So, I just ordered a new Dell computer for the office

Pretty much a bare bones system. No additional software, just Windows XP with SP2.

Interesting that Google Desktop came preinstalled on my system.

Come on Dell, I understand you partner with other companies and such. But preloading software that I don't want or need on to the image of the machine?

How about in your configuration wizard, you have an option to add in the additional stuff. I mean you ask if I want "hyperthreading" enabled. Couldn't you give me a option of having a "virgin" operating system?

It seems that bloggers support isn't that great either...

My partner has now had her blog down for over a month. It doesn't appear on her dashboard, and gives the dredded 404 (not found errors) for the past month.

Trying to get through to support seems pointless. For over the month now, we have both tried to contact support and get a response (which isn't an automated response.) Following those automated instructions doesn't help as none of the situations described don't even come close to what we are encountering.

Granted it's a free service, but even for a free service, is no contact acceptable?

Nope! Not at all.

But there are no other choices except to move to a different blog service. It's not like I can call them and wait on hold for two hours, as they don't have any phone support. If they do, I haven't been able to find it.

Has anyone else encountered these issues?

What is your favorate operating system?

Now before all you u*ix guys jump on me. It's just a question. We know that everyone that uses unix loves it. It's not just an operating system, it's a way of life.

Honestly? I miss the good old DOS 3.3 days. Things were simple. To install somthing you just copied it to your harddrive, or dropped it in on the CD rom and ran it from there. To uninstal, just delete it from the directory, and your done.

I wish things were that easy now. There's nothing worse than installing a piece of software, and having it blow away your system. Or better yet, make modifications to your system which I doesn't tell you about.

Rootkits have made the press in the last few months with the whole DRM (digital rights management) fiasco thanks to Sony. I don't ever remember seeing rootkits in DOS 3.3

Granted, DOS is back in the days of the dinosaurs, but given all the management issues (one application breaking another application), spyware, malware, adware that we all run into now, it's just a pain in the ass. I find myself longing for the simple and easier days. Ahhh well.

That's my answer, good old DOS 3.3 If I had to choose a GUI based OS, I would choose the old AMIGIA 500's OS. It gave you the best of both worlds. You could switch to a command line based mode, or over to a GUI. FANTASTIC... And what you did in the GUI got reflected in the command line mode. In otherwords, you would see the commands that were required to move that file, or start that executable, etc. A great way to use the GUI to really fine tune some of your command line syntax.

For the Windows arena, I still do like Windows 2000. I find it very stable. From what I've worked with on XP, I don't mind it, but it's far too "cartooney" for me. Granted I could go back to the classic modes, but, until I'm forced to, I will still with my Windows 2000.

One thing I will say, they did get it right when it came to getting XP started up. Comparitivly speaking, it is quick. Especially for all those reboots. Not as fast as I would like it, but significantly faster.

So those are my thoughts. Agree, disagree with me, each will have there own opinion.

Cheers,
Greg

So what's up with all these virus/trojans/spyware?

If you haven't updated your antivirus, please do. The Blackworm (aliased as Nyxem, Blackmal, CME-24, etc) annoyance starts tomorrow, Feb 3rd. Make sure those virus definitions are up to date..

This one will spread to any mounted drive (aka, a drive that has an assigned drive letter, so a network drive, a USB drive, etc)

It also searches for email address and mass mails itself out to others...

But the real payload is, on the 3rd of each month, it sees fit to overwrite files with doc, xls, modify, mde, ppt, pps, zip, rar, pdf, psd and dmp extension. Not just deletes them, but overwrites them (read: not recoverable by typical means.) At the same time, it tries to terminate certain running processes (read: potentially disables antivirus, firewall, antispyware, etc.)

It's a buggar......

For more info:
AVG/Grisoft
F-Secure
NAI/McAfee

Again, it seems that each likes to have it's own name for these things which makes it really a pain in the ass to determine if your protected or not.

