Not with software.  With software once purchased you’re stuck with it.   There is typically a very strict “no return” policy, and this sucks.  It’s to the point now where most stores wont even take back unopened software.  Once the transaction is done, its done.

So if you get that software home and it just plain doesn’t work, you’re hosed.  You’re just out that money, and you have absolutely zero recourse other than to not purchase that companies software any more.  That’s where I’m at with Ubisoft.

The reasoning for having zero recourse, and the reasoning you can’t return software is very simple;  Software piracy.   If you buy a TV at Walmart you can’t take it home and clone it.   But you can with software, so the industry as a whole assumes that everyone is out to clone their software because we are all dishonest, thus this ‘no-return’ shenanigans goes on in the name of loss prevention.

I mean seriously, this is a whole industry that thinks and treats their customers as crooks..   What other industry blatantly dislikes and mistrusts their own customers this much?

The problem is that major software companies like Ubisoft bank on the fact that you can’t return their shit, so they are more than happy to churn out crappy product after crappy product.   More over, since they know you have no recourse they don’t bother to provide any form of support for those crappy products.    So this is yet another example of the software industry screwing the honest consumer.

I purchased Silent Hunter 5 in the hopes of being able to play it, and it doesn’t work.  It crashes every time I run it.  I have installed/reinstalled it a number of times and have followed all the instructions I can find.  I have updated all drivers on my system to include bios and mobo drivers and still have the exact same issue.  No other game has this issue except this one.

It still doesn’t work.

I have posted on the Ubisoft support forums and have gotten zero responses.  I submitted a ticket to Ubisoft about the issue only to have a canned response telling me that my drivers were out of date… which they aren’t.

I honestly and in good faith purchased this product to play it, and for whatever reason it doesn’t work.  As a customer I believe I have a reasonable expectation of getting support for this product, but apparently that’s not the case as zero support has been forthcoming.

So, I should be allowed to return it.   But I can’t and they know it, and this pisses me off.   I’m just stuck with this dead piece of software.

So now my only recourse is to simply never buy anything Ubisoft again.  First you call me a crook by forcing me to use your shitty DRM, and now you call me a crook by refusing to let me return a product that is clearly broken all because you think I’m a pirate.

See.. the irony is, you guys hate your customers so much and fear software piracy so much that you have gone to such extraordinary lengths to stop it only to have succeeded in creating the very environment in which it’s acceptable by even the most honest person..

You obviously hate your honest consumers, well I hate you back.  Fuck you Ubisoft, your dead to me.

I will never buy another Ubisoft product.  You shouldn’t either.

Hostgator Sucks

I have moved my hosting off Hostgator because frankly, they suck.     My site was suffering repeated down times, crashes, database disconnects, SSH daemon crashes/hangups, ..etc..

The big pisser for me though was the SSH restricted access that they had given me, combined with the more recent downtime..

For whatever reason I’d try to SSH into my account and it would fail acting as if there was no SSH daemon running..  I’d have to contact them via their live chat system, wait in queue forever for some support monkey to help me, only to have them either tell me that;  A) nothings wrong.  B) I don’t have an account with them or best of all C) “Oh yeah we changed the SSH port to ### now.. use that.. ”

Seriously?  You just up and changed the SSH port?  Why?!  It’s been 22 for ever.. Now suddenly its 2222? … WHY?!

Apparently their support team is filled with more assholes than a donkey in an iron maiden..

Okay that probably wasn’t fair, but it was funny =)..  But I mean seriously, If I can’t SSH/SCP into my box then there is a serious issue here..  They also have it setup apparently so that you can’t have more than 2 SSH connections at a time, and each time you SCP a file to/from the box it creates a new connection, thus that’s the reason for the failure of the third connection attempt and the reason you have to wait for 3 minutes for those connections to time out.  (Or so their tech support drone said.. )  What a crock of shit..

And when I did finally manage to SSH in they had me stuck in a jail shell so I can’t do dick anyway.. I just wanted to use screen people.. that’s all!!

It wasn’t so bad 2 years ago when I first got the account, but it’s been getting worse and recently my site was down for nearly 48 hours.. Done.. Stick a fork in me..

I’m kicking them to the curb..  Their shit stinks and if they continue they are going to be hurting for business..

EDIT:  Okay so I did talk to them at length over the phone about the service I was getting and they didn’t make a lot of excuses or try to be shady about it, but rather owned up to the issues and apologized.    While I am unhappy with their service, I am impressed at how they handled the whole thing..  They were very professional and courteous..   So with that I’m still moving on, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they are still a good company, if maybe just not the right ones for me.

Voting Process

So as a general rule, I don’t vote.  I don’t vote, and it’s my right to do so.  Leave me alone.  Stop harassing me with mindless slogans and social pressure.  I don’t want to be bothered by it, I don’t have to be bothered by it, I won’t be bothered by it.

The common sense rhetoric that often follows my making that statement is that if I don’t vote, then I shouldn’t complain or that “bad officials are sent to govern where good people don’t vote”.. etc..

I disagree.  I maintain that voting in ignorance of the issues or the people and their policies is worse that voting at all..

