Last week, there were two major news stories concerning the pricing of consumer electronics.

The first involves a law suit filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal against Best Buy.  The law suit accuses Best Buy of denying deals found at the company's Web site, http://www.BestBuy.com.  Blumenthal said store employees charged customers higher prices found on a look-alike internal Web site.

The second story involves Dell selling PCs loaded with the Linux operating system instead of MS Windows.  Although Microsoft charges Dell (the OEM) approximately $100 for each copy of the low end version of MS Windows and Linux is a free (no cost) operating system, Dell is charging the same price for the same PC irregardless of whether the PC is loaded with MS Windows or Linux.  Members of the Linux community are crying "foul" at Dell's pricing structure.

Are the consumers being cheated by these two merchants?


In the Best Buy case, I have to side with the merchant and say that Blumenthal doesn't understand the retail business.

For any item in a national chain store, there may be different prices for each area of the country due to the differences in the operational cost of the physical outlets and the demand for that particular product in each area (the reason why gasoline cost is different from region to region).  The prices would also have to be competitive with other stores in that area.

The Web-based outlet has a different set of prices than that of a physical outlet in a particular region because it's operational cost and the demand for on-line ordered goods may be different than that of a physical outlet in any regional of the country.  The prices at the Web-based outlet would also have to be competitive with the prices of other Web-based outlets.

The prices of the items on the in-store intranet of a physical outlet reflect the prices at that particular outlet.  i.e., Each physical outlet has it's own set of prices on its intranet.

Thus, the prices of items in a physical outlet's intranet may be different that those in the company's web-based store.

The best way to shop at Best Buy, Circuit City, or any other nation wide chain with a Web-based outlet is to first check the price at the Web-based outlet and then call the local physical outlet to see which price is lower.  If the latter, just go to the store and purchase the item.  If the former, order the item on-line and specify in-store pickup at the local outlet.


In the Dell case, I also have to side with merchant.

Although the MS Windows operating system costs Dell about $100 per PC, Dell offsets that cost by installing trial software (what the industry call "crapware") on each MS Windows PC.  Dell receives about $50 per PC from the vendors of the trial software.  So, the software on the MS Windows PC (operating system and trial software) yield a net cost of $50 for Dell.

The software on the Linux PC costs nothing.  However, a Linux PC is harder for the average user to manage (backup files, install printer drivers, etc.) than a MS Windows PC.  So the cost of providing user support for a Linux PC is higher.  Dell is assuming a cost difference of $50 between supporting a Linux PC user and a MS Windows PC user.

Thus, for Dell, there is no cost difference between the two PCs.

I suspect that the difference in the cost of supporting the two PCs will be greater than $50, but Dell is willing to eat the additional cost.

The best way to purchase a Linux PC from Dell is to purchase a MS Windows PC from Dell.  Then, videotape yourself removing the MS Windows from that PC (reformat the hard disk) and replacing it with Linux (free from the internet).  Send the video tape along with the MS Windows installation disk to Dell to request a refund on the uninstalled MS Windows operating system (about $100).

P.S., I've copied all my blog entries to http://pinhchen.blogspot.com/.  BlogSpot is a Google site so it's easier to search for a particular blog entry at this blogging site.  If you are searching for one of my past blog entries, try doing the search at http://pinhchen.blogspot.com/.

A couple of months ago, a young woman posted a question, in one of the Christian forums, about giving money to the homeless on the street.  She expressed several concerns:

She wants to make sure that her money would actually help individuals that truly need it.  She also wants to make sure that these individuals are not going to use it for drugs or alcohol, etc.  And she wants to make sure that giving to the homeless would not be a disincentive for getting work and becoming productive members of society.

This post quickly received quite a few responses.  They ranged from the practical to the bizarre.

I, too, was eager to post a response.  After all, I did move from the suburb into the heart of Baltimore to be involved with a couple of inner city ministries and have quite a bit of experience working with the homeless.

However, I stopped myself before I posted.  While my suggestions were very practical, I wondered if they were truly godly responses.

As I reviewed my suggestions, it became apparent that they came from my own experience of what "worked" and what didn't "work".  Like the other posts, in response to this young woman's questions, my suggestions were not based on any biblical principle.

