Hey, this is the guy from WV that helped you fix your PC. I know the ZIP drive should work after the replacement. Hope your XP is running correctly now. If not, ya know who to call, but at least you can back up data after the terrified tech does his duty.

I use Linux almost exclusively at home. The only reason I'll go into Windows is if I need to do something in MS Access (which, as you can guess, doesn't happen all too often).

I love Linux a lot. So much, it's almost suspicious.

But - this venue is not the time or place to have this discussion, so I'll stop.

Yes, cmiper, I agree with you.

I've used Linux in the past. I ended up ditching it, because I had this insane notion in my head that an OS should 'just work', and you shouldn't have to spend four hours just trying to install an application, or format a floppy disk. Of course, it's entirely possible that the newest versions of Linux are a lot more user-friendly.

I've also heard of Lindows. I'm a regular viewer of The Screensavers on Tech TV, and was as slack-jawed as anyone else, when Leo read the news that M$ were throwing their corporate weight around.

I'm glad to hear that Lindows have got some contracts for being shipped on new PCs.

*sigh*

I shall miss you MsJodi!!!

What do we do now?

Max...I heard about that as well. I think they can really give M$ a run for their money...GOOD! They would have a chance to take back what was their's in the first place!

Also, the thing that gets me the most about M$ is that you "Have to use XP OK'd Drivers" where as in the Linux World if the drivers don't exist, you can manually set the settings for the specifications of that device and at least get i t to function until someone creates their own version of the drivers...forget it in windows.

Have you seen Lindows? M$ has already tried to shut them down but the judge said "uh-uh" and they are now being shipped with new PCs! ;-)

Apparently Apple are secretly developing OS X for the Intel architecture, which would mean that it could run on a PC. The project is code-named Marklar (as in those aliens on South Park).

Given that OS X is in fact BSD Unix, with a cutesy front end, it is rock-solid. I run my machines into the ground, and it hasn't crashed since the public beta version.

I really think Microsoft have shot themselves in the foot with XP. First there was the whole "you have to phone them to get a new serial number if you change any of the hardware inside your computer" debacle, and now there's the fact that the (fucking enormous) XP service pack, didn't actually fix any of the problems I've had.

Of course they'll blame the chipset manufacturers (I have a VIA chipset, God help me), for not making good drivers, but at the end of the day, why the fuck is there O.S. that fragile that users have to hope and pray that every manufacturer in the computer industry can read their mind?

Should we be sitting shiva for the computer?

Figures! Just found the perfect site and now it's gonna be kaput, all in the space of five days. That's a rather tragic turn of events, indeed. Will be dutifully waiting for your bite-sized return Jodi.

Dear! That sounds absolutely supercalifragilisticeXPialidocious. Remember, when things get bad you can always sing this little ditty along with Mitch. Here are the lyrics:

And ev'ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree!
It's very clear to me

That a...
Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-down
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his
Bits of twine and twig

Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song
Will move the job along

For a...
Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-down
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

Ya know. I have been having XP hell lately too. Patch after patch...reboot after reboot. And I thought they said you rarely got the blue screen of death with XP? Bull puckey, I say, sirs!

And all of a sudden Outlook Express disconnects me from the Internet when I try to open my mail!
What is UP with THAT?

What scares me is that whenever Jodi seems to have a computer issue, I do too! Cosmic XP orphans!

vagio-techno juxtstaposition?? Good thing it is pouring rain here in Texas, helps keep the levels of BS down. ^_^ Thomas, its too early in the morning.

I fucking hate Windows XP. It is the worst operating system I have ever had the misfortune to attempt to wrangle.

Good luck, Jodi - hope you're able to beat it into submission soon.

Aagin, dear readers, this is my fault. Jodi's lust for my image has obviously caused her to not only numb her lip on the monitor, but she must have been trying to mate with the computer itself, not understanding that I'm really NOT in her CPU when she sees my web page.

Oh cruel fate that has cursed me with my svengali powers! Take them back, I say! Make me an ordinary man so that no other fair maidens suffer with vagio-techno juxtstaposition! Why God, why?

Trouble with Windows XP? Surely not?

Time for that Mac you and the D.O.G. have been thinking about getting.

I really do sympathise though. Ever since upgrading my PC, it's been nothing but trouble, and no amount of patches, or service packs seem to solve the rather severe driver issues it has.

Thankfully, I have two sleek and stable Macintoshes, running OS X, that never crash and almost never need rebooting.

Suddenly my life feels so vacuous. So empty. So totally devoid of... oooh my, iced buns!

Oh god, can computers have scleroderma too ?

Why even bother to turn on the computer? Nay, my friend... with no Jodi, why even bother to wake up in the morning?

WHY GOD, WHY?

(slo mo)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

JODI!!! NO!! I can't do this week without you!

If there's no Jodi, why even bother to turn on the computer?

Feh.