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MY RANTS & RAVES

MY PERSONAL MOTTO IS "NEVER GIVE UP"
IF YOU TELL ME A THING CAN'T BE DONE I WILL FIND A WAY TO DO IT.
Let me explain a little more. No one wins all the time. But if you give up you will never win. So although I can be beat I will never give up. That is why I will always strive to do what most people say can't be done.

Rant #1. Microsoft: Enough said? OK, OK I'll give you an example of the indifference and irony they display.

Some time ago a family member had a connection problem. Microsoft was contacted and they advised to upgrade Internet Explorer to the 6.0 version. The problem with the solution offered was you have to be able to get on the WEB to update Internet Explorer. So if the problem is "you can't connect to the WEB" and the solution is "you need to connect to the WEB" your caught in a catch 22 situation.

Since the Internet Explorer web browser is free the obvious solution would be to have someone else download it, burn it to disk and then use the disk to install it on your system. That's what I suggested. They told me that could not be done as they already tried that. I of course scoffed and said surely it can be done. Alas Microsoft made me look like a complete idiot.

If you go to the Microsoft web site to download it all you can download is the IE6SP setupexe. file. When running the setup file it proceeds to read your current version of IE then downloads only the necessary files to complete the upgrade. But again you need to connect to the Microsoft site to do this.

You could order the "free" CD. Shipping and handling charges apply. Then wait for it to arrive in the mail. All because Microsoft won't supply a complete download.

For months I looked for a way to download a full version. Because that's just how stubborn I am. And I finally found a site were someone solved the problem. Yes it does work. I tested it fully.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD ALL OF IE6 In spite of Microsoft.

And while your there check out the rest of Broomeman's site. It's awesome. BROOMEMAN.COM

Rant #2. WINDOWS MESSENGER AND WINDOWS XP: Not to be confused with MSN Instant Messenger. With the introduction of XP thousands of people are being bombarded with pop up spam messages. All because Microsoft in it's infinite wisdom of enabling numerous programs and features to be installed and running by default at startup instead of the user activating them as needed has created yet another monstrosity.

Windows Messenger is a feature designed to be used by computers networked together. It might be useful if you wanted to send messages to to a large number of computers at the same time on your network. If your the administrator of your network activating it would serve a purpose.

But if your like most XP Home users it really has NO useful function. Other than to let those who have figured out how to exploit it to send you spam. So take the time to once again disable an annoying feature of XP. Follow the instructions at THE ELDER GEEKS website to rid yourself of this. Or go to the Windows Update Site and download the SP2 update which will turn off the Windows Messenger by default. SP2 is available as of Sept. 2004.

Rant #3. HOTMAIL: I'm angry. I'm angry again about MICROSOFT. About what you might ask? Old news to some but it just sank in to me.

Around the year 2000 MICROSOFT bought out HOTMAIL. Since then I accepted a few changes as as being inevitable. But I never thought it would go as far as this.

What's changed to finally make me withdraw support? Automatically blocking all file attachments that Microsoft deems unsafe without any way of overriding it. And yes it also appears that MSN based e-mail accounts do the same thing. Since MSN mail is now also web based like HOTMAIL we can no longer download "unsafe" attachments from the web mail site. Even if you know the attachment is safe you still can't download as there is no way to override it. Supposedly this is for my protection as I am assumed to be a totall idiot and Microsoft has my best interests at heart. Are you buying into this?

Although there is still one work around for now. That is to buy a Windows based operating system so that you can download "unsafe attachments" through Outlook Express. That is if your web based e-mail is MSN or HOTMAIL. Most other web based mail can not be downloaded into Outlook Express. Even then you have to change the default settings in Outlook Express to allow the attachments. Another way to send "unsafe attachments" is to compress the file (zip) and then the recipient can decompress it (unzip). But unless your using Windows ME or newer you'll need a third party tool to do this on both ends.

What a pain and possibly a cost to do this on both ends to protect me. If you believe Microsoft. I think Microsoft should quit trying to idiot proof stupid people from doing stupid things at the expense of those who have taken the time and trouble to install antivirus programs. Or at least let the informed people circumvent the forced intervention.

In other words;
MICROSOFT, LET ME CONTROL MY COMPUTING EXPERIENCE. I DON'T LIKE BEING TREATED LIKE A COMPUTING CHILD.

DEAL WITH YOUR ISSUES AT YOUR EXPENSE. NOT MINE.
OK I'll quit yelling for now.

NOVEMBER 2004: Hotmail will soon offer much more in terms of storage size and attachment size etc. That's the good news. But there is more bad news at the same time. All new mail accounts can no longer be downloaded into Outlook Express. And the same will also be true for older accounts soon. So you will be forced to use the website to access your mail accounts.

They say it is necessary to reduce SPAM being sent with Hotmail accounts. Personally I'm not buying into it. I think they just want to increase web traffic to the site to generate more ad revenue. If they were really serious about SPAM there are a lot of other things they could and should do. Instead they once again reduce my level of satisfaction. I think this is just another example of showing callous disregard for the user to further benefit their greed.

If you want totally unencumbered access to attachments through a web base e-mail that's FREE then I suggest a great web portal and e-mail. YAHOO! YAHOO! YAHOO!