OSY Discussion Forum

Madan

I'm in a science/math workshop that is showing us an online educational tool called Riverdeep. Riverdeep basically focuses on specialized topics and subject area and then provides the kids with application/flash driven activities.

The mathematics application is great but the science just plain sucks monkey butt.

The boss of the program, a very high up in the district(boss to my boss) enters and proceeds to try and sell us this system, which we already have access to but which she wants us to use on a daily basis.

She started suggesting that my cash strapped school should use our limited funds to buy a couple of mobile, wireless laptop labs for the application use. I make it clear to her that such purchases would be close to half a million dollars and that it makes more sense to upgrade the desktops each class has.

Another teacher chimes in to complain about how our PCs(PC and Mac) always crash and proceeded to lambast the technical IT person we have, you know, the one that darkgamorck defeded vehemently, and stated that our system, despite new expenditures sucked...

I jumped in to state that our HP computers and Win 98 OS sucked ass and that's why we were having problems. I told her that upgrading to XP on each machine, plus minor RAM upgrades would make more sense. At that point, she went off on me...

The woman, feeling threatened, started making wild statements about how it was impossible to "maintain pace with Microsoft" and how "Microsoft were only out to make money with XP". She literally argued with me about how XP is *worse* than 98, in terms of stability and features.

I tried to explain that 98's days were numbered and that newer applications were going to break on 98, and how XP's kernel was much more stable, possessing full(not partial) protected memory and pre-emptive multitasking...

I tried to explain that HP sucked and that Dell was a better choice and she would hear none of it. The debate ended with me angrily telling her:

"So we have half a million dollar for two wireless laptop labs but we don't have enough for an upgrade per desktop?"

Idiot.

**Newsflash!** I just spoke with our technical IT person. He just told me that he *downgraded* all the new XP desktops we received...to 98 because, get this, he says that 98 is more "secure" and that if he used the XP, which are more "powerful", he wouldn't be able to secure his NT servers and the network would be more "powerful" than his servers. Don't ask me what he means, that's the most precise he explained it to me, despite my urging for more complexity.

He said 98 was better than 2k and that the 98B was better than 2k because it(2k) was "crap". He followed up by saying that he didn't want to use Linux because it was too "buggy" and didn't want to use "OSX" because he didn't know "Mac", nevermind the fact that he was hired when we were almost all Mac. :/

He ended the discussion by telling me that there were no Mac models for less than 1k. When I showed him the eMacs(799/999), he said that they "sucked". When I showed him that they matched the specs of our new black Dells: P4 1.8 128/ATI Rage 128...he said "but HP is quality and Apple isn't...Apple use cheap parts"...

When I showed him several CR rankings with Apple at first or second place, in quality tests...he said that there was "wrong". I showed him the PC World article about quality comparisons(where Apple was #1) and he denied it again, so I ended our conversation and got back to work.

Feel sorry for me.

Mad.
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Lovin' Mely.

HitScan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 9:36 am Post subject:

The Eleven · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 9:38 am Post subject:

I think two quotes from our quote thread are applicable:

from Robert A. Heinlein through HitScan

"I believe that in America today, 5% of the population can think and does. Another 5% cannot think at all. And the remaining 90% can think, but choose not to."

I think you just ran into two 5%ers and not the good type.

Also,

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"
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"So, for the sake of debate, I say you are an idiot. Hey, I don't have to prove it or even use any kind of logic to back up my assertion of FACT, after all, it's only a debate, right? And you can't deny it, because you obviously have vested interests in not being called an idiot. See how stupid this seems? Well, your posts sound exactly like that, if you don't use the basic rules of debating."

OSY's PaoloM responding to Afantee at the Ars BF in Afantee's over-the-top thread asserting that Panther has left MS in the dust once and for all.

FondueDaredevil · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 9:48 am Post subject:

Gah.

And I thought I had the best, "I once worked at a backwards, fucked-up place" story - and you still work there!

Madan, you have my deepest sympathys.

FD
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"There's no set architecture in Linux. All roads lead to madness" - William Hilf, Microsoft homonculous

Supervillains for Linux!

Madan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 9:53 am Post subject:

Jeebus, just *thinking* about all those copies of XP wiped out make me so angry I could throw up. :/

Mad.
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FondueDaredevil · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 10:02 am Post subject:

Madan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 10:18 am Post subject:

Mord · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 10:38 am Post subject:

Your admin needs to be shot. I really hope he doesn't get paid more than you.