I don’t vote because I know myself to not be educated as to the various parties, stances, issues..etc.  And that you by voting, have in fact gone out of your way to educate yourself, as opposed to voting from a stance of ignorance..  So if you vote badly, then I can complain about your poor choice.. =)  I say this facetiously but there’s a hint of truth to it..

Either way I am very tired of the often attempted guilt inducing slogans and verbiage that voters feel is their right to spout at those who choose to abstain..  The very notion that those who refrain from voting are often the ones to blame, or that some how by not acting as an agent for one party or another makes you an agent for the other side is pure shenanigans..

Some might wonder why I don’t go out of my way to educate myself as to the issues and the people so that I can offset the ignorant..etc..    I don’t vote for a number of reasons but the primary one is because I’m completely disillusioned with the system and because I am tired of trying to sift through the reams and volumes of lies and bullshit to get to the nugget of truth that an individual should use to cast their ballot..

I really believe the system is broken.  It’s not because I’m lazy or that I simply don’t care.  If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be writing this.  I just don’t like how things are working right now and am voicing my right to not “pick the lesser of two evils” and I don’t feel in the least bit guilty about this..  I have made a choice to not make a choice, and that’s okay.

See the whole voting process is based on the notion that we are all equal and that we all get to turn in one ballot, and those votes should all be treated equally with no exception because we are all educated on the issues and policies.  Sounds great!  But its completely unrealistic.  Gone are the days were it was even possible to know all the candidates, or the issues.  It’s simply not possible.

This very system means that someone who is so stupid as to not know the Earth revolves around the Sun, or that evolution actually happened has the power to negate your carefully considered opinion just because some bumper sticker or social pressure guilted him into going out and voting.

So with one swift stroke, or a flip of a switch this uneducated person (who has no idea what or who they are voting for) has the power to enact through their vote legislation that will now affect you.

I agree that individuals should have the right to vote, and that they should do so with an educated view of the outcome, but the masses are so far from being “in the know” that it breaks the system down, and that’s exactly where the government wants you.   The government wants you to believe that by choosing one or the other bad candidate you’re in charge and making a difference!  Crock of shit.

Politics any more is about who can out lie the other, who can put on the best face and look good on TV.  How many TV ads start with one political jack monkey bashing another one in order to prove he’s the best.  That’s broken.  If the only way one candidate can differentiate himself from another is to bash and badmouth, then he has nothing worth having and he’s already lost.  What happens though when they all do it?  Who do you vote for when they all suck?

More over,  I really believe one vote doesn’t matter, doesn’t make a difference..  If Candidate A had 23.012345% of the vote before I voted, and 23.012346% of the vote after I voted it makes no difference.  No news outlet reports that many decimal points.. The simply truth is that one vote has no value and I can prove it to you;

If my vote is such a big deal I’ll tell ya what, I’ll sell you my vote.   I’m pretty sure I can get a mail ballot and send it to you so that you can vote as me..  You can vote for anything you want..  That’s pretty cool right?  Suddenly you could double your voting potential!

How much is my vote worth to you?  How much money are you willing to send to me in order to get this “precious commodity”?   yeah I thought so..

Ultimately though, it’s my right.  I served in the US Army and after words as a Police Officer to ensure your freedoms and mine.  I choose, to not choose.

I play a lot of online games, and that means I’m forced to interact with the greater online gaming community and thus anonymous asshats on the internet..  And no matter which game I play, people seem to think its perfectly okay to act as big an asshole as humanly possible.

My current online game of choice is League of Legends.   A great game with only one serious flaw; other people.  Actually I take that back, if they would just remove the chat system entirely the game would rock..

They have a chat system where by a team can talk to one another and form strategies and use tactics to overwhelm …er.. I mean flame one another and act complete assholes..    Oh goodie..

Seriously whats the point of a chat system when people only use it to call one another “noob” or worse..  It’s not used for actual game play, which is what it was clearly design for.. or even friendly chat..  But rather used to cast the most obnoxious slander and profane slurs at other people just to get a rise out of folks..

Most of these children haven’t had their nap yet for the day so they frustrated at the game and feel the need to lash out at their own team..

Today I had one guy go off on me about how I was a noob and the worst player he had ever seen when I was ganked by 3 other players..  *shrug* I died.. it happens.. 3 people jumped me.. 3v1 is hard to pull off in LoL.. No big deal..    The same 3 people did it to him, and he was “unlucky”..  Oh I see.. so when I die it’s cause I’m a noob.. when you die to the exact samething, you’re just unlucky.. What a jackass..

This sort of behavior happens every game..  More over, I see people all the time actually demand that other players do what they say.. never mind how you want to have fun.. no you do what I say!!   Seriously?   How about you play your game, and I’ll play mine..  Where do you get off demanding I play a certain way?  Who the hell do you think you are?

The question I have to the gamers out there that feel the need to show your ass is;  why do this?!  Why do you feel the need to bash and badmouth everyone?  Is your life so pathetic that you must put everyone else down in order to feel good about yourself?   Why do you think you’re better than everyone else?  Why do you think you’re opinion carries more weight or that you know better about everything than everyone else?

