ChapsNet: Rant

Hello from OUTSIDE of the US..

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:58:43 GMT

Hello, we exist.. come on. This is a global village these days.

The shot on the right shows the current US Games for Windows website showing all of the new games and all that, including the new LEGO Indiana Jones game demo for download.

The shot on the left shows the Australian site for Games for Windows. Hardy inspiring since it is trumpeting games due for release in "early 2007". That is sooo last year, baby.

Right up there with the whole "who needs a Zune outside of North America anyway, let alone a gussied up one from Zune originals

The lack of globalisation in MS products annoys the crap out of me. is it just too hard to make any more than a token gesture of globalisation features. I can set my system settings to English (Australia) and get rid of the tonnes of red squiggles from my correctly spelled documents which is great. However, these are the things off the top of my head that i cannot do if i fly my Aussie Pride

I can't install Zune software (let alone buy one)
Media Player will not display Recently Added music
Can't use Live Mesh (even if I could get an invite).
Couldn't access SkyDrive when it was in beta

These are the ones i could think of while i was still on the boil. i bet there is a ton f others as well... Besides, my Lego Indiana Jones Demo has finished downloading...

QLD Footy on TV.

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:38:51 GMT

Well, How about that.. Live Rugby League out-rated Delayed AFL telecast... what a surprise. Nobody wants to wait for their sport especially when i hear the last quarter on the radio onth eway home and then get home to midway through the second quarter on TV. Thanks for nothing Channel 7

WTF?... watching the Footy in Queensland

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:39:16 GMT

What the hell... looks like all the glamour of the 150th year of Australian Rules Football will fail to push TV broadcasters here in Queensland to actually give two hoots about the game. For Round 1, I was hoping against hope to be able to see the Collingwood game on TV. Now that the rights are shared between Seven and Ten, i figured I could watch the opening match of Friday night game on Seven, the Saturday game on Ten and then see how I was going from there. Seems like a fair enough situation...

Obviously i was in some kind of fantasy land for thinking that... What I got was some crappy repeat movie on Seven, an arvo full of crappy repeat movies on Tem with no Saturday football at all... Again, Queensland TV doesn't give a toss... Oh they show the Lions games on Saturday nights... except that there are 15 other teams in the comp. I personally hate the Lions team (for reasons that would be patently obvious) and i want to see other games of the round. So much for the great return of footy to Channel 7. Unless i am up for watching footy until 2 or 3 am in the morning, i don't get to see a bloody thing. Why can't you grow a pair, channel 7 and show it prime time on a Friday night??!! I don't want your crappy Movies, Give me football on Channel 7 or 70, 71, 72, or 73. You got enough channels and you still can't show football? Forget any of the preview and review shows, we get nothing!

As for Websites, the AFL has sold it's soul to telstra, just like the V8's did. unless you are one of the poor chumps that is actually a Bigpond or TelstraMobile subscriber, you get nothing but a jumble of rooted frames and the most horrible mess I've seen in years. None of last years RSS Feeds work and as for Mobile Web Browsing, forget it??

How hard can it be? I want to be able to see games that are on, read news on my phone when i can't get to a TV, check an RSS feed of news for my club and for overall news synchronised between Desktop, Laptop & phone. Telstra, Bigpond and Fox & the half-arsed thinking from TV bosses who are still mired in the 1980's mindframe have ruined the any possibility of enjoying sport when you can't get to the game for me in so many ways...

The Great Double Standard

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:29:31 GMT

I was reading this article on the eWeek Microsoft Watch site and I was pleasantly surprised to read the article which seemed to point out the difference in perception about Microsoft and Apple and to a lesser extent Google. It went on to talk about the good things that Microsoft have done and the bad things Apple have done and the different reactions from the Media and also Wall Street. This is nothing new, something i have always thought to be true.

