Maierstorm.org |

So apparently…people are having some trouble determining what is and isn’t windows.

That was me giggling madly. From across the ocean.

Also, this gem from Amazon: Netbooks and “related items”. (You have to scroll a bit.)

Seriously people – CNN, news right? How on earth is it that people can sit here and think something like this is actually news?

I mean, lets take a look at history. Microsoft has an odd tendency to go good/bad/good/bad with their consumer grade software. Windows 98, good. Followed by Windows ME – an absolute atrocity before the gods of tech themselves, it was very quickly replaced for most folks by Windows 2000, the “professional” version, which was a bit more with it. The followup to that was XP, a fairly respectable operating system, and popular enough that most of the people who call me for help have XP. Then we get to Vista. 5 years for that. And now a year later, they’re putting out the next version.

I think the real barometer of microsofts’ OS popularity is by how fast the next release comes out.
98 – ME: 2 years.
ME- XP: 18 months
XP – Vista: 5 years.
Vista – Win7: ~1 year (public beta available tomorrow).

I’m just going to kick back and watch.

So…here’s a couple things I really think need to be said.

As some of you may know, I work in a call center, taking calls from folks who need technical support. There are phrases that make me sigh (“I’m computer illiterate”,) phrases that make me growl (“I’m a consultant“,) but no phrase will cause me to reach for the rum faster than these 5 words:
“But my salesman told me…”

Simple truth. Salesmen lie. I’m not sure where people learned otherwise, but they have lied ever since Bu-chitta told Ung-hefit that if he traded 4 shiny rocks for a pretty fruit, he would be a manly scented hunter who would never miss a spear-throw at a mammoth, never suffer the indignity of a ill-timed itch, and the delightful Chestinia would never refuse his advances. (Ung-hefit was later found mammoth-stomped with a black eye and his hand in an indelicate spot.)

The sad thing is that people keep believing it. They refuse to research, and cheerfully listen to the well-dressed man tell them that my employers’ network never breaks, the hardware doubles as an aesthetic planter, and that if they ever have a problem, handsome and strongjawed technical support representatives will arrive in 30 seconds, riding their unicorns on a wave of magic pixie farts.

Seriously people. If your salesman tells you the sky is blue, check. If the words “better”, “faster”, or “cheaper” escape their pestilent lips, call someone else to make sure. And then call someone else.

Oh, and never tell the tech support reps what your salesmen said. We mute the phone and laugh at you.

I don’t do this aort of thing, because…well, my opinions are generally my own. But then once in awhile, I feel the need to break out the soapbox.

At this risk of being impolitic…who the fuck does this ass think he
is? As a guy who grew up in a small town and then made it to a bigger
town (but hasn’t made it big), I feel I must retort and say “Sarah Palin is not my people.” Anyone who proclaims small towns to be “Real America” as opposed to some amorphous Fake America just because we have buildings with more than 25 stories is ignorant, blind, and a little pandering drip.

Maybe I don’t have a rosy view of small-towns. Okay, I don’t. Small towns, big cities, they all have their down sides. There’s crime, there’s hatred, there’s nasty things anywhere if you care to look. And it doesn’t really matter if you pepper your speech with “Golly gee willikers” or “OMGWTFBBQ”, bullshit is still bullshit.

My values are not something you can categorize as “small-town” or “Big city”. My values are human values. That you should work hard, that you should be honest, and that you should work to better yourself, and work to leave a better world for those who come after.

Apologists like this should take a long hard look at America. Not just the parts that support their viewpoint.

So what we have here is a review of product. Allow me to summarize:

Assembly:
An exercise in patience and thinking outside the box. Instructions were relatively straightforward, however it could have been easier. Someone in Quality Control was smoking crack with the one I received, as several sections were too long to fit properly, and thus out came the saw. Assemble, pull apart. Saw, reassemble. This was a total first, and it makes me seriously reconsider buying anything else from this particular manufacturer. I mean seriously. I spending a hundred bucks, and several hours of my day off, the least I can get is parts that assemble per the goddamn instructions. On more than one occasion, I had the rather insane feeling of a monkey trying to hump a football. Fortunately, they didn’t skimp on the parts. About 3 and a half hours after looking it for the first time, we had a…credenza.

Post-Assembly:
hiking TV on top, not too bad. Cramming electronics in, not bad. Moving the whole assembly? Pain in the ass. Okay, pain in the lower back. Wonderwife was only too pleased to inform me that I’m not in my early 20’s, and there were more than a couple hints that I should start thinking about some sort of exercise regimen beyond typing and lifting a coffee cup.

There may be New Years’ Resolutions coming to this space. But first, I’m going to sit with a heat pad on my back and watch Santa fly by.

So now that I’ve got the WordPress thing working, I’m doing some more things to customize and futz with this thing a bit. Somewhere in here there’s a few things I haven’t yet discovered.

Meanwhile, the CAN-SPAM act turns 5. Yes, this miraculous piece of legislative genius was supposed to curb the flood of unwanted ads for…anything and everything, along with bringing world peace, making sure children grew up smart, strong, and good-looking…

Reality came by and said…not so much. 

Ah well. Now I have to go evict a cat from the kitchen and bake cookies. There’s a certain oddness to it. I’m not sure it’s normal for someone to bake christmas cookies and update WordPress plugins to the gentle melodies of Seraphim Shock.

Because I have a little firefox plugin, and I’m working on a few other projects at the same time. Though right now I’m just poking around with WordPress, this seems to be fairly useful.

Although I’m thinking this whole “Monetize” section can kiss the fattest part of my ass.

Meanwhile, interesting things. Yet another Crow movie coming out. Looking this article over, I’m thinking mathematically:
(Blair Witch + Eric Draven) x Director of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen = Direct-to-DVD Crapola.

Hey, quick formatting. Mongo like.