Peter

This is support?

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:51:07 GMT

The following is an actual "online chat" with HP Support after purchasing my new computer last month.

----------------------------------------------------

Prentice
Hello Peter. Welcome to HP Total Care for Pavilion Desktop PCs. My name is Prentice.

Peter
Hello. If I do a clean install of Windows Vista will I be able to activate it or am I forced to use the HP recovery CDs?

Prentice
Well, let me explain you.

Prentice
How are you trying to install Windows Vista?

Peter
I have a Vista DVD that I used to do an installation on another computer. It is a Home Premium disc which is the same edition that came with my new HP computer. It is the full (non-upgrade) edition. But obviously I can't user the same product key, I would need the product ID that came with my new machine

Prentice
I understand that you are trying to install Windows Vista using the recovery discs that you have created for other HP PC, Am I correct?

Peter
No. I am using a sperately purchased Vista DVD, it did not come with any system.

Prentice
Peter, the retailed version of Windows Vista can be used to install on only one PC, as you will have difficulty in activating Windows on the other PC, when you use the same disc.

Peter
My main goal is to get an installation of just Vista without any extra software, is this possible with the HP recovery CDs for this system?

Prentice
Well, the OEM version that is shipped with HP PC does not ask for any product key.

Peter
No but it also includes 3rd party software which I am unable to completely uninstall.

Prentice
I understand that you want to uninstall all the pre-installed applications from HP PC, Am I correct?

Peter
Yes

Prentice
Okay, you can format the hard drive and can install Windows Vista from the retailed disc.

Peter
OK, once I've done that how do I activate Vista?

Prentice
You can use the product key that is listed on the installation disc to activate Windows.

Peter
So I have to buy TWO copies of Vista (the one I paid for with this machine and a seconds retail copy)???

Prentice
Yes, you are correct.

Peter
That's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Prentice
Peter, I see that your PC is shipped with Windows Vista pre-installed, Am I correct?

Peter
Yes.

Prentice
Then you can go ahead and use Windows Vista that is pre-installed.

Peter
But it has software on it that I don't want and can't remove without re-installing Vista.

Prentice
You can un-install the software that you do not use.

Peter
I get uninstalltion error on some programs (e.g MS Office) and other programs do not completely uninstall (e.g. Yahoo toolbar)

Prentice
What's the error message that you see when you try to uninstall?

Peter
I don't have the complete error message handy at the moment, I go through the uninstalltion procedure and towards the end there is a 'scripting error' message and the option is removed from the programs/features list but various files are not removed from the program files driectory

Prentice
Did you try to uninstall applications from Safe Mode?

Peter
No, is that recommended?

Prentice
Yes, you can try uninstall applications from safe mode. I hope I am clear on this.

Peter
Yes, I understand what you are saying though I think the policy is silly. I'll see if Microsoft will allows me to activate Vista using the OEM key and if that doesn't work try the safe mode thing.

--------------------------------

Microsoft wouldn't help me do it either, but after a few hours of re-installing Vista several times (I got through a lot of the new Harry Potter book that day) I was able to get what I wanted, a clean copy of Vista that was properly and legally activated. It wasn't that hard once I figured it out. Who comes up with this wacky policies just to annoy us? Thanks for nothing HP.

Fun with Identity Theft

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 21:00:21 GMT

A box from Amazon.com addressed to "Humbert Uvquiza" arrived at my door yesterday. I haven't recently ordered anything from Amazon so I checked my credit card accounts and sure enough someone had ordered some books on my card and tried to place a $300+ charge for Verizon on there. This isn't the first time mysterious charges have been made to one of my credit cards. Over the past 10 years it's probably happened 5 or 6 times. Each time I've just contested the charges and had a new card issued. I use my credit cards for most purchases and buy a lot of things online; as someone who knows a fair bit about technology I know how hard it is to securely process CC transactions and how easy it is to get it wrong, so a certain level of fraud is inevitable. This is why you make sure you credit card has zero liability for you.

One thing that leaves me a bit concerned is that this was a credit card I recently had "automatically upgraded" by my bank. They decided I needed to have a card with "payPass" RFID technology so you can pay for things just by holding your credit card close to a reader. I don't know if this is coincidence or not, but reading up on the technology it definitely seems quite possible that someone could swipe my credit card information just by brushing past me in a crowd. I don't have a brash-mesh wallet, nor do I really want to get one just for the "convenience" of not having to swipe my card through a magnet reader. Is swiping a card really that hard? Also, when they mailed the card to me it was not in any kind of protective case so it is quite possible someone could have read the information off it before the mail was even delivered to me.