Regardless, make sure all your protections are up to date.

Customer Service - It's a Myth! - Part Three

Pretty amazing isn't it?

Customer service has gone right down the tubes. Ironically, since this incident, I have made two contacts at different wireless companies (Cingular and Sprint.) Quite ironic, since I met them via a mutual friend. Had I only known.

So what has happened with customer service? Simply, from an executive point of view, customer service is a loss leader. Since we are locked in to a typical 3 year contract, they know they are getting the profit from us. It's not like we can cancel it with out major costs of lawyers (which would cost more than the duration of the contract.) I wish I could *afford* to have my principles, but until that long lost aunt or uncle pass away and leaves me a bazillion dollars, I'm just going to have to "suck it up."

So much customer support has been outsourced (not necessarily offshored) but outsourced. Quality measurements (or metrics as the executives like to call them) are simply that. They are statistics. And as we all know, stats can be made to say anything. I'm a white 6'5" male in a committed relationship. I drink occasionally, don't smoke, love sci-fi, and enjoy heading out to movies and such. But you know something? Statistically speaking I don't have two legs. Which to look at me, at 6'5", yeah, compared to most, I should have more than two legs (at least 2 and a half, maybe even three, I have long legs if one didn't guess) but using stats in the demographic of others on my apartment floor (6 apartments), I don't have two legs. I only have 1.91 of a leg. Hmmm, perhaps I should try drawing on disability since I statistically I don't have two legs. Do you think it would work? Nahhh, I didn't think so either.

So what do we do about it. We can write, and complain, but that tends to fall on deaf ears. We can blog about it, but only a small percentage will really see it (those stats again.)

I've got it!!! The next time I have to call customer support, I'm going to use their own tricks against them. When I finally reach a CSR, before I even give them my name, account number, or phone number, I'm going to say:

"For your information, this call *is* being recorded for my quality control purposes. If all goes well, it will be sent to your company and be used for training purposes, specifically for what *not* to do."

It makes me wonder how that will go over? I makes me wonder if it would work. Would I get any better customer service out of it? I would hope so. The legalities of it? They way I see it, it's no different than them possibly recording the call for their quality control, or training purposes. The only difference is, they *know* it's being recorded. (For the record, I am not a lawyer, so if you plan on doing this, make sure you check your legalities, but from my limited understanding, it is legal as long as one of the parties are aware of it, which is you, and you've also made them aware of it also.)

So, there hasn't been a need for me to call back yet. Hopefully there won't be, until my contract runs out. Then again, I do have two contacts now with two major wireless carriers. I've got an "IN" and I'm not even with Verizon.

Customer Service - It's a Myth! - Part Two

Customer service. It did exist at one point. Now it seems to be non-existent. It's been shrouded around in that veil of fog. It's become legend. Customer service, it's based on ancient fact (ancient in the terms of technology), but today can't be proven. As I say, it's a myth. It doesn't exist anymore.

specific I'm talking about the wireless companies.

How many times have we heard this while we have been waiting on hold?

This call may be monitored and recorded for training and quality control purposes.

Well, I'm not sure...... Well, I am pretty damn sure that none of my calls to customer service have been used for quality control purposes.

The other things I'm pretty sure of, my calls have been used for training purposes. The service has been so bad, and it's been continually bad, there's no way they couldn't be using my experiences as training. Training on how NOT to provide customer service.

What happened to the days when the corporations were there to provide a service and provide it better than anyone else! Are these days gone? By wireless companies, it would seem so.

Over three weeks ago, my partner and I wanted to get another phone added on to our existing wireless service. It should not be that hard.

We called up customer service and got in the virtual line to talk to a real person. Time marches on. After being blasted about how we could use the internet for support at www.blah-blah.com and how the new "blah blah blah" plan would be the cure all to all my issues, and constantly of being told how "IMPORTANT" our call is to them. How important could it be? After all, after 45 minutes in queue, how important could we be? Not very........

