A fun filled evening at UPS

Lets backtrack a bit.  Some years ago, when I was working a nice cushy bank job, I used to get a kickass year end bonus.  One year, I decided to take this bonus, and splurge on a killer cartridge for my turntable, an ortofon rondo bronze.

At around $1,000.00, this was a pretty major purchase.  Unfortunately, some years later the cantilever was damaged, and so away in the closet it went.  These cartridges are built with the stylus built in, you can't just buy a replacement and change it, normally you would send it in and pay for a retipping.  But, ortofon doesn't offer retipping for their cartridges, they offer a discount on a replacement cartridge when you trade it in, which gives you the option to trade up.  Which....replacing the bronze with another one was out of my price range, so, away to the closet it went until I had that kind of money again.

But then I found a place that does retipping and cantilever replacement for a reasonable $250, and has a great reputation.  So, I decided, ok, lets get this thing out of the closet, and lets do it.  So I boxed it up, and sent it in to them. 

Now, to backtrack again, you may recall past rantings from me about UPS.  These idiots somehow have always messed up just about every delivery to my home.  It is for this reason that I rarely have packages sent to my home, I make a point to give my work address for the shipping address anytime I'm getting a package.  But, somehow, that didn't happen with the retipper, maybe they didn't have separate addresses for billing and shipping.  Or maybe I just wasn't thinking straight that day.  But, when the job was done, I got an email with a UPS tracking number, letting me know the cartridge was on it's way to Hayward.

Hayward?  Oh shit, that's not my work address....I'd better watch over this closely.

And watch it I did.  On Friday, just after midnight stroke Thursday night/Friday morning, the status of this package was out for delivery.  And apparently the cartridge spent the day riding around on a UPS truck.  I watched for updates all day long, waiting for either a knock on the door, or a status change at a failed delivery attempt, which often happens despite us being right there.  Instead, it just stayed out for delivery all night.  At 9:30 pm, I figured, this isn't looking good.....guess I'd better start the process of calling these fuckers and yelling at them, since they are never willing to actually do anything to help me.

So, I called them up.  The guy on the phone was filled with contradictions.  First he told me it was still out for delivery, and that the guy should be knocking on my door any minute now.....at nearly 10:00?  So then I alerted him to the past issues I've had with things scanned unable to be delivered despite being right there and ready to open the door, and suggested he get in touch with the driver, to find out where he is, when he's gonna get here, and if he needs to call me to help let him in or something.  But, he couldn't get in touch with the driver, because the center was closed.  But....he's still out there you said.  So, then I said, fuck this, I want to pick up my package tomorrow.  I was then told I couldn't pick it up tomorrow because I didn't call before 7.  After more arguing he told me the center was closed on Saturday, except for those that worked there. 

ARRRGGGHHHH....

Now, lets talk about fedex, and ontrac.  These guys, they get me my packages.  Actually, that Saturday, I got a package from fedex, while UPS was still holding my package hostage that was to be delivered on Friday.  And ontrac, that guy calls my cell if he ever gets stuck outside the gate.  When I went to those people with issues getting my packages, they helped me.  They found ways to get things done, get me packages, and resolve these issues.  UPS....they're filled with excuses and reasons why they can't help me every damn time I call them.  It's always a huge ordeal, several phone calls, and people that lie to me, don't want to help me, or drag their heels until I make so many phone calls and such a scene they can't ignore the problem anymore.

Anyways, I finally settled for an arranged Monday pick up.  While I was on the phone, the status of the package changed to missed delivery, which means the guy never got around to delivering it, and so back to the center it went.  Then the guy I spoke to on the phone changed the status to hold for pick up for Monday.  What happened to the package after that, I don't know, but what was supposed to happen was the dip shit that couldn't be bothered to do his damn job and deliver the package to me, was supposed to give the package to a clerk to hold aside for me.  But, this asshat couldn't even do that right.

So, fast forward to Monday.  I figured my best plan of attack would be to take an early lunch at 11, get out there before the lunch rush hits the highway, and pick up my package so I could have this issue resolved and put behind us.  By 11, the status was still showing that it was requested to hold it, but not that they actually held it, so I figured, I'd better check in with UPS and see what's up before I drive in.

So, at this point, I opened a chat on their website, with unhelpful idiot number 2.  This guy was basically taking the attitude of "dude, just wait until it says it's ready for pick up".  I found this answer unacceptable being that I had spoken on the phone with someone Friday, and the agreement was that it would be ready by Monday, they had a whole weekend to get this ready.  So, I asked to speak with a supervisor.  He took my info, and told me a supervisor would call me.

An hour or so later, no call.  So, I got on the phone and called UPS again.  I got a live person, and immediately asked for a supervisor.  They forwarded me to a supervisor, who claimed to be at the actual local center.  He took my info, told he he'd have a clerk look for it, and call me right back.  As this call ended, my phone rang again, a supervisor in Virginia called to follow up on the chat from earlier, telling me he spoke to someone at the local center, and that they're looking into it and will get back to him.  Oh boy....more promises of getting back to me, but no answer as to the whereabouts of my package.  By 2:00, I gave up on driving out on my lunch break, and took my break.  I figured, I'll head out there at 4 when I get out of here, and will have all the time in the world to camp out there until someone gets me my damn package.

Of course by the time 3:45 was rolling around no one had called me back, and I was getting ready to drive over there to demand my package.  So, I figured, lets try to call one more time to see what the latest is, and give them a heads up that an angry Gators is making his way to the local center.  This time they transferred me to the investigations department, since it became clear to everyone that all day, no one has had a clue just where in the hell this package is.  I once again asked for a supervisor.  While holding for a supervisor, the person that took my call told me she reached out to the local center, and apparently they noticed that the value of the package is $1000, so they're going to check the cage where the valuable packages are locked up.  Wait.....no one thought of this until 3:45, after calling around frantically all day asking where my package is?  Arrrggghhh.....and then back on hold.  By the time 4 rolled around, I hung up, and figured, screw this call, time to pay these guys a visit.

