Thursday, February 14, 2013

microsoft and so on

Adobe has yet another update it wants to install... and once again it failed... Java has yet another update it wants to install... and once again it failed too... Windows has thirteen, yes 13 "important" updates it wants to install... it's been trying to do that for five minutes... so far the software companies have oqned this computer for fifteen minutes... is it just windows vista that sucks or does adobe and java and all windows updates that suck, who knows (somebody must know, so feel free to suggest why updates fail and why they want to update so often and why they take so long to complete when they do update and yes, i turn everything off except for this notebook text box... and i am bored since i sat down here to use the computer but microsoft will not let me use this computer as i would like to... time to shut down the computer because microsoft wants me to...

so now forty minutes into this annoyance, update does not pop up again after the computer finally reboots... Adobe apparently succeeded once i went to the website after restart... so i open windows update and it tells me no important updates need to be installed... and yet, when i look at update history, four of the "important" updates failed... but there's no way to try to reinstall them... so i click on a few things and no help... i finally get to the microsoft website and it explains a "what if" scenario involving Office 2013 that i don't have and no help... so i send the error messages to microsoft and i am left with four failed "important" security updates... and an hour passed working for mocrosoft, adobe, and java... and adobe insists on installing google crome... and java insists on installing the ask toolbar... and microsoft, well, microsoft is in a category of inconvenience, annoyance, and intrusion all it's own... an hour of my life gone... i suppose that's my payment for their free software, but then, they should not get to advertise on software i pay for...

well, at least brighthouse is happy microsoft came along today (though the internet connection here continues to be more problemmatic than it was at the last location)... someday computers will actually work logically and reasonably like other products we own... wouldn't that be spacial...

brighthouse shut me down again

and once again i am in the middle of working on internet research and in the middle of watching something on tv and the crappy brighthouse service that i pay $130 a month for decides i can not do what i want to do and will i be compensated for my time?... the reboot started automatically about ten minutes ago and it continues... does brighthouse really care?... is brighthouse really a friend?... don't believe the bullshit commercials, they do not care and are not your friend... they continue to tell me that this should not be happening and continue to ask me for my time and my services without compensation - and they continue to provide a mediocre product with ineffective service...

and during the last service call, just two weeks ago, i told the tech what was going on and he suggested getting the new box... in other words, call for service again... and talking to two csrs on the phone to set up the service call (the first one was "disconnected" somehow), i explained all the issues and what happened?... nothing... the service tech had no clue...

so now this latest brighthouse-initiated reboot that interrupted my service took fifteen minutes and turned off my tv twice and now my tv will not go on... whatever signal was sent to the tv apparently rebooted my tv as well... and of course it turned off the cable box so the channel was reset... so now, twenty minutes later the tv is trying to connect to the but and on comes what?... not the channel i was watching (not that i want to watch a show after brighthouse forced me to miss 20 minutes of it), but the first-on channel and, of course, without sound... worst of all, the internet service has gone downhill since the move and it was the internet that was keeping me... the neighbor's dishes are looking more attractive once again...


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

brighthouse is amazing

after waking to no internet again and giving my unpaid time and service to brighthouse, i decided to ignore the meaningless complain it might have been and just mention it as i mention most everything in my daily blog where i mention most everything just to mention most everything for whatever reasons i might have at the time (and brighthouse will not alter my good mood this time)... but now, just a couple of hours later, the cable box decides it's time for yet another reboot - as if it doesn't matter that i pay for the box and the service, it and brighthouse arrogantly believe it is ok to control it in my home... no respect... no is it ok if we interrupt your activities in your home right now and shove yet another reboot up your ... tv?)... ... the lack of customer consideration remains amazing... astounding...

ridiculous...

to brighthouse techs, csrs, and management: click here and read this before you comment if you are not just SPAM commenting... simply, if you want more of my time and energy, pay me...

most consistent complaint: no sound at start up... random re-boots...

only acceptable solutions: service that works... pay me for my time...

brighthouse digital hd cable tv (table updated 2/5/13):
working perfectly
working adequately
not working properly
not working at all
0% of the time

0% of the time

95% of the time

5% of the time

no problems

delays, box/channels reset occasionally, software does not adjust aspect ratio and picture size automatically
sound does not go on at start, box resets/blinks every 60 seconds, aspect ratio and picture size are off box/channel resets every 10-15 seconds or other issue requires reboot, call to tech support, or visit

the tech who installed our service here last week suggested getting the other brand of cable box, samsung again... other techs have suggested this sysco cable box when we had the other brand... their answer is always just give us more of your time (without compensation) and try something else (that won't work)... we watched the superbowl at a friends on century link and it worked fine... most neighbors here in our new place have satellite dishes so we'll be talking to them about service and reception as we meet them... brighthouse just does not seem to get the message...

