On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Russ Blakeman wrote: Around here, the problem is remembering to switch from "country driving" to "city driving". "Country driving" is usually done at speeds of up to 70MPH -- low rate of enforcement. But the city cops are sticklers. They'd rather ticket than fix the traffic problem. -- Kris Kirby, KE4AHR | TGIFreeBSD... 'Nuff said. <kris(a)nospam.catonic.net> | IM: KrisBSD | HSV, AL. ------------------------------------------------------- "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

I had the same problem with a local Staples - got the store number from my reciept - got a $10 gift certificate and an apology from HQ by mail a week after my emailed complaint. Had a problem of DHL screwing up shipping on an online order, that I paid extra $$ to get it here quick, they refunded all the shipping and sent me 2 $10 gift certificates and an apoloogy from HQ by mail after I called to make a verbal complaint and inquiry of the delay/loss. It helps to mention that you're taking your business in the future to Officemax, Office Depot or Quill.... => -----Original Message----- => From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Fred Cisin => (XenoSoft) => Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 1:02 PM => To: Classic Computer => Subject: Re: STAPLES STORES WILL TAKE OLD COMPUTERS => => => > >I went to their web site and searched for all stores in and around => > >Houston within 100 miles and got zero hits? => > There are NONE in Houston or the surrounding 100 miles?!? => consider yourslef lucky. => > Man... I have 2 in Paramus and 1 in Ramsey... all within 5 minutes of => > each other! And other 3 more that I can think of within a 15-20 minute => > drive. => > You poor Texans must feel left out (now I see why my mother => left TX and => > came to NJ) => => You can HAVE the ones around here! => Item (external PCMCIA interface CD-ROM) at about 80% of going => rate; they would not honor the sale price (saying it was a typo), but => would also NOT post anything saying it was a typo on the display copy of => the flyer posted at the front door. => FIVE out of FIVE times that they have had good deals, they have been out => of the items (never had them?), with no rainchecks. => Some sort of extremely obnoxious alarm bell ringing in store; clerk's => response to complaints: "Yeah, I wish that somebody would turn it off." => Response to request for specs on a product: "It's really good." => WHILE getting something from the back room, the time for a clerk's => scheduled break came, . . . => Answer to "what is the angle of directionality?" of a directional => microphone (Sony MC-100): "That means that it only picks up what you aim => it at." => => "Yeah, we don't got that." => => => They suck so much that I'd rather go to FRY'S! => =>

I've gotten good deals and quality from Office Depot but you have it pegged with OfficeMax as OfficeSux - I dealt with them once, never went back, sorta like I do with Kmart. Kmart is a nice place if you want to get out and have peace and quiet - their stores are always like a morgue. => -----Original Message----- => From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Roger Merchberger => Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 2:15 PM => To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => Subject: RE: STAPLES STORES WILL TAKE OLD COMPUTERS => => => Rumor has it that Russ Blakeman may have mentioned these words: => => >Had a problem of DHL screwing up shipping on an online order, => that I paid => >extra $$ to get it here quick, they refunded all the shipping => and sent me 2 => >$10 gift certificates and an apoloogy from HQ by mail after I => called to make => >a verbal complaint and inquiry of the delay/loss. => => Odd - that programmer I just got went by way of DHL, and I got => it overnite, => even tho I paid for "plain ol' whenever"... guess this is where => YMMV comes => in... => => >It helps to mention that you're taking your business in the future to => >Officemax, Office Depot or Quill.... => ^^^^^^^^^ => Not that you'd actually *want* to take your business there - you => just have => to tell Staples that... => => ((( Don't get me started on OfficeSux... ))) => => Laterz, => Roger "Merch" Merchberger => -- => Roger "Merch" Merchberger --- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers => Recycling is good, right??? Ok, so I'll recycle an old .sig. => => If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead => disarmament should *not* be your first career choice. => =>

