Nerd heaven

The tale of a happy internet-based couple in the UK.

Two tasters:

The couple inhabit a topsy-turvy twilight world in which they cook chips or doughnuts at 3am, converse through computers even though they are sitting next to each other, and despite the fact that in theory they have an 'open' relationship, are completely faithful to one another because, as Amy says, somewhat plaintively: 'We literally don't know anyone else.'

...

'Why do you need to go out when you can talk to so many people on the internet? And the good thing is, online, if you don't like someone, you can block them off. But in real life you can't do that. I just have a dislike of the world. People can be annoying. I am happy this way.'

Most excellent. Does this make William Gibson a sociologist rather than a science fiction writer?

Hat tip: Charlie Brown

UM Next Gen IT

I am generally suspicious of the centralization of IT services - partly as a result of negative experiences with it at UWO when IT moved from the department to the faculty level, but most of what Michigan is undertaking as part of its Next Gen initiative seems like reasonable responses to recent developments in technology.

There's no hockey on ... what shall we do?

Canadians have the world's highest internet usage. Could it be opportunity costs? It would be interesting to see the seasonal (and regional) patterns.

Hail to the hackers valiant ....

Michigan students meet electronic voting.

Age discrimination in silicon valley

This piece on age discrimination in the tech industry makes much of a graph showing that earnings in the industry decline with age.

I have two problems with this. First, though the article does not say so, the graph is almost certainly not the age-earnings profile for any one cohort, but rather is based on the "synthetic cohort" assumption. Under this assumption, which holds that older people at a point in time can proxy for what young people at that time will experience when they are old, allows the construction of age-earnings profiles using a single cross-section of data.

The synethetic cohort assumption seems really dubious in the context of the tech industry. Suppose the cross-section data come from 2005. The youngest individuals in the oldest group, who are 51, were then born in 1954 and went to college in the mid-70s, just before the arrival of PCs. Are they really a good proxy for what will happen to the earnings of people who are 20 in 2005 when they are in their 50s? More broadly, we know that in the population as a whole, actual cohort age earnings profiles generally look quite different than those implied by synthetic cohorts constructed from any individual cross-section.

A second, probably less important issue, is that in the oldest age group in the graph, many of the most successful workers will have retired, and so not get counted in the mean earnings figures. This sort of selective retirement would push the graph toward having a downward slope at higher ages even in the absence of any discrimination.

Ugh.

Via instatpundit

Further evidence on the coolness of UM

Who knew that Michigan has a computer and video game archive?

Centipede anyone?

Medieval help desk

This is great fun - all the more because it is in Danish with subtitles.

Hat tip: you know who.

Wolfram | Alpha

A cool new resource to explore. Screencast here.

It is weak on sports - no college football scores that I could find.

It is also weak on popular culture type stuff. For example, Jessica Cutler is identified as a "blogger" and Larry Flynt as a "businessperson"; beyond that for both you get only middle names and date of birth.

My social science test - "National Supported Work Demonstration" also came up dry.

Hat tip: Marginal Revolution via Dan Black

Dell follows up

To their credit, Dell tracked down my blog post (though not the follow-up) and sent me the email below.

I wonder if I could change my title from "Professor" to "Economic Research Evangelist"?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeff,

Sorry to hear about your recent experience with Dell computers sales, as described in the following post:

http://econjeff.blogspot.com/2009/05/dell-shows-how-not-to-sell-computers.html

Have you been able to get in contact with correct sales department at this time?

Regards,

Chris Byrd
Digital Life Evangelist
Dell Social Media Team
Phone: ****
Mobile: ****
Email: ****@dell.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/****

Dell always strives to improve! Please send feedback to my manager ****@Dell.com

Distributed knowledge

A reader emailed me what I was looking for in regard to Dell's higher education discounts - namely the website www.delluniversity.com - less than 20 minutes after my post.

Too bad the Dell employees were not trained to do this.