As surely as night follows day, the comments quickly filled up with all sorts of Mac fanboys quoting all sorts of stories and comments and crap towards the author and Microsoft in general. Some were valid but most were frothy diatribes that we have come to expect. Anything that has "M$ or Vi$ta" or any play on Titles such as Windoze, Dimdows and all that idiocy is ignored straight away.

One comment really stood out for me, posted by Evan, that really got me thinking...

This unfair criticism, which is summed up in ...everything Microsoft does is wrong, bad and monopolistic, while anything others do is good and innovative...has sometimes pushed me from being a moderate Microsoft supporter to being a passionate fan. I can't stand the free ride, Apple, Google and the rest of the firms are getting from the media...

This pretty much sums up my feelings. I refuse to have anything to do with Apple at all.. Part of it is the equipment used, part of it is my dislike of the company practices and a lot of it is that i don't like following the mainstream into inferior products. Sure the MacBook is probably a great laptop but down under in Australia, it is hideously expensive and not worth the extra cost.

Sure Microsoft is doing itself (or me) any favours in some areas but it certainly doesn't deserve all the invective and poison that is streamed at it, nor does Apple deserve all the praise and fluff directed to it. One hope that one day, there will be a time when some objectivity can be returned.

Militant Fanboy-ism

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:18:01 GMT

Now i usually try and stay away from posts on fanboys and the associated Mac/PC and Windows/Linux debates. We have enough of them here at work and i don't want to be drawn into them any more as it is just counter-productive. We us a combination and believe in the right tool for the right job.

However, a disturbing trend is starting to appear. Any post, Comment or Article that involves either part of the afore-mentioned debates is rapidly buried in all sorts of fanboy flame posts that ends up as noise that completely obliterates common sense and healthy discussion. I have seen it on Mary Jo's article where she made some comments on the upcoming Mac OS update. She had to write another one to explain. Some of those comments were a bit insane too. I have also seen an article that talks about the same problem on Digg. the worst example i have seen recently is on Dell's IdeaStorm website.

I though this was a great idea and regularly trawled the posts adding my vote to the articles. I recently went back there while i had a few minutes free time and what did i see. An absolute mess where there were these ridiculous suggestions that had thousands of votes and even worse, some incredible posts that are burying any kind of informed discussion. For every post saying not to have pre-installed software, there is at least two that demand that Dell provide Open Source browsers, graphics,email, PDF and image editing programs as default. Wouldn't it be better to have none of these and et people choose their own ? Anyway, a good site that has been somewhat tainted for me...

I openly admit that I like a lot of MS programs and i use and support them everyday. Some work better than others. I also use some open source too. Most of all, I'd like to be able to choose what i use without having to defend my choice from a lot of flame attacks from people pushing their own, unwanted opinions on me. for example, if i like using IE 7 rather than Firefox, Paint.Net rather than GIMP or any others, that is my choice

I have made my choice on what software i use, please respect it...

Technorati tags: Dell, IdeaStorm, Microsoft, Linux

Trackbacks in Live Spaces

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:10:43 GMT

Bloody Hell, i still seem not be able to get any link-love happening. As we all know, you need to link via trackbacks to toher people to raise your profile. I still cannot get trackbacks to work. That is why I am ranked 1,596,403 on Technorati

Oh, i know how i am supposed to do them. Update the link in your "add trackback" section of your post and then click on Publish. I still have not had that work. Windows Live Writer is where i do most of my writing and when i click on the properties to add trackbacks, it is greyed out.

