28 Feb 07 Mottoed
Microsoft’s motto: “If it ain’t broke, break it.”
Tags: microsoft, software, Technology, whinging
28 Feb 07 WMP
I really don’t like the way Windows Media Player handles playlists and the music library now. Also, it’s really resource intensive and slow to load.
Tags: software, Technology, whinging, windows-media-player
21 Feb 07 Support
It really bugs me the way Xanga doesn’t treat post titles like an actual element, i.e. they drop it completely off in the subscription digest. I really do wish they’d get with the times and actually start supporting their software properly.
On a related note, it also really bugs me when the Dilbert comic sends the same strip through email two and three days in a row. Someone over there either isn’t getting the comic updated on time (i.e. before the daily comic is distributed via email) or they have a frequent glitch in their system.
Tags: Design, technical-support, Technology, whinging
20 Feb 07 Growl
I do wish developers would update their plugins to be compatible with WordPress 2.1…
16 Jan 07 Computers - Bane or Boon?
I grow increasingly weary of the high computer security paranoia in my workplace. I’ve gone to some trouble to find ways to run a handful of my favorite programs from my flash drive. Most of them work great from there, thanks to the hard work of a number of open source programmers. But one in particular is again being blockaded simply because a couple of key .dll files are missing from the system directory. Should be a simple fix, one would think – download the missing files and put them into that directory. Not so easy, of course, because it seems there is a major network lockdown on the system directory on all computers in my office. Nothing gets in or out of that directory that isn’t directly approved by the powers that be. Which figures – Heaven forbid that I actually be allowed to work with rich text files.
Much as I love my computers, in this case, network security is the bane of my existence.
Tags: computers, Technology, whinging
14 Jan 07 Mud Is the New Color of the Season
One downside to owning livestock is that, no matter what the weather outside, you have to be out in it at least twice a day. This has definitely been an unusually wet season, and coupled with the falling temperatures, makes it quite miserable out there. But, making sure the horses are all tucked safe and dry in their stalls makes it worth it. It just makes their human caretakers wish for Spring’s arrival all that much more. I got a nice reprieve from the elements this weekend upon going out of town, but now it’s back to business; and hopefully this will be the worst things get for us as we develop our land for our four-footed friends. Honestly, it is nice to be home, however much work it sometimes involves.
As Dorothy once said, there’s no place like home.
10 Jan 07 Comics
I’ve found that I don’t really enjoy Non Sequitur is much as I thought I would when I originally started following it a couple of years ago. Usually, when the Danae/Lucy arcs appear, I skip them; same goes for the tall-tale fisherman. I think it’s the fact that I already get a far too large a dose of cynicism in real life to want to “humor” myself with it again in comic strips. About the only reason I still follow it is because every now and then, he comes up with a good one that I can actually relate to.
And it so happens that both Strange Brew and Speed Bump frequently leave me scratching my head. Seems like the creators of these strips are trying to mimic the sort of thing that Gary Larson accomplished. The problem is that Larson always made me laugh; the punch lines in Strange Brew and Speed Bump are far too often too obscure for me to pick out. Rubes does a better job – the punch lines are always pretty clear, but I don’t always find them funny. Ultimately, these comics will always be “Far Side” knock-offs for me – nobody does bizarre humor like Larson.
Tags: comics, far-side, gary-larson, Humor, non-sequitur, rubes, speed-bump, strange-brew, whinging
09 Jan 07 Blogger Agonies
I’m reminded again of why I’ve always refused to use Blogger as a public writing platform. Apparently, the whole system is once more puking its guts out all over the web. Services were down for a while a little bit ago, and now the silly thing is telling me that I look like a virus or a spambot whenever I try to leave a comment on anyone’s Blogger/Blogspot site. I have a feeling that it’s yet another problem with their much vaunted Beta program.
Seems to me that Blogger users would such a lot fewer headaches and problems if they’d all simply switch over to WordPress, which is a much more powerful system, anyway. I’m pretty sure that WP still has that handy-dandy import script for the original version of Blogger (last I checked, the Beta version was causing the import script a few hiccups) that’ll drag over all entries and comments. I’ve yet to see wordpress.com crash on itself or suffer a suspension of services (that aren’t scheduled).
So, all you Blogger folks out there, this is an earnest recommendation to switch over now. I know I’m getting a little tired of Blogger not allowing me to interact with your sites.
07 Nov 06 BoingBoing Removed
I did it. I had to. I’ve removed BoingBoing from my daily reading list. I’d originally added it because it promised to be a good source for story ideas. Unfortunately, the thing that completely turns me off to it is the constant barrage of partisan news stories and commentary by a couple of the site’s contributors. It wouldn’t be so bad if there was some balance, some representation of both sides of various political figures and issues, but the way things stand currently, I can’t stomach the politics. So, in the trash bin with that feed, and good riddance. I’ll glean ideas elsewhere, thankya kindly.
Tags: boing-boing, politics, whinging
26 Oct 06 Inter-what?
Ok, this is silly, I know, but it annoys me just the same. What’s with this phenomenon I keep seeing around on various blogs of calling the Internet these cutesy little names? Some examples – ‘interweeb’, ‘interweb’, ‘intraweb’, ‘intarweb’, and even ‘intramebby thingamajiggy’.1 I get the joke. I ken the hacker origins and the chuckle-behind-your-hand kind of teasing these phrases imply. But I guess it still just sort of bugs me. In my mind it’s a very mild form of 1337-speak.2 I think what really annoys me about the practice is how sloppy it comes across to me. Call the thing what it is. Name it and move on. It undermines your message because then I have to stop and figure out what the heck you just said. Quit toying with the name, quit calling it something stupid because doing so makes you look stupid. And I know you’re smarter than that.
Yes, apparently I’ve become an old fart.