When I arrived, there wasn't too much of a line, 2 people in front of me.  The person next to me was trying to pick up a package that they were still looking for, surprise surprise.  Overhearing this conversation, I found that they lobby was open until 7, and then closed until 8, when it would then reopen until 9:30.  Well....lets hope they find my package by 7, or I'm gonna have to chill outside for an hour.  So, I get up to the counter, hand the guy the printout of my tracking info, and he goes take a look....and comes back with a few more print outs with package statuses that basically tell us nothing.  He starts by saying that they just need to wait until it shows up on a scan somewhere.  Uh....no....I'm not just going to wait until it turns up somewhere.  I've been promised call backs all day, and only one person called me once.  He then suggested I get in touch with the shipper.  I asked what the point of this would be, they don't have it.  He's like "go back to them and ask them, where's my package"  And I pointed out, "but the package is somewhere in oakland or hayward....it was on a truck on friday driving around, the shipper doesn't have it".  He then made some comment about all the packages they have to deal with.....really?  UPS has to deal with packages?  Shit....go figure.  But wait.....isn't that what they're in the business of doing?  Isn't that their whole reason of existing, to be able to deal with these packages?  So, I pointed out to this guy, I really don't care about all their other packages, that's their problem, I care about my package.  At this point I realized this guy had no interest in helping me, so I asked to talk to a manger, or supervisor.  He replies with "uh.....well.....there really isn't one right now......." I come back with "Who's in charge here at the moment!"  They decide someone over at another department is in charge, and they go looking for him.  After waiting a while, he came back and said he talked to the supervisor, and they are looking for the package, and will call me as soon as they find it.  Wow....heard that line before, several times today.  So I told him, I'm not leaving here without my package, and proceeded to hang out in their lobby.

I then figured, well, lets call them again and bug as many people as I can.  Time to get another call center employee to bug the people here, and may as well let all the customers overhear the frustrations of an angry caller that can't get any help from UPS.  So, I called, asked for a supervisor after waiting on hold for 10 minuets, and got another call center supervisor.  I had her check with the local center, and she comes back with the same old they're looking for it.  I said this wasn't good enough at this point....and basically spent 20 minutes or so yelling at this person before I ran out of things to yell about and wrapped up the call.  And then I waited around some more.  Played some games on my phone, check email....whatever to pass the time.


At some point I decided, well, lets send some tweets to UPS, just to keep them in the loop of what's going down in their lobby.

@Ups waiting in your lobby, no one can find my package or help me. Give me my damn package already.

@ups u should really put speakers on these so I can tune them in to @nhbradio 

@ups you really ought to just hang this sign on the front door and call it a day.

 @ups could you send someone out with some bubble wrap so I can occupy myself for hours while u find my package?

@ups wow, an empty counter.

@ups love the festive decorating, you even have red dollies. 

@ups looks like target was here

@ups I'm sure your new logistics allowed you to lose my package with much more efficiency. 

@ups I see you've found a great use for your old scales.

@Ups I suppose this means my package can be anywhere around the globe.

@ups seriously? 

@ups would you mind if I took these for a spin around the lobby?

@ups your new logistics have allowed you to lose my package in record time.

@ups you know you're bored when you turn to this for reading material.

At this point, the person who had originally helped me, who seemed to have disappeared on break for much of the time I was hanging out in the lobby, showed up at the counter again helping people with their packages.  I guess at this point he noticed, oh shit, this guy is still here, and he seems to be......taking various pictures in the lobby with his phone......maybe we should do something about this.  So, I guess he managed to actually find the manager of this place, because then he came up to me and told me the manager will come out to talk to me shortly and explain what's going on.

Gee, is that all it takes to get someone to actually talk to me and be straight with me instead of just give me the runaround....hang out in their lobby for over and hour and start taking pictures?

So, he comes out, and is very friendly.  Apparently what happened is that, when the driver on Friday was supposed to remove my package from his truck, he did that.  But, he didn't actually give it to a clerk to put aside for me.  They don't know what he did, or where he put it.  The manager also made a point to mention that due to cyber Monday sales they've been slammed with more packages than they were expecting or prepared for.

Uh, seriously?  I understand if you're some sort of start up, or new location....but seriously?  UPS hasn't figured out how to deal with the volume of packages that show up during the holidays, and properly staff up for the rush?

He talked about how they have everyone working overtime around the clock.

You know, no wonder unemployment stays high, these big employers are more interested in executive bonuses than they are in hiring enough staff to deal with the work.  Instead of hiring enough people to deal with all the packages and get all deliveries dealt with timely and efficiently, they'd rather have a skeleton crew running trucks from 1 in the morning to 10 at night, knocking at people's doors at ungodly hours, and having everyone working the job of probably at least 3 people, resulting in overworked employees that can't keep track of all their packages, late deliveries, and lost packages......all for that nice fat bonus check for the guy on top.

Anyways, he assured me that the package is still somewhere in the building, it probably got put in with the incoming packages, which means it will get scanned again, and at that point whoever scans it will be immediately alerted to put that package aside and hold it for me.  He verified my number, and asked me how late he can call.  I said up until midnight, so he said if it shows up before midnight they'll call me then, and he would be following up at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

At 11, I got the call the package turned up.  So....we'll see what happens when I go to pick it up today.