The only problem is that when i do that, nothing happens on the other sites. Not on other Live Spaces site, not on other site nothing... Anyone who has a tip, please let me know... espcially adding trackbacks to blogs hosted on the MSDN site, such as Frank's Blog. if i can't get to the most popular blogger in Australia, how will i get to the rest? ( or ever get a job in his team? )

Cisco Vs Apple

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:12:54 GMT

How good is this post. it is great to see that the corporate world has the same issues with the Slobbering Mac Folks that every Internet forum or blog poster does. Apple wants everything and gives nothing in return. You cannot use "Pod" or anything with the flying monkeys being released from their legal offices yet they will trample over anyone that tries to hold against the tide

Bravo Cisco

Technorati tags: Cisco, Apple, iPhone, Trademark

Top 10 Ways to Motivate Geeks

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 03:13:34 GMT

I managed to get this from a variety of sources but this post on the Retrospector Blog hits a raw nerve. In his first paragraph, he hits the nail completely on the head

Being a geek myself, I think this is a subject I think needs to penetrate all levels of management in every company that values their geeks. By no means is this a rant, but for the last 10 years I’ve seen what motivates us and what doesn’t. I’ve seen the managers that just don’t get it. I’ve seen those that understand completely and react accordingly.

I have listed the 10 ways here but check out the article for the explanations to get the full gist of what he is talking about. I’m sure you’ll agree.

1. Geeks are curious. Let them feed their desire to learn things

2. Geeks like to be self-sustaining. Let them figure things out on their own.

3. Geeks are creative even if they don’t know it. Give them a chance.

4. Geeks need tools, good ones. Give them more than they need.

5. Private, yet collaborative. Geeks need to be left alone, but not too alone.

6. Free stuff. T-shirts, food, desktop widgets, whatever.

7. Control

8. Geeks need recognition

9. Freedom

10. Compensation - Saved this for last, but geeks gotta live too

Now if only our management would actually read AND understand AND follow it through..

To all the Kids who survived the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 00:33:02 GMT

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank cordial made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because we were always outside playing! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day and we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We made slingshots out of sticks, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Sport had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for your own good

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Windows Updates

Wed, 31 May 2006 06:22:05 GMT

The following question is clear, with the answers easily and quickly selectable.

But if you pick “Restart Later”, it obviously means “Ask me in another ten minutes”.... Which is tiresome over an eight hour day.

I now understand how toddlers get all that candy they eat.

Blasted morning exercisers...

Fri, 19 May 2006 06:09:24 GMT

While i'm on a roll with my posts... what is with people that walk/run in the mornings and the ones in the late evening). I'll be driving in the suburban streets around my Home in Brisbane and nearly every day, i find myself swerving dangerously to avoid someone who is either running or walking on the road to get their daily fix.

What's so bad about that you may ask.. well, when there is a 5 metre wide footpath on both sides of the road and they still insist on being the road. this mornings effort was a woman pushing a pram, just as i came around the corner. not only was she walking on the road but she wasat least 2 feet from the kerb. To top it off, she had the pram that has the big chunky offroad tyres too..

Last night there was some guy in the dark that was running down the right hand side of the road while not a metre to his right was a concrete path running parallel to the road. What is up with that. It ranks right up there with the junk mail delivery guy who insists on pushing his cart of pamphlets on the road, leaving it there while he stuffs the letterboxes and then continuing down the road to the next house..

Use the darn footpaths!! They are paths for foot traffic after all....

Innovation 2006 - Not so innovative

Mon, 15 May 2006 01:51:05 GMT

how fantastic is this..Innovation 2006, a technical training session to get a headstart on Windows Vista and Office 2007. I can't wait to have a go at this on two fronts, one to get a real "hands-on" look so we can see for ourselves all the great work that Jensen Harris is telling us all about.The other is being able to do a full report back to bean-counters and Manangers on how we can really benefit from this upgrade.

So i got to sign up for the Innovation 2006 but hang on... Syndey, Canberra and Melbourne only... Dang, yet another case where IT stops at the Harbour. Why is it Brisbane can't have this? After all, 1000 people a week can't be wrong. QLD IT is growing at a huge rate. when i first moved here in 2001, jobs were scarce and applicant plentiful. Now there is an explosion of positions. from 2004 to 2005 IT jobs in QLD (and WA) rose 65% compared to the 25% growth in NSW (source: ITNews.com.au) and yet we still get stiffed on a lot of events and sessions.

