Recently, I came across this great article about "The Game of Life" by John Conway. I plan to watch the original BBC documentary this excerpt is taken from sometime this weekend, but here is a piece from it:
This is along the same line as Richard Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker." In his documentary Dawkins had done a similar experiment using a computer program.
“I have more confidence in the methods of science, based on the amazing record of science and its ability over the centuries to answer unanswerable questions, than I do in the methods of faith (what are they?).” -- David J. Gross, director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, Calif., and co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics.
No Rooms for You, Period
That is in my computer. Before running down all the details, let me say I'm absolutely anal about the programs, processes that can run in my computer. Of Course, I will download the next cool DVD Ripper. If I don't like it or it just doesn't do much of a good job, must go. Talking about not liking programs or processes,
I HATE ATT & YAHOO. OK, I do like Flickr and Yahoo Pipe. But I HATE ATT.
The horrible experience with ATT's unlimited long distance phone service 4 years ago did it for me. I did not want anything to do with them since then. Until Cingular (or SBC, the parent company of Cingular) decided to merge with the bastard. As fate would have it, right around that time I had also signed up for the family plan as my brother just started college & couldn't afford a cell phone. When I went to the find out about the family plan, the sales rep basically lied about the total monthly bill. Since then I have complained to Cingular/ATT several times. Their response acknowledging the reps misinformation:
You were issued a credit the month after you signed the 2 year contract with us.
Me: Yes, a $20.00 dollar credit. What about the extra $40 I'm paying every month now?
I'm sorry, but there's nothing else we can do about it.
Me: When is my contract over?
8/8/2008. Hmmm...that's kinda funny (lightly smiling)
Me: Mark my word, I will cancel my service with you that day & I will ask every one I meet to always choose something over you guys.
I used to be a big advocate of Cingular until the whole f#$%ing merge. After checking with all four companies (i.e. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile & Cingular) I singed up with Cingular and I was happy, used to tell everyone about their great service & all. But that all has changed now.
Coming back to the issue of programs & processes, I spent about 4 hours helping my friend setup XP Pro in his new Acer Aspire M1610 that initially came with Vista and also helped him go online. And that's where my frustration begins. I will write my thought about the Acer on another post.
He signed up for the ATT Yahoo DSL service. As I'm setting up his machine, I also get on setting up the DSL. After setting up the modem, I can't simply go online without running their stupid installation CD first. It won't let me just configure the modem from a browser. I must run the CD first. Ughhh... I know what's coming already. After running the CD, Yahoo starts with changing my Homepage in IE with att.yahoo [dot] com. Why? Did you even ask my f#%#ing permission before doing that? Only if that was the end of it.
After rebooting the computer automatically, I got the DSL to work. Now I'm doing all this in my laptop since his machine is getting loaded with XP. After setting up the DSL, I go thru Add/Remove Programs & Program Files to delete all the ATT & Yahoo folders. After rebooting the computer, I get the screen that basically wants me to load the CD again as Yahoo will try to setup my connection.
What? I thought I got rid of you bastards. First, I check processes running in my machine. Hmmm...nothing. Then I check Startup Items & lo and behold there is one. It's called RecoverFromReboot.exe and that creep is in
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
So, I delete it from the Temp file, reboot the computer & picture perfect. So, why it made me so upset? Cuz
I should be able to setup the DSL without running the CD first
I don't need, want or care for Yahoo Installer
When I removed the program from my machine, it means I want it gone. So, all the programs associated with it should be gone too.
I wasted 10/15 minutes of my time trying to remove the craps from my computer
I also wasted 20 minutes with an ATT rep for a freaking password since for some mysterious reason that was never given but we are suppose to know it.
Well, enough ranting. Here's a great commentary
I HATE ATT & YAHOO. OK, I do like Flickr and Yahoo Pipe. But I HATE ATT.
The horrible experience with ATT's unlimited long distance phone service 4 years ago did it for me. I did not want anything to do with them since then. Until Cingular (or SBC, the parent company of Cingular) decided to merge with the bastard. As fate would have it, right around that time I had also signed up for the family plan as my brother just started college & couldn't afford a cell phone. When I went to the find out about the family plan, the sales rep basically lied about the total monthly bill. Since then I have complained to Cingular/ATT several times. Their response acknowledging the reps misinformation:
You were issued a credit the month after you signed the 2 year contract with us.
Me: Yes, a $20.00 dollar credit. What about the extra $40 I'm paying every month now?
I'm sorry, but there's nothing else we can do about it.
Me: When is my contract over?
8/8/2008. Hmmm...that's kinda funny (lightly smiling)
Me: Mark my word, I will cancel my service with you that day & I will ask every one I meet to always choose something over you guys.
I used to be a big advocate of Cingular until the whole f#$%ing merge. After checking with all four companies (i.e. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile & Cingular) I singed up with Cingular and I was happy, used to tell everyone about their great service & all. But that all has changed now.
Coming back to the issue of programs & processes, I spent about 4 hours helping my friend setup XP Pro in his new Acer Aspire M1610 that initially came with Vista and also helped him go online. And that's where my frustration begins. I will write my thought about the Acer on another post.
He signed up for the ATT Yahoo DSL service. As I'm setting up his machine, I also get on setting up the DSL. After setting up the modem, I can't simply go online without running their stupid installation CD first. It won't let me just configure the modem from a browser. I must run the CD first. Ughhh... I know what's coming already. After running the CD, Yahoo starts with changing my Homepage in IE with att.yahoo [dot] com. Why? Did you even ask my f#%#ing permission before doing that? Only if that was the end of it.
After rebooting the computer automatically, I got the DSL to work. Now I'm doing all this in my laptop since his machine is getting loaded with XP. After setting up the DSL, I go thru Add/Remove Programs & Program Files to delete all the ATT & Yahoo folders. After rebooting the computer, I get the screen that basically wants me to load the CD again as Yahoo will try to setup my connection.
What? I thought I got rid of you bastards. First, I check processes running in my machine. Hmmm...nothing. Then I check Startup Items & lo and behold there is one. It's called RecoverFromReboot.exe and that creep is in
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
So, I delete it from the Temp file, reboot the computer & picture perfect. So, why it made me so upset? Cuz
I should be able to setup the DSL without running the CD first
I don't need, want or care for Yahoo Installer
When I removed the program from my machine, it means I want it gone. So, all the programs associated with it should be gone too.
I wasted 10/15 minutes of my time trying to remove the craps from my computer
I also wasted 20 minutes with an ATT rep for a freaking password since for some mysterious reason that was never given but we are suppose to know it.
Well, enough ranting. Here's a great commentary
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