It really frustrates me because I was raised to be a good person and not treat other people like garbage..  I also believe you shouldn’t say anything over the internet that you wouldn’t say in person..   And lets be honest, the vast majority of these kids wont dare say this shit to someone in person because they know they’d be eating fist shortly there after..  That makes them a coward too..

So, now you’re not only an asshat but a craven one at that..  Why can’t you leave people alone?   Don’t be like this.. it just makes you look bad..

The real sad statement is that a lot of kids these days use this obnoxious and profane behavior as “good-natured banter” when it’s anything but..  Being intentionally harsh and rude to someone is never a good idea unless you have known that person long enough to know its okay and they know you’re kidding.. It’s certainly never okay to a complete stranger..

But then that’s the issue.. Anonymity on the internet means everyone’s a stranger.. More over, it means you’re 100% anonymous and can say or do anything you want “without repercussion”..  The fact that most people choose to be a jerk as opposed to nice is a sign of our times, and a bad one..  I tend to think of it as the harbinger of our societies downfall that people go “asshole” before they go “nice”..

My father always told me that a true test of character is what you do when no one can stop you..  I have to think that kids that act this way fail this test completely..

Acting obnoxiously on the internet is not only rude, but it’s a cowardly act and you’re pathetic if you behave that way..   More over, you don’t know everything and certainly don’t have the whole picture, why not just do your thing and let other people do their thing..

Or even better, try something new for once..  Be nice..

Stop the DRM

When will companies learn that their draconian efforts to prevent piracy only serves to hurt their paying customers which directly affects their bottom line!!

Companies, you must stop counting pirated copies of your software as “lost revenue” — it’s not! Someone who is willing to pirate software isn’t willing to pay for it.. EVER! So you never had their money in the first place..

You’re trying so hard to capture that imagined lost revenue that it’s blinding you to how badly you’re screwing yourselves and your real customers..

Equating the number of pirated copies of your software directly to dollars is retarded.. More over, implementing these harsh DRM models only serves to prevent the honest players from playing your games, which effectively assures that you’re going to lose real money in the form of people who actually DO buy your games going else where..

Let take the new Silent Hunter 5 game as an example.. SH5 (a game with a lot of bugs and other issues that already pisses paying customers off) comes with the new DRM which forces you to be connected to the internet 100% of the time. The new system which the Ubisoft exec’s spin as being a positive thing for the customer is constantly phoning home to make sure you’re still allowed to play the game.. The game you purchased.

If at any time during your play period the connection to the mother ship fails, you stop playing the game. You can’t save your game.. You can’t do anything.. Effectively the game you purchased goes into cripple ware mode.. This is bullshit.

The hacker community took one good look at that and said “F’to you Ubi” and hacked it within the first 24 hours of release.. These people had no intention of buying the game in the first place so who does it actually hurt?

ME! If I’m playing the game that I purchased and I go on a road trip with my laptop, I can’t play it.. The hacker can.. he can play just fine..

If I am playing the game that I purchased at home and for whatever reason my internet goes out (it happens), I’m screwed.. Not the hacker.. He can keep playing..

So.. whats my recourse? Nothing.. I’m just shit out of luck.. I have to either accept their crappy DRM because apparently they think I’m the problem, or not buy the game in the first place.. The hacker doesn’t care, he isn’t troubled by these problems at all and in no way has the DRM affected him at all..

DRM only punishes the paying customer! Ubisoft is trying like hell to spin their new DRM in a positive light, but it’s not.. they claim that it’s “A platform of online services for PC titles offering gamers a more in-depth gaming experience as well as providing an innovative solution for reducing PC game piracy.” HUH?!

How did you do either of those things? It does absolutely NOTHING to offer me a more in-depth gaming experience and in fact does the opposite in that suddenly I have this invasive piece of software on my system that prevents me from playing at all from time to time.. I paid for the game, yet I’m punished.

And it doesn’t prevent or even reduce software piracy considering it was hacked out in the first 24 hours. The hackers never even notice the games DRM, it doesn’t bother them in the slightest..

At this point you’re actually encouraging people like me to hack the game because your own DRM is preventing the honest player from playing the game he paid for.. That’s right.. your DRM which is there to prevent piracy is actually encouraging piracy because otherwise we can’t play the game.. Good job genius..

You’re so busy counting the imaginary lost dollars you’re missing the fact that your real dollars are heading out the door.. The proof is in the pudding.. Your current sales for this year are down by over 20% and I have to think you only have yourselves to blame..

I realize fully that the “higher ups” are the ones making these decisions, but someone MUST stand up and tell them why DRM is not the right solution.. If you guys don’t stop the DRM shenanigans you guys are going to hemorrhage not money, but customers..

Apple Fanboy

I understand brand loyalty, but Apple fanatics take it to extremes..  Buying something just because it has an Apple logo on the side is ludicrous..  Recently I had (via a forum) a conversation with someone who was in the market for a new monitor and they had their heart set on either the 24″ or 30″ Apple Cinema Display..   I pointed out the 28″ monitor that I use and offered it as a possible alternative simply because the ACD’s are stupidly expensive..

I told him that my monitor was much less than the 30″ ACD he was leaning towards, and in fact you could likely get 6 of mine for one of those.. Plus I pointed out that the majority of the stats for my monitor was actually better than the ACD.  To which he said that the monitor I used was cheap and ugly.   And compared the Apple Cinema Display to a fine bottle of wine, where as my monitor was a cheap sixpack.

