No More Dell Computers for Me

So after a mere 4 years, my Dell desktop has decided to go haywire. In the short span I've had this goofy box, I've had to reinstall the OS a couple times and swap out the CD-ROM drive. Both of my USB ports don't work anymore, and I can no longer get the Dell to communicate with the Printer (and I'm usually pretty good at this sort of thing, digging around online to find answers to common problems like this.)

The Dell just seems to be prematurely dying for no apparent reason (and I don't even do that much with it: internet, word processing, Photoshop and the occasional video game, but nothing that should be giving this computer such a heart attack like this!) What's even more frustrating about this Dell is their customer support. Dell apparently has this all done 100% in India now, and, with respect to my Indian pals overseas, let me just say that, you are some nice people on the phone, but I just have a very hard time understanding that heavy Hindi accent, that critically missing English nuance and inflection, that strange tendency to inter-swap "D" sounds with "Z" sounds, etc, etc. Nice folks I'm sure, but I spend a half hour explaining to you that the network card in the Dell isn't working and I really don't think you have a clue what I'm talking about.

There's also, I don't know, a condescending edge to the responses. With the Indian person it's like, "Oh, you silly person, don't you know how to do anything?" Well, yeah, I do, but do you think I'd be calling if I hadn't already done most of the leg-work myself? Just send me a replacement part and let's end this call, kay?

As an aside, I love 100% American call centers. No matter how surly the person on the phone is, at least I feel like they understand what I'm saying, even if they don't care one way or the other. Some of the best call center folks I know of are at Discover card (and friendly they should be, as I've likely paid all of their income with my credit card interest!) There are some not-so-friendly call centers in the US, sure, and I could go off on that in another post, but I'd prefer to get this any day of the week instead of my call getting shipped offshore.



With the US, if you get a grouchy person, you can always ask for a manager, and generally (not always) get a more sympathetic manager to straighten things out. With India, if you ask for a manager, you get someone equally as muddled and just as difficult to communicate with (I'm speaking from experience here, sadly.)

Anyhow, no more Dells for me. If Dell's are anything like the one I bought, they drop parts and fall apart with the tenacity of a 1985 Ford LTD.

Indy Jones on BluRay

Not sure what Lucas has in store for the Indiana Jones Blurays, but I'm suspecting more monkeying around with computer junk that ruins real films.

I've been thinking a lot about the types of films I grew up with, and how the computer played almost no role in the film. Back then, there seemed to be so much more focus on the quality of framing the scene, the importance of lighting and shadows, and so on. These days, it's all just a big video game on the screen. Its sickening enough to make me want to just give up on films.

Back to Indy: here's a quick recap of my thoughts on the films.

Raiders: the best of the bunch, although the melting Nazi stuff is goofy. This is one of Harrison Ford's finest films. There are far too many awesome scenes to comment on: one of my favorites (and most completely unrealistic) is when Indy jumps off the boat, swims secretly over to the Nazi sub, and climbs on board to the cheering of the ship crew members. Completely ridiculous yet awesome.

Temple: far too dark to appreciate. Drugged Indy smacks a kid. No thanks. But Temple does have some of John Williams' finest music (sans the satanic temple stuff). Temple also set the standard of how I think of my Indian co-workers: they work in volcanic lairs, feast on monkey brains, and practice voodoo and ritual sacrifice in their spare time.

Crusade: stupid Indy/Dad dialog ruined this. For instance, I don't want to hear them joking about sharing a woman. Yuck... that made me cringe. The pace also seemed a lot slower for this once. Also, the drying out Nazi was just as goofy as a melting one.

Crystal Skull: apparently the effects of the holy grail wore off? How did it keep the guardian of the grail alive for centuries, and yet Indy's Dad, and Marcus, died off, and Indy started going massively gray? Too much CGI ruined this film, the infamous 'fridge scene' was idiotic, as was the monkey sequence. This one isn't cannon for me.



And here's exactly what Lucas will probably do with the BluRays...