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 14 Feb 2002 23:59 pm, Tony Duell wrote: AFAIA, they are the same company. I find them reasonable for A4 paper (blank printer and lined stuff), and it has the added convenience of being close to where I live, so it's easy to drive and pick up items. They're passable for inkjet printer cartridges, too - - no better or worse than anywhere else I've seen. As for service, I agree with you - a couple of years ago they locked away the print carts, so you can't just pick one off the shelf any more, but you have to find a salesdrone, and get them to unlock the right bin (of which there's about a 50% chance first go). Question: if it's the courier who messed up and came late, is it Viking Direct's fault? Assuming they gave the goods to the courier on Thursday, the only way they'd know if it didn't get to you on Friday would be either you complaining, or the courier telling them that there was a delay. Staples do sell a lot of stuff. It's going to be difficult for all their sales people to know the tech specs of all their products. And there's not going to be *that* many people asking about the angle of directionality of a directional mike. Probably one person (max.) in their whole career there :-) True, but it can be fun to play annoy-the-sales-droid at PC World. (Note: I haven't done this myself, this is merely second-hand information). Dan - -- dankolb(a)ox.compsoc.net - --I reserve the right to be completely wrong about any comments or opinions expressed; don't trust everything you read above--

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Friday 15 Feb 2002 01:24 am, Tony Duell wrote: Maybe it's luck of the draw? I haven't had any problem with paper being stuck together (no more than any other printer paper I've had experience with). I normally buy the cheapest stuff. Fair enough. The printers that I regularly use are the more popular type, so the inkjet cartridges I can easily get from Staples (they also sell clone-carts which are much cheaper and no obvious disadvantage to the Canon brands). I've only had to replace two toner carts in my laser printers - one I had a spare (although it'd probably be more difficult to find a replacement toner now), the other one I bought from Dabs, who seem to have a decent range of printer ribbons/inks/toners in stock. Ah okay. If they're not going to admit that something went wrong, then you shouldn't use them for your custom again. I've never bought a directional microphone, so I don't know if the directional angle is on the box/instruction leaflet or not. Sometimes you can just open it yourself, unless it's shrink-wrapped. True, hence I haven't personally done it. Again, the only reasons I've been to PC World are because they're within driving distance, so when I needed something (for a company I was working with during the summer), I could just go there and pick the stuff up. Also, I went there when they first opened, and got an inkjet printer cheaper than it would normally have been in other places. Dan - -- dankolb(a)ox.compsoc.net - --I reserve the right to be completely wrong about any comments or opinions expressed; don't trust everything you read above--

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Dan Kolb wrote: I don't EXPECT them to know the tech specs. But I DO expect them to know that "That means that it only picks up what you aim it at" is NOT an answer, right or wrong, to the question "what is the angle of directionality?", and to know that "it's really good" is not an adequate answer to a question of the specs. I don't EXPECT them to know the tech specs. But I DO expect them to make at least a token effort to try to look it up when somebody DOES ask, or even refuse to look it up. "SLIGHTLY less useful"?? That is an insult to cats. When a microphone is labelled as being "directional", the angle of directionality, or the shape of it's response curve is hardly a "annoy the sales droid". It is approximately the same order of necessity as asking what is the capacity of a hard disk. Would YOU buy a hard disk without knowing the size? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com

On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote: Pet Peeve Mode ON It's astounding how many people do exactly that. "My so-called 80 gig harddrive is only 74 gigs!!! What a rip-off!!!" I hear that crap all the time. The explanation that 1,000,000,000 is a Maxtor gig and 1024x1024x1024 is a real gig doesn't impart a clue. "OK, so where's the other 6 gigs?" Pet Peeve Mode OFF Doc

Doc wrote: "If you can't impress them with your [lack of] intellegence, baffle them with B.S." Remember, their goal is to SELL you the item, not to aid you in making an intellegent decision. Gary Hildebrand St. Joseph, MO

Enough Staples bashing, in the present world they aren't that bad, and given the nice coupons for $20 off $75 etc. I buy a fair amount of normally non-discounted items and get free shipping too. Nothing is more pathetic, or inherently nerdlike, than playing I am smarter than you with the salesdroids. I mean really what droid is going to know if its REALLY (ie despite the box marking, specs etc.) if a mic is supercardiod or hypercardiod? OTOH isn't it Home Depot that is running the TV ad "don't you wish everyplace was like Home Depot", where somebody asks a stupid question about some song in an elevator, and in the "Home Depot" world some famous music person in the back of the elevator turns around and tells them all about who did the song etc. Spoof could be a Radio Shack version where the people ask some question and the camera turns to a cat setting on the counter that goes "MEOW" and gives the cat look of what is wrong with you?