Let's be Frank. Frank, FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, for those people that listen to my show, or any show on the network, you may have noticed a listener has made his presence known lately.  A guy that simply goes by the name Frank.

Now, recently it's come to my attention that Frank has been complaining to the staff of NHB that I just won't give him a chance, and that they should threaten to block me if I don't stop blocking him from calling in on skype.

First of all, give him a chance at what?  To be involved in the show?

It's my show.  As Addy said, it's not a democracy, it's a dictatorship, and as I said, I'm the dictator.  Sure, I try to be diplomatic in what I do, and I weigh very heavily the opinions and thoughts of my co-hosts.  I'm also probably the easiest show to become involve with on the internet.  But, at the end of the day, it's my show.  If I want to fire everyone and go it solo, I can do that.  I'd be pretty lonely, and have a very pathetic show, but that's my call.  I don't owe anyone a chance to be involved on the show.  I choose to do so at my discretion.

A chance to call into the show as a listener?  Well, gee, Frank....how many times have you called into my show before I stopped taking your calls?  A lot more than most people.  You can consider each and every one of those calls a chance.

A chance to be my friend?  That's not how friendships work.  I don't hold open auditions to be friends, and B-spot doesn't mandate how people select their friends.

So, what is it you really want from me, Frank?  Huh?  What do you want?

To be allowed to co-host my show?

Have you counted the number of co-hosts I have lately?  In order of time with the show, there's currently Gothard, Emily, Venison, Mars, Niio, and Ted.  And Chris has been semi regular.  Not to mention, any past hosts that may show up by surprise at times, such as Dark Druidic Witch, Leo.  And a few callers that at times idle on the phone to add in.  I have enough of this, I don't need more.  I'm not going to let someone idle on my phone as a semi co-host unless I really want that person around and they have something to offer and things are slow enough.  I get enough criticism as it is from people that I have too many people on the show, and it's difficult to listen to.  So, no, co-hosting, idling on my phone, being a guest....out of the question.

To be allowed to call my show?

You've called in several times.  Your calls are often interrupting things you have no interest in commenting on, or to just hang out and idle and join in when you want, or to ask me for material for your own stuff, or to ask me questions about things that have nothing to do with my show, such as Damon.  When someone becomes a frequent detraction from my show, they get blocked, until they can prove they are no longer a detraction.  I spelled it out for you very clear, how you can do this....by not calling in anymore.  I don't care whether or not you suddenly have only things on topic to call about, I made it clear, stick to writing in for now, don't call in.  After I gave you this chance to prove to me you could back off, and gave you very clear instruction how you can prove this, you did the following.  You called into Dune's show, when I specifically told you not to, to interrupt our show to try and explain yourself.  This did nothing but prove you couldn't back off, and weren't interested in listening to what I had to say, and only furthering your own personal desires to do what you want to do with someone else's show and station.  You disrupted his show, caused both Damon and I to walk away from the show until your call was done, and put Dune in an awkward position of nicely taking your call while losing all his co-hosts at the moment.  Not only did I tell you not to call his show and explain why, several listeners also echoed the exact same thoughts.  You did exactly the opposite of what everyone recommended you do, because you only care about what you want to do.  You then proceeded to continue to try to call into my show, several times, forcing me to have to block your call multiple times.  You also continued calling into Dune's show, to tell me that you were going to be on topic with your past attempts at calling....disrupting his show yet again!  Do you not get that I don't care at this point whether or not you're on topic?  You need to BACK THE FUCK OFF!!!!  And I told you how you can do that.  STOP CALLING!!!!!

Not only that, you then during the telethon, take advantage of the fact that you knew how to access the teamtalk room to disrupt Sloan's telethon show.  As far as I'm concerned, that alone should earn you a lifetime ban from ever calling or being involved with the station.  That is extremely rude, and you should know better than to invade someone else's show on a level like that.

And you want to complain that I'm not giving you a chance?


What exactly do you want b-spot to do, institute a policy that mandates who is allowed to call and who isn't?  And then have to oversee all shows to make sure calls are being taken and blocked properly?

I don't think that's what you want at all.  You just want b-spot to force me to take YOUR calls, and you're trying to use the suggestion of some sort of unwritten rule I'm violating to justify b-spot's mandate.

Well, Frank, your attempt at forcing me to take your calls has failed.  And your suggestion that I'm just not giving you a chance is nothing but pure grade A bullshit.  I'm Mr. chances, and you've used up every last one I've given you.

So let me make this perfectly clear.  As far as my show goes, there will be no input from you.  I will not take messages from you, I will not take calls from you, I will block you on all ends.  And if you so much as try any further circumventions from my blocks, and further disrupt my show, I will talk to Rico about blocking you by ip, to ensure you do not continue being a disruption.

If b-spot wants to give you a show, if other shows want to take your calls, that's up to them, but my show is one show you will not be calling.  Deal with it.


Gators

The whole bean my ass!

Well, apparently it has taken 10 years for me to get over my Mr. Bean burnout, and get around to watching all those wonderfully funny episodes again.  And so I went into my stash of DVDs from back when I was still buying those, and pulled out my copy of "The Whole Bean"

Wow...it's been 10 years since this dvd set came out, and I probably haven't watched it since I first brought it home.  But, lets backtrack a bit further....

Back when I was a freshman in high school, one day other students in my algebra class started calling our teacher Mr. Bean.  This was rather odd, being that his name was Mr. Weiss.  I questioned this, and found out that apparently there was some show some students caught on HBO about a funny guy named Mr. Bean that supposedly looked a bit like our teacher, and so they started calling him Mr. Bean.  I figured, I'll have to check this out, and quickly forgot about it.  Until sometime later when I was flipping through channels, and I ended up watching some show about a guy doing laundry in a rather odd way, and playing a game of mini golf that took him all around town.

