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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (142919)	2/25/2002 10:38:01 AM
From: TimF	Respond to of 1576858

From the Langalist newsletter - "I've worked in the small and desktop computer service industry for over 20 years (I started 2 years before IBM built the first PC!) Over all that time, I've seen just about every problem a floppy drive can have. In recent years, drive prices have fallen to such ridiculously low prices that no technician even tries to diagnose a bad drive these days. Onsite, I check the bios settings, look at Windows Device Manager, change the cable and then, if the drive still malfunctions, replace the drive. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. At $100/hr for service, you don't want your hired gun tech guy spending much time on a $20 drive. As you can imagine, this creates quite a pile of bad drives back at the shop. Our shop has a kitchenette with a dishwasher. Imagine my surprise when I opened the dishwasher one day to find a whole load of floppy drives in it! One of the senior techs had taken all the covers off of the defective drives and washed them in the dishwasher. I watched in fascination as he carefully removed them and placed them all in the OVEN...... Three hours at 200 degrees! Almost every one of them worked after a cycle in the dishwasher. I was flabbergasted! We gave free drives away for months to anyone who wanted one - I think I gave more of them away than I did business cards! Over time, the senior tech applied this bizarre procedure to CD-ROM drives, power supplies motherboards (sans batteries!) and printer parts of all types. I've seen completely disassembled Ink Jet printers in the dishwasher. Interestingly, this ridiculous procedure fixes more than half of these devices, and almost ALL of the Ink Jet printers. Three secrets were learned over time: 1.) Granulated dish washing detergent is the only way to go - liquid doesn't wash out of all the cracks 2.) That liquid no-spot rinse stuff messes up the works 3.) The oven must be electric and digitally controlled. 200 degrees is the perfect temp - less and the circuit boards do not get dry and more temp makes the plastics melt. For those who adventure into this at home I recommend having a camera ready before proceeding. It's fun to photograph your spouse the first time they open the dishwasher to find a load of computer parts..... --- Carl W. Lovern"

To: TimF who wrote (142919)	2/25/2002 1:21:32 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576858

I agree that Enron's collapse is big, but even something very big can be exagerated. I think the political side of this issue was made into a bigger news story then it should have. Perhaps to the detriment of the accounting side which perhaps should have gotten more attention even though it did get a fair amount. Tim, to say that, I don't think you understand how much this has shaken up investors........TYC is down $30, IBM down $20 over related issues are just two major examples. Everyone depends on the independent auditor to ferret out any bs. Its what's made stock investing so universal. If nothing else, US corporations could be trusted because their books were audited every year. Without that assurance, investors might as well go to Vegas instead of Wall Street. ted

To: TimF who wrote (142919)	2/25/2002 1:26:20 PM
From: hmaly	Respond to of 1576858

Tim Re...but even something very big can be exagerated. I think the political side of this issue was made into a bigger news story then it should have.<<<<<<<< I don't think we have seen the last of the political side, as the Dem. strategists think GW is susceptible. Carville was on Meet the press last wk. and said the Dems definitely think they will make hay on the issue. Frankly I think the politicians on both sides would hope for a speedy death of the issue. But negative campaigning will keep it alive, to the determent of all. Frankly I am with you in that it was more of an accounting issue, and a fraud, but the fraud wasn't perpetrated because of the donations of ENE, but more because of lax oversight, brought about by lax accounting reg. bought about by donations by the accounting ind. lobbyists to the congressmen who write the oversight rules for the accounting industry. ENE didn't just happen since GW won the election, but rather because of yrs of systemic robbery and fraud by upper management; which means, if a president gets blamed for ENE, it could very well be everybodys favorite crook, Bill. If the DEms are wise, they will drop ENE as an issue, but I wouldn't bet on it.