rant: Sears Sucks

[Don Y]

On 7/31/2015 9:18 AM, Phil Hobbs wrote:

I base *my* purchase decisions on things that I *can* buy from
other stores -- "name brand" products -- so I don't find myself
wondering/waiting for a product to (hopefully) reappear. Sometimes,
that means a trip across town (e.g., 45 minutes to our "oriental
food supplier" when one of the smaller "oriental stores" happens
to be out-of-stock) but at least I know I *can* get the product and
don't have to resort to on-line purchases (and the delays that
those incur)!

You're one of the more intense consumers I've run across recently.

Cheers

Phil "relatively adaptable, within limits" Hobbs

I don't like having to invest time preparing a meal, baked goods,
etc. -- only to be *disappointed* in the outcome. E.g., 12 hours
to make 16qts of "spaghetti sauce" would have me grumbling each
time I consumed any of that batch if the "tomatoes were lousy"!
(and the idea of DISCARDING all that sauce is anathema to me!)

Driving 20 minutes to the nearest "oriental grocer" that *might*
carry the items we seek (and, more often than not, *won't* have
stock on hand) means its more effective to drive *45* minutes to
the grocer that *will* have stock! Having invested that much
time, you don't want to buy "QTY 1" and make the trip again
next week! (so, we buy "case lots" just to avoid wasting all
that travel time)

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:43:38 -0700, John Larkin
<jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

Neither Xilinx nor Altera provide any meaningful support, and neither
is apparently interested in selling their SoC chips.

I'd be willing to pay a 3rd party for support, like some consulting
company. That could be a minor industry.

Seems that this thread has drifted seriously off-topic.

What's up with that 'lifetime' warranty on Craftsman hand tools?


http://consumerist.com/2009/03/13/craftsmans-lifetime-warranty-depends-on-tool-associates-mood/


--sp

--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Amazon link for AoE 3rd Edition: http://tinyurl.com/ntrpwu8
Microchip link for 2015 Masters in Phoenix: http://tinyurl.com/l7g2k48

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 13:07:47 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:43:38 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:



Neither Xilinx nor Altera provide any meaningful support, and neither
is apparently interested in selling their SoC chips.

I'd be willing to pay a 3rd party for support, like some consulting
company. That could be a minor industry.

Seems that this thread has drifted seriously off-topic.

What's up with that 'lifetime' warranty on Craftsman hand tools?


http://consumerist.com/2009/03/13/craftsmans-lifetime-warranty-depends-on-tool-associates-mood/


--sp

Been awhile since I returned a Sears tool... but the last one was an
end wrench I had "assisted" with a length of pipe ;-) Bent in the
middle. Replaced without even so much as a smirk.

However, in a recent trip to Sears to buy a reamer, shown on-line to
be "in-stock" at my nearest Sears... it took 3 CSR's nearly 20 minutes
to find it on a shelf in the store :-(

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[rickman]

On 7/31/2015 1:07 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:43:38 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:



Neither Xilinx nor Altera provide any meaningful support, and neither
is apparently interested in selling their SoC chips.

I'd be willing to pay a 3rd party for support, like some consulting
company. That could be a minor industry.

Seems that this thread has drifted seriously off-topic.

What's up with that 'lifetime' warranty on Craftsman hand tools?


http://consumerist.com/2009/03/13/craftsmans-lifetime-warranty-depends-on-tool-associates-mood/

That is nothing new. When I was a kid I tried to return a ratchet that
had quit. The local store where it was bought said they don't exchange
them, they rebuild them, but were out of rebuild kits. Returning a
month later I was told the same thing. I had to drive to another town
where the store cheerfully replaced the ratchet. The local store would
have had to eat the cost and knew they could get away with it.

--

Rick

 

[John Larkin]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 13:07:47 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:43:38 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:



Neither Xilinx nor Altera provide any meaningful support, and neither
is apparently interested in selling their SoC chips.

