A former Dell kiosk manager writes us to share helpful tips about doing business with Dell. He has no particular problems with Dell, he just wanted to share some helpful tips for consumers looking to get the best deal. He includes info on getting the best deal from the website, different kinds of promotions the Dell offers, insider details on how the kiosk sales reps are compensated, what coupons and deals they have to offer you to close the deal, the email format for Dell in case you're thinking of launching an EECB, where to take your Dell credit card complaints, which extended warranties to avoid, how to get a domestic tech support rep... and more. It's very comprehensive. Enjoy!

Nice to see someone speaking out....

22 Confessions Of A Former Dell Sales Manager

Buoyed by the success of the DVD versions of shows such as Family Guy and The Simpsons, TV shows are repackaged for DVD release in increasing numbers these days, and the phenomenon of having entire seasons of our favorite shows available in a convenient format like a boxed set has been blamed in part for the decline in movie theater ticket sales this year. But it's not just a matter of slapping the masters onto a disc, designing some menus, and shipping out the finished product. The Hollywood Reporter reports, appropriately enough, on the impact that copyright considerations and license fees are having on DVD releases of content, new or old.

Thanks to the limitless generosity fiscal acuity of the record labels, coupled with copyright extension after copyright extension, the good folks who handle DVD releases are often faced with a tough choice in the face of demands from copyright holders on old songs: raise the product price to compensate for licensing fees, rescore parts or all of the release, or don't build a DVD at all. The outcomes, then, are American Dreams: Season 1, Extended Music Edition for US$89, or Crime Story without Del Shannon's Runaway in the intro, or no WKRP in Cincinnati boxed set at all.

While the HR story is a good read, it fails to make a couple of important connections. First of all, the licensing fee won't go away, even if the DVD format does. In yet another example of how the entertainment industry is built on the concept of charging us for the same content over and over again, new fees will be waged and then passed on to consumers for the next-gen DVD version, and again when online delivery obsoletes all those discs. Will the final incarnation of the Around the Beatles show be stripped of all Beatles songs, or will I need to hock my spleen to afford it? And let's remember who really profits from the fees levied. Hint: it's rarely the artists and composers. At least one movie studio has itself to blame if their next DVD release is hampered by licensing issues. Have you noticed how copyright terms seem to get extended by a few years every time Mickey Mouse is close to going public domain?

When the aftermarket for music is enjoying such a drastic increase in value, it affects not only the re-release market. The numbers on the price tag tick up for other uses as well, since the providers now have to consider the possibility that their content might get reused in ways not even thought up yet. A license covering all possible uses will naturally be more expensive than one for a limited-run TV show plus syndication. It's bad enough that our precious entertainment is hamstrung by these issues, but some of the effects are more wide-ranging than that. We have already discussed how licensing problems and copyright are placing restraints on the educational system, public education, and even on the legacy we leave for our descendants to ponder. All in the name of making a buck off (mostly) old songs.... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

How TV shows on DVD suffer from music licensing

Verizon Communications Inc. executive yesterday accused Google Inc. of freeloading for gaining access to people's homes using a network of lines and cables the phone company spent billions of dollars to build.

The comments by John Thorne, a Verizon senior vice president and deputy general counsel, came as lawmakers prepared to debate legislation that could let phone and cable companies charge Internet firms additional fees for using their high-speed lines.

"The network builders are spending a fortune constructing and maintaining the networks that Google intends to ride on with nothing but cheap servers," Thorne told a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "It is enjoying a free lunch that should, by any rational account, be the lunch of the facilities providers."

Verizon is spending billions of dollars to construct a fiber-optic network around the country for delivering high-speed Internet and cable TV services. Executives at other telecom companies, such as AT&T Inc. chief executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr., have suggested that Google, Yahoo Inc. and other such Internet services should have to pay fees for preferred access to consumers over such lines.

Verizon Executive Calls for End to Google's 'Free Lunch'

pple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs got a good laugh at the expense of rival Dell Inc., according to a report Monday.

In 1997, after Jobs returned to the company he helped start in 1976, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, was asked what could be done to fix Apple, in deep financial trouble at the time, the New York Times said.
Since returning to Apple, Jobs has revitalized the company's computer business and created its wildly successful iPod division.
Since returning to Apple, Jobs has revitalized the company's computer business and created its wildly successful iPod division.

"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Dell said to an audience of information technology managers, according to the paper.

But Apple (Research) stock surged 12 percent last week, pushing the company's market capitalization to $72.13 billion, passing Dell's (Research) value of $71.97 billion.

According to the Times, Jobs sent an e-mail message Friday to employees that read: "Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve."

In 2000, after helping the company out of financial trouble, Jobs was awarded a corporate jet and options to purchase 10 million shares, the paper said.

In 2003, Jobs' options were exchanged for a restricted stock grant of 10 million shares. At Apple's closing price on Friday of $85.59, his stake in the company is worth some $855.9 million, the paper said.

But Dell's personal wealth still exceeds that of Jobs. Last year Dell was ranked fourth on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest people in the U.S. His personal wealth is estimated at $14.2 billion, according to the paper.

