Gateway Support Fun

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Sujith (Listening)
Sujith: Hi, my name is Sujith. How may I help you?
lee haslup: I am trying to get HDMI audio to work on my netbook.
lee haslup: I went to the Intel site looking for dirvers but they say I have a "custom" driver that they can;t update.
Sujith: I will be glad to assist you with your inquiry.
lee haslup: My netbook came with a windows 7 update which I have installed.
Sujith: Could you please confirm the serial number or the SNID of your product is lxw80x01493207ff12500?
lee haslup: That looks right. I copied it off the bottom of my netbook.
Sujith: Did you purchase the product in the US or Canada?
lee haslup: In the US
Sujith: Lee, the serial number does not match our records. Could you please recheck the serial number?
Sujith: You may also provide SNID. It is an 11 digits number which can be found along with the serial number.
lee haslup: the SNID is 93203275325
Sujith: Lee, I see that the computer is out of warranty.
Sujith: As a onetime best effort, I can provide you with some basic information or self help links to fix the issue.
Sujith: May I know the exact issue with your computer?
lee haslup: yes, please
lee haslup: I have no audio on my HDMI connection
Sujith: I will provide you a web link which would be helpful for you.
Sujith: http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2008/Tempest/2905998Rfaq7.shtml
lee haslup: And the control panel lacks the device controls for it.
lee haslup: I have already read that link. It didn;t seem to help.,
Sujith: Was it working fine before?
lee haslup: it has never workd. I didn't try it before I upgraded to Win 7
lee haslup: I am hoping for a video driver update
Sujith: How did you upgrade Windows operating system?
lee haslup: on a dvd from microsoft
lee haslup: there was a coupon included with my netbook when I got it.
Sujith: When did you upgrade Windows operating system?
lee haslup: Dec 2009 (less than 1 year ago)
Sujith: Lee, I am sorry to inform you that technical assistance for this kind of issues are provided by our dedicated support team. They will help you resolve any software related issues.
Sujith: They have the facility to connect to your computer remotely and resolve the issue. You can simply sit back and relax, see the unit work normally.
Sujith: They offer various support packages including yearly subscriptions. A very nominal fee is associated with these packages.
Sujith: If you wish to hear more on this team and their support packages, I shall setup a call back and our representative will call you at your convenience with these details.
Sujith: Would you like me to setup the call back for you?
lee haslup: yes.
Sujith: For Setting up a callback may I have the below details:
Sujith: 1. Telephone Number: 2. Alternate telephone number: 3. E-mail address: 4. Best time to call with time zone:
lee haslup: The computer was purchased 1 year ago today, How long was my warranty
lee haslup: 919.555.3641 (no alternate) bigleehimself@somedomain.com
lee haslup: afternoons are best.
lee haslup: eastern US time zone.
Sujith: May I know then time zone?
Sujith: Thank you.
lee haslup: do you know the length of my warranty?
Sujith: It is one year.
lee haslup: Should have called yesterday then.
lee haslup: Thanks. You've been no help. But not your fault.
Sujith: I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Sujith: Thank you for contacting Acer Technical Support. Have a great day.
Sujith has disconnected.

Episode 72 In which I waste YOUR time for a change.

Ok, so I sat down at my computer to do something else -- something important and necessary, as I vaguely recall -- and I wound up wasting half an hour catching up on the WOOT.com weekly podcasts. This half-hour represents time I don't have to waste and I am sure that all of you are out beavering away at whatever it is that focused, goal-oriented people do on a cold and drizzly Saturday morning in November. So I hit on the brilliant plan that I would create a post here with several Woot! videos embedded -- in the hope that you will all waste your time watching them and, if enough of you do so, it will slow down the progress of the world at large and give me a few minutes to catch up...

I'll start with the Halloween podcast since I, sort-of, missed Halloween this year. My son got married the day before. The wedding was out of town and I didn't get back until Halloween was over. Hmmm... The wedding... There is something I was supposed to... Oh yes, I promised to post wedding photos. I'll get to that. But first...



Feel free to watch that again. It takes time to embed these things and write these brief comments and, if I am going to waste more of your time than of mine you are going to have to work with me on this. Here's the latest podcast. It sucks in just about every way possible. But, because it sucks in just the right ways it is very funny and oddly endearing.



So, I've included a live-action bit and some lousy animation. All that remains is puppets to complete the set.



Grrr. I just remembered that I had to resize the embed windows to make them fit in my blog's template. That took several minutes. Please watch you favorite video again a couple of times so I can catch up that time too. Or better yet, follow some of these links:

Real Actual Field Tests #7: BuckeyBalls

Woot Podcast Mail Bag

Katy Perry's "California Gurls" -- Ben the Over-Literal Dermestid Beetle

When you have watched all of those several times check back. Maybe I'll have some wedding pictures up...