I'd be willing to pay a 3rd party for support, like some consulting
company. That could be a minor industry.

Seems that this thread has drifted seriously off-topic.

Well, the general theme is customer service. Sears lost a $2200 order
because nobody showed up and nobody would talk to me. This happens
across all industries, including electronics. Most companies are doing
everything they can to make their customers talk to obtuse machines,
or call centers in the Phillipines, or solve one anothers' problems on
"forums." Even email contacts are unavailable.

We are having some problems with some Fujitsu sealed relays, possibly
our fault. (Gohm leakage from water getting in during assembly.) The
email contact and the USA sales office phone numbers are on the data
sheet. I called and immediately talked to a guy, and he contacted the
factory, and I got a bunch of answers the same day.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[rickman]

On 7/31/2015 12:11 PM, Don Y wrote:

On 7/31/2015 7:16 AM, Don Y wrote:

TJ's problem is consistency. Their cottage cheese typically has far
too much whey; they often are "out of stock" for certain products for
very long periods of time (e.g., their veggie chili has been OOS for
4 weeks, now, here); they "arbitrarily" (of course not) discontinue
products -- often inciting a firestorm of on-line comments as folks
try to find alternatives (as many of their products are "unique");
etc.

They used to offer "dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in cocoa
powder" (not sure what they were actually called). SWMBO ate them like
a junkie would shoot H!

Then, overnight, they were gone!

I think Don and most other people don't understand how retail sales
works. The store doesn't really pick what they sell on their shelves as
much as auction off the shelf space. If you want to sell a product in
stores, you have to rent the shelf space. If another vendor offers more
for the space, they get it and you are out. The rent includes a monthly
payment plus a guaranteed sales level. So the store is taking little
risk.

All the large chains do this. So as new products want to make a splash,
they buy lots of shelf spaces and displace products you are happily
buying. It's not just TJ and Costco that market this way. Nearly all
chain stores are run this way now.

--

Rick

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:25:25 -0700, John Larkin
<jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

Well, the general theme is customer service. Sears lost a $2200 order
because nobody showed up and nobody would talk to me. This happens
across all industries, including electronics. Most companies are doing
everything they can to make their customers talk to obtuse machines,
or call centers in the Phillipines, or solve one anothers' problems on
"forums." Even email contacts are unavailable.

A friend bought a new model enormous GMC diesel pickup truck- the
software and hardware issues would be funny if they were not so sad.
He didn't even know what DEF was before buying the thing.

We are having some problems with some Fujitsu sealed relays, possibly
our fault. (Gohm leakage from water getting in during assembly.) The
email contact and the USA sales office phone numbers are on the data
sheet. I called and immediately talked to a guy, and he contacted the
factory, and I got a bunch of answers the same day.

Seriously good & good news. Japanese companies used to be totally
useless unless you were a huge customer.


--sp


--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Amazon link for AoE 3rd Edition: http://tinyurl.com/ntrpwu8
Microchip link for 2015 Masters in Phoenix: http://tinyurl.com/l7g2k48

 

[krw]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:25:29 -0700, Don Y <this@is.not.me.com> wrote:

On 7/31/2015 7:46 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:03:13 -0700, Don Y <this@is.not.me.com> wrote:

We are leary of Costco headed down this road. Presently, their
greatest asset is their attitude towards their customers -- no
hassles over returns, honest attempts to maintain adequate stock
on hand, etc.

They pay their employees much better than Wal-Sam's Club does,
apparently. It shows.

I don't think it is *just* a matter of pay. I think they actually
place an emphasis on this in their policies, etc. E.g., you don't hear
them complaining that you bought an item 8 days ago and the return
policy is "7 days or less" (or some other silly, artificial rule).

[I brought in a thumb drive that had "gone R/O" after a short amount
of use. They pulled another 3-pack off the shelf, *cut* the blisterpack
to remove one "new" drive, handed that to me and slipped the defective
one back in the blisterpack (which got tossed into the "returns" bin).
No questions asked.]

