I can only try

(for the purpose of the examples below, let’s assume all years have 365 days)

a) Odds of a couple sharing the same birthday: 1/365

b) Odds of a couple and their child sharing the same birthday: 1/133,225

c) Odds of a couple and their child sharing the same birthday, and that day being July 19: 1/48,627,125

The article used number “c)” and it probably should’ve used “b)”

If a child approaches you for a ride, let their parents know – this isn’t “snitching”.

May H-shem bring a nechama to the Kletzky family for their unimaginable tragedy.

am yisrael chai-

You’re not being ignored or overlooked.

In an online forum, people often don’t read every post all the way thru, and a cursory look thru this thread may miss what you posted about your own situation, since you started your post with words of consolation to others.

FWIW, my prior post quoted what you said, because I think it was both thoughtful and true.

ItcheSrulik-

One think I noticed with Dell PCs is that they seem very well built, both as far as sturdiness and as far as ease of assembly, disassembly and upgrading.

ronrsr-

Lol! (literally)

deiyezooger-

“Would you vote for Obama?“

Probably not, but it depends who’s running against him.

Sometimes we have the luxury of picking the better of two good choices, and sometimes we have to pick the lesser of two poor candidates.

In my opinion, both 1976 and 1988 are examples of poor choices from both parties.

anon for this-

I have no idea.

Although the candidates already seem to be in full campaign mode, it’s more than a year to the RNC convention, let alone the general election – I am not familiar with the candidates or their positions, only that Bachmann seems to be the Tea Party fave, and that she signed the Family Leader pledge last week.

As the election gets closer, I intend to read up on the candidates and have a better idea on who I like, dislike, and am scared of.

I plan on voting, since I think that’s a privilege and responsibility we should take seriously, but realistically recognize that as a New Yorker the electoral college makes that somewhat meaningless.

am yisrael chai-

I’ll start with what’s probably a dumb question: Is your computer still under warranty? If so, have a pro fix it on their own dime.

Here’s advice from someone who’s not a “computer doctor” (that implies a level of professionalism and expertise), but rather a “computer potchkerer” (self explanatory).

Popping keys off and putting them back on is a risky proposition with laptop keyboards and their scissor-type key mountings. I’ve done it several times as a last alternative, with about a 60% success rate. Don’t try it except as a last resort.

Desktop keyboards are constructed differently, and I’ve had a 100% success rate removing and replacing them – I’ll even do it lechatchila just to clean underneath them.

OK, now for the bad news.

Keys that stop working, “overwork” (create repeat strokes for a single keypress), or type the wrong letter have always, in my limited experience, indicated a “shot” keyboard that required replacing. This has occurred when something spilled on the keyboard. Even when the spill dried, the problem remained.

There’s nothing to lose by trying to blast under the keyboard with compressed air, and I’d probably try it before operating, but don’t get your hopes up.

Now, the (possibly) good news.

If you Google “<your model> replace keyboard” (sans quotes), you’ll likely find instructions with pictorial illustrations that some kind person(s) posted. It may not be that big a deal to replace the keyboard. Personally, I’ve changed my keyboard three times (don’t ask ) and removed a circuit board to solder, all using how-to info posted by someone else. A mini screwdriver set from Radio Shack may be the only tool(s) you need. Obviously, there’s some risk involved.

A replacement keyboard can usually be bought pretty cheaply. I got two new ones for $20 – $25 apiece, and a used one for $12 – $13.

Since I need my laptop PC for work, I borrowed a USB keyboard from my job and used that until I changed the notebook’s keyboard – perhaps you can do that as well, for now.

If you’d like to post your model number here, maybe someone can take a look at the keyboard replacement procedure and opine on the degree of complexity involved in its replacement.

As far as the chiyuv of the mazik to make good for the actual hezek, I can’t imagine how this would be mesira.

The issues I see here are:

1) Would the mazik suffer additional penalties, such as losing his/her license, or even more severe penalties for hit-and-run? If so, would this constitute mesira?

2) Halachikly, I believe the only chiyuv the mazik has is for the lessening of the value of the damaged object, while U.S. law may carry a greater obligation; that of restoring the damaged area into a like-new state. Does the fact that the mazik may be civilly liable for a greater amount than halacha dictates play a part here?

Things were peaceful in sleepy Alphabet Town, where crime was all-but-unheard of.

Each day, Mr. A ran his grocery store, Mr. B his dry-cleaners, Mr. C his shoe repair and so on.

One night, their bucolic existence was interrupted. Henri Blanc and Marcel Rouge, two violent members of the Saychellian Mafia, escaped from prison and hid somewhere within the Alphabet Town shopping district.

The storekeepers were afraid to open their businesses the next day; who knew which store the escapees might be hiding in?

Health-

You’re welcome.

I’d advise you to verify this (or any other type of purchase advice) with at least one other person, just for confirmation and to make sure something wasn’t missed.