What a pretentious douche..  He completely discounts my suggestion not on merit.. not on facts like specs or technical reasons.. No.. but because the Apple product is a fine bottle of wine, where as mine is a single out of a cheap six pack..  Wow..  The level of snobbery amazes me..  Hey buddy, you’re douchebag is showing..

Fine.. its his money, if he wants to blow almost two thousand dollars on something that he could get for three hundred.. go for it..  My mistake for trying to be helpful..  I gotta say though blind loyalty like that is retarded..  Buying something just because its the most expensive doesn’t guarantee its the best.. And buying something just so you can say you have one is equally dumb..  Fools and their money..  Most likely all you’re buying is that Apple logo..

Having said all this, I love my Mac Mini and the Apple products I use.. I have several.. I just would never purchase one of their monitors due to them being outlandishly expensive..  And for me the biggest thing that keeps me from buying more Apple products are the fanboys like this who are so snobby and stuck up it’s painful to deal with them.  And to think I actually tried to help this “genius”..

Apple needs to reinvent their image cause frankly that shit puts people off..

As of this writing the price of gold is at $1120 an ounce which is an all time high.  That alone should be your first indication that;  Now is not the time to buy gold!

The price of Gold is where it’s at right now because of the economy and because gold sellers are driving the cost up through fear.  They want you to go buy their gold so that they make money.  Period.  They don’t give a crap about the economy, your we being or future or any of the other BS they try to sling on the commercials.  Stated simply, they are in the business of making money and they are trying to do so at your expense.

The only “winner” when you buy gold at these prices are the companies selling the gold as they will make out like bandits having sold gold to you at over a thousand dollars an ounce. You wont be saving money, instead you’ll be giving your money to these unscrupulous companies who are doing their best through fear to drive the price as high as it can go before it crashes.  And it will crash.  Let me explain why;

See.. Gold is a commodity and a standard.  As such, it’s value never really changes.  What changes is the dollars value in relation to the gold.. So when you see golds value go up, what you’re actually seeing is the dollar go down.  When you have say 10 ounces of gold worth $3000, and suddenly that prices shoots to $10000 what you’re actually seeing is the value of the dollar shoot down.  10 ounces of gold is still just 10 ounces of gold.

When the dollar strengthens again (as it always does) you’ll see the price of gold go back down to something more reasonable.  This is why I say gold WILL crash..  that means that the folks who purchased gold at $1120 an ounce will take it on the chin..

I’m not saying that you should never buy gold.. Actually I think gold can be a good thing to buy, but only when the dollar is very strong (and thus the price of gold is lower).

Razer Mamba

Update (Jan 23, 2011) :: So several months ago the mouse optics just up and quit.. Everything else worked, but slowly over the course of a couple days the optics got less and less responsive and then finally stopped all together..   I had put the mouse in the closet on the shelf which is generally where hardware goes to die at my house..  Today I went in there to do some cleaning and putter around only to find that the mouse battery cover had been forced off by a battery that had swelled to more than double its original size!!

My opinion on this thing is back to “avoid at all costs”..  The level of support being what it was and the number of other folks who have similar issues tells me that this thing sucks bad.  Add to that the random deaths, the number of folks who have similar optical issues, the battery swelling issue, the very short battery life and it’s inability to work on some surfaces… yeah.. don’t buy this mouse.

Update (Nov 1, 2009) :: After all is said and done, I have the mouse back from Razer and it is working as I think it should.   It doesn’t do the sleep-death thing it was doing previously which implies to me that the old firmware was horribly buggy and the newer firmware is required for sure..  That was the number one issue previously and it appears to be resolved..   The Razer management team that I dealt with were nothing but professional and courteous though I am still concerned about the “standard” support they are providing as those folks didn’t give anywhere near the level of support that I got directly from the president and his main man (of course)..  My over all opinion on the device itself has gone from “avoid at all costs” to, “okay its not bad so long as you get the most recent version”.  I still find myself occasionally using the G7 which I still find telling but I am not sworn off Razer products as I was previously..  And no they didn’t pay me or make me say these things..

Now on to the original post ::  I was pretty frustrated and angry when I initially wrote this.  The tone is a lot harsher than it should be and for that I apologize, but the message is still basically what I want it to be..

As I have said previously, I’m a pretty hard core Logitech fan.  I use a lot of their hardware, and am always very happy with it..  I have used several Logitech mice in my day (corded and cordless) and up until fairly recently was using a Logitech G7.   The G7 is one of their cordless gaming mice and I have used it for a while.   I really like it, it’s a wonderful mouse and I highly recommend it.  My only complaint being that I wish it had 2 thumb buttons instead of one.. that was it.. my only complaint..  I managed to break the mouse wheel on mine though due to my own stupidity and being a bit rough with it, so it was time to replace it..

A buddy of mine has a Razer mouse and loves it, so when I was at the store and saw the Ferrari of the Razer mouse line; the Mamba wireless gaming mouse — I went ahead and picked it up..