So, finally we get to talk to a real live person, and get things figured out how to get this second phone and number. We have to change our current plan, to BLAH such-n-such a plan... Ok, fine, do that, and then we need to adjust this... Fine, do it. And lastly, to choose a phone that we want. Ok, fine we pick one. And it will be sent to us in 3 to 5 business days... Excellent, we can get on with our lives, and carry on, with only 60 minutes of our day.

Easy isn't it? Simple! Can't wait for that phone to arrive....... But (there's always a but isn't there?)

The allotted 3-5 business days pass, and guess what!

NO PHONE!

So we make our call to our wireless carrier to figure out why our phone hasn't arrived. Guess what, a nice long wait in the queues AGAIN! Man, they gota change that hold music. After another 60 minutes enqueued, we finally get through to a live person.

It turns out that there was an issue with the order, and the order was therefore never completed. One would think, since this was being added to another existing plan, that a simple phone call could have been made if there were issues. I guess this is too much to ask.

The CSR that we were talking to was very apologetic, and assured us that things would be taken care of and the phone would be shipped expedited. Everything was to be done, we should be receiving in 3-5 business days.... (what? 3 to 5 business days is EXPEDITED?? ) Asked to talk to their supervisor. Put on hold... gota love that music... After explaining the situation, the supervisor authorized a phone upgrade. Very kewl. Perhaps we are getting somewhere.

Guess what happened this time?

The allotted 3-5 business days pass, and guess what!

NO PHONE!

Are we surprised? No, not really. After all, they just don't care do they?

So we call AGAIN.... As it turns out (after our token 45 minutes wait, and 2 disconnects) we get through and talk to a live person again.... As it turns out, they were unable to send out the phone due to the fact that there was an outstanding charge on our account of $19.99. WTF?!?!?!?!?!?? We are on auto pay, and have been for the past 2.5+ years. Let alone, they can't tell us what this charge is.....

Ok, time to pull out the guns.... Let me talk to you supervisor..... ok, please hold..... (no change on the hold music I might add, and our call is very important to us, blah blah blah)

Well taking with the supervisor, the phone that we had been upgraded to, caused the problem. We weren't supposed to be upgraded to it, and therefore it was unable to be shipped. Why isn't there a phone call to let us know there is an issue? Blah, blah, blah......

Enough is enough. As it turns out, trying to get this supervisors Name is like pulling hens teeth. Still things aren't resolved. Fine, let's drive down to the face to face store.

All I can say is what a pleasant change. We were greeted, only had to wait about 5 minutes. After some talking and finally getting some understanding from the store clerk, it was mentioned that it was very common to have experiences like that. (This from the store of the same name that we were calling) That has to tell you something right there! Needless to say, we finally got what we needed, the phone we received wasn't the exact one we were promised, but it was a decent phone none the less.

All this time in the store, took less time than the time we were on hold for any of the other three times we called.

Sometimes it just easier to do things face to face, no matter how inconvenient it is to get there.

So, why has customer service gone down the tubes like this. When there was an issue discovered, why wasn't a simple phone call made to let us know? Why did we as an existing customer not provided with that minimal amount of service?

If this was any other service or product, we would have the choice. But with the contracts that we must sign, there are no incentive for them to keep us as happy customers.

Never have I been called, or sent an email, or even a letter or survey asking how their service was. How can they say they are improving service when these things continue to go on, time and time again.

They have us for the term of that contract. Why do they need to keep us happy? There is no reason for them to. We are locked in as customers.

A movie theater would not be able to operate like this. Neither would a shoe store, or recreation center, or record store. If any of them treated there customers like this, they would go to their competitors and they would be out of business. Since we are locked in, we don't have that luxury to move to a different carrier.

More thoughts on what we can do on my next post...