However, I was unable to find any biblical verse to guide us on how we are to give alms effectively.  One can argue that the bible teaches us to give alms through the Church.  However, the story of the "good Samaritan" [Luke 10:25-37] teaches us that we are to also provide directly to the needy individual.

It became apparent that this issue requires the application of a broader biblical principle.

What is the criteria?

During the past couple of months, I asked this broader question when I encountered two major medical events.  I was diagnosed with diminished kidney function.  Shortly after that, I tore ligaments on my upper arm and shoulder.  (See my blog entries for March 5, 2007 and May 5, 2007.)  These two events resulted in me spending quite a bit of time in the hospital.  Which means I spent quite a bit of time waiting.  As I sat waiting to be seen by one specialist or another, my mind wandered through my life revisiting the places where I've travel because the Lord called, remembering the people of that I met through my travels, and re-evaluating the project on which I've worked.

The same question comes up: Did I make that big of a difference?  My time, my energy, my money that I pour into these project: did the results justified the investment?

If I were to evaluate them the same as I would the projects that I do on my paying job, the honest answer would be no.

Several weeks ago, as I drove through my neighborhood in Baltimore, I passed a very old woman in very tight jeans thumbing for a "John".  I laughed, thinking, "She has to be the oldest prostitute that I've ever seen.  If she gets a customer, those two people would be the most desperate people in Baltimore!"

A new thought occurred to me.  I moved into Baltimore to be involved with several inner-city ministries, hoping to make a difference in the city.  My neighborhood has not changed much in all the years that I've been living here.  Did I just wasted a large chunk of my life?

The answer came to me a couple of weeks ago as I was having lunch with my friend Anne.  Anne is on staff with a college ministry.  She is transferring to a position in Rome, Italy.  Before leaving the States, she is raising support for her ministry.  During our lunch, she related an experience she had while meeting with an elderly couple from whom she had hoped to receive financial support.

This couple asked Anne, how many people she had lead to Christ in the last couple of months.  Then, they asked her, how many people she had lead to Christ in her life.

My first thought, upon hearing this story, was "What kind of question is that to ask?"  Are they implying that we can judge the validity of one's ministry by how many people were led to Christ?

Didn't Jesus say:

"Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true." [John 4:36-37]

How is a sowing ministry to be judge using this couple's criteria?  Is a sowing ministry any less effective a ministry than one that reaps?

The effectiveness of a ministry can not and must not be evaluated by the measure of immediate results.  It is only after the return of Christ are we able to see the entire picture and see the part our actions play in God's masterpiece.

This principle applies to ministries and this principle applies to the giving of alms.

What, then, is the criteria?

In John 14:15-17, Jesus said:

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

The criteria has to be and only be that we are obedient to what He commands; and He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, to guide us to what He wants us to do.

What, He wants us to do, may be to sow seeds that would not be reaped for years.  The seeds may be misused by the recipient before it is made to good use by Him.  We can not be the arbitor of whether these actions are effective or not; we do not have a full visibility to God's plan.

All, that we can do, is to listen for what the Holy Spirit calls us to do and to be obedient.  That is the only criteria.

My answer to the young lady who posted the original question:

Don't waste your energy trying to evaluating the effectiveness of your giving; concentrate your effort on listening for His call and being obedient with the trust that what He calls you to do is part of His bigger plan to redeem the lost.

OK, it's not really Pete Townsend; it's a software on his web site:

http://www.lifehouse-method.com

Actually, it'll write up to three (3) theme songs for you.

(You'll need a microphone on your computer.)

I tried it and it's pretty cool. So, give it a try.

Last week, I tore ligaments on my upper arm and shoulder while transferring my mom from her wheelchair to her bed.  It hurt as badly as the time when my humerus was broken during a football (soccer) match.

Spent most of this past week meditating on

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

After spending nights and days asking the Lord, "Why? What are you trying to teach me with this injury?", and listening to His spirit speak through his Words, it became apparent what He desired for me.

Because He has blessed me with many strengths, I had become more and more reliant on those strengths and less and less on His.  Because of my confidence in my strengths, I ask what can I do for the Lord and not what is He calling me to do.  As I do so, my walk has become more and more a walk by myself and not a walk with Him.