In this instance, I know a bit about computers and I help friends and relatives with theirs, but I’m not a professional, so confirmation before buying is a good idea.

Artie was going thru tough financial times.

He decided to resort to crime.

Artie hid out in the back of the local A&P store, and when an unsuspecting person came by, Artie strangled him.

Unfortunately, the victim had no cash in his pockets, so Artie hid once again and waited for his next victim.

Soon enough, another shopper came by, and Artie strangled him, too.

His bad luck held, though. The second victim only had $1, and a witness spotted the crime and called the police.

Artie was arrested.

The next day, it was front-page news in the local press:

“Artie Chokes Two For A Dollar at the A&P”

as told many years ago by an acquaintance

Dr. Pepper-

I was wondering if anyone would point out that my number wasn’t 100% accurate, since nobody sets all 13 buttons to “push” or all 13 to “don’t push” in one lock (I assume this is what you mean).

It’s also true that if five “push” pieces is the default, a variance of 2 would put the range from 3 to 7, not 3 to 9.

Maybe I posted those numbers for simplicity’s sake.

Maybe I’m just not that good at math ?

Health–

A Dell bundle or the like is probably what best suits your needs.

Your requirements are simple enough that the cheapest, slowest PC sold nowadays will be sufficient.

BTW, all (or possibly almost all) PCs sold nowadays include a keyboard and mouse.

What is your price range limit?

ItcheSrulik–

Dusting off the memory vaults, I seem to remember RDRAM requiring paired memory, but that was about it.

bombmaniac–

The 480 MBPS USB speed is for USB 2.0

Nowadays, new machines may come with USB 3.0, which is several times faster.

Moderator-80-

Bezalel-

bombmaniac-

“Moderator-80” is correct. The hardware manual for that model does specify four memory slots.

Here’s the link to the manual page, select the “Hardware Replacement Guide”:

http://123.127.211.194/us/en/UserGuide/Guide_list.aspx?CategoryID=87378

I remember that there was/is certain memory type that required matched pairs, but for most memory types, the only requirement is that all the memory modules should be the same speed.

Also, if you have different sized memory modules, the larger one should go in the first slot, for efficiency’s sake.

(This is something I learned several years ago – as far as I know it’s still up to date.)

Health-

1) What will you be using the PC for? Web browsing and word processing, spreadsheet number-crunching, video editing, photo editing, DVD watching, game playing, etc.

2) Will you also be looking for a new monitor, too? If so, is that part of your price range? What size monitor?

3) How important is tech support to you? Would you use it often? Would you pay for a higher level of support and/or an extended time period where you could get support?

5) Why specifically a desktop PC? Are you sure you want a desktop and not a larger laptop?

Moderator-80-

Although it wasn’t my intent, I seem to have muddied the waters a bit, and will now continue to do so…

The “reading” portion of the DVD drives is identical, it’s the “burning” component that differs.

I wasn’t trying to change your mind – I honestly believe they’re both nice machines – but was just pointing out that your old machine’s specs are apples-to-oranges vis a vis your new machine.

Moderator-80

They both look like very nice machines.

They have the same chassis, operating system, hard drive speed and CPU.

Here are differences I noticed:

1) The graphics card. Probably a non-issue for you, since this would be beneficial primarily for gaming and (IIRC) some CAD apps.

3) Hard drive. 1TB capacity vs. 1.5 TB.

4) Optical drive. The cheaper machine actually specifies dual layer, while the more expensive one does not.

My experiences with Newegg have been good.

A couple of additional comments:

If buying from Dell or Lenovo, only buy what they have on sale. If it’s not on sale, you probably overpaid. (This applies to buying from them directly.)

I’ve bought refurbs a couple of times and done well, but I also have heard from people who had bad refurb experiences. Usually the warranty is a lot shorter than what you’d get with new – most commonly 90 days vs. a year.

I won’t say you should or shouldn’t buy a refurb, only that you should be aware of the pluses and minuses involved.

I had a bad experience with a dishonest salesperson once when purchasing from Best Buy. I’ve also had unpleasant, rude, lazy and inattentive salespeople in the Bay Parkway store in Brooklyn. I know it’s not fair to hold it against the entire chain, but when I buy from them now (and I still do, occasionally), I make sure I have all my info before buying, and I don’t simply trust what the salesperson says.

Moderator-80-

Before anyone can give advice about what to buy, they need to know what your requirements are.

1) What will you be using the PC for? Web browsing and word processing, spreadsheet number-crunching, video editing, photo editing, DVD watching, game playing, etc.

2) Will you also be looking for a new monitor? If so, is that part of your price range?

4) How important is tech support to you? Would you use it often? Would you pay for a higher level of support and/or an extended time period where you could get support?

6) Why specifically a desktop PC? Are you sure you want a desktop and not a larger laptop?