At $129.99 I expected this thing to perform like no other..  In fact, at twice the cost of my Logitech G7, I expected it to perform twice as well..  It came in a really nice box, with a lot of high and mighty claims on the box so I was thinking I had a winner..

Let me be clear here – this mouse is the biggest piece of shit, I have ever.. and I mean.. EVER used..

I have been struggling and fighting with it for a while now, it’s beyond the time for me to take it back or I would.   I’m going to compare it to the Logitech G7, which I now know to be a superior mouse in every way except possibly the three listed below which has nothing to do with how I use the mouse;

• Packaging: The Razer folks took some queues from Apple on this one, the unboxing of the mouse is actually really impressive.  They use very high quality packaging.  Nice job.  I mean the packaging was so nice, I still have it all..(that’s not normally for me.. I usually toss the box asap)
• Dual Modes: The mouse can be used both in cordless or corded modes.  That’s a nice innovation and frankly I think all mice should adopt this.  Again.. Nice job guys.. I seriously like this and hope all mice do this in the future.. Quick! Patent it!
• 5600 DPI: The mouse has a very high resolution so I’ll throw this in as a plus but I never used it.. Frankly 5600 is way too high to be useful in my FPS games.. It’s twitchy as hell..  I usually used one click up from default.. (not sure what that resolution actually is)

Yeah.. that’s really it.. I’m trying to think of other nice things to say but I just can’t think of anything..  I have used this mouse from day one as a wireless replacement for my G7 and I expected it to perform as such.. Boy was I wrong;

• Battery Life: Their packaging states clearly that this mouse has a battery life of approximately 14 hours of continuous gaming or 72 hours of normal gaming usage.  Horse shit!  I mean it doesn’t even come remotely close to 72 hours of ANY kind of use.. 72 hours of sitting on the desk and it’s dead..  it doesn’t come close to 14 hours either..  If I get 8 hours of just “work use” I’d be happy..  14 hours of continuous gaming use?!  Bullshit..  This is just a marketing lie..  There is also only the one battery, and the only way to charge it is to put the mouse on the stand.   Fail.The G7 comes with two batteries, and you charge them via a charging station thats plugged into a USB port..  One G7 battery lasts a full day of constant gaming..  I would have to change the battery every day, but it takes a second to eject the old, and insert the new and have the old one fully charged again in no time.   Win.
• Sleepy Mouse:  I have never had a mouse go to sleep as often nor as quickly as this one does.  If you stop using it for 30 seconds (or less sometims), it goes to sleep.   It then takes up to 30 seconds for it to recover, IF IT RECOVERS AT ALL!So you get up to go to the restroom.. Yeah mouse goes to sleep..  Getting a quick drink from the kitchen?  Yeah sleep mode..Most of the time when the mouse came out of its self imposed torpor the buttons would work but the laser optic wouldn’t — so you couldn’t move the cursor.   I would be forced to turn the mouse off via the switch on the bottom, then turn it back on and hope it woke up.  Sometimes it would.. sometimes it wouldn’t..  Fail.This was an extremely common occurance too, it really made me wonder if I had a broken mouse..The G7 never sleeps.. or if it is sleeping it wakes up the absolute instant you move it.. Win.
• Responsiveness: Their claim to fame on the box is that the Mamba has a 1ms response time!!!  Further stating that other mice have 2ms and others have 8ms.. *gasp*Again.. Marketing shit.  Frankly the response times of this mouse mean nothing..   I am not sure exactly how long it takes my eyes to observe a targer, decide to react, tell my hand to move and my finger to click, and my muscles to actually perform that action..  but I’m pretty sure the difference of 1 or 2 milliseconds wont make a difference.More over, due to internet latency all that speedy mouse shit is completely lost in the noise of the intertubes..Further more, due to the sleep issue from above and the fact that it would take up to 30 seconds to recover half the time the mouse seemed incredibly unresponsive..  Epic Fail.Again, the G7 which might be one of those “other” mice and have a 8ms poll .. Bit it always performs perfectly.  And using it I still come in first on CoD Multiplayer more times than not.  Win.

Mouse Suicide!

I can go on.. The form factor took me a little getting used to but it wasn’t bad..  The clicks sound good and feel good, and the mouse wheel is okay if a little “mushy”.. (personal preference)  But its performance as a mouse left me wanting..  A lot.. And often..  The simple fact is the Mamba is extremely unreliable and quirky.. It may work fine as a corded mouse, but as a cordless it’s almost worthless..

On one of the forums I visit they suggested I update the firmware of the mouse to see if that helps..  So I did:  At which point my Mamba committed suicide.

Yeah not kidding.  (Firstly; why the hell does my mouse have a firmware?!  It’s a mouse!! )  I installed their firmware update software, followed their instructions to the letter.. And for my trouble got a paper weight.   The firmware updater erased the mouses brain completely, started its bootloader process then stopped working..  Now it doesn’t even work as a mouse and nothing I do will fix it..  The best part is, there is no hardware reset.

Seriously?! I mean I thought it was telling before that I was forced to leave my broken G7 on my desk for when the Mamba decided to go off into the weeds, but now its completely shit the bed and I’m forced to use the G7 entirely..

