Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the redeye dawn.
I'm attending night courses at BCIT right now, and my MS Project term project is due this evening. So yesterday afternoon I head over to finish up the project and get it into workable shape. Towards the end of the changes asked of me by the term project, reverting to a previous version for the purpose of doing a "Save as" of the current version results in a crashed program. Open the file again, crash. Open the save as program, revert changes again, crash. Ok, computer needs a reboot.
Reboot produces error "We were unable to load your desktop", and the Windows desktop shows none of my files. I lose 90% of a 5 hour effort thanks to a Microsoft program that is so screwed up that it is capable of producing a file with features that can crash itself.
And that isn't my only run-in with the crapware Microsoft sells. I now have the Zip disk Grim Reaper that will crash and mangle any Windows computer I put it in and click on the drive. Windows simply does not have the capacity to do "Ok, this isn't working. Stop, give the user options to recover files or install a new boot sector."
Very ticked. This is the glory of using the Mac. And being in a Mac retail environment is a big eye opener. Ask any of the salesmen and they can recall two or three distinct stories of PC users coming into the store, with tales of woe. It happens all the time. There's a reason why commercials and comics can feature people taking a hammer to their computer - they're usually always Windows computers, except for the one instance in Fight Club, where the wannabe social revolutionaries decide to blow up a computer display, which was more a social statement than frustration after a crash.
Windows sucks. I can't imagine how many billions upon billions of dollars are wasted by Windows users on virus software, re-doing projects that they lost in a crash, and the other general meyhem Windows can set upon people. I know a guy who only works with Windows and Unix, and it took him 4 days to get sound up and running on his custom PC. Absolute lunacy.
End of anti-winblows rant.
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Comments
The hollow glory of using the Mac.
03/16/2003 - 22:43
Things are changing, but that glory sure has been a hollow one for many years. The only ones at fault are us: the citizens, consumers, and business owners.
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Updated 0317:
Note to self, do not upset the Apple Mac gods. I had a blue screen of doom on Win 2k today. On 2k, not XP mind u, it seems like @ a long time since I have last "enjoyed" one of these.
But, other than that
So, other than falling into those categories (which I don't), you don't need the flu shot.
Until I develop a chronic illness, get very old, or my grandparents are resurrected, I don't have to worry about ever taking the flu shot.
(I'm really glad that this started with a post about Windows crashing)
Windows Rant
I wholeheartedly agree. I have to work with windows in my job - not by choice. Haven't had any bad experiences lately, and being on holidays helps!
One more LOTR note.
Actually, I forgot to mention that while Eomer utters this call to battle on the Pelennor in book 3, it is also uttered by Theoden in The Two Towers movie just before he and Aragorn mount the cavalry charge and take the gate, in time for Gandalf to show up on another front.
Still doesn't settle the score with the saviours of Helm's Deep being the Ents and Huorns, not the stinkin Humans. What I actually liked immensely about Jackson's version is the Elf host and Haldir's armor. Haldir truly does look like an Elf Lord in that set of armor. Having the Elves show up and renew the alliance was a nice touch, though it would have been even better to see the Dwarves show up as well, bunch of tubby beards running about, hacking Orc necks in great swaths.
I hope in the third movie that we see a lot more of the armors and races hinted at in TTT, and perhaps Gimli's folk arrayed in Mithril.
Also, one tidbit I thought I picked up on, but haven't seen it in any of the LOTR forums - When Arwen passes with the host out of Rivendel, Elrond looks down on her in anger. It is almost as if she is going against his wishes, and not going to the Grey Havens. Later on, the Elven host led by Haldir shows up at Helm's Deep. Haldir is the gate-warden of Rivendel, and Arwen's garb looks remarkably similar to the garb of the Elves that show up at Helm's Deep.
My thought - Arwen has gone to Helm's Deep, and not to the Grey Havens, as many believe. That too would be equally excellent. I doubt PJ would go messing with Arwen and Elessar, and including her in more of the war and story would be great. I love the addition of their story to the movie.
So...
Still going to get a new PC? :p
I liked your title for this entry. Is it a quote from somewhere, or did you make it up?
Yup, still buying one. ;)
Talk about your average glutton for punishment, though now I am wavering a little more than in the past. I may try holding out on the PC, wait till end of year, saving the scraps I can, and getting a bling bling PPC 970 machine when they first come out.
The title is borrowed from LOTR - in The Return of the King, after Theoden dies, he hands his kingdom to Eomer, his Nephew. Enraged by the Kings death, and heartened when the Umbar ships reveal the White Tree of Gondor on a sail, Eomer cries out "Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn!" And his fury moves the great host forward on the Pelennor with such violence that they actually split their enemies in two, and suddenly find their battle on two fronts. The red dawn was believed to tell its witness that blood had been spilled the night past, and I guess that you know of this belief. ;)
It also happened to coincidentally work well with your advice on how drugs solve everything, including sleep deprivation. :P
Hey!
I thought it was an interesting article, specifically because it talked about some of the background about sleep and the consequences of not getting enough, of which I am often guilty. The author experimented with a new drug, and ended up going off it early...not exactly an endorsement.
Still a cool quote.
Yeah, interesting article.