What irks me about this latest bit of credit card abuse is that I've never had stuff shipped to my address before, and even if the thief didn't know my address before they certainly could track the order and know it now (I often have stuff shipped to my billing address at home even if I ask to have it shipped to work so they may not necessarily have known my address before). What would be down right hilarious if it also weren't a little scary is that the two books delivered to my door were: Monster: The Autobiography on an L.A. Gang Member and The Mexican Mafia.

Too Funny

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 21:01:25 GMT

"'Monster House' will be the second film produced using Robert Zemeckis' ImageMotion 'performance capture system' first employed on THE POLAR EXPRESS. Unlike POLAR though, this film is actually supposed to be creepy looking." Article

Yay States

Wed, 28 Jan 2004 06:21:54 GMT

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Seen on the web...

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 16:06:29 GMT

A new California invention!!!

A major research institution in Santa Barbara has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet known to science. The new element has-been tentatively named Governmentium.

Governmentium has 1 neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 3 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause some morons to become neutrons, forming isotopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass and occurs every 4 years, whereupon it decays and new Governmentium is formed...

Robert Rouveroy csc
The Hague, Holland

Wedding Roast

Sat, 23 Aug 2003 07:22:47 GMT

It is a tradition in my family to "roast" the bride and groom on the eve of their wedding. Everyone is given a letter of the alphabet and must tell an embarrassing/funny anecdote using that letter. Here is my "I" roast for my older brother...

I is for Impala, Martin’s favorite car
built most likely, from a single steel bar.
We called it the Tank, and most rightly so
but that didn’t account how fast it could go.
I is for Inertia, which builds up quite fast
while driving a ton of steel, leather and glass.
I is also for Ignorance, a.k.a. bliss
which Martin was feeling ‘till he didn’t miss
a large object just to the right of his car
leaving the Impala a rather deep scar.
Lesser cars would have crumpled and been tossed in the trash
but the tank drove away with a single big gash.
And then there’s the legends of what those two did
Secrets to which I will now blow the lid
They took-out fences and big blue mailboxes
They ran over animals- both deer and foxes
They drove through red lights and plowed right through traffic
The carnage they left was really quite graphic
The tank, you see was quite simply unstoppable
In the derby they entered they were untoppable
They knocked over buildings and blew past the cops
They even avoided National Guard special ops
They took shortcuts through forests mowing down trees
They brought a small country right to its knees
I don’t know how many of these legends are true
But listen carefully what I say to you
Those two must have gone through an awful lot
based on the sorrow that I saw brought
when Martin took leave of his Hastings residence
and dad sold the car for a few measly dead presidents.

Sat, 03 May 2003 06:45:59 GMT

An 18-year-old high school senior who has been named co-valedictorian with two other students asked a federal judge to intervene, saying that being forced to share the title with students with lesser grades would detract from what she has accomplished. She said she would be asking for $200,000 in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages. [Full Story] Guess who wants to be a lawyer when they grow up (if they grow up)...

news...

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 08:18:20 GMT

"Automobile crashes climb more than 40 percent in the hours after the Super Bowl... both fatal and nonfatal crashes increase after the football game, causing an average of 7 additional deaths and 600 extra injuries. That increase is larger than the New Year's Eve increase in the United States. The average number of people killed in crashes after the Super Bowl was 24, the number of people injured jumped to 1,900, and the number of crashes topped 4,000 in the first few hours after the game."
[Full Story]
I guess all that tackling just inspires people.

[Photos]

Sun, 17 Nov 2002 00:26:31 GMT

SCOTT BARBOUR/GETTY IMAGES
British Prime Minister Tony Blair as reflected in the podium speakers during his address at the Labour Party's annual conference in Blackpool, United Kingdom.

RIC FRANCIS/AP
Breath easy, L.A.

Soda Linguistics

Sun, 15 Sep 2002 21:12:44 GMT

A Miracle

Tue, 06 Aug 2002 03:49:00 GMT

The most wonderful and most curious thing happened today. While stopping at the ATM on my way home I hit the "No Receipt" button and it actually DIDN'T print a receipt! I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever experience this phenomena.

Sun, 28 Jul 2002 18:56:59 GMT

Overheard when walking by two scruffy young guys sitting on the sidewalk infront of Rite Aid:

"...I came out here to go to college, but then they wanted money from me..."