I was immediately hooked on Mr. Bean.

I started keeping track of what time it would come on PBS, and borrowed a tape of some episodes from one of my classmates in algebra class.  When I had a bit of money to spare, I'd pick up a tape from the store, hoping someday to complete a full set of all 8 VHS tapes.

Eventually, I did acquire the full set of VHS tapes, and I watched the hell out of all of them.  So, in 2003 when finally Mr. Bean was coming to dvd, I was thrilled to finally replace this VHS tape with a much better quality DVD set.

It didn't take me long after getting it home to notice a glaring issue....2 episodes were missing memorable scenes.  In the Christmas episode, the scene where he cheats at guessing the weight of the turkey was missing, and in Do It Yourself Mr. Bean the scene where he sabotages the electric chair so the other customer won't buy it was also missing.  By the time I had noticed this, I had lost track of the VHS tapes, many were given away, some may have been lost, some may still be floating around somewhere with various things of mine in other locations.  As pissed as I was about this, I never got around to doing anything about it right away, being that I hadn't yet mastered the fine art of basic video editing, and was so burned out on Mr. Bean by then that I wasn't going to be watching it all that much for quite a while anyways.  I would fix this someday, but when I get around to it.

I decided to do a little digging online to figure out just what in the hell happened, and found some old forum posts discussing it.  Apparently, the DVD set contains the episodes as they originally aired in England.  When Mr. Bean came to American on HBO and PBS, there was no need for a commercial break, and so the episodes were edited to not break in the middle.  This also allowed for these scenes to be edited back into those episodes, since there wasn't the same time constraint now.

So, 10 years later, here I am, wanting to watch some Mr. Bean, and wanting to fix these glaring issues.  32 cents plus 8 dollars shipping later, I have another full set of the VHS tapes, and to think back when I was in high school I probably ended up spending $130 by the time I acquired all volumes.  Of course, being that 2 episodes were missing scenes, this called into question, what else is missing?  And so I've started a thorough comparison of the DVD vs. the VHS, and the results have been shocking.

In addition to the missing 2 scenes, I've found the following issues.  Many of the episodes suffer from a flickering/skewed picture on the very bottom of the screen.  Much like you may notice when playing a VHS tape.  The picture on the DVD is definitely better than the VHS, but I question the source that these episodes were transferred from.  This is just lazy.  The issue could have at least been covered, or cropped.  When I transfer VHS tapes, I always make sure to either crop, or put a black line to cover the bottom.  This is far better than seeing a glaring artifact like that on the bottom of your screen.  I suppose back in the days of standard TVs, you could get away with this with the overscan, but we live in a world now where the TV will likely display every bit of the picture....you can't hide behind the overscan anymore.

Also, I've found that the 2nd and 3rd episodes have a mono soundtrack on them, while the VHS tapes have stereo.  What in the heck?  You couldn't be bothered to find a stereo source for these episodes?  Clearly one exists.  I mean...it's not like it was that long before this set came out that a stereo version of these episodes were sent to America for American broadcast....clearly there was a stereo soundtrack somewhere.  I've also noticed that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes each have a sloppy edit within a scene change with 10 seconds missing.  I'm guessing this is where the act break would have gone.  I found this rather odd, since most of the other episodes (I'm still going over these one by one) do have the original act breaks.  Now, when the episodes were sent to America, the act breaks were removed, but not by slicing them out....the source before the break and titles were added were used, to make the episodes seamless, but still complete.  I'm guessing at some point, in England, some episodes were prepared for tape, and it was decided to do a quick edit of slicing out the act break to make the episode seamless for home viewing.  And somehow....these sources were what was pulled for some episodes to put on the DVD.

Which leads me to one conclusion.....not a fucking care in the world was given when it came to putting together this DVD set.  This is absolutely unacceptable!  No love or care was put into this set.  Original materials weren't carefully found and transferred, they weren't looked over for issues that needed fixing, and carefully tweaked to bring out the best.  Some asshole that deserves to be unemployed just grabbed whatever source was available, slapped them on a disc, and called it a day.

Just awful!

It just sickens me that people can be so careless in their work, and not only that, but the entire company can be so careless.  I mean, I'm just a home viewer, and I immediately noticed something wrong.  You would think a professional would have taken one look at this, and noticed that there were picture issues that could be fixed, sound issues that needed addressing, and perhaps someone could have even taken some time to consider the extra scenes us Americans were used to seeing in these episodes, and at least included them as bonus materials.

Episode by episode, I've been fixing these the best I can.  I've added back in the 2 missing scenes from VHS tape, I've replaced the mono soundtrack on the 2nd and 3rd episodes with the stereo soundtrack from the VHS tapes, which has also allowed me to fix the sloppy 10 seconds edited out of these episodes.

It's sad when the professionals do such a horrible job, that the customer has to fix it just to make it watchable again.

FUCK OFFICEMAX!!!

Once again, it never ceases to amaze me how fucked up the business world is these days.  All the time, you look at a situation with a use of common sense, and it just leaves you wondering....what in the fuck happened here?  I mean, these are supposedly intelligent people that run these businesses, and yet, this jackassery that makes absolutely no sense happens, and no one wants to do anything to fix it.

So, a while back now, the company I work for worked out some deal that we order office supplies through Office Max.  Since I do a lot of ordering of stuff for our department, I was given a login to a corporate Office Max site. 

Ok, so far, so good.

So, the other day, my supervisor needed me to order a gigabit POE switch.  She had searched on officemax.com to find an item I would be able to order, and sent me the item name, since she doesn't have a login to order.

