Quote the Raven

Something for a Monday

Raven — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:36:54 +0000

A classic Family Guy moment I had to share …

AIG = WTF

Raven — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:41:34 +0000

I can barely find the words to describe how annoyed I am at the nerve of AIG to think their executives deserved their “bonuses”. If your company needs to get bailed out from closing shop you do not, repeat .. DO NOT deserve a bonus. You have not accomplished anything worthy of a reward, and you have not contributed anything worth an “Extra” addition to your base salary, but you might have a serious mental affliction if you can actually accept a bonus when your company is on the verge of collapse.

The nerve of these people who actually use tax dollars given specifically to keep themselves afloat and think that for some reason its “business as usual” and they are entitled to their executive perks.

If it wasn’t for the many people relying on AIG to maintain their financial obligations I’d hope they would simple shut down and that executive leeches would be out of a job. Not that it would be even remotely like a normal person being out of job because they would just live off the many millions of dollars they have been sucking out of the company that most likely lead up to its poor financial situation in the first place.

This bail out REALLY needs some supervision included else what is the point of giving money to companies that just keep on doing the same self-centered practices that got them into trouble in the first place?

Sony Tech-less Support

Raven — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:49:17 +0000

I wanted to share an experience with you all. You can thank me later. I recently contacted Sony Tech Support via their online chat interface and I was glad cause I could actually document the conversation for such an occasion as this. My job is technical in nature, so I have a pretty good handle on my field and what it involves. Some of you might miss out on some the technical details, but I think the context alone will make you think twice when dealing with some technical support staff. I changed the names to protect the innocent.

user Raven has entered room

analyst Sony Tech_ has entered room

Sony Tech_>

Hi Raven. Welcome to Sony Online Support. I’m Sony Tech. Please allow me a moment to review your concern.

Sony Tech_>

Thank you for waiting, Raven. I’m sorry for the inconvenience you are experiencing to locate the SATA Drivers of the Computer. I’ll be glad to assist you with this.

Raven>

Are the drivers (if you are aware of this option) available in way to just extract the related driver files without having an installer as part of the download?

Sony Tech_>

Are you trying to install the Windows XP Operating System in the Computer?

Raven>

I’m actually trying to import the drivers into a WinPE boot disk to support SATA drives. So I suppose this isn’t a standard request, but many vendors either have the drivers stand alone, or allow you to decompress the package and allow you to get to the drivers without having to install them directly to the system in question.

Sony Tech_>

Raven, I’m sorry to inform you that there is no SATA Drivers for your Computer model.

Sony Tech_>

The SATA Drivers which is available is only for the Windows XP Operating System.

Raven>

Then why do they have a file named INDOTH-16064100-US.EXE under the Vista Business selection?

Raven>

URL … http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNTT130N&upd_id=4003&os_id=29

Sony Tech_>

This Driver is for the Windows XP Operating System which has to be installed before installing the Windows XP Operating System.

Raven>

So your saying that that page is some form of mistake? That this model doesn’t have Vista OS loaded on it? Sorry, just wondering why I selected the model and OS and got that page and now your telling me its XP only.

Sony Tech_>

Raven, your Computer is supplied with the MicrosoftWindows Vista Business which supports the Windows XP Operating System.

Sony Tech_>

If you wish to install the Windows XP Operating System it is required to install the SATA Driver so that the Computer recognizes the Hard Drive after installing the XP Operating System.

Raven>

I understand the difference between the two OS, but then your support site is misleading cause they are offering SATA drivers for Vista Business.

Raven>

There certainly is SATA support for Vista, but there’s no crime is updating such driver that is native to the chipset.(Intel)

Sony Tech_>

Raven, the SATA driver must be installed in the Vista Operatibng System and then the Windows XP Operating System should be installed.

Sony Tech_>

Please stay online while I check this information for you.

Raven>

Please don’t take the wrong way, but why would you install, or how would you install an OS on an OS? Are you referring to some form of virtual setup?

Sony Tech_>

Thanks for waiting, Raven.

Sony Tech_>

Raven, I’m really sorry for all the confusion I created.

Sony Tech_>

The SATA Driver which we were talking of is for the Vista Operating System.

Sony Tech_>

I’m really sorry for that.

Sony Tech_>

The Driver is required if the Hard Drive is not detected after reinstalling the Vista Operating System.

Raven>

No harm done. Now we cleared that up, do you know of any way to get said drivers in a way that I can access them directly instead of just given the option to install them with the EXE file?

Sony Tech_>

I’m really sorry all the Drivers available on the Sony website are .exe files.

Raven>

Okay, thanks for your time.

Un-rising of the Phoenix

Raven — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:59:28 +0000

I just had to share this. I wonder what possessed Joaquin to come to the show in the first place cause he didn’t seem comfortable or willing to discuss anything during the show. David Letterman certainly had his fun with him and I’m truly shocked that Joaquin didn’t pick up his gum from under David’s desk and walk off the set in the middle of the interview. This Hulu clip gives you most of the highlights … enjoy it.

