Working in the field of in-home and in-store computer technical support, I get a number of people looking for free tech support on any number of programs. While management frowns on giving out what can often be a rather involved service for free over the telephone, they’ve never really stopped us from answering simple questions to keep potential customers happy.

However, there are times when you have to tell a customer “no”. One such example would be the following 100% true telephone conversation that occurred over the weekend:

Me: Hello, my name is Derek, how may I help you?

Lady: I bought a computer at Walmart.

Me: Oh? Is there something I can help you with?

Lady: I don’t know how to use Word.

Me: Was there something in particular you were trying to do? Normally, technical support for a particular product is provided by the company that produces it. In this case that would be Micro …

Lady: No, I need you to tell me how to use it. This is my first computer.

Me: Ma’am, I’m afraid we’re not allowed to provide technical training of that nature over the telephone. However, we can have someone come to your home.

Lady: For free?

Me: I’m afraid there is a charge involved with all in-home training, Ma’am. You might also consider calling Microsoft, as they’re the developer of …

Lady: What?! Aren’t you supposed to give me support for free? Isn’t that what you do?

Me: Ma’am, we’d be very happy to provide support and training, but there is a cost involved with …

Lady: I am never buying another computer from you again.

*click*

Needless to say, the thought of someone no longer buying Walmart computers from a company that has nothing to do with Walmart didn’t exactly trouble me.

In case you haven’t noticed it at your local grocery store, Mountain Dew is on day 30 of their 90 day Pitch Black II limited release.

I haven’t tried the newest version of their seasonal limited release soda, but I recall last year’s Pitch Black being tasty, an opinion that’s apparently still pretty controversial among some parties.

I’ve got two anime series in this week’s Netflix queue: Ai Yori Aoshi and His and Her Circumstances.

I’ve seen parts of His and Her Circumstances before, so finally being able to see the whole thing in order is great. The series, which revolves around two japanese high school students and their friends, makes for a nice change from other series in which two characters are attracted to each other.

The difference here is that the male lead confesses his feelings near the beginning, with the girl quickly returning the feelings. While the relationship doesn’t immediately begin, at least both characters don’t avoid even a simple confession of how they feel until the very end of the series.

Ai Yori Aoshi is similar in that the two main characters get settled into the idea of having feelings for each other very early on, though they’re forced to hide this fact from the other characters in the series due to the standing they have in their respective families. This series is still something of a “harem comedy” in that the core situation involves one guy surrounded by several attractive women.

Unlike many other popular, similar series, the male lead is smart, likable and even strong willed. Still, the series still has the trappings of other harem comedies, with the usual amounts of fanservice from the other girls involved in the story. On the other hand, the supporting cast’s backgrounds are fleshed out enough that, combined with a male lead that one could actually see the girls being interested in, makes for an enjoyable show.

Read about the 40th anniversary of the creation of 7-Eleven’s popular brainfreeze-inducing iced drink at Slate.com.

LCD screens are a dust and fingerprint magnet, but are easily cleaned with a liquid solution made up of one part white vinegar to four parts water. Make sure that you’re using regular white vinegar, however. You can use the same solution on your CRT and television screens as well.

PVRblog has an entry based on incoming reports about TiVo adding digital rights management (DRM) to upcoming updates for their popular video recorders.

TiVo has long been under pressure by content producers to allow restrictions to be made on the ability to record television shows, as they can cut into the new lucrative TV season DVD market as well as make viewers with various movie channels less likely to purchase movie DVDs.

However, as one of the viewers wrote in an email to PVRblog, “better treat your subscribers well, or you won’t have a business.” While the content producers can obviously bring a large amount of pressure on the company, their actual business comes from TiVo owners looking to make their television viewing easier through complete control of what and when they watch programs.

“Every piece of computer software, no matter how small, involves at least a team of two — me, and me six months from now when I have to fix it.”