I'll give it a title when I think of one.

GRRRRrrrrrr. I am getting so sick of a lot of todays software that either connect to the developers homepage upon first run or worse, are those that do it periodically. And even worse than worse are those that "check". Check my arse, they are doing a lot more than that in some cases and I just wanna get my hands on those responsible for implementing that "feature" and giving them a bloody good beating.

I'm a bit of a software junkie and really do waste a lot of time playing with programs, but a number of people ask me for recommendations for programs that I think will do the task of whatever it is they want to do, or I will just recommend it as something to try coz it's nifty. They know that I will not tolerate programs that are, among other things, intrusive. That is, always sticking themselves in your face, "checking" this or that, and basically just giving me the pip. Some are decent enough to allow one to disable these in the options, but some don't and I find that totally unacceptable. I consider it a form of arrogance, to put it mildly.

Some M1cr0S0ft programs are at the top of my "Death Wish". Too many to mention here but the one , or two, that really get my goat are the software/driver installations for my mouse and keyboard. [ Actually the Keyboard didn't even last a day with me coz it's crap (how dare MS change the default function of the F (function) Keys. What arseholes. Aren't they aware that some people, like me, still use the "DOS" prompt and access our BIOS occassionally. Yet, with those annoying "F LOCK" keyboards it defaults to the multi-media functions. HUH??? at the DOS Prompt, sheesh, they really thought that one out. Fair enough if you like their use but at least they could activate ONLY when Windows is loaded.) ]
.... Anyway, I digress. The mouse and keyboard software that runs upon each boot periodically tries to get out to the internet, and I reckon it's about once a month. I'll have to check my Firewall Logs to be more precise. The thing(s) that irks me is that a) there is no option in the configuration to disallow this, let alone make any mention that it is going to "phone home" occasionally ... and b)WHY. Why would mouse and keyboard config software try to get out to the internet? To check for new drivers? Once a month? Gimme a break. With the keyboard situation, I cannot help but think of KeyLogging. Ah well, maybe it's just an omen to extract my rectal digit and move onto some other OS. Anything BUT MS.

I'm afraid that todays computing is really getting less enjoyable for me when connected to the internet. I got a lot more enjoyment out of my computers when I didn't even have an internet connection. I didn't really need Anti-Virus software, although I did use one. I didn't need a firewall (there's 3 computers in my network but I'm the only user). SPAM and all that crap was not even a consideration - the list goes on, and on, and on ......

What's it to be like in only a short time from now? Ughh! Unbearable is my prediction. Anyone who takes the time to do their homework on the upcoming Windows Vista will soon realise that it will not be a choice of OS if what I have bitched about is a concern. Even if 50 percent of what I read is true then I still won't EVER be using it. But that's another chapter.

Think I'll go and find a joke to read, laugh, and then post it as "A Joke before bedtime #2" - hehe. Just typing this has got me in a bad mood (well, I was before I started typing this - time to lighten up ).