Dell shows how not to sell computers

8:20:21 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Initial Question/Comment: econjeff@umich.edu
8:21:21 PM		System	Thanks for choosing chat for your Dell Purchase needs. A chat agent will be with you shortly.
8:21:41 PM		System	You are being transferred to another Agent. Please stand by...
8:21:46 PM		System	You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
8:21:47 PM		System	Connected with E&A_Mary_Ann
8:21:51 PM		E&A_Mary_Ann	Welcome to Dell Consumer Solutions Sales Chat! I hope you are doing well and thank you for waiting. My name is Mary Ann and I will be your Sales Agent today. Feel free to provide your phone number so that I can contact you if we get disconnected. How can I help you today?
8:22:52 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I have two questions. First, I am a professor at the University of Michigan. When I was on the Dell site a couple of months ago shopping I found a way to get a higher education discount. Despite 45 minutes of looking tonight I have not been able to replicate that experience. Did the site change or am I just not looking in the right place?
8:23:37 PM		E&A_Mary_Ann	yes we can have an employee discount applied to your purchase
8:23:47 PM		Jeffrey Smith	How do I do that with an online order?
8:23:52 PM		E&A_Mary_Ann	if i may ask, what are you trying or interested to purchase?
8:24:08 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I want to purchase an Optiplex 960.
8:24:48 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Also, just to be clear, this is a purchase for use at home and not with university funds.
8:25:07 PM		E&A_Mary_Ann	yes i understand, i see that you are interested to purchase a system, i would suggest that you contact our system sales dept. as they can assist you with your concern, they could also customize a system that would fit your needs and budget.you may reach them at 1-800-897-3355
8:25:44 PM		Jeffrey Smith	OK ... I am extra confused now. Is this not possible to do online?
8:26:02 PM		E&A_Mary_Ann	yes, i can transfer you to one if you like
8:26:11 PM		Jeffrey Smith	okay
8:26:43 PM		E&A_Mary_Ann	please do stayonline while i transfer you to one
8:27:28 PM		System	You are being transferred to another Agent. Please stand by...
8:27:28 PM		System	E&A_Mary_Ann has left this session!
8:27:38 PM		System	You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
8:27:38 PM		System	Connected with BE_Rep_Sudave
8:28:08 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	Welcome to Dell's XPS Sales Chat! I hope you are doing well and thank you for waiting. My name is Alex and I will be your personal sales agent today. Feel free to email me at us_dhs_chat_reply@dell.com or leave me a message at 1800-379-3355 ext. 2160085, from 8AM CST – 12 CST. Please provide your e-mail address and phone number where I can contact you in case we get disconnected. How may I help you with your purchase today?
8:28:57 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	hi Mary ann!
8:29:01 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	your dad
8:29:14 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I am a professor at the U of Michigan interested in ordering a system for use at home to be paid for with my own funds. My understanding is that I am eligible for a higher education discount but I could not figure out how to get it online.
8:29:18 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	i'm sorry for that
8:29:21 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Oh, and I am Jeff - Mary Ann is gone.
8:29:44 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	oh, Hi jeff!
8:30:54 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	have you heard of our Dell preferred account?
8:31:16 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Nope.
8:31:40 PM		Jeffrey Smith	When I was poking around on the dell.com site a couple of months ago I found a way to do it but could not replicate it this evening.
8:31:54 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	Just to make sure you are aware of all your options, the Dell Preferred Account is a revolving account which allows you to pay for your purchase all at once or gives you the flexibility to make monthly payments. With this account there are no prepayment penalties and you may qualify for promotions and discounts off future purchases. Also we are currently running No Interest offers on our XPS systems for qualified customers.Here is the link if you would like to see if you qualify: http://www.us.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/dpa_learnmorec=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~lt=popup
8:31:55 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I am guessing that the site changed in the interim.
8:32:33 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Let's figure out how to get the discount first.
8:33:20 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	well, discounts change every week. are you planning on getting a laptop or a desktop?
8:33:41 PM		Jeffrey Smith	My understanding was that there was an ongoing discount for people employed in higher education. Is that incorrect?
8:33:46 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I am looiking for a laptop today.
8:34:11 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Sorry, desktop.
8:36:11 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	okay, is there a specific desktop you would like to purchase?
8:36:30 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I would like to replicate the computer I just got at work, which is an Optiplex 960
8:38:17 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	Okay, have you seen a dell computer to compare?
8:38:58 PM		Jeffrey Smith	I am not sure what you mean. I would like to buy the same computer I have at work, which I am now familiar with having used it for several weeks.
8:41:23 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	Jeff that is only available in the business department. Is it okay if I transfer you to them?
8:43:17 PM		Jeffrey Smith	To be honest, I have kind of had it for the night. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow, maybe I will look at other brands. 90 minutes ago I when I started I was ready to buy, now I am completely frustrated and unimpressed.
8:44:09 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	I understand that you were passed on from one department to the other.
8:44:36 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	Its just that their are particular models available for each department.
8:45:58 PM		Jeffrey Smith	First I spend 45 minutes on the website not finding what I wanted, then I got on chat, got someone who did not really respond to my questions then I got transfered to you and had to repeat all the same information (and deal with responses that seemed unrelated to my questions) and now you want to transfer me again. After all that, I am no closer than when I started, as I still do not even know how to find the higher education discount on the web page, which is my primary question.
8:46:04 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	I promise you that the business department would be more than happy to accommodate you.
8:46:59 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	does your dad need wireless connectiion?
8:47:15 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Given that my dad died several years ago, I am guessing probably not.
8:47:19 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	I am so sorry for that
8:48:04 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	I know that its very frustrating.
8:48:19 PM		Jeffrey Smith	It shouldn't be this hard.
8:48:40 PM		Jeffrey Smith	And you should answer people's questions before you start trying to market revolving credit to them.
8:48:51 PM		BE_Rep_Sudave	but if you are willing to let me transfer you, i'm sure that you would finally get to purchase the system that you want
8:49:15 PM		Jeffrey Smith	Sure, why not.
8:50:52 PM		System	You are being transferred to another queue. Please stand by...
8:50:52 PM		System	BE_Rep_Sudave has left this session!

It is now 9:10 PM and no one ever showed up.

Wow.