Radio Shack: "You've got questions, we've got blank stares." 1. You learn that the Radio Shack slogan, "you've got questions, we've got answers"' is true. They have answers alright, it just may not be the right ones! 2. The people that work there think you are trying to contact someone from Mars or outer space, with all the cables, adapters, connectors, etc., that you buy there every week. 3. You think of opening your own store, because with a name like Radio Shack, they ought to sell lots and lots of amateur radio equipment. 4. You know your way around the store better than the employees that work there. 5. You spend so much time and money driving there, you think of buying one of everything. 6. The people who work there think you own one heck of a radio station, (in a way it might be a little truth to that), or you're trying to build a bomb. 7. You realize you know more about electronics and computers than they do. 8. You spend more money in a week at Radio Shack than you do on food. 9. You know everyone who works there by their first name. 10. You have your own private parking spot there. 11. When they call you for a stocking item because they are out. --John

Lately all I've seen are people at near-minimum wages, most just out of high school replacing the "old timers" that used to work the stores. They're dropping most of their components anyway so all they need to know is how to sell consumer electronics by passing out a flyer that comes as sales literature with the goods. I asked one clerk locally about X10 and he was lost, never heard of it at all (how old is X10 Powerhouse now?). I know more about the layout of their floor and wall racks than they do and they're delaing with them daily, I might go into an RS store once every 2 months for a minor project item, anymore I just keep a wish list and when I have to order from MCM, Mouser, Digikey, etc I just add that to the order and avoid RS altogether. I even have a RS commercial account and nothing in it is worth it. => -----Original Message----- => From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Owen Robertson => Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 1:07 AM => To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => Subject: Re: Radio Shack (Was: STAPLES STORES WILL TAKE OLD COMPUTERS) => => => I can remember when Radio Shack had good employees. They sent out a great => woman who helped my parents use their first computer. They had bought it, => opened it, and set it up, but didn't turn it on for a year. It was just => about two years ago that I was talking to an employee farmiliar with => diode-transistor logic. He was replaced with the typical idiot. You would => think the employees less than 10 miles from their corporate headquarters => could be good. => => Owen => => on 2/14/02 11:16 PM, John Chris Wren at jcwren(a)jcwren.com wrote: => => > Radio Shack: "You've got questions, we've got blank stares." => > => > 1. You learn that the Radio Shack slogan, "you've got => questions, we've got => > answers"' is true. They have answers alright, it just may not => be the right => > ones! => > 2. The people that work there think you are trying to contact => someone from => > Mars or outer space, with all the cables, adapters, => connectors, etc., that => > you buy there every week. => > 3. You think of opening your own store, because with a name like Radio => > Shack, they ought to sell lots and lots of amateur radio equipment. => > 4. You know your way around the store better than the => employees that work => > there. => > 5. You spend so much time and money driving there, you think => of buying one => > of everything. => > 6. The people who work there think you own one heck of a radio => station, (in => > a way it might be a little truth to that), or you're trying to => build a bomb. => > 7. You realize you know more about electronics and computers => than they do. => > 8. You spend more money in a week at Radio Shack than you do on food. => > 9. You know everyone who works there by their first name. => > 10. You have your own private parking spot there. => > 11. When they call you for a stocking item because they are out. => > => > --John => =>

You're not possibly talking about a Flux _Compensator_, Doc Brown? Where do you get the 1.21 Gigawatts from? Lightning? :-D -- Andreas Freiherr Vishay Semiconductor GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany http://www.vishay.com

How can you possibly squeeze the system into a DeLorean? There isn't even enough room for a REAL computer! BTW, it is NOT true that the mirror in a DeLorean has a clip for holding a straw.

Two things come to mind with today's electronics - they aren't made to be repairable and they don't want you to try - that means part suppliers must go to products sales rather than parts and hold the trash electronics market up even more. Olson and Lafayette felt the crunch of cheap integrated electronics years ago and are gone partially from this. => -----Original Message----- => From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Gary Hildebrand => Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 1:24 PM => To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => Subject: Re: Radio Shack => => => Rat Shack, Trash Shack, these terms are self-explanitory. => => Around here we call it the outhouse, because it is usually out of => whatever you need. => => What this world needs is a good parts store again. => => Gary Hildebrand => St. Joseph, MO =>