I can’t tell you how unhappy this makes me.. I’m so entirely and completely dissatisfied with this piece of hardware.. I’m seriously considering boxing it up and just sending it back to them with a letter to their president..  If this is the quality of their hardware, I will never ever buy a Razer product again.. Ever..  More over I will tell people of my experiences with it.. Ala this blog post, my forums and others..

At this point as my last ditch effort I have created a ticket with their technical support in the hopes that I get some help, but I’m willing to bet I wont get a response.   I also plan to call them tomorrow and see if I can get this straightened out.. I’m sure there is some way to reset the darn thing and I just don’t know how..   But again my hopes aren’t high..  I also seriously doubt the firmware update will fix the other issues this mouse seems to be plagued with..

I really wish I could write this as a personal letter to Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff..  He’s the president and co-founder of Razer and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t make excuses for the experiences I have had..  So.. Mr. Krakoff, this is to you..

Your company  missed the mark by a mile on this one..  Now lets see what your customer service department does..  This can still be a complete win for your company if you do the right thing here..  Good customer service can still save my opinion of you, but at this point I’m frustrated with the Mamba to the point of not wanting it any more..

I’ll keep ya’ll posted.

Day 2 — Razer Phone Technical Support — (888) 697-2037

Razer email support did reply within the 24 hour period.. The response seemed somewhat canned but did ask relevant questions so it was just a way to start the ball rolling..  I wanted faster results so I decided to call..

It took me ages to find the damn phone number..   It isn’t on their website at all.. I had to get it off a forum where someone else did a bunch of research to get it..

Bob answered the call and asked me my name… I told him and at the same time told him that I thought this mouse was a hunk of junk and it was also extremely frustrating and hard to find a phone number for them..

He then mumbled ” ‘ats by design ” prior to asking at normal volume; “What phone number can you be reached at if we get disconnected..”

I stopped him and said “Wait, did you just say thats by design?”  He said “no no I asked for a phone number to reach you at..”.. what a tool.. I’m not deaf..

I’m using a stereo headset to make the call so I can hear you in both ears with perfect clarity..  I know what you said..   You should never say something like that to a customer, even if its true — which apparently it is..

Bob seemed nice enough if maybe a little snarky.. But as a Razer T1 Support monkey, I could tell he was just browsing the web looking for solutions and was out of his depth..

At one point he had me completely remove the drivers for it, then had me try to update the driver via the device control panel, to the driver installer.. Not the driver itself, but to the installer..   I told him that this wouldn’t work and why — he seemed completely confused and put me on hold..

I got put on hold 3 times over the course of the call, each hold period got progressively longer while he researched solutions.. (read the internet, or went to ask someone..etc..  I know how our support monkeys work..)

Later in the call I casually asked “So do you guys get a lot of support calls?”  He said “No not really.. “  I said, “Thats cause the phone number is so hard to find.. thats by design right?” to which he stated.. “Thats right! Its what we hope for…”

… Sure.. why bother supporting your products…  I can’t believe you admitted that..  Saying things like that to a customer can get you fired..

Bob of T1 support knew nothing about this product or how to support it other than what he could read.. After 35 minutes on the phone with him he admitted that “he might actually have to escalate this call to T2″..  Stressing the word actually, as if he was shocked.. I wasn’t..

In my own testing of the product prior to calling I did more trouble shooting and research than he did ..

At 42 minutes he came back and asked “Does the mouse light up?”  .. No it doesn’t.. The lights stopped working the instant the bootloader firmware update failed.. I’m pretty sure I mentioned that early in the call, but maybe not.. I was thinking it if nothing else..

To which he said; “Okay we are done.. we have to get you a new mouse!”  I’m thinking, Yeah.. I knew this yesterday.. I certainly knew it 45 minutes ago..

So now I’m supposed to wait for RMA notice in the email..

Day 2 + 45 minutes — Razer Email Technical Support — RMA’ing this thing

So I got the email pretty much as soon as I hung up the phone..  I have filled it out and returned it..  One thing they wanted was proof of purchase.. well.. I have the thing don’t I?  I have all the packaging too..

I stated on the phone that I didn’t have that so I’m going to assume for the time being that it will be okay..

So far I’m not blown away by customer support here..  It was painful to find and the person I found wasn’t all that helpful..

Lets see if they will RMA it without proof of purchase..

Day 2 + 3 hours — Razer RMA Process

Fail.  It appears they are refusing to RMA this defective piece of crap without proof of purchase.   I have the product in its full packaging, with the Fry’s Electronics label on the front.. but I don’t have a receipt thus they are saying:

1. They can’t verify that the product was purchased from an authorized seller of Razer products.
2. Can’t verify that it wasn’t previously “used”, it isn’t “counterfeit”, and not “gray market goods”.
3. Can’t verify that the product isn’t “defective”.
4. Can’t verify that the unit is still within the warranty period.

Wow..

1.  The product was purchased from Fry’s Electronics in Austin Texas.  I still have the packaging, and at this point I have put the mouse back in the box entirely..  There is a label on the front that is the Fry’s label.. I’m pretty sure their authorized to sell Razer products cause they have a lot of it..  So this is a BS excuse.