Life According to Google

Sun, 21 Jul 2002 01:21:09 GMT

Who am i? Accoring to a Google search...

Peter is a Terminally Sad Gear Junkie
Peter is used by local authorities, government agencies, Blue Chip companies, retailers, and charities
Peter is active as a singer, harpsichordist, composer and musicologist
Peter is the most difficult
Peter is released from prison
Peter is one of the best restaurants in San Jose
Peter is 62 and a retired professor
Peter is looking for his Canadian father, Jack
Peter is ready to release their first album entitled "Ode to the Cheese"
Peter is four months old!
Peter is one of the best in the country
Peter is a Monkey
Peter is an old arse sweeper
Peter is set to step down
Peter is Peter
Peter is about to meet a bunch of Chickies!
Peter is a performer on sitar and various modified fretted instruments
Peter is engaged
Peter is a gentle, easy going, and attentive dog with high energy
Peter is made of poop
Peter is a pseudonym for the future ruler of the universe
Peter is also suffering from episodes which I believe are epileptic seizures brought on by the flickering of his computer monitor
Peter is so sexy
Peter is played by a woman
Peter is re-commissioned
Peter is suffering a great deal from the stress of his kennel situation
Peter is not mentioned after this

(credit goes to JennX for the idea)

Sat, 13 Jul 2002 21:48:42 GMT

Goh Chai Hin	AFP
Shaun Stanley	Dale Ruff

Time.com Pictures of the week
Highly recommend it to anyone who likes photography.

Mon, 08 Jul 2002 01:36:18 GMT

When I was asked as a child, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I would never give a simple answer, I would always have a list of at least three things. Fireman, astronaut, teacher. Minister, inventor, writer. Film directer, web master, teacher.

I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up... and it is starting to worry me that in a job market where people need to be more and more specialized I find myself intrigued by the basics of everything and the specifics of nothing. Example: I've spent the last four days thinking about going off and building windmills.

Maybe when I'm seventy I'll be sitting in a rocking chair regaling my grandchildren with tales of my many varied adventures through life, and in some ways it's liberating to not be locked into any one path; but my overwhelming concern is that I'll never amount to anything. Never accomplish anything significant. I'm not looking for sympathy or fishing for compliments, I just have any overwhelming desire to make a name for myself and be amongst the best at what I do, I just don't know what I want to do, or what where my talents are best applied.

Anyone in the wind business hiring?

Tue, 14 May 2002 03:12:43 GMT

It costs me 62% more to insure my car than it does to insure my health.

Does that mean my car is more valuable than I am?

* The car being referred too is a 1994 Chevy Berretta, missing a passenger side mirror, a left turn signal, and makes weird creaky noises. And it's not even mine, it's my fiance's

Sun, 21 Apr 2002 17:18:32 GMT

There was a earthquake in upstate New York yesterday, reportedly felt as far west as Buffalo and as far East an Connecticut. Who'd have thunk that if I'd stayed in Rochester I might have felt an earthquake before I will out here in Southern California?

Fri, 19 Apr 2002 01:12:09 GMT

Today while walking to work, at the very same intersection where a fountain erupted yesterday, I was crossing the street when a car making a turn stopped and allowed me to pass. About 5 seconds later he was rear-ended at speed by the woman behind him. I feel really bad for that guy! the woman gave me dirty looks but I know I didn't do anything wrong, so I finished walking to work. I hope he gets a big settlement or something.

Marriage

Thu, 18 Apr 2002 06:54:47 GMT

For those who don't know, I got engaged to Jenn X about two weeks ago. I am quite excited about it (as excited as stoic old me can be anyway). We are planning to hold off a little on the wedding, looking at July 2004 as a probable date.

Around the same time Jenn and I got engaged, she learned that an old friend of hers from high school and someone I know from college are getting married next summer.

Then last night I got a congratulations call from my older brother. He said he was really surprised when he got the news because he and his girlfriend (of four months) are talking about getting engaged and married next summer! Last night I also got a call from a college friend I hadn't heard from in a while, and he is engaged and looking to get married next summer too!

Is there something they are putting in the water I should be aware of?

