Gotta love Microsoft!

I’m really POd at them right now. Earlier this week they applied some patches to my system, and then while I’m working, it comes up with this idiot box saying that I must reboot now. I could delay it for five minutes, but I couldn’t cancel the box and stop the damn timer. So I have to go away for a few minutes, I come back, and sure enough, rebooted computer. Closing every freakin’ browser window that was open, including news that I hadn’t got around to reading yet. Closing Word that had an open document with unsaved changes (no big loss).

The arrogance of this action is unbelievable. When Norton installs a patch that requires a reboot, they give you the option of rebooting or not. They don’t start a timer saying ‘reboot or else’.

This morning the same thing has happened. So I’ve reconfigured Microsoft Update to no longer automatically install patches. Now it’ll download, but won’t install until I say so.

Considering the latest shit to come swimming through the internet that can infect unpatched machines silently, automatic patching is good. But at the risk of losing data? If I had a huge programming project open with thousands of lines of C++ code and stuff, and I went to lunch and negligently forgot to save the project, and this update crap came up, I’d lose my changes from my last save. That can be a heck of a lot of work down the tubes.

So because they won’t give you the flexibility to reboot when it is convenient for you (the damn timer dialog just popped up again), you have weaker security.


Oh, and get this. I go to their site to try and find somewhere to send in a complaint. I find a Help and Support page that has the following verbiage: “Unlimited support requests are included at no charge. All additional support requests are $35.00 US per request or use an existing contract. Some support issues may not be covered under the listed charge.” See it for yourself here.

So I can make as many requests as I want for free, but if I have to make additional requests, it’ll cost me $35 per.


I’ll be so glad when I can go to a Mac for most of my day-to-day work. I’ll still need a Windoze box for doing database work, but I’m really tired of Microsoft’s crap.

Microsoft, Round 2

OK. Computer must be rebooted after my last post. I come back in and I'm determined to apply every update possible so that I won't have to go through this crap again. So I fire up Internet Exploder, tell it to update, and it politely comes back and says that we've blocked this web site from installing an ActiveX component because it may be a security violation. OK, that's nice, we now know that MS doesn't violate their own security model (at least here) by having an override saying that all code that claims it's from MS is good and trustworthy.

So I click on the little warning bar and it gives me a menu saying 'click here to install ActiveX control. So I click here, and it starts humming away, I go on to other things. Then an alert pops up: Explorer will not install said ActiveX control because.... wait for it.... IT CAN'T VERIFY THE PUBLISHER!

Microsoft software cannot verify that Microsoft software was written by Microsoft.


Now that's security, folks!

"V for Vendetta" pushed back to March

One of the best comic book collection/graphic novels, in my ever so humble opinion, is Alan Moore's V for Vendetta. It tells the story of a fascist British government and a lone figure taking revenge upon it.

It was made into a movie! (insert Happy Happy Joy Joy here) It starred Natalie Portman (The Professional, Star Wars, etc), and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith, Elrond). In fact, Portman was almost arrested by NYPD when she returned from England and principle cinematography: she had to shave her head for the role, she was pulled over for expired registration and her look didn't come close to her driver's license photo.

ANYWAY, the tag line for the film was "Remember, Remember the 5th of November" which is Guy Fawkes Day, the anniversary of a plot to blow up Parliament. The movie was originally scheduled to be released on November 4, so the tag line would have been pretty cool.

Now it's been pushed back to March, allegedly for post-production reasons.

Sigh.

Oh, it's being produced by the Wachowski Brothers, of Matrix fame.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=3&id=32070&type=0


And the Slashdot thread from whence I learned of the delay.

YAWC

Yet another web comic that I find amusing. Thinkin' Lincoln. I don't know how often it updates, apparently it only has 30 back issues, so a quick one to get current on.

Oooh! Battlestar Galactica Goodness!

WizKids announces a new CCG for 2006! I'd love to see a bunch of Battlestars like their Pirates game where you get to assemble them and pull pieces off as you take damage.... (fat chance)

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/wk_article.asp?cid=40168