2.  I gave you the serial number of the product in the RMA request.  With that you should know if the product has been previously used, or if its counterfeit.. You should also know to which country the product was initially shipped..  Again.. BS.

3.  I can 100% guarantee you the product is defective.. Your software made it so..  That’s the whole point of this attempted RMA..

4.  Your website states that the Razer Mamba has a warranty of 2 years.  Since it was unveiled to the world at CES in Jan of 2009, I’m pretty sure we are still win the warranty period..

This was a canned response letter and is very likely the first thing they do..   Deny first..

Never mind that their product is BROKEN DUE TO THEIR SOFTWARE..  Yeah you heard me.. THEY BROKE IT.. Their update software killed my product, but its my fault and I’m just out the money and now the mouse..

So apparently the only thing I did wrong was to buy a Razer product..

I could be coming away saying; “Wow, I didn’t really like the mouse but their customer support was excellent.. they treated me really well and took care of me.. I’d do business with them again..”

Or, I could be coming away saying; “Wow.. what a bunch of asshats.. I will never ..ever.. ever.. buy from them again.. and now I’m going to tell everyone I know not to.. ”

Based entirely on the experience I’m having, its clear to me they want me to do the second..

More as it happens..

Offensive Footwear

So a co-worker of mine showed up wearing what, at the time, I could only describe as “glove shoes”.  They are sort of like water socks, where each toe has its own sleeve to fit in.  They looked quite comfy and interested me..  I talked to him about it a bit and finally decided, what the heck.. I want a pair!

I went to REI Austin and tried on a couple pairs before settling on one..  They are great!  At first my toes rebelled at fitting into their own slot, but once I convinced them that I actually did want them in there all was well..

It’s sort of feels like wearing a silk glove that had the bottom dipped in rubber.. Extremely comfy to be honest..  I hate having something between my toes so I was a tad worried that I wouldn’t like them due to that but these feel completely natural..

The primary issue I have with them is the down right hostile reaction I get from folks when I wear them..

At this point I have been called a “frog man”, “weirdo” and a “fag”.   Can you believe that?  Someone actually was so offended by my footwear that they called me a fag… Really?   And that was three different people btw.. not just one..  Most people that seem them have a reaction, and not always a friendly one..  Everyone has to comment.. “Nice footwear!”, “What the hell are your wearing?!”.. etc..

It boggles the mind..   Flip-flops / Showershoes are all the rage and if you stop at any social gathering and look around someones wearing them..  Toes completely exposed.. That’s normal and acceptable.. but my version of the same exact thing where the toes are covered is completely foreign  to the point of being offensive to some folks.

They are so “weird” that they jar that person’s whole reality..  Even though they have toes too!  People are odd..

I will say that I kind of feel like I’m actually using my toes to walk with for the first time..  These things are super grippy and when I walk in them, my toes are actually apart of the process..  Where as previously, in a closed mono-toe shoe your toes don’t do much..

In these your toes are busy doing what they were always meant to do and as such, I have some sore muscles in my legs..  As Gonzo put it, it’s sort of like the matrix..   “Why do my toes hurt?  Because you’ve never used them before.. ” hehe  And he’s right!  Nothing hurts.. let me be clear these are awesome.. but I can tell that some muscles are just now starting to be used..

Either way I highly recommend them..

Whack a Seal!

So, on Saturday the 11th of April, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) held an awareness gathering in World of Warcraft where they killed four quest NPC’s as a form of protest for the unethical killing of seals in real life.  Some how it got into their heads that by focusing on protecting the digital seals in a game and instead performing the far more ethical act of killing the would-be digital seal killers, it would bring awareness to the unethical killing of real world seals.

So.. let me sum up for those who can’t put this together — what they are saying is..   Kill the people who are killing the seals.

Are you fucking kidding me?!  How is that more ethical?  They honestly are saying that it’s more ethical to kill humans than it is to kill seals?  That’s their stance?  Really?

I’ve always heard PETA was a bunch of psycho douche bags but damn.. But to their point; Apparently a lot of seals (between 100k and 400k this year depending on which website you go to..) are killed annually by the Canadian government..  Or rather, their killing is sanctioned by the Canadian government..

PETA’s website goes on a very graphic tirade about how awful it is and how each seal “must look on as fellow pups are bludgeoned to death before meeting the same bloody fate.  The anguish that a mother seal feels as she watches her baby being beaten to death just a few feet away from her is horrifying and can be heard in her desperate cries…” Wow.. Nice spin.. Complete bullshit, but a good spin all the same..

In doing research for this, I have watched a lot of videos.. And in each video I have seen it has had some lone guy run up on an individual seemingly adult seal that was alone on an ice flow and repeatedly whack the seal in the head with a hammer on a pole.. Kinda gruesome true.. But PETA paints this as mass murder where all the baby seals are gathered up and executed Auschwitz style.. That simply isn’t true..

Firstly, I have no idea why the Canadian government has an annual seal season.  And from what I have read, no one else knows either..   There must be a reason, and despite what PETA thinks its not because they are all evil evil communists who hate children..  Thats how PETA paints it, but again.. not true..  That’s propaganda..  There must be a reason it’s legal — what is it?