I was just poking fun at the mentality shared by a lot of health unconscious people who immediately turn to pills for solving their problems, which is too frequent. Or people who buy anti-bacterial soap, never realising that evolution and constant exposure may combine to form supergerms and be more of a risk than without that soap.
Yeah, the line is very cool... so is the entire history of the languages created by Tolkien, and the languages they originated from. I love the soundtracks and have the both of them, and many of the songs that are sung in other languages are sung in Quenya, or Old English, and it's very interesting to see what Old English looks like and spells like. Learning to speak such languages would be an interesting life-long effort.
No flu shot for me
Same reason that anti-bacterial soap is a crock -- I don't believe it will help, and in the long run, I think it will do more harm. Of course people are going to have to get newer, stronger flu shots every year, if the previous crop of flus have become resistant!
Previous Crop of the Flu!
What? That's not how it works... influenza has new strains every year... and being vaccinated against one strain ony affects that strain. You always have to get a new shot (they are typically for the previous flu strains that swept the Far East last year), you're not at all protected if you had a shot the year past.
And... I did get the flu shot... just as I get other immunizations/vaccinations that are suggested to me. I do however not take any other sorts of drugs (unless prescribed specifically by a physician) except for anti-allergenics occassionally. I don't take tylenol, aspirin... anything like that. But that's just the way I've been since highschool.
Why trust Ontario?
In BC, they don't advertise (or even offer? I'm not sure...) the flu shot.
Yes, influenza strains mutate naturally over time. But what kind of stuff is in all these flu shots? Do you know that, as with the over-use of antibiotics, resistant strains of the flu aren't being produced? I haven't been able to find satisfactory answers to those questions, so I'm passing.
Tylenol and aspirin are well-understood drugs whose effects are clear -- they are chemicals that produce chemical responses. I take very few drugs, but if I've got a really bad headache, etc., I'll take a tylenol.
flu shot
so here's how the flu shot works. what gets injected into you is a form of the flu that is unable to infect you and make you sick. this gives your body a chance to recognize the flu virus so that when you get the real flu virus, your body is ready to defend against it, and you don't get sick. so yea, you can't get a resistant strain of the flu. it's like other vaccines - there isn't a fear of creating resistant tetnus or polio just because we vaccinate our children, is there?
you are totally right about antibiotic resistance though. but that is a separate issue than vaccinations.
Except, of course
For the people that get sick every year after taking the flu shot.
Yes, I knew this is how vaccinations in general, and the "flu shot" in particular works. For people at risk -- which is mainly old people -- taking a flu shot is in many cases necessary, because flu can kill them.
Just to throw some other credentials into the mix -- a close friend of the family is the head of the molecular genetics department at the University of Vienna. They called the other week for my birthday, and someone we got into talking about flu shots -- they don't take them either.
So answer me this -- tetnus or polio vaccines don't a) have to be taken every year and b) don't ever get "updated" to combat new strains. Why for the flu?
more vaccines
ok - so about vaccines.... tetnus and polio give you lasting immunity but it does start to fade after a bit (your immunity decreases) so that's why they recommend adult bosters every ten years. the things with the flu, is that this virus also survives in fowl and pigs. it mutates very easily, and then infects people again. but this time it looks different, so our immune system (which has been primed against the old version) doesn't recognize the new version.
it's been found that new versions usually originate in parts of asia where people live in extremely close proximity with the birds and pigs. the causitive agents for polio and tetnus don't "mutate" and the same rate as the flu virus.
so i'd say if you are old or very young or have a chronic illness, it's good to get the flu shot. it's also good to get the flu shot if you spend a lot of time with anyone who falls into one of the above categories. i know i'd hate to be the one who gave grandma the flu that killed her.
ouch
"i know i'd hate to be the one who gave grandma the flu that killed her." fear mongering from the educated.
I am glad we can all agree on washing ones hands and arms ;-)
The Microbiologist has spoken
So I had one of my close friends who is nearly done a Ph.D. in Micro post her opinion on the flu shot (above). Just so that we could get a more educated opinion... now... that being said, she probably thinks I'm crazy for not taking Tylenol or Aspirin as well. :)
Low-key flu
The flu shot is advertised in BC, but it's as common as the number of positive articles on Gordon Campbell these days...
I've never taken a flu shot - I can see the importance, because it spreads so easily, but just as there are tips for productivity with email, there are tips for all sorts of germs, namely - wash your hands often, cover your mouth when coughing, don't show up to work or school if you're on your ass all day, etc. Lots for yourself to avoid it, lots more to be considerate of strangers, but clean hands is the biggest.
From Windows to Flu Shots
I followed the tangent of comments with amazement. Graham is right, flu shots ARE advertised in BC, especially in hospitals, schools and old age homes. I did pass the opportunity since I am not convinced that it will spare me from getting sick. Handwashing, however, is a big help in staying healthy and not passing on illness to others, and so is staying home when sick. We had a three day flu (headache, high fever, vomiting) circulating amongst all schools with large numbers of students affected. Adults were not affected. One speculation makes sense to me: Today's children have not yet been in contact with this particular strain of flu, whereas adults probably have been in contact with it and therefore are immune.
On another subject, totally unrelated: Boris, can you make your type larger and change the background from yellow to white? It would make for easier reading.