Madan, its quite possible that those XP machines are running PIRATED copies of Windows 98. There's no way on earth the guy wiped all of those XP installs, and then bought a Windows 98 license for each machine. Because the XP license for each of your desktops would likely be OEM, there's a chance that the license DOES NOT include using older versions of operating systems.* And even if I'm wrong and somewhere in the small print Win98 is allowed (which I really doubt), go with it anyway and watch the look on that fucktard's face.

Hit the higher ups with THAT and see what happens.

*Retail licenses, on the other hand, can sometimes include the use of older OSes. In a previous job we used to buy Windows 2000 AS licenses that allowed to use NT Enterprise Server instead.
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Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God. - Superintendant Pang, Lashou shentan (a.k.a. Hard-Boiled)
I note that you don't have any OSY member quotes in your sig. - the twinkster
Nonsense. "Bias" is people whom don't agree with me. - FondueDaredevil

Gabe: I wish you weren't a fucking liar.
Tycho: I'm not a liar.
Gabe: Well, I wish you didn't lie.

Madan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 11:02 am Post subject:

I'm notifying my boss because it's the right thing to do but I'm not telling him *anything*. I don't need any more enemies.

Mad.
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Lovin' Mely.

FondueDaredevil · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 11:32 am Post subject:

Magus · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 11:48 am Post subject:

/me hands Madan the ClueX4

A good savage beating is in order. Give a few extras licks for me, will you?
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<Paolo|Work> anything that has to do with Java is by definition stupid

1 The Network is my domain, I shall not want; 2 though it makes me wait upon collision, it leads me to the Internet; 3 it restores my connection. It leads me in paths of hypertext transfer for google's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of power failures, I fear no data corruption; for backups art with me; thy UPS and thy status light, they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a firewall before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my CD-R with BurnProof, my buffer never underflows. 6 Surely good deals and pr0n shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Datacenter for ever.
-HitScan

Wilde is a 4' chinese man in a bright pink tutu, lime green pimp hat with peacock feathers, and a purple feather boa, wearing tissue stuffed snakeskin combat boots, holding a gun bigger than he is, smoking a cigarette in the parking garage, trying to look menacing while pouting and head banging to Godsmack I stand alone

Madan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 1:49 pm Post subject:

Yep..can you believe it? Hundred. :/

I'm in fucking shock.

I can't believe it. All those *months* of teachers wondering *what* he had done with the machines...why they weren't installed and the answer was he was slowly reinstalling 98 over XP? 0_0

And that entire explanation still bugs me. He refuses to move his servers over from NT 4 to 2k or XP because then he would "be part of our district network and they would offload traffic onto our network..."

WTF does that mean? What would altering our servers' OSes have to do with the district using our network for bandwidth? :/

He went on to say that XP is more "powerful" than NT...
I asked him "So because they're more "powerful" would that pose a security threat or something?". He just nodded his head once and moved on..

He was saying some crazy shit.

None of that makes sense right? *I don't network Win enough to tell you...but it sounds phony.

You can secure a Win NT 4 server from XP workstations, right?

Mad.
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Lovin' Mely.

Magus · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 2:02 pm Post subject:

That explanation is utter horseshit.
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<Paolo|Work> anything that has to do with Java is by definition stupid

1 The Network is my domain, I shall not want; 2 though it makes me wait upon collision, it leads me to the Internet; 3 it restores my connection. It leads me in paths of hypertext transfer for google's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of power failures, I fear no data corruption; for backups art with me; thy UPS and thy status light, they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a firewall before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my CD-R with BurnProof, my buffer never underflows. 6 Surely good deals and pr0n shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Datacenter for ever.
-HitScan

Wilde is a 4' chinese man in a bright pink tutu, lime green pimp hat with peacock feathers, and a purple feather boa, wearing tissue stuffed snakeskin combat boots, holding a gun bigger than he is, smoking a cigarette in the parking garage, trying to look menacing while pouting and head banging to Godsmack I stand alone

Madan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 2:18 pm Post subject:

Good, I was figuring it was just me.

Mad.
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Lovin' Mely.