FARCE is about it and I've pulled even big HV tubes from Tv sets with no shock unless the anode cap was still on it, so I get nailed by the CRT capacitance - I've met this same type myself but soon put them cautiously in their place - I was in charge as the instructor and had professional manuals and military tech data to rub all over their faces. 8 wonderful years playing games with people's heads, I miss that. => -----Original Message----- => From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of John Chris Wren => Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 8:20 AM => To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => Subject: RE: Radio Shack => => => I generally prefer to order from Digikey, but sometimes you => need a part => right *now*. And, if you're really lucky, RS may even carry it => (we used to => have a RadioShack.com about 20 miles away, but they've folded. => Ever since => they went from being Tech America to RadioShack.com, they "consumerfied" => their stock, and started hiring idiots, then went out of business. But I => digress). => => So assuming RS carries this part, I'm forced to go down to => my local store. => Now I usually have nothing personal against the actual employees on an => individual basis, but mostly as a class of sales people (just => like you may => know one honest used car dealer, but slam them as a whole). => However, we've => got "Frank". Frank is the manager of the store. There's nothing Frank => doesn't know. Frank knows things he doesn't even know he knows => about. Why, => with what all Frank knows, I can't figure out why he doesn't have a cold => fusion research grant, instead of managing a mere Radio Shack => store. Frank => is a genius, I tell you! => => A few weeks ago I went into Franks Amazing Radioshack => Consumer Extravaganza => (FARCE), and said "Ah, you've rearranged the store. Where might => the modular => handset plug crimping tools have been moved to, my good man?" => What ensued => was being informed that the cord between the wall and the => telephone was not => a handset sized plug but a RJ-11 or RJ-12, and that I didn't => really want a => handset crimper (which, it turns out, they don't carry), but a RJ-12 => crimper. I explained that "No, I really *do* want a handset => plug crimper, => which would be known under the USOC, or Universal Service Order => Codes, as a => RJ-10, or 'Registered Jack #10', because I AM NOT CONNECTING A DAMN PHONE => WITH IT!". => => Another time I was regaled with a story of how he and his => buddies used to => use the high voltage section from an old TV to charge "tubes" which they => would throw at each other, counting on the "catch" reflex to => catch them, and => then laugh as their friend got a good shock. I enquired as to whether he => meant a "capacitor", because tubes (with the exception of picture tubes, => which would be a little difficult to toss across the room) don't hold a => charge. He was *sure* he meant tubes. This was early on in my visits to => the store, before I realized how smart Frank was. => => Most recently, I went in to grab a few 10uf 16V capacitors. => Frank enquired => as to what I was building, so I thought I would probe the range of his => remarkable intellect, and explained I was building a Flux => Capacitor. Frank => then told me how the 16V rating on the capacitors was entirely => inadequate, => and that I most likely should use a capacitor with a minimum => rating of 250V. => I nodded my head, and said "Why, it could be you're entirely right, but => since these are but a few cents, and I *really* need to get this running => tonight, and his fine store didn't carry anove 250V rated => capacitors, I'll => give these a try.". I didn't mention that the Flux Capacitor would be => installed in my DeLorean time machine, figuring I wouldn't have => time for the => lengthy but accurate explanation of why 88 MPH wouldn't be => enough to trigger => the time circuits, and that a Monteverdi might be a better choice than a => DeLorean, since the Swiss know more about time, and make such damn fine => watches. => => Frank has the most amazing ability to service 3 or 4 => customers at once, => also. He may be in the process of ringing up your sale, and => suddenly, using => his Amazing Frank Hearing, he may overhear another employee making a => suggestion to a customer. Immediately, Frank will loudly => interject a better => suggestion to both employee and customer. For Frank is never => wrong, and a => Frank suggestion is the best thing you could use that day. => => I hate that store. It's the only around for 8 miles, though. => => --John =>

Is it just me or... I live in Silicon Valley, and the places to get component type stuff are dwindling. Radio Shack no longer carries much of the components they used to. I went into Frys for a 100K pot the other day (for paddles for an apple II (ob ot)) and there were NO pots... Radio Shack had various values but not 100 K. A small hole in the wall was the same (Schad elec- tronics on 1st street) I wonder if I could still buy everything needed to build a computer from scratch (no not a PC mobo and that stuff but an 8 bit cpu, memory, i/o chips...) not that I could self design or build somthing like that (right now anyway) Are parts getting hard to find, only getem mailorder etc?? Opinions Please! :^)