Apple's Jobs scoffs at Dell's prediction prowess

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Your phone records are for sale

"An article on MSNBC describes what happens when 'View Similar Products' recommendations go bad. From the article: 'The company said it was alerted to the problem early yesterday afternoon after word began spreading among bloggers. When visitors to Walmart.com requested Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series on DVD, four other movies were recommended under the heading Similar Items. Those films included Martin Luther King: I Have A Dream/Assassination of MLK and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.'"

When Purchase Recommendations Go Bad

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has introduced a bill that would bar the National Weather Service from competing with the commercial weather industry.

This law would reinstate a 1991 policy that said NWS would not distribute products or services that could be provided by the private sector. This includes specialized forecasts targeting agribusiness, utility companies, boating interests and business needs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the weather agency, rescinded the non-competition provision in December, upsetting the commercial industry.

Backers of the bill contend that NWS spends too much money mimicking the private sector and sometimes withholds critical information, such as real-time snowfall accumulation reports and hurricane reconnaissance reports.

Santorum objected to NOAA's policy change in December.

"This decision by NOAA to repeal the non-competition and non-duplication policy detracts from NWS' core missions of maintaining a modern and effective meteorological infrastructure, collecting comprehensive observational data, and issuing warnings and forecasts of severe weather that imperil life and property," Santorum said after recommending the new legislation earlier this month.

Keep NWS out of data distribution...

Blaming The Worker: In Texas City and On the Rails

Headlines like these always make me wonder about the human tendency to find scapegoats to blame after a tragedy. Is it just a matter of companies wanted to point the finger elsewhere, anywhere away from themselves or the decision makers, or away from problems that are hard or expensive to resolve? And why don’t journalists generally look deeper than the simple “worker screwed up” story. Does blaming workers satisfy a basic urge in people to always have a readily understandable villain to blame. Blaming incompetent workers for accidents is so easy. Just fire them and the problem’s solved. Right?

Read more...

Blaming The Worker: In Texas City and On the Rails

A state board is proposing a sweeping change to make computer software used in business subject to property taxes, a move that some business leaders contend could drive up costs and hurt job growth in Tennessee.
"This would be a significant chunk of change," said Hayes Ledford, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s director of public affairs.
Carl Hartley, a Chattanooga attorney representing some businesses, said the change could put a considerable tax bite on some companies whose businesses are heavily based on computer use, such as banks, finance companies, leasing firms and insurance businesses.
Officials at UnumProvident Corp., the Chattanooga-based insurer with 3,000 workers in the city, said the shift could add a substantial cost to doing business in Tennessee. Spokeswoman Mary Clarke Guenther said UnumProvident buys a lot of software.
"We have 600 software applications in use throughout the company," she said, adding that not all of its computer work is based in Chattanooga.
Currently, there is no consistent approach to determining what business software should be considered taxable, according to the executive secretary of the State Board of Equalization, which proposed the change.
However, software already is taxed as property in some Tennessee counties, said Kelsie Jones. He said county assessors have taken "varying approaches" in making distinctions about not only taxing software, but the kinds, as well. For example, Mr. Jones said, some tax operational software but not that which is applicational.
The new rule would provide a uniform standard across the state, he said.
"One of the reasons for the proposal comes down to consistency. The rule as proposed would quit worrying about distinctions," he said. "All software becomes assessable."
Hamilton County Assessor of Property Bill Bennett said his office has taxed operational software at companies where it has done audits for six or seven years. The proposed rule "would take the gray area out," Mr. Bennett said.
The board has set a Jan. 23 hearing on the change in Nashville. Mr. Jones said staff members will receive comments on the proposal, consider changes, and at a later date it could go back to the board for a vote.
Ray Childers, president of the Chattanooga Manufacturers Association, said the proposal has "serious implications" for businesses. Mr. Childers said he is concerned the change may be done administratively rather than legislatively.
"I understand there may be constitutional issues," he said.
State Sen. DavidDavid Fowler,Fowler R-Signal, R - Signal RSignal Mountain, said he is so concerned that he has asked that a bill be drafted to permit the Tennessee General Assembly to consider the issue.
"I do think it’s a major change in tax policy with economic ramifications that needs to be considered by the legislature," he said. "It may be the legislature agree... [ Read More (0.1k in body) ]

Proposed tax change worries businesses in TN

ABN AMRO Mortgage Group says it has recovered a computer tape that was lost last month while being transported by DHL Courier to a credit reporting service. The company is offering its customers one year of free credit monitoring.
The company said the tape included the names, account information, payment history and Social Security numbers of about two million of its customers. It was being shipped from ABN AMRO's Chicago data center to the credit reporting company Experian on Nov. 18 when it was lost. The company said today that the tape was recovered yesterday.
DHL said the package was found without the original airbill. DHL staff opened the package, found the return address on the tape, and repackaged the tape with a new airbill.
"We deeply regret that this situation

DHL Loses ABN AMRO Customer Data