Bent Corner

One of the most annoying things about working with Microsoft Vista is dealing with User Access Control (UAC). It’s this annoying pop-up that, well, pops up when you try to open certain programs. It asks you if you really, really want to run the program you just tried to open. It asks the first time you run the program. It asks the second time you run the program. It asks each and every time you run the program. It doesn’t matter if you have answered in the affirmative thousands and thousands of times. It will still ask.

It’s a stupid security feature that doesn’t make your computer the least bit more secure. It’s just one of those things Microsoft threw in to Vista to make it look like things are more secure. It’s like having to take off your shoes before boarding an aircraft. Nether practice makes anything more secure.

I looked online for advice on how to work around this annoying feature. This is what I found:

Disabling User Account Control:

1. Press Windows + R, type msconfig and hit enter.
2. Select the Tools tab
3. Find Disable UAC (near the bottom)
4. Click on Launch
5. Restart the Computer

Tags: Annoying Features, Microsoft, Security, UAC, User Account Control, Vista

My PC has been running slow lately. When I would check out the performance in Windows Task Manager, the CPU would often show something close to 100%. I thought it had something to do with Firefox since it was when I had several tabs and even browser windows running when the problem showed up. Then again, my PC usually has a couple Firefox windows up all of the time.

It wasn’t until I tried setting up my new external hard drive that my PC was heavily fragmented.

If you are Mac user or a fake UNIX (Linux) user, you probably don’t even know what a fragmented hard drive is. It’s something only we Microsoft users have to deal with. I used to be hyper diligent when it came to defragmenting my hard drives. Over time I just got out of the habit of doing it. I guess one of the reasons I let the task fall to the wayside was because I don’t think I’ve ever fixed a PC problem by running Defrag. It was always just something I did before actually finding the real cause of whatever problem I was dealing with.

Since defraging my C: drive, I’ve noticed a remarkable difference. It’s ridiculously fast now.

Tags: Defrag, Fragmented Hard Drive, Linux, Mac, Microsoft

I read an article in the LA Times that since Nintendo can’t make enough Wii game consoles to satisfy consumer demand, they will do the next best thing - they will begin selling rain checks. They are calling them “Wii Certificates”. Nintendo hopes to squash criticism and stop prospective customers from defecting over to one of the rival game systems.

We’ve been thinking about getting a Wii. They look like a lot of fun and they don’t cost nearly as much as Sony’s Playstation 3 or Microsoft’s XBox 360. Plus with a Wii, it only comes one way. The XBox 360 and the Playstation 3 both come in different models and editions. It’s confusing. I’ve never really understood the difference between the different versions. For instance, the XBox 360 comes in a special Halo 3 edition except it doesn’t even come with the Halo 3 game.

The Wii only comes one way.

I’ve looked for them every time I go to a retail store that sells them. Though I always see enough Playstation 3 and XBox 360 consoles to choke a goat, I’ve never seen a Wii. They’ve been out a year now and I still haven’t seen one for sale.

Tags: Halo 3, Microsoft, Nintendo, Playstation 3, Sony

I honestly cannot see why somebody would purposely choose to go out and spend money on a Zune mp3 player. Microsoft’s lame attempt at producing something to compete with Apple’s popular iPod mp3 player. I understand that Microsoft felt the need to once again go out and copy something another company first came up with. Once they realize consumers like whatever another company was able to come up with on their own. It’s what Microsoft does.

They “created” MSN when they realized people liked going online with AOL. They “created” Internet Explorer when they realized people like accessing the web with Netscape. They saw how scary popular the iPod was so they “created” an mp3 player of their very own.

Microsoft doesn’t so much as create as it does mimic. In the case of copying Apple’s popular mp3 player, they seem to have done a poor job. Worse then they normally do when they copy something. They actually chose to make one of the three available colors brown. Who does that?

Just who do they expect to go out and buy a Zune? People that have lost bets and must now do something both stupid and humiliating? Are iPods banned somewhere in the country that I’m not aware of? One of the reasons iPods are such a killer piece of hardware is because it meshes easily and seamlessly with iTunes. Microsoft has Windows Media Player. Ouch.

I’m sure there are some Microsoft loyalists out there that will run right out and buy one of these things. I just cannot imagine anyone really wanting one of these Zune players more then they would an Apple iPod.

Microsoft’s Zune Only Looks Simple [Washington Post]

Tags: AOL, iPod, Microsoft, MP3 Players, MSN