Any Trouble Accessing Dell Financial Services DNS?
Posted on December 5th, 2008
Anyone else having any trouble accessing the DNS for Dell Dinancial Services? The DNS is not resolving for me.
I went to dell.com/dfs and then was redirected to http://www.dellfinancialservices.com/ , which did no resolve. If I remove the WWW, then I get rerouted to the URL http://dfs.us.dell.com/Pages/DFSHomePage.aspx , which did not resolve.
If you visit http://www.proxyboxonline.com/ , http://www.wtfsurf.com/ , http://www.rocketsurf.net/ or http://bloxgone.info/ , you will get similar errors.
Am I alone on this one?
Dell LED Error Code of Death: FLASHING-ON-ON
Posted on December 2nd, 2008
I woke up this morning to a laptop (Dell Precision M65) that wouldn’t power up. I tried the usual remedies - unplug & remove battery while laptop is on, boot w/ disk, start-up w/ ac only. No Luck. I follow the self-help tech support I’ve seen on dell.com, mostly stuff I already know, but they get into dell LED error codes, but of course mine isn’t listed. After chatting with technical support, I learn that my processor has failed. Eeeek!
Dell LED Error Code List (in case it helps you)
- FLASHING-ON-ON - Processor Failed (or motherboard issue)
- ON-FLASHING-ON - memory error code
- ON-ON-FLASHING - Not listed and I didn’t think to ask
- ON-FLASHING-FLASHING - no memory in system error code
- FLASHING-ON-FLASHING - LCD error code
- FLASHING-FLASHING-ON - video error code
The Great
This is where my extended warranty is worth it’s money. After a 3 minute chat, I should have someone visit my home tomorrow to replace the CPU for me. That’s pretty awesome.
I often hear horror stories about Dell’s CSRs, but their tech support has always been really easy. I wonder if it’s because I bought my Dell through their Small Business side rather than the consumer side.
The Not So Great
I just bought a new laptop from them, and I had a painful issue with a Dell prefered account. After I applied they wanted me to verify some information. I called Dell to verify the info and was told things were good. TWO DAYS BEFORE SHIP DATE I’m checking online and see my order has been cancelled. No notification at all. Just canceled! I call up and find out that there is some additional information that wasn’t verified. WTF? I CALLED THEM. Why couldn’t they notify me that they needed more notification. Disappointing.
To sum up: Dell Small Business Tech Support - Rock Solid. Dell Systems integration (Financing vs Sales), not so much.
Update:
04 Dec 2008
While the FLASHING-ON-ON code indicates a processor fail, it seems it could also be a motherboard issue. My M65 still won’t boot after swapping out the processor. 
Update 1:
05 Dec 2008
Replacing my motherboard fixed the issue. The contract rep, a very competent and likeable fellow, thought that the processor fitting on the motherboard made the CPU loose.
Broken Windows Theory Proven True
Posted on November 24th, 2008
I’ve read a good number of critisicims of the Broken Windows theory - the idea that disorderly environments, i.e. broken windows, lead to other negative behavior. There is a great article over at The Economist on some recent research proving this theory.
Two Highlights:
“…a cyclist had three choices. He could take the flyer with him, hang it on another bicycle (which the researchers counted as littering) or throw it to the floor. When the alley contained graffiti, 69% of the riders littered compared with 33% when the walls were clean.”
and
“…an envelope with a €5 ($6) note inside (and the note clearly visible through the address window) was left sticking out of a post box. In a condition of order, 13% of those passing took the envelope (instead of leaving it or pushing it into the box). But if the post box was covered in graffiti, 27% did. Even if the post box had no graffiti on it, but the area around it was littered with paper, orange peel, cigarette butts and empty cans, 25% still took the envelope.”
Two conservative commentators on MSNBC, after they’re off the air, caught saying what they really think about the veep choice.
Posted on September 3rd, 2008
This is awesome
Photographic Evidence: RNC is a Bust Compared to Obama Rally in Same Venu
Posted on September 3rd, 2008
Comparing the photos, the difference in enthusiasm is amazing. Both photos below are from Xcel Energy Center. The first is the Republican National Convention - this should pretty much be the largest republican event all year. The second is an Obama rally at the same venue on June 3, 2008.
Wow.
and
As Mark Welch put it:
As photographic evidence confirms, there were more empty seats even in prime-time than there are at the end of a Dodger game. At the Democratic Convention, if you didn’t take root two hours before anything important, the fire marshal wouldn’t let you in. Here, you walk right up and find a nice bar stool and table looking directly at the stage. A sign of flagging enthusiasm?
Comparison Republican Convention Soure [Wonkette]
Comparison Obama Source [flickr]
Is the Housing Market As Bad as Mainstream Media Would Have You Believe? Distorting the Numbers
Posted on July 10th, 2008
The headlines are bad. In May and in June.
The U.S. housing situation is quite bad, one of the worst markets in history. It’s a complex situation that’s difficult to understand in aggregate. But rather than provide any real data or insight allowing readers can make their own conclusions, mainstream media wraps the most sensational data points they can find in a fear mongering fluff piece that provides no insight whatsoever.
This month, foreclosures were up 53% from a year ago. This means that from June 2007 to June 2008, foreclosures were up 53%. Last month, foreclosures were up by 48% from a year ago. Sadly, as most Americans are competely math illiterate, few understand what that even means.
On a month to month basis, from May to June, that’s actually not as terrible as the headlines would have you believe. If you look deeper into the data, it’s actually siginicantly improved. This month, “One in every 501 U.S. households either lost the home to foreclosure, received a default notice or was warned of a pending auction.” Last month, it was one in every 483. That’s a significant improvement.
Even the source for this info, Realty Trac, Inc., agrees that this may be good news. What picture do they paint? “Foreclosure Activity Deflating or Just Deferred?”
“One could argue that this chart shows that the bulk of the properties that were at risk for foreclosure have migrated through the process and are now being repossessed by the foreclosing lenders. There is not a continued massive surge in defaults and auction notices, so once the lenders have disposed of their REO inventory, the real estate market can start to return to normal.”
America’s Insolvency Crisis.
Posted on January 11th, 2008
Generally, I am not a fan of Glen Beck, but this is a topic that desperately needs more attention.
[via TruthNews]
It’s worth noting that prior to Bush’s term we only needed $20 trillion to covery our debts, vs. the currently needed $53 Trillion.
Read More: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/12/bush200712
Video: Evolution of Media
Posted on October 2nd, 2007
This is a very cool video showing the evolution of advertising and media through the the past century. This was put together by some friends at whatisaggressive.com for use in a presentation by Grey Global Group (an ad agency).
Craigslist Having a Hard Time Registering Your Email Privately
Posted on September 18th, 2007
A friend of mine was registering for a craigslist account, but when he clicked to register, noticed there was someone else’s email address already in the registration field.
I looked for myself, hit refresh a few times and found several more email addresses
See for yourself: https://accounts.craigslist.org/login/signup
Ebay: The UI Experts
Posted on June 12th, 2007
What a sad and hopelessly unusable site, Ebay is becoming. I canceled my credit card account, and without any means to bill me, Ebay has now placed my account on hold. After clicking through 3 pages before getting to opportunity to log-in, I read the following message:
This account has been restricted and you will not be able to bid or list on eBay. To avoid further collections please pay your fees today by following these steps:
- Log on to http://www.ebay.com
- Click ‘Site Map’ at the top of the page
- In the ‘My Selling Account’ section, click ‘Make a Single Payment’. Sign in if requested
- Select a method to pay your eBay fees and follow the online instructions on page
Great. You couldn’t just give me a link to the “Make Single Payment” page?