This is the switch I want to order:

http://www.officemax.com/technology/networking-equipment/network-switches/product-prod4040083?R=23369604&ssp=true&useSessionResults=false&searchTerm=MjMzNjk2MDQ=&csRedirectSearchString=23369604&csSearchTag=true&csRedirectSearchResultCount=1

Note the pricetag of $194.99.  That is the price right there.  You, I, or anyone else, can go to this site as of the time I am writing this, add it to our cart, complete the transaction, and purchase this switch for this price.

ANYONE CAN DO THIS!  THIS PRICE STANDS FOR EVERYONE!

So, I login to the officemax site, search for the item, place an order, and today a switch arrives.


Wrong switch.


uh....wtf?

Seems in my rush, when I searched for a very specific item, which had the word gigabit in the description, officemax returned one item it felt was close enough, and went directly to that page, without alerting me that it returned something that didn't meet my search criterea, just the closest thing it found.  And me, being 5 minutes from needing to be out the door, just assumed since it went directly to the item, and I saw it was a switch, that it was the right switch. 

"Ok, so you didn't look at what you were ordering, and ordered the wrong thing, and you want to blame someone else for it, way to go, jackass," is what you're probably thinking right now.

No, not at all.  While that is a minor annoyance, and I felt the site could have dealt with it better, this is not the point of this rant.  This is just building up to it.

So, I go back to the site, and try to figure out, why my search didn't find an item that my supervisor had found right on their site, when searching with the exact name.  My supervisor helped by looking it up again and giving me the item number, which I searched on.  Nothing.

Ok, well aparently the everyday site, and the corporate site, are different.  But, this is all the same company.  They have this item in stock they want to sell for that price, we do business with them....it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this is a pairing that should result in a sale and exchange of money in our free market system.

So, I called up their customer service department, and explained the situation to her.  After some searching, she finds the item in the system, and tells me it will cost $265.


WHAT


THE


FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I explained to her, no, it will not, as it is clearly listed and advertised for $194.99, and I didn't appreciate her trying to cheat us out of $70.  She went on to insist there was no way she could sell the item for that price.

I pointed out to her, I was on their site right now, with this item and price right in front of me, which I could easily add to my shopping cart and purchase for that price, and pointed out how ridiculous it is that they cannot sell it to us for this price, when clearly they can.

She said there was nothing she could do.



I have to ask....when did it become the norm for business to be ok with making it as difficult as possible for you to make a purchase from them.  I mean, we need an item, we have this account specifically for the purpose of purchasing items, our login and their site was setup specifically for the purpose of allowing us to easily purchase from them.  Meanwhile, this item they are offering all customers at a certain price, they don't want to sell us.  I could place the order myself with my credit card, and fill out an expense report to be reimbursed, so clearly it is possible for us to make this purchase of this item at this price.  They can't block us completely from doing it.  Yet....they don't want to make it easy for us to make this purchase.

I can't comprehend how this is acceptable as any way to run a business.  Isn't the point of business to make things easy for the customer?


What really gets me though is that, this shit would never happen if the business wasn't as big as it is.  I have found, more and more, that with a passion, I really, really hate big business.  Businesses have been allowed to grow bigger than they should ever become.  If some guy running a small store tried to pull this shit, he wouldn't be running a store much longer.  But, these big businesses become too big to fail, and then customer service goes right out the window, but that's ok.....they have enough business, they don't need you.  And if they fuck up, well, they're too big to fail, so our tax dollars will bail them out, so they can continue selling us things with no care or quality customer service, and run all the competition out of town!

I am sick and tired of big business ruining this country.

And yet....where else am I going to go if I want to buy a gigabit POE switch?  I can't go to bob's discount switches on the corner, no such store exists.


I really don't understand how we got to this point.  Are people really that stupid?  Every time I think, surely mankind can't be nearly as dumb as i think they are, I'm proven, once again, I was wrong....it's much worse.

Is there any intelligence left out there?

Hello?

FUCK YOU HP AND LG!!!!!!

Ok, people.  Lets talk about monitor resolution.

Hardware manufacturers.....you gotta do better than this.  Seriously, guys.  This just isn't working.  It's time to cut the crap, and get serious about manufacturing product that ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKS LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And before you manufacturers of monitors and the devices the monitors plug into start pointing fingers at one another, I'd like to say, I REALLY DON'T FUCKING CARE, SORT IT OUT, AND GET SOMETHING TOGETHER THAT FUCKING WORKS, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, over the years here, we've bought lots of different brands, models, and sizes of monitors.  We're at the point where all the monitors in the office are LCD, all the CRT monitors are in storage, out on the plant floor, or being used as boat anchors.  But, as we've replaced and ordered more monitors, we've ordered larger monitors as prices have dropped.  This has resulted in situations where people will sometimes notice.....that person has a bigger monitor than I do.

Well, I assure you, it's not the size of the monitor, it's how you use it.

But, still, we live in a world where people have these crazy monitor size envy complexes to deal with.  So, as the guys in the figurative upstairs find more ways to demand that we do more work with less people to make them more money while they take away our bonuses and give us jack shit, we've ended up with lots of empty desks with unused monitors on them.  And, I suppose someone's loss can become someone else's gain, when someone notices "hey, that monitor sitting there where Joe used to sit is bigger than mine"

So, I've been doing some monitor juggling.

So, the other day, a friendly fellow co-worker who has purchased donuts for me in the past comes over, and asks about a larger monitor that is sitting unused.  And points out that it would greatly help him to be able to see more of his spreadsheet by having a larger monitor.  So, I said, ok, we'll swap that later today, and we'll also make sure to adjust the resolution.  Oh....no....that won't be necessary, don't go out of your way, just swap the monitor and I'll be able to see more.  I explained, well, no, if we don't change the resolution, you'll still be seeing the same amount of spreadsheet, only bigger.