This is a good policy, particularly when they aren't paying for the
return. They'll return it to the manufacturer for a refund. Large
chains have unbelievable clout.

We actually get embarassed at some of our returns: e.g., a 5 pound
container of "protein drink" because the first glass tasted like crap!
(OTOH, should *we* bear the cost of that decision -- without having
been offered a means of tasting it prior to purchase?)

TJ's, for example, also appears to pay well and have good "customer
related policies" (returns, etc.). But, is far more cutthroat in
how they decide which products to offer/discontinue. Of course, they
have to make good "business decisions" so can/should discontinue
products that aren't profittable -- they can do this because the
purchasers of *those* products can't GO ELSEWHERE to obtain them!

I can't remember the last time I had any problem returning anything to
any store. I probably wouldn't have returned the "protein drink" but
I do return a fair amount of stuff.

We note TJ's employees often have many of the same *complaints*
about their product offerings as we have (e.g., my cottage cheese
complaint). But, "corporate" obviously doesn't care -- or, care
enough to take action. As long as enough sheeple keep buying
whatever they offer...

If they keep buying it, obviously there isn't a problem.

[The other disturbing point with TJ's is the number of "recalls"
they have! Each of our weekly visits we see more notices of
other recalled "TJ products" -- no one *else* sells them! :-/ ]

Perhaps they're just more vigilant.

OTOH, we see the move towards "Kirkland"-everything. Strongly
reminiscent of "Kenmore"- and "Penncraft-" everything. One
wonders when/if they'll start following in the footsteps of these
(failed/failing) institutions too closely (Monkey Wards, Penney's,
Sears, etc.)

Havent noticed that except with a few of the food products. That could
be partly pressure from other retailers wanting more differentiation.

Toilet paper, trash bags, furniture, canned goods, snacks, frozen foods,
etc. I'm waiting to see the (car) batteries rebranded as "Kirkland"...
(we've already seen the warranty on them altered significantly!)

We haven't been a Costco member for over a decade (none in the area)
but they had Kirkland batteries and tires when we dropped our
membership. In fact that was the reason we dropped it.

SWMBO enjoys the "Copper River" salmon fillets. Now we see Kirkland
salmon fillets, instead. So, we have neighbor buy the C.R. item at
Sam's club (across town).

We used to buy LOTS of planters dry roasted peanuts. Now, Sam's club
gets that business from us. etc.

I like the Kroger brand better (they sell both). Go figure.

<...>

 

[krw]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 13:07:47 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:43:38 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:



Neither Xilinx nor Altera provide any meaningful support, and neither
is apparently interested in selling their SoC chips.

I'd be willing to pay a 3rd party for support, like some consulting
company. That could be a minor industry.

Seems that this thread has drifted seriously off-topic.

What's up with that 'lifetime' warranty on Craftsman hand tools?


http://consumerist.com/2009/03/13/craftsmans-lifetime-warranty-depends-on-tool-associates-mood/

People actually buy Crapsman tools these days?

 

[krw]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:13:45 -0400, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

On 7/30/2015 8:45 PM, John Larkin wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:23:12 -0700, artie <artie.m@gNOSPAMmail.com
wrote:

In article <2dkkra1nend7b7ma3peltsknr2m77mhnpp@4ax.com>, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

all too common rant snipped

But it was a pretty good common rant, maybe B- sort of work?


Thinking back a few decades when our family was living in a small town,
remembering walking down Main street in late summer - early fall as
school was starting, and a guy calling out "Get your Christmas Shopping
Done Early!" handing out Sears catalogs...

I posit that Sears was the Amazon of its time, and that time spanned
many years, decades even.

Big appliances aren't the kinds of things you buy on Amazon, so there
is still a place for local dealers. Deliver, install, haul away the
old stuff.

