...And the rains came
May. 24th, 2006 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoTornado watch, severe thunderstorm watch, then the warnings came just as we were shutting up the library and I found I needed an amphibious vehicle to get home. It was the kind of rain where windshield wipers don't do anything, and the lightning strikes seem to start at the zenith and come down all around the horizon. I really did expect to start floating (or sinking) a couple of times.
It lasted only as long as it took me to get home, of course, and was letting up as I pulled into the drive. Probably not a whole lot of actual accumulation, won't know until we can see the rain gauge in the morning.
Oh, and I take back my compliment to Microsoft from yesterday. They have also done something I find unforgivable. The license keys they print on those little "Certificates of Authenticity" that are stuck to PCs made by Dell, Compaq, HP, and Gateway? They made them all invalid because they decided that people would use them to steal copies of Windows XP. Duh. Should have thought of that before doing such a stupid thing, idiots. So if you have to replace a CPU chip or even just the primary hard disk on one of those machines, and you reinstall XP from the legitimate restore CD that was provided with the machine, it's only good for 30 days before it quits working. It demands the key, and will not accept the one from the sticker. So you have to call them and convince them that it really is the same machine before they give you the "real" key. No wonder I hate Microsoft. That's just sleazy.
I'm now convinced that the rumors are true. One of these days, M$ is going to start making their software expire and quit working every year until you pay ransom to get it reactivated. Time to get yourself loose from the tyranny of Windows, people.
It lasted only as long as it took me to get home, of course, and was letting up as I pulled into the drive. Probably not a whole lot of actual accumulation, won't know until we can see the rain gauge in the morning.
Oh, and I take back my compliment to Microsoft from yesterday. They have also done something I find unforgivable. The license keys they print on those little "Certificates of Authenticity" that are stuck to PCs made by Dell, Compaq, HP, and Gateway? They made them all invalid because they decided that people would use them to steal copies of Windows XP. Duh. Should have thought of that before doing such a stupid thing, idiots. So if you have to replace a CPU chip or even just the primary hard disk on one of those machines, and you reinstall XP from the legitimate restore CD that was provided with the machine, it's only good for 30 days before it quits working. It demands the key, and will not accept the one from the sticker. So you have to call them and convince them that it really is the same machine before they give you the "real" key. No wonder I hate Microsoft. That's just sleazy.
I'm now convinced that the rumors are true. One of these days, M$ is going to start making their software expire and quit working every year until you pay ransom to get it reactivated. Time to get yourself loose from the tyranny of Windows, people.
