In My Not So Humble Opinion

Archive for the ‘Totally random’ Category

I know how to read, and I’m pretty good at following directions. When I pumped gas today, though, this had me momentarily stymied:

I love the double-speak Microsoft gives in their updates, like they’re just looking out for the little guy:

Office Genuine Advantage Notifications is part of Microsoft’s effort to reduce software piracy. Installing this software will help confirm that the copy of Office install on this computer is genuine and properly licensed. If the copy of Office installed on the computer is not genuine, the software will provide periodic reminders to help you take appropriate action and protect yourself from security threats posed by counterfeit software.

More information for this update can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/

That’s awesome, isn’t it? They just want to protect me from the security threats posed by counterfeit software. How big of them. It’s not like they put this on every computer running their software so they can find pirates and grab every cent that’s due them.

I’m not saying that Micro$haft doesn’t deserve to be paid. They provide an adequate product for the most part, and most people use it, like it or not. Making money means they get to make more minor improvements and release more versions of their product at inflated prices so they can make some more minor improvements and release more versions of their product at even further inflated prices.

I don’t use pirated software. I buy what I need from legitimate resellers. And I find it really insulting that, in order to use the software I’ve paid for, I have to let them install all this stuff that just really says, “We don’t trust you, and we’re doing everything in our power to watch your every move.”

Hey Micro$lop, stop telling me it’s for my own protection. Be honest and say you’re watching your own bottom line. You’re installing your little piece of spyware to make sure I don’t steal from you. The double-speak makes me trust  you even less than you trust me. Treat me like a criminal in my own home, and all those OpenSource (and free) tools keep looking better every day.

I have been on the internet since the olden days of the real internet – no www, no pretty browsers, and search engines like google bringing stuff to your fingertips. Nope, you had to send out Archie and Veronica to do your dirty work. They took their time, but things weren’t moving so fast those days. As far as we were concerned, they did their job well. Or, as well as could be expected. Yup, you youngin’s probably never heard of terminal programs and bulletin board systems. Those were the days, I tell ya, when computing was all about numbers and text on a screen. *Sigh.

Enough reminiscing. I realized recently that I have been doing web development and online marketing for about 14 years. Someone recently said (or I imagined it, whatever) that each year on the internet is worth 27 people years, which means I”m nearly 400 years old. No wonder the bones creak every now and then.

I think I’ll stay on this ride for awhile longer. I like the speed, and the bright lights and pretty bells and whistles amuse me.

Men who love sheep. In a good way.

Evidently, shepherds have a lot of time on their hands. In this case it’s a wonderful thing.

Michael Jackson may be dead, but things evidently aren’t all bad.