Customer Service - It's a Myth! - Part One

It's no secret that people have been having problems with wireless companies. My friend Rod Trent at myITforum.com has documented his issues with Cingular for quite a while now. You may have to go back in his archives somewhat, but it's there.

What issues have you encountered? What have you done to resolve them? Has speaking to a supervisor provided any success. Has speaking to a supervisors, supervisor had any effect? When you have though you may have been getting somewhere, and making some progress, only to have your call be disconnected?

What is up with this? How can companies stay in business like this? As customers what can we do? It's not like you can contact someone to complain about it. You just get put on hold, and you hold, and hold longer, and hold longer, and longer, and if your lucky, you get transferred to the wrong area, and when you get transferred again, you get dropped.

It's no wonder why the email address of the customer service VP is posted. If you think SPAM is bad, imagine what that email inbox would look like? Perhaps it is understandable why they don't post an email address like that.

But that creates a problem. The people that make the rules, the ones that direct the direction of the company, never really hear or know about the problem. And because of that, they have no clue. No one in a position of power would permit their customers to be treated like that. They must be blind to the issues that the customers are facing.

Or are they? After all, they have us locked in a contract for x number of years. So does it really matter to them? Honest, I think it's easier than that.

Simply, they don't care.

Its not even a case of burying their head in the sand, it's a case of who cares. There are no problems providing you have someone locked into a x year plan.

What can we do as lowly consumers.

It's really simple, well, it's simple, but not really that simple. Perhaps I should rephrase that. It's a really simple solution. The problem is that it's not a practical solution.

Hit them where it hurts. Money talks! Hit them in the pocket book. Stop purchasing their product.

Easier said then done isn't it? You can switch to another company but you will likelihood encounter all the same issues that you did before. It's a revolving door. And if you keep doing this, eventually you will end up at your original company again. And know what the real kicker of that is?

You've come back to our service! That's what they see. You've returned because you were unsatisfied with their competitors service. That makes their numbers look great! We have returning customers.

What they don't realize that you're back because of a lack of an alternative.

Pretty sad isn't it.

All of our customer service representing are busy helping other customers, but please remember your call is important to us and we will be with you shortly.

Or better yet

This call may be monitored and recorded for training and quality control purposes.

If the call is so important to them, why am I on hold? Actions speak louder than words. SHOW me that I'm important. Don't make me ask why am I on hold for 45 minutes? If I'm in queue for that long, your actions are telling me something different. You are telling me that I'm not important.

Quality control? Don't get me started. That one I will save for another post.

Meanwhile, I'm still on hold. Couldn't they get some better hold music?

It's been a while since my last post.

Amazing how one can get caught up in all the Xmas preparations. Isn't life busy enough already?

Ahh well. Regardless, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and enjoyable holiday season.

Take care,
Cheers,
Greg

Why I don't make a good developer/designer.......

Above and beyond, that just being near computers puts me in a foul mood now a days, development (especially for web and graphic design) requires somthing more.

VISUAL CREATIVITY

I don't consider myself a creative person to begin with, and definitly not visually creative. Personally I don't really care how things look. What I care about is, can I easily find the information that I'm looking for? I don't care if there are graphics, or sounds, or even if it looks "estetically" good. Is what I need there and can I find it easily. What rots me even more is having to watch those silly little folders/files arc arcoss the window, and disintergrate into nothing. GET RID OF THAT CRAP I SAY. Quit wasting my time, and my CPU process on that silly little visually creative "CUTE" thing. Just delete the G.D.F. files. Other people love this and some even enjoy it. I'm definitly not one of them.

I don't really care if a font is 10 point, or 18 point. Is the information able to fit on the page and am I able to read it easily? That's what I care about. Do I care if it's a Serif or Sans Serif font? Not really. If I had my choice (and this is the most anti-visually creative thing possible) I would be happy if every thing was done in good old courier font.

For those of you that don't know, this is courier. Notice that each character takes up the same amount of space? Notice that each space character is the same. The letter B takes up the same amount of space as the letter i.