Fire Hydrants

Thu, 18 Apr 2002 06:37:03 GMT

While walking down the hill to work this morning, I noticed a huge geyser erupt from the street corner of Highland and Santa Monica. Water was shooting three to four stories in the air, which is two to three stories higher than anything around it. As I walked closer I saw an MTA bus pulled over, a fire hydrant knocked to the side, and a half dozen fireman rushing around in the intersection. The force of the water was so great that a nearby pole holding a traffic light was swaying like a tall blade of grass in the breeze. I thought fire hydrants were designed so that wouldn’t happen. If I had seen it in a movie, I never would have believed it. But hey, this is Hollywood.

Anger

Fri, 12 Apr 2002 03:03:07 GMT

While riding the bus the other day, two very large, very loud women dressed in revealing leather sat down across from me. They sported a full array of tattoos and piercings, and had blue and green braided hair. One of them began shouting in a flurry of expletives how "some * women was giving her the * evil eye and she should * go * * *" She continued to shout about how everyone should "* the * * and * the * out of her * *." This continued for several minutes until eventually the connecting words fell away and she was just blurting out expletives. Sometime she would switch and blurt out expletives in Spanish, causing the children on the bus to turn around and stare at her while their mothers tried to ignore them. Her companion joined in from time to time but generally stayed quite.

Now I am a very accepting, laid-back kind of guy. I generally don't feel any loathing toward people no matter how much I disapprove of their actions. And for the majority of the bus ride I didn't have any strong negative feelings towards the two women, no matter how they looked or what they were doing in front of other people's families. I just dismissed them as sad individuals who felt they had to lash out against society in the only way they knew how. Then suddenly, something in me snapped and I began to feel an intense anger towards the woman sitting across from me. I realized that people like her are ruining it for the rest of us. People like her are the reason my friends who choose an unconventional style of dress are given nasty looks in public. People like her are the reason my friends with piercings are treated like prospective shoplifters the moment they walk into a store. People like her are the reason no one with authority listens to anyone who doesn't have black, brown, or blonde hair.

Perhaps I should be sensible and blame society for putting anyone who is tattooed and dresses in leather in a stereotype based on that woman on the bus. But in my anger, all I could think at that moment was: She is the reason I can't have blue hair.

Fri, 12 Apr 2002 02:25:24 GMT

I can feel summer coming. I don't like it.

news...

Tue, 02 Apr 2002 16:25:26 GMT

"Last week Boston's Logan became the fourth airport in as many weeks to be temporarily shut down because a screening machine was unplugged."
(Time Magazine, April 1 2002)

My American Dream

Sun, 31 Mar 2002 04:26:01 GMT

I admit it, I want the American dream.

Not the old American dream about working hard, earning an honest living and providing for your family; I want the new American dream- to fall into a large sum of money and never have to work again. Inheritance, lotto winnings, stock dividends, buried treasure, abandoned drug money... it doesn't matter how the money comes as long as there is a lot of it with no strings attached. I used to think that I was above such dreams, that I didn't want anything I didn't earn, but I've recently come to realize that I want the easy money just like everyone else.

But unlike some others, I don't want it so that I can sit on my duff watching movies on my yacht in the Caribbean, I want it so that I can pursue my own goals instead of someone else's. Ideally I could get paid to do what I want to do... but we live in a world where we get paid to do what someone else wants us to do. I just can't seem to figure out how to make what I do into something other people want to pay me for. There are always rules, limitations, expectations, and strings attached. My main problem is that my interests are too diverse- computers, the internet, film, animation, psychology, philosophy, education, mechanics, electronics, engineering... all of these are my hobbies. I want to pursue each with great depth. But all of these hobbies require two things- time and money. In college I had plenty of time to work on projects, but little or no money to fund them. Now that I am in the "real world" I make plenty of money, but have no time for any of the projects I want to pursue. The worst part is that I can't find a good trade-off bewteen time and money in my work schedule. The more time I am willing to dedicate to my job, the more I am paid per hour. The less amount of time I pledge to an employer, the less they are willing to pay me for that time. It's society's great catch-22.

Since extra hours aren't going to be added to the day anytime soon, I can only hope to fall into money which would let me quit my job and give me my time back. I know that if I gathered a small sum of money and began making closely watched investments in real-estate, the stock market, and other areas, I could probably retire when I was 40 and have all the time and money I needed. The problem is that I hate dealing with money, I don't understand investing or tax laws and I really don't want to. I want to pursue my hobbies, my passions.

Anyone out there interested in sponsoring me? I promise to be a productive and inspirational member of society, I just don't feel I can do it on society's terms.

Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:37:46 GMT

So I hear Lance from 'N Sync wants to be shot into space later this year. I'm all for it, assuming he buy's a one-way ticket.