Misc. Ramblings

The guy who took the photo on the left used to work for Microsoft. I say used to because he was fired. He was fired, according to his post, for publishing the picture on his blog and describing the fact that he worked in the printshop which is in the same building that MS has their receiving dock. His post, found here, recounts how his supervisor said the post had violated security by describing where he worked (the printshop) and that it was in the same building as receiving.

No, you can't know what specific building that is from what he said nor can you get that information from the photo. So it is not a giant leap of faith to reckon that he was fired for something else other than saying where he worked. One could speculate that MS does not want the world to know that they use computers with operating systems other than their own. I know it would be incredibly petty of MS to fire someone because they have evidence to the contrary, but I have no better explanation.

At this point, nothing can be done for this guy. But think about what kind of company you are supporting when you buy your next PC or piece of software. No, I'm not saying your buying decision should be based solely on politics, but perhaps the day is soon coming that making the right decision and the "politically correct" decision may be the same.

As for me, this is the needle that broke the camel's back (insert disclaimer here). I had been thinking about buying the latest version of Microsoft Office for our office. I am no longer thinking that. We can't yet convert over to OpenOffice, because it is still not ready for our needs, but if this is what happened, and there's nothing from MS saying otherwise, I will not buy another Microsoft product. Ever.

Skype's the Limit. If you are into voice-over IP, and liked KaZaA, you may want to check into Skype (see their site here). Their latest beta (version 0.94) came out yesterday and the best part is that it's free. I haven't tried it myself but it sounds interesting.

Press Zero to Exit. CNN Money has a list of 12 companies and the telephone escape codes needed to reach a person, rather than navigating through a maze of directories to reach the person you need to talk to. I hope someone will expand on this effort and let people know how to get around the various automated systems. In any case, see the post here to view the 12 they have.

Mail

To: Mike Hunt
From: Dewey, Cheetum & Howe
Subject: FW: Danger FYI "Warning. Terrorist plot on 28th."

Don't go to the bathroom on October 31st.

CIA intelligence reports that a major plot is planned for that day. Anyone who takes a poop on the 31st will be bitten on the rear by an alligator. Reports indicate that organized groups of al-Quida alligators are planning to rise up into unsuspecting American's toilet bowls and bite them when they are doing their dirty business.

I usually don't send emails like this, but I got this information from a reliable source. It came from a friend of a friend whose cousin is dating this girl whose brother knows this guy whose wife knows this lady whose husband buys hotdogs from this guy who knows a shoeshine guy who shines the shoes of a mailroom worker who has a friend who's drug dealer sells drugs to another mailroom worker who works in the CIA building next to the brother of the guy who cleans the toilets.

He apparently overheard two guys talking in the bathroom about alligators and came to the conclusion that we are going to be attacked. SO IT MUST BE TRUE!

Have a Safe Halloween and a Great Weekend - Aloha!