Well, turns out....Windows 7 is one step ahead of me.  So, the monitor that was on there was an LG, which was set to 1440x900 I believe, and I take it off, put the new one on, and windows 7 automatically detects the monitor, determines a higher resolution for it, and sets it for me.

Thank you, Microsoft.  You have avoided my wrath for this rant by actually doing your fucking job properly, and making a system that does what it is supposed to do.  Thank you.

Now, hp....sit down....we gotta talk.

Because, the next part of this was that, another guy who has an hp thin client, and a really old LCD monitor that is something like 15" and full screen sized, wanted the monitor I swapped out, since it was better than his.  Ok...no biggie, the next morning before he logs in, I'll swap out the old 15", throw in this widescreen LG, set a higher resolution, and we'll be all set.

So, I go into the display settings on this hp thin client, knowing I have to be careful.  Because, the display settings will let you fuck everything up big time.  It doesn't auto detect the best resolution, it doesn't determine what settings won't work and disable them, it lets you go in, and pick any numbers you want, and if you pick the wrong one, well, fuck you.

And I know this because there's been many a morning where I get a call from someone that has "no idea how it happened", and I find their monitor displaying an out of range error, forcing me to reimage the thin client back to default to set it up again.

And so, I say to the fine people at HP that decided to do fuck all to make display settings work as they should

FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!

YOU FUCKING MORONS!!!!!  WHAT IN THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?  FOR HOW LONG NOW HAS WINDOWS HAD SETTINGS THAT EASILY LET YOU ADJUST RESOLUTION SETTINGS WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO BREAK IT BY PICKING INVALID SETTINGS?  AND YOU STILL HAVE THESE ARCHAIC SETTINGS THAT ARE NOT USER FRIENDLY AND LET ONE EASILY MESS EVERYTHING UP?   FUCK YOU, MAN!  TIME TO GET WITH THE FUCKING TIMES!!!

Anyways, ok, so, since I'm smart enough to know that I want to be careful here, I notice....there's a test button.  So, it's set to 1024x768.  Ok....this monitor has the same height as the old one roughly, but is just a little wider, so if I want a setting that is going to keep things about the same size, but show a little more on the display, I want to pick a resolution that is something bigger than 1024 by something that is 768, or close to 768.  So, sure enough, I find a resolution that is something by 768.  I pick it, and click the test button.  The test screen comes up, and displays a message that lets me know this is a test screen at the resolution, and to click ok to keep, or cancel to not keep it.  And I verify that the test screen states it's on the new resolution I picked, and not the old one.

Ok, cool, this verifies that resolution works.  And I click ok.

Only, every time I exit the test screen, the display is all fucked up and I can barely read anything, forcing a restart.  Which, ok, no big deal, the thing needs to be restarted to apply the settings that I've selected.  But, this is clearly a bug, which displays a certain amount of laziness in whoever designed, developed, and programmed this system.

Once again, FUCK YOU, HP!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, after the restart to apply the display setting that supposedly displayed properly in the test, with the test stating that was the display setting it was testing, I get an out of range error on the monitor.


FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

Ok, WHAT IN THE FUCK!!!!

Clearly, the test isn't actually testing the right setting.  What is the point of a test that won't accurately determine if the setting I'm picking is going to break things?  Which means, I'm stuck with good old trial and error, with a whole lotta screaming FUCK, to get a resolution for this monitor.

FUCK YOU, HP!

FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!

So, fortunately, the old HP 15" monitor does display the screen, allowing me to set it back to a working resolution without having to restore the thin client to the default.  Only, the HP monitor, while displaying the desktop perfectly fine, displays a white box in the middle of the screen that gives me an out of range error.

Hey, dipshit, if this is out of range, HOW COME IT'S FUCKING DISPLAYING PROPERLY?!!?!?!?!???!?!?!?!

FUCKING LAZY DESIGNING AND PROGRAMMING!

Seriously, guys, FUCK YOU!

Which, makes it rather difficult for me to navigate around this white block that is placed, not somewhere in a corner out of the way, and made small....but is a big ass white block that completely blocks the center of action.

Seriously, guys, when you design these things, is your goal to try and piss off the end user as much as possible?  FUCK YOU!

But, whatever, important thing is, I've got a way to revert back to a working settings.

So, I hook the widescreen LG monitor back up, and I once again try to pick a higher resolution.  I remembered, it was set to 1440x900 on the last computer it was connected to, so perhaps that would be a good resolution to pick this time around.  I pick it, click the test, which tests properly, goes back to a messed up screen that I can barely read anything, I restart, and.....


.....out of range error.


FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

So, I go back to the old HP monitor, which once again displays the desktop, with a white block in the middle blocking everything, and this time it recommends a setting to me.  So I set it to that, restart, and that works.  I switch back to the LG, now with the higher setting, and that works.

So, now I have to wait for the end user to come in, and hope I don't get a call asking why everything is so small, and if I can set everything to be bigger.

ARRRGGGHHH..


HP, seriously guys, you gotta do better than this.  This just doesn't cut it.  Fuck you!

Project64 update

This is not a retraction on yesterday's rant.  I was still mad, and still said what I said.  And I still feel the whole matter over on the forums was dealt with rather poorly.

However....

My anger was really geared towards some individuals that probably have nothing to do with the development of Project 64, so I do want to make sure that my rant isn't misunderstood as a rant about Project 64 itself or it's developers.

