The _real_ reason Dell won't help remove spyware:

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

This might be old news for some, but it was just mentioned on El Reg again...

From MSNBC, regarding N-Case:
"In September, consumers nudged toward Dell.com by n-CASE purchased nearly $4 million worth of computers, Smith said, netting 180Solutions over $100,000 in finder’s fees. A spokeswoman from Dell said the company does not discuss its marketing deals publicly."

'Nudged' is an interesting way to spin it. N-Case (with close to 13 Million users suckers) is infamous for popping up "sponsored content" over competitors' sites. I don't think Dell would want to get rid of spyware if it can redirect their new customers away from those awful places like gateway.com and hp.com

And as for why MS has made no real effort towards blocking browser-hijackers and the like, regarding Gator:
"Expedia.com is the largest buyer, spending “hundreds of thousands” on Gator ads each month. An Expedia representative said the company wouldn’t discuss its marketing strategy."

Who owns most of Expedia? One guess.


OBHijackers: I just tried to google and got some pop-up spawning fake page at justtemplates.com. It claims 'one of our server I.P. addresses has been targeted by a virus which you may have on your computer called "QHosts"' Somehow I don't think so. I'm on a Mac. If I option-refresh I get Google. Maybe I should let IT know their caching engine has been poisoned.

(no subject)

[dmsalem00.livejournal.com]

Call me Salem. I've (officially) joined the ranks of Tech Support.

Outsourced for Dell Technical Support.

meh. You'll probably be hearing lots from me...

Interesting News

[liquidmercurial.livejournal.com]

You know about Dell retracting it's support in India... Well how about this new idea? I think it's an awesome idea that should become standard.... You decide:

U.S. Programmers at Overseas Salaries

Problem..

[dmsalem00.livejournal.com]

Alright, I have a problem that I can't seem to figure out.

I have a HP 733mhz, 192MB RAM, Nvidia GeForce2, and for some reason, my system locks up when I use 3D capabilities, for example, in games.

I've tried Reformat/Reinstall OS, I've got the latest drivers, the latest version of DirectX, and every time I start a game, I have at least 94% system memory free, and I've got no background programs running.

Any help would be appreciated, and if you want to help and need to know more, feel free to ask.

Dude, i work for dell!

[mellay.livejournal.com]

so ummm...yes, my s.o. salem has already joined and posted.

yeah. i do hardware tech support for dell's dimesion and optiplex business, military, government, and school customers, mostly dealing with ITs.
and the occassional person who buys their computer through their business for home use.
and those are the calls that i want to shoot myself in the foot during, just so i can claim i have an "emergency" and hand the phone off to someone else.

*sigh*
anyway.
nothing's more fun than starting your day off with running 90/90s, 32 bit diags, a system restore that the system shuts down during, and setting up a DFFR!
*grumble*
i love my job. i really do.
i just don't like the, oh, say, uneducated computer illiterate "computer tech"s that work for school districts in, say, Mississippi...who throw the phone down every 10 minutes and call me a "stupid bitch" to someone in the office when i try to get her to troubleshoot. and...with the optiplex gx400...like most dells...you put it on its side, push in two buttons, and lift to open the case. when i explained to this "tech" that we would have to open the case to check and reseat her memory 20 minutes in to the call, she promptly stated "I DUN HAVE NO TOOLS FOR THAT SO I CANT DO THAT" "ma'am, your system is one of the easiest to go inside, you will not need any tools whatsoever, i can walk you through this really quick" "YOU DUN KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU TALKIN BOUT I AINT DOIN THAT I NEEDS TOOLS" "ma'am i understand your reluctance to open the case..." "*tosses phone down* I CAINT HANDLE THIS STUPID BITCH TODAY"

yeah. that's how my day started off thursday.

so yeah....i've babbled enough.
this is melissa, thank you for calling dell technical support and don't forget you can visit our website at...oh my god plz shoot me >_