Several forum members have responded saying that they have experienced the glitch, but many others (including at least one former Mac Genius) believe that this is a far-fetched and hastily concocted excuse to cover up an affair. Personally, I have to agree with the latter group. I mean, even if the glitch exists, why would a guy take a raunchy pic of himself and just let it sit in his iPhone? Plus, the woman claims that she has found other bits of incriminating evidence to support her case (he also has a history of infidelity). By the end of the discussion the wife seems have to come to her senses and realised that she needs to ditch this tool. But what do you think? Have you ever experienced this glitch? Did any of this really happen in the first place? [Support Forums via CNET]

For either $US66 or $US90, you can receive unlimited GearHead support for six months or twelve months, respectively. This service includes help with hooking up and/or troubleshooting most devices that interface with your in-home broadband, such as routers, computers, printers, scanners and VoIP devices, not to mention support for the Windows platform, MS Office, and Adobe Acrobat. GearHead also provides a desktop client that will let their technicians go in and remotely control your desktop.

The pay-per-incident works a little different. There’s the Internet Access service which, for roughly $US37 will provide you 30 minutes of remote assistance in getting your internet connected properly. For about $US50 you can buy the PC Tune Up service, where a technician will go in and remove useless files and programs, bugs from your registry and adware.

While, most you techies have no problem keeping their home networks running in tip top shape, I’m sure you have parents, grandparents and siblings who can’t help but constantly keep their computers in a state of disarray. When you get tired of playing computer repair man, you can now just point them over to GearHead and wipe your hands clean of the whole ordeal. More information on GearHead can be found over at [Netgear].

NETGEAR® GearHead Services Provide Affordable, 24×7 Technical Support Service to Help Consumers Resolve PC-Related Problems

New One-Stop Technical Support Service Provides Remote Support for Computers, Peripherals, Software, and Other Computer-Related Products

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — November 18, 2008 — NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically innovative, branded networking solutions, today announced the launch of NETGEAR GearHead Services, a comprehensive, affordable 24×7 remote technical support service that provides consumers with a one-stop resource for troubleshooting and resolving many of the most common computer-related problems in the home. One of the first of such comprehensive services from a consumer electronics vendor, the GearHead program is designed to ensure the best possible home networking experience for consumers that want to make the Internet their primary communications and entertainment platform for the Digital Home.

NETGEAR’s GearHead Services provide 24×7 PC and network support on both a subscription and pay-per-incident basis. SupportPak 6 and SupportPak 12 provide six or twelve months of unlimited 24×7 phone-based technical support to help consumers resolve a variety of issues related to computer hardware, home networking, Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office applications, and antivirus and antispyware programs. NETGEAR also offers two pay-per-incident services including the Internet Access Service, which helps consumers to troubleshoot and correct hardware- or software-based Internet access problems, and the PC Tune Up Service, which steps consumers through the process of eliminating unnecessary files, adware and unused programs to optimise performance of the PC. Interested parties can find out more here.

“While NETGEAR has always been dedicated to delivering the best possible end-user experience across our broad line of wired and wireless networking products and networked devices, getting all of the hardware and software components of a computer system to communicate and work together can be complicated and frustrating,” stated Winston Sze, Senior Service Product Manager at NETGEAR. “Consumers don’t care whether their computer problem is hardware or software related – they simply want the problem resolved as quickly as possible. Our new GearHead Services eliminate the frustrating exercise of having to speak with the tech support groups for a variety of different vendors by providing consumers with 24×7 access to an affordable one-stop technical support hotline that will help them troubleshoot and repair almost any computer-related issue.”

One of the most important aspects of the GearHead program is its vendor neutrality and focus on solving problems unrelated to NETGEAR products. The GearHead SupportPaks provide hardware support for desktop and notebook PCs, wired and wireless routers, modems, printers, scanners, fax machines, USB PC devices, home networking devices, and sound cards. In addition, technical support is provided for software-related issues with Windows operating systems (2000, XP or higher), Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and Adobe Acrobat, in addition to anti-virus and anti-spyware software from McAfee, Norton, AVG, eTrust, and BitDefender. The GearHead SupportPak 6 and SupportPak 12 provide six or 12 months of unlimited technical support for only $65.95 USD and $89.95 USD, respectively.

The pay-per-incident services provided by NETGEAR GearHead includes the Internet Access Service, which provides up to 30 minutes of remote technical support for customers experiencing problems with accessing the Internet. The GearHead PC Tune Up Service helps customers eliminate unnecessary files, adware and unused programs to improve their PC’s performance. The Internet Access and PC Tune Up Services are priced at $36.50 per incident, and $49.50, respectively.

The email came from Frank Eliason, whom the NY Times has a great story on this morning. He’s a Comcast rep who constantly monitors blogs, forums, Twitter, Facebook comments and everything in between for gripes about Comcast, then responds directly to the complainer to “clear the air.” He’s done this well over a thousand times in the 7 months he’s been on the job.

