Tag: Things that totally suck

Morons

Technology

Several years ago, I had lying around the house some of those “bullet-hole” decals:

…which, for no reason at all, I affixed to the lid of my then-laptop (as I recall, a Gateway), to set it apart from the half-dozen other laptops in the house.  All was well, and I forgot all about them until one day I called on a longtime client, and when I opened up the laptop, he chuckled and said, “Another satisfied Microsoft customer.”  Statement, not a question.

I told you all that so I could tell you this.

I set up my shiny new HP laptop, transferred all the files and data over, and it all went off without too much fuss other than the Thunderbird email setup, but even that was just a small annoyance.

Next was to set up all the hardware.  As I never use a touchpad, only a wireless Logitech rollerball, I went to disable the touchpad — because as we all know, when you type on a laptop, your hand will often brush over the active pad, which moves the cursor all over the place or, more annoyingly, you may hit the “Enter” or “right-click” button by accident, with the expected dolorous outcomes.  This is a simple job:  you find the hardware under Options, and click the “Disable” button.  I say this in the present tense, but if fact, it should be in the past tense because — and here’s the executive summary — with the latest version of Windows 10, you cannot disable the touchpad.  There is NO “Disable” button.  Oh, you can (sorta) disable it, but every time you reboot, it comes back to life.  And guess what?  If you uninstall it, it gets reinstalled when rebooting, too.

So off I went to Microsoft’s “troubleshooting” web page to see if I was just being a moron or otherwise dense.   I wasn’t.

There were TWELVE PAGES of questions on the topic, for both Synaptics and Elan touchpads, and the executive summary is that, in characteristic fashion, Microsoft’s “upgrades” have somehow just fucked this most simple of tasks in the ass.  (Ever tried changing your Windows background to black with Win10?  You can’t do that either.)

And the irritation from the users was, in a word, volcanic as fix after fix was tried, and found wanting.  Even if you go in and physically delete the touchpad drivers, they’ll be reinstalled automatically either in the upgrade process, or (once again) upon rebooting.  The fucking application cannot be killed.

One guy actually ended up going to a geek store and had them uncouple the internal connections so that the touchpad could never work again but, as he admitted, if his mouse ever crashed, he’d be stuck with essentially a brick.  (Nobody knows how to use a keyboard to get around Windows anymore, and I think that some of the workarounds have actually disappeared over the years.)

What a goat rodeo.

So… what did I do?  I did what a couple of users suggested.  Here’s a pic of my new laptop:

And here’s the modified laptop:

Yes, Gentle Readers:  I stuck a piece of cardboard over the touchpad.  High-tech solution, n’est- ce pas?

One of these days, the bullet-holes in my laptop may not be decals.

Sinking Ships, Rats Leaving

Anarchist thugs, BaconLettuceMayo, Crime, Disaster, Law and Order

Oh, dear:  it appears that the double-whammy of the Chinkvirus and the BaconLettuceMayo / Pantifa Lootfest Extravaganza Of 2020 is having an [unexpected!]  consequence:

New Yorkers Flee New York

Apartment purchases for co-ops and condos in Manhattan fell by 80 percent in May.  The high-end market took an even bigger hit – with sales of those valued between $5 million and $10 million down 90 percent.

That article is just in response to the Chinkvirus.  It’s going to get worse as the Pantifa Summer gets going.

Let’s hear it for the Big Apple:

That was in response to the lockdown.  Now add the Pantifa Factor:

Just wait till NYC government [sic]  discovers the lower tax receipts that follow, and the budget shortfall caused by this exodus.

Forgive me for not giving a rat’s ass.  Fuck ’em, and the same goes for their poxy Newspaper Of Record.

Fair Warning

General

At over six years old (240 years in computer age, apparently), my laptop is showing signs of age — it’s slower than I am, more reluctant to work than the average Minneapolis looter, and falls over more often than the late Ted Kennedy at an open bar function.

Ditto, incidentally, my Logitech mouse, which is of the same vintage, and has developed the annoying habit of occasionally double-clicking when only one click is requested.

Tech Support II just clucked his tongue sorrowfully at my tale of woe, and metaphorically speaking adopted the tones of a doctor talking about a terminally-ill patient.  Clearly, there is Nothing To Be Done.

So at some point today, I’m going over to Ye Olde Compooter Shoppe, and will buy replacements for both the above appliances, something I’ve been putting off for over a year because poverty. Now, like the man forced to choose between death by drowning or by a long fall to the concrete, I have no real choice left.

There may be only one post tomorrow while I grapple with the tiresome details of transferring all my stuff from the old hard drive to the new one, while deleting the megatons of unnecessary garbage which seems to infest all new PCs these days.

Bear with me in this trying time.  I hate this shit.

All contributions to help defray said expense will be gratefully received (see the PayPal link over on the right hand side of the page, or paper to the Sooper-Seekrit mailing address).

Update:  it appears as though my laptop’s memory chip has fallen over, and this particular Dell model doesn’t seem to allow for easy replacement thereof — assuming that’s indeed the problem.  Anyway, I ordered a new laptop — and many MANY thanks for all your contributions to the cause.  It should only get here in a week’s time, so posting will be light until then.

Please bear with me in these trying times.

Not Fugly

The Gun Thing, Two-Minute Hate

…but FNugly:

And to describe one of the variants, an even newer word, FNuglier:

I am so sick of all these tacticool toy guns hitting the market.  (And yes I know, “It’s not a toy, Kim; you wouldn’t like to be shot by one.” )

If we’re going to make small carry pieces, can we go back to making guns which actually look decent, or at least look like real guns?

 

But I’m wasting my time, aren’t I?   “But Kim… look at all the cool feeeeeeeatures!  It’s even got a fredded barrel!”

Guns by Mattel… JHC.  At least revolvers still look real.

Chock Full

Disaster, Two-Minute Hate

It’s hard to see how someone could fit any more annoying shit into a single headline:

And for those who, like me, might be clueless about someone named “Lizzo”, look it up online at your own peril.  Seriously:  have a barf bag ready.

Don’t even get me started  about the neo-globalist “One World” Kumbaya bullshit.

Add To The List

Gummint

A summary of more than a few emails I’ve received on the topic:

“Kim, when you talked about disbanding the FDA, how about the CDC?”

An excellent point.  Here’s a piece which catalogs the awfulness of the CDC, who while investigating “diseases” such as childhood obesity and gun violence, completely fucked up when it came to their actual mission.

Toss ’em all overboard, say I, and forget not the concrete boots.