Monday, February 4, 2013

the nfl fails again

they started the season with ridiculous referees making ridiculous calls that decided the outcome of games... and they finished the season with questionable referees (how do they choose the officials - and was it done fairly and by the rules?... really?... how much was front office politics involved?... evidence suggests too much) influencing the outcome of the superbowl... if professional sports is to have any integrity at all, it is serious enough to repeat - questionable management of games should not decide games, no less directly influence the outcome of the superbowl... it is sad that an organization that earns billions a year cannot get it right...

Bias? Maybe. Inconsistency that influenced the outcome? Yes. Further loss of integrity and enjoyment of the game? Yes. Did the refs call the same fouls differently at different times? Yes. Did the 49ers coach make some poor calls that ultimately gave away opportunities to win? Yes. Did the refs ignore an offensive pass interference penalty that prevented an easy interception by SF? Yes. Did the referee leniency allow more interference with the offenses than it should have? Yes. Did that effect the ball possession? Yes. Did that effect the score? Probably. Did a Baltimore player push a referee during the game and have no penalty called? Yes.

Here's a question I will leave for further video review (and you) to answer... Was there a missed Baltimore facemask penalty before the first 49er fumble? I think so, but the CBS avoidance of controversy made sure that was not looked at. Media wimpiness and bias is just as sad as league of referee bias.

The fact is that poor play calling inside the 20 yard line cost the 49ers the superbowl - the bad calls would have made it easier to win, but SF blew it by calling the wrong plays at the wrong times... on at least two scoring series in the red zone during the game, the 49er coach made the wrong calls... ignoring the 49er strengths and wanting their inexperienced quarterback to suddenly make plays that veterans find challenging was the wrong call... fades to the same wide receiver over and over (is crabtree their only receiver?... no) when they did not have a dominant wide receiver who could make a spectacular catch and when their quarterback was only playing his seventh start was the wrong call... not going with a formation (pistol) and play set that was averaging 8 yards per play was the wrong call... the 49ers inexperience showed throughout the game but they could have overcome it with the right play calls...

on the other hand, the refs seemed baltimore biased most of the game... the most obvious example is that the same grabbing of a receiver called pass interference on the 49ers that lead to a ravens touchdown earlier in the game was overlooked when baltimore did it and the fact that one of those overlooks was a potential winning touchdown for the 49ers showed the bias of referees decided the game than the talent of the players... the fact is, the 49ers coach called the wrong plays and probably did not deserve to win based on the poor play calls in critical situations, especially then, and the poor execution in that situation (the pass was not well thrown, but it was a holding penalty that was not called... so the ravens win is tainted, the integrity of officials is tainted, the integrity of the nfl is tainted, and the integrity of the superbowl is tainted... and cbs is a joke when it comes to sports... the announcers defending the refs are wimps, but it's cbs, the worst sports broadcasters in the business (though nbc and fox are not far behind) and they typically do everything they can to spin the facts to avoid controversy and support the nfl even when the officials or nfl are/is obviously wrong...

once again, very disappointed by the supposedly professional sports...

on yet another hand, i won my fantasy survival football league because i picked baltimore to win the superbowl... so if you think my perspective is sour grapes, think again... the bad play calls by the 49er coach and the bias calls by the refs actually helped me win my game... my disappointment is not because i was rooting for the 49ers or against baltimore... my disappointment is because the referees showed bias at key moments in the game and their bias helped decide the game... san francisco might not have deserved to win based on mistakes and key bad play calls, but they did deserve a fair shake from the referees and they did not get that...

I would like to take the NFL more seriously and believe the best team always wins, but I don't. From my perspective it's a crap shoot with refs and politics influencing the outcomes of games as much as the players on the field.

Defensive holding was called inconsistently and it effected the outcome of the game. On the last series of the game specifically: Was it a bad play call by the coach? Yes. Was it a poorly executed play by the offense? Yes. But was it also a violation of the rules? Yes. Was it called? No. It was selective penalty calling.

Overall, I think SF play calling in the red zone (more than once) cost them the win but fair calling by the refs and they might have won in spite of the coaching. The sad aspect of of the politics choosing referees and inconsistent calls is that it diminishes the integrity of the game and the respect for the winner.

For the record, I picked Baltimore to win and won my Survival Football league because Baltimore won the Superbowl. So this is not a SF fan's sour grapes. This is a football fan's disappointment with the loss of respect for the league and the loss of integrity of a win.