Mord · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 2:31 pm Post subject:

"horseshit" is such a great word. I don't use it nearly enough.
_________________
Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God. - Superintendant Pang, Lashou shentan (a.k.a. Hard-Boiled)
I note that you don't have any OSY member quotes in your sig. - the twinkster
Nonsense. "Bias" is people whom don't agree with me. - FondueDaredevil

Gabe: I wish you weren't a fucking liar.
Tycho: I'm not a liar.
Gabe: Well, I wish you didn't lie.

HitScan · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 2:34 pm Post subject:

What you have is called a dinosaur. He may be a young dinosaur, but dino he be. He needs his stupid ass fired, and a real tech hired in his place.

If I could tellecommute I'd consider it, for a lofty sum. Very Happy

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longmarch · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 3:10 pm Post subject:

That is the worst thing I have ever heard. Surprised

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AllYorBaseRBelong2Us · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 3:22 pm Post subject:

with people like that, why the frick did AYB go nearly a year without a tech job?

Confused

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This and other statistics can be culled from Jeremy Reimer's Personal Computer Market Share: 1975-2002, a very impressive piece of information gathering. The numbers tell some very interesting stories.
- http://lowendmac.com/musings/03/0131.html

Man, I need to get out more. You know smam is getting to you when you go to a canadian restaurant and start wondering about moose cock. -OscarWilde Smile

Torturing a dog or a cat for sport is not disgusting because animals have rights, it is repugnant because human beings have obligations. If animals look to us as gods, and we in turn torture them, have we not willingly made ourselves into devils? -Johan Goldberg http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003852165_goldberg27.html

You are a strange creature, Jeremy. *

AllYorBaseRBelong2Us · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 3:36 pm Post subject:

no Mad. None of that tripe makes sense. AYB is wondering how he can get a network to work at all, perhaps the real reason he installed 98 is because he knows one or two things about 98 he found out somehow, knows that he knows *nothing* about XP and probably hasn't touched the NT server since his arrival and wouldn't have a prayer as far as figuring out how to configure a 2000 server. AYB doesn't know the full story with your tech 'buddy' Madan, but he seems to have the technical knowledge of a fifth-century fishmonger, BC!
_________________
This and other statistics can be culled from Jeremy Reimer's Personal Computer Market Share: 1975-2002, a very impressive piece of information gathering. The numbers tell some very interesting stories.
- http://lowendmac.com/musings/03/0131.html

Man, I need to get out more. You know smam is getting to you when you go to a canadian restaurant and start wondering about moose cock. -OscarWilde Smile

Torturing a dog or a cat for sport is not disgusting because animals have rights, it is repugnant because human beings have obligations. If animals look to us as gods, and we in turn torture them, have we not willingly made ourselves into devils? -Johan Goldberg http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003852165_goldberg27.html

You are a strange creature, Jeremy. *

Thundar · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 3:38 pm Post subject:

John 11:35
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In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice, they are not.

AllYorBaseRBelong2Us · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 3:41 pm Post subject:

Jeremy Reimer · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 4:01 pm Post subject:

That's horrible, Madan, my sympathies.

The IT guy sounds like he has a bad attitude and he's completely incompetent. That's a dangerous combination. I can deal with people who are either one or the other.
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"Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries."
-- Carl Sagan

"Its not a rule. Its just something I noticed. Several of us have more than one sig." - Mord

Dvixen · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 4:32 pm Post subject:

Erm. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't 98 totally suck so much ass that MS is going to be discontinuing support for it?

(Or is that 95?)

At any rate, kill that git, and give his job to someone with more than a single digit IQ, for the sake of your sanity!
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Mord · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 6:06 pm Post subject:

OscarWilde · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 8:22 pm Post subject:

There seems to be a lot of people that are stuck with Windows 9x for some reason. A lot has to do with just being really comfortable with the way things work. XP/2K/NT does sorta change how things work, but for the better IMO.

None the less, what the guy said is lame.

I had to force my friend to switch from Windows ME to Windows XP. He refused for the longest time, and when he finally did, he keeps talking about how great it is. Meanwhile, my friend and I keep rolling our eyes and saying to him, 'we know its a GOOD OS, its why we FUCKING SUGGESTED IT TO YOU!!!!'

Very Happy

What an idiot!

Anyway, next time you see the IT dood, look around to see if anyone else is there, and if the coast is clear, put the medal to the pedal (right phrase?) and run the bastard over. Don't kill him, just handicap him and reduce his physical ability to equal to his mental abilities. Very Happy

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