If you aren't at least comparison shopping online you are missing out on
deals and special offers. I will never buy appliances in a store again.
I bought a dish washer last year and did all my shopping online for
features, price and reputation. A lot of appliances and appliance lines
have very bad repair records. Then I picked my seller and picked it up
at the warehouse with my installer. He put it in and we haulled off the
old unit which I gave to a local who got a few bucks for it at the
recyclers. My girlfriend was *very* appreciative of her present.


So WTF happened? Other than the Internet (and Amazon) ate their lunch
(and their breakfast and dinner too, as well as Monkey Ward's, JCP, and
so many others).

Guess it's that adapt-or-die thing, and with the Internet, it's
adapt-or-die at Internet speeds.


McDonalds seems to be in the same death spiral. Pretty bad, boring
food, bad service, bean counters in charge.

Compare Microsoft to Apple. Apple stores are clean and bright, the
sales people know what they are doing, they really help. So Apple
grows and charges big bucks for their stuff; Windows 10 will be free,
and worth it.

Lol. My roommate has an iPhone which he couldn't get to backup or
update. He was in the store several times where they told him he would
have to buy a Mac to do the backup with rather than the XP machine he
has. I think he never did get the update installed after going to three
different stores.


Linear Tech charges big bucks for parts, because they do most
everything right, and give away LT Spice. I wish the FPGA people were
that good, but they are right up there with Sears on customer service.

Lol. You picked Xilinx who has *the* worse rep for bad tools. Then you
pick a fight with Altera because they don't genuflect when they treat
you like the tiny customer you are.

I have always gotten great support from Lattice... once I factor in that
I generate maybe $5000 in sales for them each year. Yeah, LT will take
you to lunch, but remember that *you* are the one paying. Why do you
think their prices are so high?

Ditto Lattice. They've even written code for us (and taken us to
lunch - several times . LT, too, and I have never used their stuff
- too expensive (I use mostly TI switchers).

 

[krw]

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:45:31 -0700, John Larkin
<jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:23:12 -0700, artie <artie.m@gNOSPAMmail.com
wrote:

In article <2dkkra1nend7b7ma3peltsknr2m77mhnpp@4ax.com>, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

all too common rant snipped

But it was a pretty good common rant, maybe B- sort of work?


Thinking back a few decades when our family was living in a small town,
remembering walking down Main street in late summer - early fall as
school was starting, and a guy calling out "Get your Christmas Shopping
Done Early!" handing out Sears catalogs...

I posit that Sears was the Amazon of its time, and that time spanned
many years, decades even.

Big appliances aren't the kinds of things you buy on Amazon, so there
is still a place for local dealers. Deliver, install, haul away the
old stuff.


So WTF happened? Other than the Internet (and Amazon) ate their lunch
(and their breakfast and dinner too, as well as Monkey Ward's, JCP, and
so many others).

Guess it's that adapt-or-die thing, and with the Internet, it's
adapt-or-die at Internet speeds.


McDonalds seems to be in the same death spiral. Pretty bad, boring
food, bad service, bean counters in charge.

Compare Microsoft to Apple. Apple stores are clean and bright, the
sales people know what they are doing, they really help. So Apple
grows and charges big bucks for their stuff; Windows 10 will be free,
and worth it.

Microsoft stores are clean and bright. I haven't noticed that their
sales people are any worse. My DIL thinks Windows 10 is really good.
Win-8 isn't so bad as long as you stay away from the tiled view
(whatever it's called).

Linear Tech charges big bucks for parts, because they do most
everything right, and give away LT Spice. I wish the FPGA people were
that good, but they are right up there with Sears on customer service.

FPGA folks give away their software too.

 

[John Larkin]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:01:35 -0400, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:45:31 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:23:12 -0700, artie <artie.m@gNOSPAMmail.com
wrote:

In article <2dkkra1nend7b7ma3peltsknr2m77mhnpp@4ax.com>, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

all too common rant snipped

But it was a pretty good common rant, maybe B- sort of work?


Thinking back a few decades when our family was living in a small town,
remembering walking down Main street in late summer - early fall as
school was starting, and a guy calling out "Get your Christmas Shopping
Done Early!" handing out Sears catalogs...

I posit that Sears was the Amazon of its time, and that time spanned
many years, decades even.

Big appliances aren't the kinds of things you buy on Amazon, so there
is still a place for local dealers. Deliver, install, haul away the
old stuff.


So WTF happened? Other than the Internet (and Amazon) ate their lunch
(and their breakfast and dinner too, as well as Monkey Ward's, JCP, and
so many others).

Guess it's that adapt-or-die thing, and with the Internet, it's
adapt-or-die at Internet speeds.


McDonalds seems to be in the same death spiral. Pretty bad, boring
food, bad service, bean counters in charge.

Compare Microsoft to Apple. Apple stores are clean and bright, the
sales people know what they are doing, they really help. So Apple
grows and charges big bucks for their stuff; Windows 10 will be free,
and worth it.

Microsoft stores are clean and bright. I haven't noticed that their
sales people are any worse. My DIL thinks Windows 10 is really good.
Win-8 isn't so bad as long as you stay away from the tiled view
(whatever it's called).

Linear Tech charges big bucks for parts, because they do most
everything right, and give away LT Spice. I wish the FPGA people were
that good, but they are right up there with Sears on customer service.

FPGA folks give away their software too.

In a limited way. Multicore compile capability costs more. The free
software won't do the larger chips. Lots of features cost big bucks.
The software, especially Xilinx, is horrible and there is no support.
I guess if you're making TVs or something and plan to buy a million
chips a week, you get support.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
lunatic fringe electronics

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUn]

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 08:33:24 -0700, John Larkin
<jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> Gave us:

>lunatic fringe electronics

I don't think you know what the fringe is.. You're a fully immersed
lunatic.

 

[rickman]

On 8/1/2015 11:33 AM, John Larkin wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:01:35 -0400, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:45:31 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:23:12 -0700, artie <artie.m@gNOSPAMmail.com
wrote:

In article <2dkkra1nend7b7ma3peltsknr2m77mhnpp@4ax.com>, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

all too common rant snipped

But it was a pretty good common rant, maybe B- sort of work?


Thinking back a few decades when our family was living in a small town,
remembering walking down Main street in late summer - early fall as
school was starting, and a guy calling out "Get your Christmas Shopping
Done Early!" handing out Sears catalogs...

I posit that Sears was the Amazon of its time, and that time spanned
many years, decades even.

Big appliances aren't the kinds of things you buy on Amazon, so there
is still a place for local dealers. Deliver, install, haul away the
old stuff.


So WTF happened? Other than the Internet (and Amazon) ate their lunch
(and their breakfast and dinner too, as well as Monkey Ward's, JCP, and
so many others).

Guess it's that adapt-or-die thing, and with the Internet, it's
adapt-or-die at Internet speeds.


McDonalds seems to be in the same death spiral. Pretty bad, boring
food, bad service, bean counters in charge.

Compare Microsoft to Apple. Apple stores are clean and bright, the
sales people know what they are doing, they really help. So Apple
grows and charges big bucks for their stuff; Windows 10 will be free,
and worth it.

Microsoft stores are clean and bright. I haven't noticed that their
sales people are any worse. My DIL thinks Windows 10 is really good.
Win-8 isn't so bad as long as you stay away from the tiled view
(whatever it's called).

Linear Tech charges big bucks for parts, because they do most
everything right, and give away LT Spice. I wish the FPGA people were
that good, but they are right up there with Sears on customer service.

FPGA folks give away their software too.

In a limited way. Multicore compile capability costs more. The free
software won't do the larger chips. Lots of features cost big bucks.
The software, especially Xilinx, is horrible and there is no support.
I guess if you're making TVs or something and plan to buy a million
chips a week, you get support.

I guess the rest of the FPGA design world just muddles by somehow...

BTW, there is some open source FPGA development software now... from HDL
to bitstream, so the chip vendor's software is no longer needed at all.
From my post in the FPGA group...

On 7/27/2015 12:34 PM, rickman wrote:
I am very impressed. I was reading about Antti's incredibly tiny FPGA
project board and saw a mention of a FOSS FPGA toolchain. Not just the
compiler, but the entire bitstream generation!

http://hackaday.com/2015/07/03/hackaday-prize-entry-they-make-fpgas-that-small/


Several people have built on each other's work to provide "a fully open
source Verilog to bitstream development tool chain for the Lattice
iCE40LP with support for more devices in the works."

http://hackaday.com/2015/05/29/an-open-source-toolchain-for-ice40-fpgas/

https://github.com/cseed/arachne-pnr

I haven't tried any of it yet, but I am very impressed that they are
reverse engineering the devices so that they can generate bit streams
and not rely on the vendor.

I found another link relating to the tools called "IceStorm".

http://www.clifford.at/icestorm/

Now you can complain about the lousy support from FOSS tools if you wish.

--

Rick

 

[John Larkin]

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 11:40:07 -0400, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
<DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 08:33:24 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> Gave us:

lunatic fringe electronics

I don't think you know what the fringe is.. You're a fully immersed
lunatic.

We design stuff. We build it. People usually buy it. We have fun. If
you can think of a better way to make a living, go for it.




--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
lunatic fringe electronics

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 10:29:36 -0700, John Larkin
<jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

We design stuff. We build it. People usually buy it. We have fun. If
you can think of a better way to make a living, go for it.

Sure... government service. They write laws. They create problems
that generate more laws. People usually swallow the party line. They
lie, cheat, steal, and tax. As long as the GUM (great unwashed
masses) continue paying their "contribution", they grow and remain.
Every year billions of dollars are lost or not accountable. When
someone occasionally gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar,
nothing happens. I couldn't contrive a better system for making a
living.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Don Y]

On 8/1/2015 2:30 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 10:29:36 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

We design stuff. We build it. People usually buy it. We have fun. If
you can think of a better way to make a living, go for it.

Sure... government service. They write laws. They create problems
that generate more laws. People usually swallow the party line. They
lie, cheat, steal, and tax. As long as the GUM (great unwashed
masses) continue paying their "contribution", they grow and remain.
Every year billions of dollars are lost or not accountable. When
someone occasionally gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar,
nothing happens. I couldn't contrive a better system for making a
living.

TV Game Show host??

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 8/1/2015 5:30 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 10:29:36 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

We design stuff. We build it. People usually buy it. We have fun. If
you can think of a better way to make a living, go for it.

Sure... government service. They write laws. They create problems
that generate more laws. People usually swallow the party line. They
lie, cheat, steal, and tax. As long as the GUM (great unwashed
masses) continue paying their "contribution", they grow and remain.
Every year billions of dollars are lost or not accountable. When
someone occasionally gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar,
nothing happens. I couldn't contrive a better system for making a
living.

Except if you possess a conscience and like to sleep at night.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

 

[John Larkin]

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 14:30:43 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 10:29:36 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

We design stuff. We build it. People usually buy it. We have fun. If
you can think of a better way to make a living, go for it.

Sure... government service. They write laws. They create problems
that generate more laws. People usually swallow the party line. They
lie, cheat, steal, and tax. As long as the GUM (great unwashed
masses) continue paying their "contribution", they grow and remain.
Every year billions of dollars are lost or not accountable. When
someone occasionally gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar,
nothing happens. I couldn't contrive a better system for making a
living.

But do they have fun?


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
lunatic fringe electronics

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[John Fields]

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:01:35 -0400, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:45:31 -0700, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

Linear Tech charges big bucks for parts, because they do most
everything right, and give away LT Spice. I wish the FPGA people were
that good, but they are right up there with Sears on customer service.

FPGA folks give away their software too.

---
Is there software given away by the FPGA folks which is non-committal?