Sure, we had the SQL 2005 Ready launch to which most of our IT staff ( Developers and IT Pros alike) went to and loved it. That event alone kick-started a number of ideas and changes to a number of ways we do things (not all of which made it past the bean-counters - blasted retail sales slump). That Launch Event was packed but it was one of the few major events or session that i have seen here...

Come on folks at MS and others, we do IT up here in the Sunshine state and do it well so come on and show us your wares... The local guys are doing well so come on and join the party. You might even like it up here.

Why I am a Collingwood Supporter?

Sun, 07 May 2006 13:01:42 GMT

Why I am a Collingwood Supporter?

For those who know me well, they know I am a passionate AFL fan, and more importantly a Collingwood supporter. But given the performance of my team over the last few years with 2 failed Grand Final appearances, and poor positions on the AFL ladder I am being asked "Why do you still support that crap AFL team, why do you support Collywobbles?" I will now explain why!

I started supporting Collingwood, but no where near as passsionately as I do now. Even though I was in Melbourne in 1990, i was still a fresh Queensland lad, learning the Radio Technician Trade at the RAAF School of Radio....and something about Collingwood grabbed me...not sure what but out of all the clubs it was the one that stood out.

Not long after that, i was posted to Katherine in the Norhern Terrirtory. I tried my hand at the local Rugby League competition and found myself either not getting the ball, or getting the ball and getting smashed not long after.. they breed them big and tough up there.....

One of my mates at work, Justin, was a big footy fan and a Collingwood supporter and playing footy for the Tindal Magpies. I tagged along and ran water and generally drank a lot of beer like a good supporter does..

Then the following year, i had a go.. To be honest, i really sucked. I couldn't kick a drop punt to save my life but i perservered.. eventually i got a bit better and better with the help of my teammates and the coach..

During this time, i was watching a lot of footy on the TV as well.. Watching the Pies, Playing in their strip with a good bunch of lads got me going and i was hooked, an unofficial member of the Black and White Army.. Brisbane rose and rose and i felt nothing despite beinga queensland boy.. I didn't respect their play or their attitude. Oh they had the skills but they had all that extra cash and allowances and they knew it..

2002 came, and with it, the Grand Final and this is when my support for collingwood grew and my hatred for Brisbane also came apparent. Through 2003, with help of some footy fanatical mates, my passion and love for AFL and Collingwood grew and by the 2003 Grand Final I was pumped to see us win the flag for the first time since 1990...but that game would be the unravelling of Collingwood and the beginning of our downfall.

2004 and 2005 for Collingwood has been well....in other words....crap! The Magpies have been at the lowest of lows, only occasionally showing spurts of teamwork, passion, want and desperation, but most of the time giving up, lacking fight and courage, not doing the hard work, having doubts and missing golden and crucial opportunities again and again!!!! Yet here I am, still supporting the Collingwood team through the terrible year of 2005. And why? One thing I have learnt and admired about Collingwood and its army of supporters is their optimism, determination, committment and loyalty. These are features that as a individual I try to uphold myself, and I can identify with these Collingwood traits. Out of all the supporters of all the AFL clubs, Collingwood supporters would be up their for being the most loyal and committed out them all. 2004 and 2005, for other supporters of other clubs would have made them jump off the bandwagon, but for me it has only made me look forward to future seasons and increased my want to see Collingwood win a premiership. And this goes for the majority of Collingwood supporters. Everypart of Australia you will find large numbers of black and white, loyal and committed to seeing their team win.

This is why I support Collingwood without fail. And is what I believe sets Collingwood supporters apart from the rest! Yes maybe a little too optimistic but definitely loyal, determined and committed!! And perhaps that is why we are hated so much!

Anyway, we are injury-free (toouch wood) and ready to make a move for some long-overdue September action...