Direct one-on-one service sure beats spending days of your life on hold with support only to find there’s no cable being run to your house, and definitely no hard feelings for Frank, who is just doing his job and doing it well it sounds like, but leave it to Comcast to instill what could be a good thing with such overt Orwellian creepiness. [New York Times]

Received my “open computer” day before yesterday. Two immediate problems.

First, the noise level was completely intolerable. Never heard a computer as loud in my life.

Second problem was video was DOA right out of the box. No signal going to monitor. Boot up is a moot point as there is nothing to see.

Called the company. A female answered the phone, presumably a receptionist. She informed me some one would return my call shortly and give me RA# I had requested. No call. Called back after several hours. Spoke with one of the guys there in either sales or support. They assured me that they were getting the information from UPS as we spoke and would shortly be sending me the return shipping label via UPS within minutes. Nothing.

Called back again this morning. Was assured that shipping info was to be emailed shortly and they were going to be calling UPS to arrange a pickup for this afternoon. Nothing.

All I want to do is return the computer and get a refund.

We knew about the incredibly loud fan before, but unfortunately reader Rick ordered before he saw it featured here. C’mon, Psystar. The first couple weeks is vital to proving your legitimacy and professionalism. If you’re going to drop the ball like this, you might as well just shut down and go home now.

I have had a Eeepc for less than a week. I have never been able to connect to the Internet wirelessly. The dreaded “pending” problem. I decided to call technical support. The tech asked what router I had. I replied “two wire”. He says “oh, I have never been able to make one work with two wire.” “It’s a known issue. We are working on it but DON’T HAVE A TWO WIRE ROUTER TO TEST IT WITH.” He continued “I got a friend in the valley who has a two wire router, ive been meaning to go see him and test it out. But he lives pretty far away.” Now here I am, having spent US$348 on a nice little computer that can only work when hardwired to the router. I already have a computer hardwired, I don’t need a tiny little one hardwired. So I ask the tech “what am I supposed to do with this computer? Should I send it back?” He responds “yeah I guess you could do that.” I know customer service is bad all around but a big company like Asus doesn’t have a router from a larger manufacturer to test their equipment on? Give me a break, you sent out a computer that has not been tested on a commonly used router? I love the machine, but its useless if it doesn’t work!!!!!!!!! Asus, get your act together, my goodness!!!!!!!!!

Any readers able to get it working with 2Wire? Seems pretty strange that any laptop wouldn’t work with a router, seeing as, you know, they follow a standard. [Thanks John!]

…four days later, I received an e-mail from my manager saying that Apple was at my service. Word of my problem initially made it’s way to Apple not by way of my public profile, but by a technician receiving the report as they would anyone else’s and passing it along internally until word reached my friends at the company.

Well, John, sorry to bust the bubble, but if you start your bug reports saying you are John Mayer, of course your manager is going to get a mail from Apple. The support guy who took care of Mayer had this to say:

“We take crash reports seriously on our side, because for us it’s just like being able to talk directly with the customer while the problem is happening. The information that we get from the automated system is perfect for helping us solve the problem, and obviously the customers comments can take it one step further.”

We bet that Apple takes reports seriously, but have you ever got anyone from Apple—or any other company—sending you an email from a bug report? [John Mayer —thanks Robbie]

Guest Editor’s Answer: Mr. T has sent hundreds of bug reports about Safari breaking down and never got ANYTHING back from those Apple suckas! Here’s my latest report:

Hello suckas! Mr. T here. I was trying to do some editing today for this tech site and the crazy Safari crashed! I pity the fool who goes out tryin’ a’ take over da world with their browser, then runs home cryin’ to his momma! So listen to me, suckas! You’re going to fix this! Or I’m gonna kill that crazy Jobs! Sincerely, Mr. T

And then I added a picture of genitals drawn in ASCII code!

According to Wired blogger GeekDad, this is an exchange he had with Nintendo support:

Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: “Okay – I want you to take the remote, button side down and smack it into the palm of your hand two or three times.”

Russ: “You’ve got to be kidding”

Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: “No sir, do it hard enough that I can hear it across the phone line but not hard enough to damage the remote”

Russ: “You’re sure?”

Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: “Yes, sir.”

And, of course, it worked. Gotta love it. [GeekDad via Kotaku]

I hit Circuit City with my mum on Black Friday to pick up the greatest and cheapest router ever, the Linksys WRH54G, costing a slim Andrew Jackson after the mail-in rebate. As far as I could tell, there was only a single flaw with the thing: the toll-free technical support number in the manual wasn’t that at all, but a promotional line for a “stimulating conversation” service. Hear it for yourself in the call video above, and check out the manual after the jump.