after you left?

I ask because my stepfather, who retired a few years ago, still gets health insurance through his old employer (it's dirt cheap too --