Apparently I’m willing to look at it a bit more objectively than PETA is;  It could be just like the deer season here in the US.. I simply don’t know.  All the websites I have found on the issue are one manner of propaganda or another..  Finding hard facts is near impossible at this point because of all the inflammatory crap being flung back and forth..

The simple truth of it is;  If it’s legal, then it’s legal. You can be offended by it, but that doesn’t mean that its against the law.  You can delve all you want into the morality pool and every one of us will come up with a different opinion on the subject.. But from a legal stand point, you can’t say that killing seals is illegal.  It’s not illegal.

I personally think the primary difference is that seals are endearing..  It’s sort of the same difference between a rat and a squirrel.. Squirrels are cute, we love them!  Rats are ugly, we hate them!  When the simple fact is they are both rodents that carry diseases, only one has a fluffy tail and lives outside which people find endearing thus squirrels are thought of more positively..  Seals are cute and as such we are offended by their early demise..

I’m more than willing to concede that there are baby seals being killed out there on the ice flows.. Probably more than a few.. but to say that all the seals being killed are just cute cuddly wuddly baby seals is pure propaganda plain and simple.  Most folks that look at a picture of a seal have no idea how old that seal is..  Hell they all look like babies right?  I’m not 100% sure, but I thought seals out on the ice flow alone (as in the videos I saw) are adults, no baby seal would go out that far alone..

Here is one of the videos I saw of seals being clubbed to death, and yes — it’s pretty gruesome.   But I would say it’s no more gruesome than a deer getting shot during the annual hunting seasons here in the US..  How is that different?  It’s an animal being killed by a superior species..  Just like a lion that chases down and kills a gazelle for it’s meat..

I eat meat.. The steak, pork and chicken that I consume also was once alive.. and is now dead..  And according to PETA I’m a murderer for it?  Really?  It’s been going on for a long time.. And my maxillary permanent canine teeth sort of imply it was meant to go on.. So why does PETA think that this sort of activity is so bad?

They would answer that a lion wouldn’t kill for sport, or wouldn’t kill for just the skin.   To which I say; Sure they would and do all the time.   Dolphins are one of the more intelligent animals on the planet and they kill for sport..

Frankly, this is just propaganda by an organization that has no power.. You see,  PETA wants to bring your attention to what they call, an injustice.. Something they call unethical..

And since PETA has the word “Ethical” right in their name they must be good right?  The words right there, therefore they must be the ones doing the ethical and moral thing..  So if you disagree with them, then you’re unethical!!  You bastard.

The problem is, it doesn’t work that way.  Ethics are a system of moral principles governing an individual or group.  Those principles are discussed and agreed upon by that group.  No one individual or group can decide what those principles are for another individual or group.  Meaning, what’s ethical here.. may not apply there.  What’s moral and ethical for you may not apply to me..

In this situation you have PETA trying to tell another group what’s ethically right, and if you don’t do what they think is right you’re wrong.   PETA is trying to control you and your way of thinking..   And they think you should DIE for disagreeing.  That’s right..  Remember from above, they think the people killing the seals, should be killed…

Frankly, I find that PETA is nothing more than a terrorist group (or even religious cult) that is extremely vocal and is very good at crafting sensational, vivid, graphic and even horrific language and imagery in order to manipulate people.  They do it in such a way as to make you feel bad if you don’t side with them, and if that doesn’t work they will intimidate, harass and threaten you..

That alone to me seems unethical.

The issue here is, like so many other animals in the animal kingdom (and yes, WE are animals) we tend to think animals are good to eat.. Most PETA members are vegetarians and as such have a moral stance that killing an animal of any kind for any reason is wrong.  Oh and they’ll tell ya about it too.. We have differing ethical stances when it comes to the killing of animals.

I’m all for not killing critters if we can get around it.. but sometimes it’s necessary.. Like for food or for other products that we deem necessary.. Where as PETA paints this picture that we are torturing animals for our food.. Or that these seals are being tortured to death for their fur.  I haven’t seen that.  I have yet to see where they hook up the car battery to the seals teets just to cause pain.  Or where they derive some sick pleasure from slapping a seal around..

In every video I have seen, they kill the animal in very short order.. It may take two or three whacks but its over and done fairly quickly..  How is that torture?   Torture to me implies the repeated infliction of pain over a period of time from which you derive some sick sadistic pleasure..  Walking up to an animal and bludgeoning it to death with intent to use it for one purpose or another, isn’t torture..

I have seen horrific and evil video of animals being tortured.. (Just watch the PETA website..)  Yeah that shits awful.. But that stuff is illegal and there are laws in place to stop it.   The seal hunts are legal, and not in the same category despite what you think.

Look, I love animals.. I do.. I always have..  And I think the torture of animals is wrong and the people doing it should go away for ever.. But it’s pretty clear to me that PETA loves animals more than Humans..

PETA will try to tell you that animals are todays “slaves” and that what happens to a cow or a chicken today is morally identical to what happened to the Jewish people in the holocaust..  And that shit is fucking offensive as hell.. And I’m not Jewish!!  To actually trivialize the holocaust like that is just unimaginable and goes a very long way to prove that anyone who belongs to PETA has no basis in reality.

Hrmm.. maybe they belong in a game?