Also, a point I touched on is the lack of public release of updates for 5 years now.

I did try to mention or touch on the fact that I do understand this is a hobby project, and that I'm not trying to dictate or demand work from people that are not being paid for what they are doing.  I was just really discussing my thought process, and how I came to misunderstand and wonder if the project was dead or abandoned.

Upon further investigation, it is easy to find evidence that 1.7 and 2.0 exist and are beta versions that have been worked on much more recently.

I forget the exact page now, but I just know that when I went to the site to look for information, the page I went to had that announcement from 2008 about a possible 2010 release of the next version.

But, I suppose if time is barely available for continuing working on the project, time to comb over the site and make sure every page has an updated status is better used on the project itself.


Point is, I get that it isn't an idle and dead project or site.  And I'm not criticizing the development team for their lack of public release in the past 5 years.

Basically, I went into the forum looking for help, and due to misunderstanding I was accused of thievery, and a pissing contest sorta broke out, leading to my ranting on my little space here.

I also felt that, since 1.7 fixed issues I had with 1.6, and with my limited use of project64 seemed to be stable, and also seemed to no longer be the newest version worked on when I saw reference to 2.0, maybe it would make sense to release a version of 1.7 publicly.  It would certainly help drum up more support I would think.

I did find a thread relating to this in the forum, which went on to point out different issues or instabilities in each build that would make it questionable if it would be ready for public release.  Basically, 1.7 just wasn't finished to the level of stability that 1.6 was.  Which really is a shame.

So, I dunno, I understand where they're coming from with decisions to stay at 1.6 for public release.  But....I just wonder if there could be some way to make 1.7 available with disclaimer more publicly, and keep 2.0 to supported members.

But....not my decision to make, I suppose.

Anyways.....I had said that, if I wasn't treated so rudely in the forum, I would've considered the $20 donation.  Especially considering I did put money into this for controllers, and $20 is quite reasonable for the software.  And I decided....why should any random people on the internet being rude to me effect my decision on donating to the development team?  It is rather unfair.  So, I'm now an official supporter of Project 64.

Anyways....to sum it up.....drama, misunderstandings, anger, calming, donation, all is well.....

Now to find something else to rant about.

Fuck you, project 64 assholes!

I remember back some years ago, when I was in college and Nintendo 64 was all the rage, hanging out in the hallway of the dorm I overheard the sounds of a Nintendo game coming from someone's computer speakers.  A little peak into the open door, and it was Zelda II being played on a computer. 

Uh....holy shit, how'd you do that? 

Oh, dude, just do a google search for emulators and roms.


And my life was never the same again.  Well....ok, maybe discovering emulators and roms wasn't exactly a religious life changing experience, but it was pretty damn cool.  I got to go all retro for Nintendo, and download the games that I hadn't played in some time, and couldn't easily play since the Nintendo was back home while I was away at college.

And now as time goes on, I can get retro for newer things.  As I mentioned, at that time, Nintendo 64 was all the rage.  We had one, and it was damn cool!  One year after Christmas, me, my brother and sisters all figured out, if we pooled together our Christmas money, we could buy ourselves a Nintendo 64, which was the hot item at the time.  I remember the store demo units and spending time over at the video game store at the mall playing Mario 64 and being all like, this is awesome, I so want one of these.  So, I was all about pooling the money together.

My brother, on the other hand, wanted the PS1.  With the disc based format, you could get more realistic graphics he insisted.  And I do remember being impressed at a demo of some hockey game, and you're starting the game and it was like video quality of the team coming out to play....but that wasn't the gameplay.  You get to the game, and it wasn't that realistic looking graphics.  Not that PS1 was anything to sneeze at, but I looked past the distractions and saw that, in reality, the graphics weren't as much better as one was trying to suggest if they were pointing that those realistic videos.  Plus...PS1 was pretty heavy on the sports games, and I wanted to play Mario.

So, after much debate and discussion, we decided to all go in on the N64, and my life was never the same again.  Ok....exaggerating again.  And I grew up with such classics as Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, and Ocarina of Time.

So, those classic games are games I can go back to and really have fun with, when I have the time.  Which isn't all that often.  But lately I've been taking a break from some things on the weekends, and spending more time with my stereo system and video games.  I was able to purchase Mario Kart 64 and Mario 64 from the Wii virtual console store, but then I was thinking back to when we bought our N64, and when we bought it, we decided instead of getting Mario Kart to get this new racing game that had recently come out, Diddy Kong racing.

Oh man, that game was fun.  Having this adventure mode, collecting balloons, having hover carts and planes in addition to go karts.....good times!  Hmmm....I don't recall seeing that one in the virtual console store, but....maybe they haven't gotten to it yet....or maybe it wasn't all that popular.

So, I did a little looking online, and found that it was actually quite popular, which makes sense.  It is a pretty awesome game.  It had been a while since I checked the virtual console store, maybe by now they've added it, after all, it was pretty popular, and the whole point of the virtual console store is to sell popular titles that people want to play.  But.....no.....nowhere to be found in the store.

What gives?

Well, turns out, it's another case of one big business and another big business waving their big dicks around and intead of working together to both profit and bring the customers what they want, would rather keep the product the customers want away from them since they're both big powerful pricks that wouldn't want to do anything that could be beneficial to the other.  Or something like that.  Basically, the company that made the game, Rare, was obtained by Microsoft, direct competitor to Nintendo.  So, some of the characters in the game are owned by Rare/Microsoft, some by Nintendo, giving neither company the right to do anything with it anymore.  A bunch of jackassery that means my early adulthood memories, and a kickass game that many people would love to play, gets caught up in corporate limbo.