I always thought it was "You've got questions, We've got blank stares" At least that's what it was last week when I went into my local RS to check on a 3v lithium battery for my NeXT cube. "A NeXT what?? Wasn't that made by Apple?" I finally had to look it up myself in the RSU book. Julius Sridhar wrote:

Just check some of the amateur radio boards on the net - many are civilized and just get involved when they have something of value, others have this chip on their shoulder that has them thinking because they passed a simple no-code test that they are automatic geniuses. => -----Original Message----- => From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Mike Ford => Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 6:26 AM => To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => Subject: RE: STAPLES STORES WILL TAKE OLD COMPUTERS => => => >=> -----Original Message----- => >=> From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org => >=> [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Mike Ford => >=> Nothing is more pathetic, or inherently nerdlike, than playing I => >=> am smarter => >=> than you with the salesdroids. I mean really what droid is going => >=> to know if => >=> its REALLY (ie despite the box marking, specs etc.) if a mic is => >=> supercardiod or hypercardiod? => >=> => > => >Good point there - go to the average Radio Shack and you either => get "I don't => >know" or some answer out of their butt - they are just retail => clerks that => => If you think know nothing Rat Shack people are bad, just wait => til you go in => to a place with a HAM behind the counter, they know EVERYTHING. (or think => they do). Makes me long for those RS shrugs. => =>

Be serious Tony, where might you shop such that the sales help knows more about the product than you do? I go to a store to see what the item looks like and maybe to play with, but never for "information".

That's why I never feel bad about taking something out of the box. If anybody challenges me, I'll simply ask them if they want me to buy it or not? I'll tell them that if I'm going to buy it, I'm going to look at it first. I haven't been challenged yet, but I realize I may be one day. I of course do my best to put everything back, just like I found, for the next person to look at, if I don't buy it. I don't think I have ever taken anything electronic out of the box yet, However. Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA Tony Duell wrote:

Quothe Chad Fernandez, from writings of Sun, Feb 17, 2002 at 10:20:01PM -0500: Hopefully you also take the case apart as well to look inside to get an idea of how well it's made. It's always handy to take a few screwdrivers, hex drivers, torx drivers, etc. with you when you go into a store to look at any electronics equipment that you plan to purchase. It seems odd to me that no stores remove the screws, etc. on display items so that customers can, more easily, take a look inside to see how well the equipment is constructed. Schematics displayed with all of the items on display would make much sense too, but I don't recall ever having been in a store that did this. -- Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature & rdd(a)rddavis.org 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such http://www.rddavis.org beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.

On Mon, 18 Feb 2002, Gary Hildebrand wrote: I don't buy audio without a take-home audition, and I *always* open the gear. Peace... Sridhar

On Mon, 18 Feb 2002, Gary Hildebrand wrote: Forget the innards... There was a big hoorah here in Texas a couple of years ago when a UT student bought a new [Gateway?] computer at Best Buy. One of their bundled specials. He loaded the carton in his car, took it home, and found that he'd paid about $1200, IIRC, for a painter's coverall, a used dropcloth, and half a 3 gallon can of Napthalene. The store dodn't believe him and never refunded his money. Doc

Wouldn't the box have been a little light, and a little off balance? Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA Doc wrote:

Your correct, I've been disappointed a few times with stuff I've bought. CD players are mainly empty boxes, for example. My Onkyo amp is heavy enough.... it's from the early 70's I think. It's must be between 40 and 50 lbs. Marantz is good stuff too. Fisher is nice. I'm mainly speaking about older equipment, However. Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA Gary Hildebrand wrote:

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You mean your uncle :-) I've never heard of Krell. What's the country of origin? I assume it's super high end stuff? Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA Julius Sridhar wrote:

Well, I wouldn't start taking screws out at Best Buy :-) I do pop tops on surplus computers I'm thinking about buying, However. I've used my flat Craftsman keychain screwdriver to open thing before. The smallest of the flat blades will sometimes work on philips screws. Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA "R. D. Davis" wrote:

I guess I just look for stuff nobody seems to stock. Weird Lexmark laser toners, Canon inkjet carts that fit the BJC800 series (really for my NeXT Color Printer), 11x22 inkjet paper, plotter pens,... Stuff like that Eric Dittman wrote: