H-1B, the outsourcing visa
,----[ Quote ]
| ZDNet is running a blog by John Carroll where he discusses how H-1B
| visas in the US are being used by Indian outsourcing firms to displace
| US workers. "Rather than preventing the outsourcing of jobs, the H-1B
| program acts in just the opposite way, by accelerating the outsourcing
| of high-wage, high-skill jobs to low-cost countries."
|
| A slightly different take on the situation than Guy Fawkes
| previous Technocrat story on the subject.
`----
http://technocrat.net/d/2007/4/15/17993
No direct link, because it's a Microsoft employee. The arguments about
Microsoft and patriotism no longer seems valid.
Related:
Buy Microsoft, it's your patriotic duty
,----[ Quote ]
| That seemed to be the message at the London launch of Microsoft Vista,
| Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 on 30 November 2006. Gordon Frazer,
| Microsoft's UK managing director, devoted most his opening speech to
| a gallimaufry of statistics and quotations intended to show that
| buying these new offerings would somehow make Britain more competitive.
`----
http://www.it-director.com/enterprise/other/content.php?cid=9038&ref=fd_itd
Microsoft Sending All XP and Vista Tech Support Calls To India?
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is sending ALL of its XP and Vista tech support calls to India
| starting March 29th, according to a call center insider
`----
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/microsoft/microsoft-sending-all-xp-and-vista-tech-support-calls-to-india-245048.php
"Dear Microsoft": An open letter to Microsoft regarding the outsourcing of
jobs.
,----[ Quote ]
| Don't get it twisted: I don't have a problem with you outsourcing
| jobs to people that will work for next-to-nothing. It's just
| getting a bit out of hand, don't you think? I mean, there's no
| point trying to fool me.
`----
http://www.lastnameball.com/RantsandTirades/Pages/DearMicrosoft.html
Bill Gates to address Senate panel
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill
| next week to pepper a U.S. Senate committee with his suggestions for
| boosting American competitiveness.
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6163930.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Which is better for technical support
,----[ Quote ]
| I have found in general that with open source support you often get
| more than what you pay for but with closed source support, by some of
| the biggest names in software, the support is often lacking in the
| value department. With open source asking for support has generally
| resulted in a solution within a week and I have never paid for it.
| However with closed source companies I have open tickets that have
| not been resolved in months. With open source I can communicate
| directly with the author(s) of the program and work closely with
| them to find a solution. Closed source on the other hand has just
| requested information, verified the bug and then informed us that
| the solution may be available in the next release of the program.
`----
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/linux/locutus/archives/which-is-better-for-technical-support-13621
http://tinyurl.com/ygspn7
Microsoft's Genuine Advantage
,----[ Snippet ]
| A lot of managers are afraid to use Open Source Software, because it
| doesn't come with any support. Of course that isn't true. It is a classical
| piece of FUD. And then again, how much is support worth?
|
| [...]
|
| MS: Microsoft Support. Good morning, sir. Can I help you.
| IC: Windows displays some strange message on my screen.
| MS: What's the message, sir.
| IC: ReadStringFromInf: UpdSpGetLineText failed: 0xe0000102; Microsoft
| Windows is Not Present
| MS: May I have your product key, sir.
| IC: [gives completely valid product key]
| MS: Ok, sir. Can you please reboot your PC?
| IC: Will that solve the problem?
| MS: Please reboot your PC, sir.
| IC: Ok, ok, wait a minute.
| MS: Please call us again if you eXPerience any more problems. Have a
| nice day, sir. [click]
`----
http://thebeez.vnunetblogs.com/the_beez_speaks/2006/09/microsofts_genu.html
I work for MS but even I struggle to get a hot-fix
,----[ Quote ]
| The problem took 260 minutes to resolve from start to
| finish and an estimated 90 minutes of Ledgard's time,
| not including the time it took to write-up his problems...
| Still, the frustrations experienced by Ledgard give
| a salutary lesson that Microsoft's online product
| support is mediocre, at best, and will surely strike
| a chord with many long-suffering sys admins.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/24/ms_hot-fix_hell/
|
|