Posts by The Force

Buying a Chromebook? Don't forget to check that best-before date

Product Boxes, and Web Sales should show Auto EOS at time of Purchase

What does not help is the large high street stores are still selling models that are getting short on support life without highlighting this.

Example PCWorld have ACER 14 CB3-431 on sale for £179 its Auto EOS is June 2021 - so less than 2 years. Its also available on Amazon for the same price, neither highlight short support life, though at least on Amazon you can see its been for sale for more than three years, but again if you did not know of the Auto Update expiry you would be in the dark.

For the savvy the resources are out there to check so you only buy one with a long support life, the information should be available for all, seeing as they decide the EOS date at build time the boxes should come with EOS date, which could mean some real bargains on kit with 2 years support left on them, or sale prices on those with longer life as retailers make sure they shift them before nobody wants them anymore.

I found out mine hit EOS when I had had it for just shy of five years, in which time it had required a new battery (HP Pavilion with external battery) it had cost £200 and I had not expected it to have lasted much beyond that anyway

Its easy to find the dates - if you know they have set Auto update EOS .... its being obvious to all with clearly marked EOS - like a Best Before Date when you buy food.

International Bullying Machine? Big Blue seeks exposure of corporate canary

The Great Kettle Leak Conspiracy.

Reminds me of a time when IBM banned kettles in UK (or possibly just Basingstoke)) offices so you had to pay to buy water to make teas and coffees, this was reported to one of the Computing Magazines/Papers of the time (2001), can't remember which one. After the article appeared our manager came to our team of 20 or so in AIX Support wanting to know who it was that leaked this.. It was never confirmed but we thought we knew who it was, though may have been from anyone ... he departed the next year of his own accord if it was who we thought it was.

If there was a witch hunt over a light hearted kettle problem, you can imagine someone leaking details over a key policy document, they will be hunting them down.

IBM: About those agreed voluntary redundancies ... we were just kidding

IBM Never fail to find new depths of Human Unkindness

So glad I jumped, the stress the company was causing me, was causing me illness.

In addition, so many years of zero pay rises had also left wages at 75% in real terms of what they had been too. Moving jobs meant that the statutory pittance was less than the pay rise to get back on track elsewhere.

Good luck to all my ex colleagues who are still getting screwed over in finding a life elsewhere than IBM while their sanity and finances still hold together.

IBM to expunge over 500 people in latest redundo round

Re: Serious question

It is mostly a box ticking exercise to comply with the law. Those that join do not change the outcome an most of the relevant questions asked get a stock answer and do not get properly answered. I jumped soon after seeing multiple of these the last few when they started to bring in Statutory Minimum, voluntary or involuntary.

In days gone by Voluntary got a better deal to entice, but no more. They are now culling the people that as few years ago were the Valued Employees that those who scored less on the Bean Counters Spreadsheets walked away with bigger payments back then.

Its all about the greedy at the top lining their pockets before they clear off leaving the company in the mire, bonus today.....nothing left of the company for tomorrow.