Notice that I can line up things by using just spaces.

Name Rk Serial Number
=========================================
Greg XV 123-45-678
Paul IV 987-65-432

Pretty neat huh? Try doing that with a porportional spaced font. Your results will be pretty crooked.

Name Rank Serial Number
=========================================
Greg XV 123-45-678
Paul IV 987-65-432

This is a direct copy/paste from the above.


Do I care if a color is green, or a variation of a green called rainforest. Personally I couldn't care less. To many people (those visually creative types) it is the difference between night and day. To me, it's just green.

And as you know, my spelling is horrible. Not because I want to spell bad, it's just somthing I am horrible at, and have struggled with since I first learned how to write. Short of memorizing the entire english dictionary (which I did try doing in my younger years, in our free reading time, I would read the dictionary over Robin Hood, or The Three Musketeers.) So you know, there wasn't a noticable improvement in my spelling, even in words begining with the letter "A". Being a bad speller doesn't really work well in things that the "public" is going to see. I can admit that, and honestly, I whole heartedly agree with it. It means, that I'm *not* the right person to be doing it.

And yes, it even happens with clothing. I don't wear somthing because it looks good, I wear it because it's functional or applicable to the the situation . If it's hot, (temperature wise, not the Paris Hiltion "That's sooo Hot") I'm going to wear that isn't going to make me sweat like fragging pig. The idea of somthing being to "summer" is totally forgien to me. It doesn't make sense to me. If it's 90 degrees outside in December, I'm going to wear a t-shirt or the likes. I'm not going to be wearing a wool sweater because that's what you wear in December. To me, comfort should come before fashion. That doesn't boed with with visually creative people.

That's the main reason I hate wearing suits. Suits to me are some of the most uncomfortable things known to man. Have I worn them before? Yes. Have I ever enjoyed wearing a suit in my lifetime? NEVER. Have I enjoyed wearing shorts and a golf shirt in December? ALWAYS!

The concept of wearing shoes that are uncomfortable because they are visually creative or "fasionable" to me is crazy. I will admit, I've worn some of the most uncomfortable shoes known to man. Rock climbing shoes. Yeah, they are uncomfortable, but they served a purpose, I was rock climbing. Regular shoes don't stick to the rock like climbing shoes. And what's even better? They are a bright, borderlining on a flourcent ORANGE. Fasionable? I doubt it, but then again, I'm not visually creative, so I won't make that call.

So am I saying one way is more right than the other? It all depends on your point of view and therefore there is no right or wrong answer. It just shows that some people are better suited for things than others.

So is development for me? No, definitly not. I got my development bug out of me in high school. It also explains why systems administration worked so much better for me at that time. There was less "visual creativity" to it. The visuals were already defined (not that I liked all of them, re: disintegrating folder/file mentioned above).

Now, I'm not really sure what works for me anymore. I'm not enjoying either. Even the entertainment aspect isn't even enjoyable. The dislike of computers which has grown over the past 5 years doesn't really help either.

Yet I'm here again, in that ironic situation, blogging.

Are you a specialist or a generalist?

Are you one of those that knows the intimate working of a particular piece of software or hardware? Do you know do things that even the designers didn't anticipate? Odds are you're a specialist.

Do you have a broad knowledge base? Know how to do "lots" of different things with different software, hardware, and operating systems? Chances are your a generalist, or a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None."

What are you thoughts on being one or the other?

I started out as a generalist, then moved into being a specialist with Microsoft System management Server (SMS). Since I've become more of a generalist. I've dabbled in various different things (web development, graphics and video editing with various different pieces of software) yet have not found the time to become really proficient or a master of any of it.

They say...

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less,
until they know absolutely everything about nothing.

The sad fact is, most of the time I'm feeling I know absolutely nothing about everything.

So, how have your transitions from one side to the other?