Linksys Goes Bye-Bye

Call me crazy, but installing new hardware (on USB, no less) shouldn't disable one of your PC's best features: the Welcome Screen and Fast User Switching. Well, the Linksys WUSB54GC USB Wireless-G adaptor does so with its software. Not what I had in mind. I'm going to have to go back on the market for a new wireless card that supports 802.11g. And the "This device can perform better" balloons that popped up every time I inserted the adaptor didn't help. My laptop is non-upgradeable, OK? I can't install USB 2.0 compatible controllers, so leave me alone and go soak your head! But perhaps I'm just overly controlling...

Update:
I succeeded in returning the wireless adaptor to the store. Back to looking...

Bye Bye, Power...

So I'm working along at the library of a college, and the lights suddenly flicker and go out. The power supply for my laptop is missing something: the green light. I notice the battery icon in my system tray where the plug used to be. Something's fishy. The power just failed. What's wrong? I'll try to find out, and in the mean time, I'll move my computer before it runs out of juice. (Somehow, the computers in the computer lab are running just fine, along with a few minimal lights throughout the building.) Perhaps we will never know what happened.

!Crazy Teacher Alert! (Or maybe not... Read on...)

Well, I think my History teacher is a bit crazy. I skipped just a small bit of information on my project and she flipped out and took off 10 points (well over 10% of the total). I think I might have to talk about that one.

Update:
I checked the grades for my class; full credit is posted in the gradebook. Mum's the word...

Excuse Me?! This Sounds Like an M$ Strategy

OK, some people have finally lost it. Brought to my attention by the post at http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=1307, trackback attached to this post, a small website called Explorer Destroyer is calling for discrimination against IE users. Bah, I say. If someone wants to switch to Firefox, they will. But blocking IE completely (this is Level 3 in the script) and forcing a Firefox download to view a site is crazy. And the site owner gets money for causing their visitors undue aggravation! One dollar for every referral. I smell conspiracy.

Update (12/12/07): I've revisited this opinion in a new blog post.

Latent Hardware Problem

Hmm... My laptop recently "recovered" from a "failure" of the keyboard. It stopped working one day, but when I started it up again six days later the keyboard problem had vanished. Mysterious... My dad thinks I have a latent hardware problem...

Dell Has Forgotten?

I think Dell has forgotten about my email. They have yet to respond. Fortunately, the crack hasn't gotten bigger, so I guess I don't need Dell to respond after all.

Dell No Response

Dell hasn't responded yet to my message. Hmm...

Dell Update

OK, I've sent Dell an email detailing my complaints. I had to dig through several site levels to find the form, but I managed. Now I'll just have to wait for a response. I hope they'll still talk to me.

QuickTime Terror

Hmm, my coursework has incorporated a "QTVR" component, and IE crashes whenever I try to use it. Error in "mshtml.dll." Grr... I hope that content's not essential.

Dell's Stupid Laptop PC Hinges

Forget buying a laptop. Ever. At least if it has a certain "pattern" to the hinges at the screen-body intersection. I've found that "----___________-----------------------------------___________----" ("-" is on the screen bottom and "_" is on the body) does not hold up. I just got my PC repaired, and it's now out of warranty, but I think it's starting to crack again, after less than 3 months!!! That's great! Now it's time to start shopping for another computer...