01.05.1999 - GnomeREPORT
Well, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong with Manny. Of course, I wasn't expecting the problems to occur so soon. Turns out there was something slightly wrong with the keyboard connection (it would jump focus without warning--without my fingers being anywhere near the touchpad). That obviously puts the kibosh on doing anything productive. So, within a week, Manny II was on his way. Sit back, this will be a lengthy story. And just so you know, Manny I & II were Gateway Laptops. Nobody paid me (or didn't pay me) to say this.
I swapped out Manny I's DVD/Floppy combo, modem, battery, and memory and put them into Manny II. Now, when I booted into Windows 98, I saw that software was pre-installed (something that I asked them not to do TWICE). So, I reinstalled Windows 98. Everything was fine until I tried to run the DVD software--it didn't work. Now first, let me say that (to begin with) I was disappointed with their DVD software. But I couldn't even get it to work this time around.
So, I called up their laptop tech support a couple of times, and each representative was incredibly clueless. That really upsets me--and if you're a tech support person, I hope that you know infinitely more than the people I spoke with. Each time they gave me solutions that had nothing to do with my problem. Finally, after hours of frustration, answerless tech support calls, and multiple formats & reinstallations, I noticed that Manny II's keyboard was doing the same thing that Manny I's was doing. This was insane, and totally unacceptable.
Then a wiser Tech support individual told me that Manny II had the wrong chassis (which wasn't capable of playing DVDs). He asked if he could send me yet ANOTHER laptop. Now, what do you think I said? No way in hell. After all the hardware bungles and disappointing performance & software issues, there was no way I was going to get another Gateway laptop. Thank goodness I was still WELL WITHIN the "30-day return" time period.
I've discovered that I typically know more about a product than the salespeople I speak with. That's scary (and very wrong). Within a few minutes after informing Gateway that I would no longer be using their laptops, I was on the phone with a Dell representative. Manny III (an Inspiron 7000) was ordered on December 29th, built & shipped on the 30th, and delivered on the 4th. I would have received it on the 2nd if it weren't for the extended holiday. I was able to track Manny III's progress all the way through (kudos to Dell).
I've only been playing with him for a couple of days, but for the same money, I got a better machine (IMHO). Better video card, anti-aliasing in low resolutions, a more flexible DVD drive (I'll be talking about DVD software next week), a nicer keyboard, etc.. They even shipped the system without installing extra software (as I had asked them to do)! I hope that I don't run into the same problems with him (or his company). If I do, rest assured, I'll let you know. The problems I've encountered thus far have been minor (easy workarounds).
Just because I write Lockergnome doesn't mean I get treated any differently--I'm a regular person just like every one of you. It's been my experience that large companies don't care about you at all--they just care about your pocketbook. Before YOU purchase a computer, listen to the "little" guys. They'll give you a straight & honest answer most of the time. Try to speak to more than one person, too. Don't think that your experiences will be much different than theirs. Is it so wrong to want hardware that works? No. Am I a little guy? Well, I'm a consumer... just like most of you.
Be sure to tell a friend about this story, or just have him/her sign up for Lockergnome.
-- Chris Pirillo
GnomePROGRAM
PC-Pine v4.0 [1.4M] W9x/NT FREE
ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/pine/pcpine/pm405w32.zip
http://www.washington.edu/pine/pc-pine/
The other day, my Lockergnome e-mailbox bloated to 30 megabytes in
size (overnight). I couldn't grab any e-mail through Outlook (or
Outlook Express); POP3 would stop cold, and IMAP wasn't working
properly through my two favorite mail programs. I tried loading
Pine through my shell account, and that didn't work either. My
system administrator over at DigitalDaze told me to check out
PC-Pine... I'm glad I did. It's wonderful! If you want to check
your e-mail remotely (IMAP), this works great. It was the only
thing I could use to delete all the unwanted messages on
Lockergnome's server. Please gang, don't send me large attachments
without asking first?
GnomeSYSTEM
SuperDisk Parallel Drivers for DOS & W9x/NT
http://www.superdisk.com/support/software.html
If you have a SuperDisk external drive, check out the latest
driver revisions: DOS v5.42 and Windows v1.25. It's the new kind
of floppy disk, although the disks aren't as floppy as the
original floppy disks.
GnomeCANDY
GEISS Screensaver v3.20 [88k] W9x/NT FREE
Found by David W. Carr
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~geiss/geiss.zip
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~geiss/vis_geis.zip
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~geiss/geiss.html
You're probably thinking: "How can something so incredibly small
be so incredibly cool?" Hey, I don't know. But I do know that this
screen saver truly works; it "hears" whatever your sound card is
playing and then visualizes the audio in a graphical format.
Simply use your microphone, CD player, MP3 files, etc., and GEISS
will render the "beautiful" part. The author has also just created
a GEISS WinAmp Plug-in (second-listed URL). This is absolutely
fantastic for anyone who has a sound card.
GnomeFAVORITE
BrowserSpy
http://www.gemal.dk/browserspy/
Ever get the feeling like someone's looking over your shoulder? I
guess I'm not too worried about website cookies (they gather
"harmless" information about my surfing habits). Some people
believe that cookies came straight from the seventh level of hell.
I guess I've seen and dealt with worse. But, the question is, what
can websites find out about you by using JavaScript? Well, they
can't detect the color of your hair yet, but you'd be surprised at
just how much information they can get. Try spying on yourself...
GnomeDESKTOP
THEME: King's Quest [1.6M]
ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/goodies/pc/moetheme.exe
http://www.sierrastudios.com/games/mask/lead-in.html
One of Gretchen's dreams was to make her own RPG on the computer.
I believe she has the entire King's Quest series installed on her
PC (yes, she has her own machine); the only other game series
she's played more often is Leisure Suit Larry. I just never got
into them as much as deeply as she did. Well, here's the latest
story, and Sierra has compiled & released a Theme for it. There
are other KQ resources to be found at the official site (as well
as links to fan pages). No quest necessary.
GnomeTIP
The quickest way to open up a program (or file) is usually by
clicking on its shortcut. But did you know that you can also
assign key combinations to any given shortcut, in case your mouse
isn't handy? Try right-clicking on a shortcut in the Start Menu or
Desktop and select Properties. From there, select the "Shortcut
Key" line and hit a combination of the CTRL, ALT, and/or SHIFT key
and a regular keyboard character (alphanumeric). When applied, you
should be able to use that key combination you set whenever you
want to launch that particular shortcut. Talk about a key play!