Netflix on your Xbox360

Raven — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:47:11 +0000

I’ve recently started to pay more attention to my Xbox360 again. Not because of a game, but because it can now stream a fair selection of video content from Netflix. Originally the assortment of video was quite limited and of that limited few most of them you wouldn’t even want to view in the first place. Luckily the folks at Netflix saw that they were going to need to bait the waters some if they intended on people streaming content versus just using DVD media. Yes, you can have both worlds now, Netflix without needing physical media – it just keeps on getting better and better .. until you search for a particular movie and found out that you can’t “Watch Now” cause it was too popular in the theater or some licensing restriction prevents it from being streamed to your XBox360. All in all I think I can suffer with the limited library for now, and just enjoy the convenience of being able to view movies on my console.

The ability to view Netflix movies via your XBox360 is certainly an additional perk of owning a XBox360 to say the least. Now if only Microsoft would make Blue-ray options available to those poor XBox360 owners. Hint, hint Microsoft.

Really?!?

Raven — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:36:09 +0000

I was browsing through Hulu.com, one of my favorite new sites if I may add, and found this video clip from SNL. I personally think that Mr. Phelps needs to be just a bit more careful where he decides to do his recreational smoking in the future, but found the SNL piece was pretty entertaining.

Happy Belated New Year

Raven — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:37:00 +0000

Yeah, it’s that time of the year again. Where did 2008 go? Hell, where did January go? As you can tell by my slacking post count for last year I was quite busy and dedicating time to post in one form of another. So, I think I need to push myself to at least get a post a day else all those people who actually visit won’t have something to look at. Wouldn’t that be a worldly tragedy … I’m sensing that you’re not taking this as seriously as I am attempting to be.

Dear Sonny Perdue

Raven — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:53:19 +0000

Sonny, I just have few questions for you .. Do you actually live in the same state of Georgia as the rest of us? Are you suffering from any form of mental illness? Do you have your own personal supply of gas that you aren’t telling anyone about? Have you recently driven around Metro-Atlanta? Did you happen to notice the current state of nearly ever gas station?

Technorati Tags: Georgia gas crisis,Georgia gas shortage,Sonny Perdue

The reason I ask these questions is simple, after reading your recent comments I seriously have to wonder about your current state of mind. Your statements sound as if you are living some place else instead of actually being aware of the state that you’re presently the governor. Did you move recently without telling us?

I was reading up on the "supposed" gas crisis and found this article which made me seriously wonder. I wasn’t wondering if there was a gas crisis - having to hunt down a gas station is proof enough for me - no, I was wondering how someone could ever say anything like this:

“There is ample fuel in the city,” he said. “It’s not everywhere it needs to be, but we do not have a crisis in the sense that we don’t have fuel coming in.”

Uh, Sonny .. if there is ample fuel why is it that every gas station I pass doesn’t have prices up, has bags over the pumps, or has a line spilling out into the street cause its the only place to get gas for miles? Are you that out of touch with the reality of the situation? Who is keeping you informed of this issue and if you run into them in the near future I’d check for a pulse, or perhaps new pair of glasses or updated hearing aid. It’s all over the streets, the media, but for some reason you are governing with blinders on hoping it will go away without effort from you. Okay, okay I know you did "something" - yes, you let us use dirtier fuel cause its easier to get versus the cleaner alternative. I’d have to say if you planned ahead perhaps we wouldn’t need to burn smog fuel, but I guess that’s all water under the bridge now. Planning, if only you would of been aware of such a shortage occurring .. oh wait, you were told.

I’ve heard from the media that you were alerted to the impending issue around September 11th, or around that time, but you decided to take action AFTER the crisis had hit. Nice planning Sonny, and let’s give you kudos for completely ignoring the issue till the state was nearly dry of fuel. Did you come up with this master plan by yourself or did you consult with someone else? If the latter I would seriously never ask them for their opinion ever again. If you happen to think of this response all by yourself, well .. then I’m really worried that you have the foresight of Georgia clay.

Live Writer

Raven — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:55:05 +0000

I can’t recall where exactly I read or heard about Live Writer, but decided to finally download it and give it a try and see if its worth all the hype. I some times like to wait until the dust clears, and the fixes come out before testing something out. At first glance it seems quite easy to create a post with the template style sheet information being used to show you exactly how your post will look prior to publishing. It has a spell checker, which is always a plus when it comes to writing. Allows you multiple accounts to publish to an assortment of blogs depending on your posting needs. I’m curious how it handles images during posting .. I guess I’ll find out when I publish this. Then there’s the perks .. advantage .. or annoyance of having plug-in options. What would the world be like without more plug-ins?

It’s basically a very well equipped GUI based html editor for blog posting so if that’s what your looking for and you want a break from actually posting via the back-end editor then I’d suggest give this a test drive.

All in all I think I’ll keep using it for now .. unless something else comes out that does the same thing … with the same price tag. Free FTW.

Telecommuting Paranoia

Raven — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:09:54 +0000

Even with all the focus on “Green” and “Earth Friendly” options Corporate America is so slow (for the most part) with implementing work at home initiatives. Personally speaking I truly think that the majority of upper management has this paranoia that their workers are going to be sleeping late and napping on the couch all day. With the vast options of broadband internet and the ability to access work related material why does it take so much time to implement such simple plans? It must be related to that “warm body” syndrome when a manager can’t seem to figure out that you don’t need to see someone in a cube to actually know that person is working. I don’t know if it’s a trust issue, a control issue, or just an issue of not being able to implement something new and different.

Management of the World! Wake up! Do something new and different that doesn’t have to do with buzz words, committees, and double talk. Just make a plan and make it work. It’s not that hard.