Rantings of the Herald

Windows Vista has become my new nemesis….

Anyone who has this excuse for an operating system knows whereof I speak.

It was probably about two years ago that I was in my local Circuit City (insert bankruptcy and/or mismanagement joke here) perusing the computer section. Vista was still fairly new at the time - untried - full of promise.

I had previously utilized a laptop with Windows XP. This was before I started traveling with the fervor of a Mongolian nomad following the herds across the steppe. So the laptop pretty much stayed put. No reason to replace the Windows 98 upgraded to Windows ME desktop that had become obsolete and was passed on to my son.

Laptops (as many of you know) have a solution to the obsolescence problem that plagues most computers.

They cook themselves.

They usually last long enough so that it isn’t something to rant about. My longest surviving laptop saw its fifth birthday before immolating itself. My shortest lived lasted over three years. The price of compacted computing is heat and dead motherboards.

And so it was with my laptop. A couple hundred dollars at CompUSA (insert another bankruptcy/Tiger Direct joke here) and I have the files from my hard drive that are irreplaceable. Now time to buy a replacement.

My current clients have provided me with one of their laptops to travel with so I decide to buy a nice desktop. This being a couple of years ago - economic boom and all - I had a decent budget to utilize.

As I scanned the glistening panorama of modern solutions to all my computing needs I was content. I have always enjoyed purchasing computers - engaging in the modern pastime of packing the maximum amount of features/computing power into one box that was within my budget.

My hopes were high as I perused the latest models…

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard formally started HP in 1939 with an investment of $538. As seems the norm for computer/technology companies, it started in a garage…in Palo Alto California.

Hewlett and Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. Packard won the coin toss but named their electronics manufacturing enterprise the “Hewlett-Packard Company”.

HP incorporated on August 18, 1947, and went public on November 6, 1957. Ref - (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/garage/)

HP is now the largest technology company in the world. It operates in almost every country.

It’s 2008 sales easily outstripped Hitachi, Sony, IBM, and Dell. The sales were about double what Microsoft posted, and almost four times Apple’s 2008 sales.

These guys obviously know what they’re doing - right?

And the prices are reasonable.

The first thing that catches my eye is the HP TouchSmart IQ500t series. CPU is built into the monitor, touchscreen technology at its latest and greatest (this is pre-iPhone). I look at it and ooh and ahh but it is still a pretty new model. Never buy a car in it’s first year of production right?

So, what is one step down? The HP Pavilion Elite m9500t series. Nice features, Windows Media Center (Apple light anyone?), lightscribe DVD burner, PC television receiver with remote, DVR capability etc.. at this time a paltry $1,200 (it has since come down to about $800).

Let’s not foget the Intel “ViiV” technology (whatever that is…)

Get it home, set it up and let the uber cyber frolicking begin. First thing I do with any new PC is load all of the handy software that I have grown accustomed to using to give me the myriad solutions for modern living that make me feel at one with the cyber universe…

Windows XP was initially reviled for the fact that none of the previous software/drivers were compatible with the new system. After a period of “settling in” this became a non-issue and is one of the reasons I felt that the transition to Vista would be relatively easy….

My favorite CD/DVD burning software is “Nero Burning ROM.”

I know, I know - I let enthusiasm get the better of me and should have checked it’s possible Vista incompatibility before installing it…but I didn’t.

The issues began immediately after that. I un-installed Nero. It appears that won’t work. I have to rip the software out by it’s roots.

Oh no - the Intel “ViiV” software is sending distress signals like a Bernie Madoff investor…

The fix HP recommends is a service pack that re-installs the software.

After downloading and trying to install it tells me that I don’t have a license for it.

I have since spent at least 3 hours every month fixing one glitch or another. Half the extra functionality that looked so good in the store doesn’t work - or works half-assed.

Microsoft took more than a year to come out with a service pack to fix only the most basic issues (and the plethora of security issues that comes with every version of Windows - free of charge).

Windows Vista Professional version comes with a license to “roll back” the system to XP in answer to the outcry by businesses duped into buying it.

I know this post is not particularly entertaining - but now its off my chest.

So in conclusion - no more HP’s in my future. I am finally going to break down and buy a Mac.

Now I will get to enjoy paying twice as much for all my software - and I will have to put up with the crunchy uber-hip Apple store gremlins.

The price of staying connected in an ever complicated world…

Just completed reading “Emergency” by Neil Strauss. Neil is probably better known for his rock biographies and the current bible on how to pick up women - titled “The Game” which has seen some commercial success.

While I have not read his previous works, I happened on this title through the recommendation of Tim Ferriss who writes a blog to accompany his exceptional book “The Four Hour Workweek.”

Strauss examines the condition of the U.S. as it stands following the re-election of W and the advisability of developing an escape plan for (in survivalist lingo) WTSHTF - when the shit hits the fan.  To this end he subjects himself to a quest that includes: wilderness survival training, firearms training, dual-citizenship, Swiss bank accounts, asset protetction through LLCs, knife training, martial-arts training, survival cache creation and distribution and other assorted disciplines that fill the subsequent four years of his life.

Though the book is billed (somewhat wrongly) as a how-to manual, it is actually a narrative that carries the reader along with Strauss in his quest to prepare for the unknown and fully cover all the eventualities “Just in Case.”

Possible spoiler:

The culmination of the narrative occurs when the author realizes that the path of survivalist techniques and third-country escape plans is not what he was searching for - to put it simplistically, he discovers the value of helping his fellow humans.

The book closes with a quote from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” which is one of the oldest epic stories known to history (and a highly recommended read).  The quote is the parting words of the Fishwife (Alewife)  Sidur(i) to Gilgamesh:

“When the heavenly gods created human beings, they kept everlasting life for themselves and gave us death.  So, Gilgamesh, accept your fate.   Each day, wash your head, bathe your body, and wear clothes that are sparkling fresh.  Fill your stomach with tasty food.  Play, sing, dance, and be happy both day and night.  Delight in the pleasures that your wife brings you, and cherish the little child who holds your hand.  Make every day of your life a feast of rejoicing!  This is the task that the gods have set before all human beings.  This is the life you should seek,  for this is the best life a mortal can hope to achieve.”

Another example that primitive does not mean stupid.

Just wanted to share…