Fuck you Nintendo, and fuck you Microsoft.

But.......that's ok.......because I remembered all those years ago, playing Nintendo games on my computer using an emulator.  And I also remembered all those years ago there was work being done on N64 emulators, which were a bit spotty.  Certainly by now there have been great advances in emulation, and I could get Diddy Kong going again on the computer.

So, I hit the internet, and hit the emulation and rom sites, and obtain a copy of Project 64 1.6, a bunch of N64 roms, and am on my way to reliving my early adulthood.

Just one thing....uh....N64 controls on a keyboard?  Yeah.....that's gonna suck.  NES and SNES controls on a keyboard back in those days were no big deal, but with the N64 came a shit ton of new buttons on a big ass clunky controller.  What do to do about that?  Well, I found that thinkgeek had something pretty awesome, usb N64 controllers.  SWEET!!!

So, I've got my usb controllers hooked up to the spare computer that's on the 42" TV, and I'm ready to relive my early adulthood.  Except that.....well.....shit, this emulator isn't nearly as far along as I would have expected N64 emulation to be by now.  The gameplay is mostly good, but the sound keeps having regular dropouts.  And, every now and then, the thing would crash out. 

So, I did the logical thing one would do in these situations. 

(The following is the assholes over at Project 64's version of what happened next)

I put on my black hat and black cape, evil guy mustache, laughed a mighty evil laugh, and said to myself "Buahahahahaha!!!!!!  Clearly, this is a problem that can be solved by doing the obvious.....stealing!  I will go online, and steal the newer versions of this emulator that work better, because clearly I am someone that knows that newer versions exist that are made available to people who donate money to the developers, and I know that it would piss them off mightily to go and steal it, and then I'll go flaunt it in their face.  Because, I'm an evil dick and asshole like that."

I then went and looked up the address of the developers, drove to their house (because they all live together in one house), threw a rock through their window, jumped in, kicked all their asses (because I'm just that strong), stole a box of 5.25" floppies that contain the source code for their legendary version 3 of the emulator (because it totally exists), pissed all over their keyboards, and went off into the night with my stolen spoils.

(Ok, now for what really happened)

Yeah....lets backtrack a bit and get back to reality.

So, I did teh logical thing one would do in these situations.

I googled the error message.  I found pages with people having similar problems discussing them with other people that figured out how to fix them.  Someone posted a reply "oh yeah, I totally had that problem, I had Project 64 1.6, and I fixed that by upgrading to Project 64 1.7"

So, I figured, hey, I should check my version....shit, maybe the site I downloaded it from wasn't being updated regularly and I got an old version.  Sure enough, I'm on 1.6.  Well, no wonder I'm not seeing all that I expect N64 emulation should be by now.  Lets get that shit updated.  So, I do a search for Project64 1.7, find a link to a download, install it, and done.  I patted myself on the back for a job well done, and went along my way.

Except that....hmm.....it won't list the rom names now.  That's odd.  And the error it was listing, kinda vague.  Well, shit, maybe it's time I dig deeper into this, take some time to become a part of the online community and see what I need to do to better understand emulation and tweaking and fine tuning and whatnot.  So, I find project64 has a forum.  And, I did some looking at their page, figured may as well see if maybe there's an even newer version or something.  And I find their latest update about how they're working on the latest and greatest version ever, which will take time to develop.  It will take so much time, it won't be available until possibly mid 2010.  This update was from 2008.


Hmmm.....seems like the project is dead.....5 years without a new version or update?  Doesn't sound good.  Ah well, at least this 1.7 version fixed my sound dropout issues, and plays the games right, good enough for what I'm doing, but still, rather annoying I can't see the rom titles.

So, I started a thread explaining what I've done, and asking about what this error means, and how to fix it.

And I get a reply suggesting I should support the developers.

Um.....support the developers, that haven't developed anything available on their site for 5 years now?  Uh....ok, that's a nice thought, was just looking for a bit of information about the rom title stuff.  But, I mean, hey, I've got my hobbies that I devote hours and hours of time to in my free time.  So, I figured a fair offer would be to say, hey, any developers of project 64....since you've allowed me to freely enjoy the programming you do in your spare time as a hobby, you are free to enjoy any of the quadraphonic to dvd-a conversions I've made in my free time.  Heck, I'll burn copies and mail them to you, just send a PM.

I got some sarcastic reply about midi to dvd conversion.  Midi?  Ok....wrong crowd.  But then I get all kinds of shit for stealing, called a theif, told that they refuse to help me because I've stolen their software without supporting the developers.....

.....woah woah woah, those are fightin' words.  Now, lookit here, I just innocently went online, searching for an emulator, and downloaded it.  I didn't break into your house and steal your shit.  Back off!

So, I'd just like to say, to you assholes over at project64, with your rudeness to me, you lost any chance you had of me offering any financial support.  I very well may have thrown a $20 your way if someone helped me and pointed out the version I downloaded was not shared legitimately and was supposed to only be available to people that donated money.  But, when you go treating me like an ass without giving the benefit of the doubt or nicely asking things, you lose any sympathy from me.  Not to mention....if supposedly the newest version isn't shared, and the next newest version is free.....then with all this talk of the version 2 versions floating around to those that pay their $20, SHOULDN'T THE 1.7 ALREADY BE FREELY AVAILABLE BY NOW?

I don't want to demand you give away your work for free to me, but it seems kinda stupid to suggest you offer the 2nd latest version for free, when in reality you decided to over 5 years ago stop offering anything free to those that don't give you money.

Anyways, a little more googling, I found the solution myself.  I'm good here.  But, to you rude assholes over at project 64, go fuck yourselves.

Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go play some more diddy kong racing.