Friday, September 05, 2003



The "Disappeared Blog"
Yep, Blogger is still not doing things right. Another hour gone to waste. I wrote, posted and published a Blog earlier today, but it has simply vanished from the face of the earth, or from this Blogsite. Daaaaaammmmmmmmmmmnnnnn. Something seems to be amiss, because Blogger is not functioning correctly. Below you'll note that the other night it would not work at all. But I have a bone to pick with computer Geeks with Software companies.

STOP ASSUMING THAT WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! MOST OF US DON'T.
MacAfee for example. Supposedly it is an anti-virus program, but every time you click on the big red M, they're trying to sell you something else, and if you don't have a lot of schooling in computers, you really don't know whether you should buy it or not. For example, PC Booster. With it I am supposed to "tweak" this and "tweak" that to adjust something in my computer. I don't know what the hell I am supposed to be adjusting, or why. Damnit, I simply don't. I spend a lot of time on the computer almost every day, but half of the instructions I simply cannot understand! Damnit, I cannot.

For example, for a security Firewall trial, they say: click here if you want to install, so I clicked there and nothing happened. Nothing. Then I clicked on install and nothing happened there either. So, they have two places to click for a 30 day trial and neither one of them works! Balderdash.

I've installed all their updates for the Virus Scan program as I have been aware of them, but tonight again, it says that I am only 70% safe. I've tried over and over to update it, but simply cannot. It still shows 70% and I am worried about this new worm. My friend, Joe, back in Connecticut, told me tonight that he needs to replace a $350 part because of a virus. Joe, like me, is a WWII vet. He wants to cut the testicles off the guy who came up with the virus and roast them, before forcing the guy to eat them with a spaghetti dinner. He'll throw in the salad free.

Then the instructions say: you may run PC Booster in tray icon mode. Sheeeesh. What in the hell is a tray icon mode? I sure as hell don't know. I know what a tray is, also an icon, and what mode means, but damned if it makes sense to put the three of them together. (MacAfee CEO take note.)

YEP, LIKE "HAS PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL OPERATION."
Yes, if there was on phrase that everyone hated in Windows 95 and 98, it was that inane, moronic, imbecelic, stupid line: You have performed (?) an illegal operation, etc. Time and again I emailed Microsoft on that one: "The only illegal operation I know of is an abortion, and that phrase you use is truly an abortion." Each time they dutifully replied and now that I had a name I would write back, oh, at least 50 times, and then a supervisor called me on the telephone, at which point I reiterated and explained my position, as well as that of about 25 other elderly people here in this mobile home park, concerning their opinions. She said that she'd made a note about my complaint and they would discuss it at the next executive meeting.

Now going back to PC Booster, and Autotune, I don't know at this point whether I am trying or buying, or even if the damn thing is downloaded or installed. I read so much confusing jargon that I am lost once again. I'd like to tape some of this jargon, then force them to sit and listen to it for a full 24 hours, over and over again at full volume.

There's another note on MacAfee: Note to subscribers using browser pop-up controls. I've never heard of them either, and his is my 5th year with a compouter. (Hey, that spelling is better, isn't it?) C O M P O U T E R. Wow. A terrific typo.

INSTALL INCREASED BROWSER SECURITY Now, there's another box by MacAfee, and I don't know whether that is the anti-hacker software, the Firewall, or something different. Amazing how we're all so interconnected today, and some guy thousands of miles away can decide that he's going to make a mess of your day, so he sends out a Virus, and millions of computers have to set up their defenses to stop it, or spend a week or so getting things back in order. You wouldn't think that anyone could be that viscious, would you?

And to you guys and gals who write computer programs, the software for us, remember that there are a lot of innocent old geezers like me out there, trying to understand those directions you write. We handed you a pretty decent country, and system, to begin with. There's no reason to take your anger out on us when you write a program; use plain English. We're not all engineers like you.




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