Microsoft Product Activation is LOL
I recently decided to downgrade my Windows laptop from Vista to XP. I was just tired of dumb Vista and its various amounts of retardation/slowness. So anyway, I have an old XP Pro license sitting around that was unused. The problem was that the disk that it came with was actual Windows XP Pro … no SP1, SP2, updates, etc. I would rather avoid updating the machine for two days, so I used another disc that was an XP Pro SP2 install disc.
Obviously, the XP Pro key doesn’t work with the XP Pro SP2 install, so I had to use another key just to get through the install phase, after which I planned on calling Microsoft Product Activation to explain my predicament and get my version of Windows activated. So I call M$ a few minutes ago and I get someone who is, obviously, Indian. Nothing against Indians, but the call centers over there are typically horrid and this one didn’t disappoint. These support people are scripted robots, not humans. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: “Hi I need to activate my license of Windows XP. I have an unused XP Pro license, but it didn’t work with the SP2 install disc, so I had to use another key. I’m hoping to be able to switch it now so my correct key is on record.”
Her: “How many times have you installed your copy of Windows?”
Me: “I am not sure — the key that I used to install Windows isn’t actually mine. I just did it so I could get through the install and call you guys with my unused XP Pro key.”
Her: “Sir, how many times have you installed this copy of Windows?”
Me: “I have no idea, but I haven’t ever used this XP Pro key that I have sitting in front of me.”
Her: “How many times has this copy of Windows been installed?”
Me: (started to get tilted) “Don’t you understand? I have no idea how many times it has been installed. I have a valid key though.”
Her: “In that case we cannot activate your license of Windows XP as it is against the terms of Microsoft’s license agreement. Goodbye.”
Me: “Wait! That isn’t okay. I have a valid Windows license sitting in front of me.”
Her: “Sir, you must tell me how many times this copy of Windows has been installed.”
Me: “Okay, it has been installed zero times.”
Her: “Thank you sir. Please type in this number.” (she then proceeds to give me the information that I need)
I was dumbfounded after I got off the phone. I mean, is it really that simple? Microsoft is utterly retarded. There I was trying to be honest and it nearly got me kicked off the line. Then I simply lie and they let me right through. What a retarded system. It makes me wonder why I even bother jumping through their hoops? It makes me want to become a full-time Ubuntu user — which, by the way, I’ve been playing around with lately and I really like. The main thing holding me back from Ubuntu is the lack of (simple) RoboForm functionality in Firefox. I’m sure there’s some complicated way for me to do it with Wine or whatever, but it’s too goddamn complicated to bother with.
Also, for those if you wondering why I don’t use a Corporate or cracked version of Windows, it’s because a) I have a valid license already that has never been used and b) I don’t like to worry about running a pirated copy of Windows because of Windows Update problems down the line. I’d like to put SP3 on the computer along with any other updates, so running a valid copy makes for less headaches down the road.
PokerSourceOnline
If you are signing up for an online poker room I recommend checking out Poker Source Online. They were established in early 2004 and have given way over $6,000,000 in free gifts, free poker money, and rakeback. They support all the major poker rooms including Party Poker, Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, etc.
Relaxing weekend and fun in the office
I wrapped up work last Thursday pretty tired. I had a guest in town, so I was doing a lot related to that, plus I was trying to get my normal work done in addition to going to the gym and doing everyday stuff. Needless to say, I was looking forward to the long weekend. You’re probably wondering… what long weekend? Well, loyal blog readers, Mother’s Day in Costa Rica falls on August 15th every year. As I learned last week, it is also cause for a day off in Costa Rica. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
So anyway, I celebrated Mother’s Day by sleeping until like 1 PM or something, going out to the pool, falling asleep in a chair, getting sun-burnt (just a little, nothing too bad) and then sitting in front of the TV for like 6 hours watching Rome and various Olympics stuff. That is an awesome day.
Speaking of the Olympics, as I stated earlier, I was looking forward to the Olympics. Thus far, they haven’t disappointed. Michael Phelps is, obviously, incredible. He got incredibly lucky in that 4×100m freestyle relay where Jason Lezak overtook Alain Bernard (most incredible 50 meter swim I can ever recall seeing) and then BARELY getting the touch in the butterfly event over Cavic. Really really lucky to pull those two out, but still, really incredible to get all of those gold medals.
As many people have pointed out, comparing Olympians by the number of medals is pretty silly. Until the event levels are brought into line, you can’t compare raw numbers of Olympic medals. There’s a reason why Spitz and Phelps came from the same sport — swimming is medals-happy. I don’t fault Phelps in the least, but you can’t call him the greatest Olympian ever because he has so many gold medals. Maybe he is, but that is NOT a fair measuring stick at all.
Along a similar thought process, I would actually say that Usain Bolt is the most dominant Olympian in 2008 thus far. His dominance throughout the 100m heats, semi final and final was the most ludicrous piece of pwnage I have ever witnessed in Olympic sprinting. And I have followed Olympic sprinting since the 1992 Barcelona games. I haven’t seen as much from Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens and some of the pre-1992 greats as I would like, but I’ve seen a lot of sprinting over the last 16 years. Anyone from Michael Johnson to Maurice Greene to whoever else. Usain Bolt takes the cake. The guy didn’t even TRY and he STILL crushed a field consisting of the fastest men in the world! How in the world can someone be an average starter, not have his shoe tied, start looking around with 15 meters until the finish and STILL run 9.69 without a tailwind???!?!! ARE YOU SERIOUS? That’s more ridiculous than I can possibly ever hope to describe. With a 1.9m/s tailwind, a fast track, thin air, 100% focus and true desire to set a ridiculous world record, Usain Bolt could easily run in the 9.5s in my opinion. Who knows how long that would stand for. Obviously not forever, but it could easily be a record that would last for my lifetime. Simply incredible.
Anyway, with the exception of some shopping at Hiper Mas (the Costa Rican Wal-Mart) and going to the gym, I did pretty much nothing all weekend. I felt very well-rested heading into the week. After spending a few hours working at the office, picking up Adam at the airport around 2 PM and a quick lunch, I headed into the office. Shortly thereafter, lightening hit the transformer which is right outside my office. Scared the crap out of me and also knocked out the power in the office. So much for a productive day in the office… I was home at 4 PM. I’m hoping we have power tomorrow.
By the way, more SEO reviews are on the way for this week. Post site suggestions if there are any you’d like to see me tackle after this next round I am going to put up. I’m happy to take on sites outside of poker too.
Costa Rica, you amuse me
I noticed this scene today and took a picture on my camera phone — sorry for the low quality.
But basically, this guy was 20 feet up in the air on a ladder right next to an extremely busy street in downtown Escazú. What happens if the ladder slips or falls and a car is going by? He was leaning all over the place handling presumably live electrical wires in an all-out downpour. I know the rain doesn’t show up so well on this picture, but you can see how much water there was in the street because of the splash being generated by the car on the road.
I can’t even imagine how crazy you have to be to do a job like this regularly. There are like 10 ways for this guy to die or get badly injured from the position he was in at the top of the ladder. Totally and utterly loco imo.
