Just a quick post to wish you Merry Christmas, and I hope that you got what you wanted.

I’ll make this quick, my rants can go on, I’ll control myself (for once )

No doubt some of you got iPods or maybe even an iPhone (if you have people who love you a lot or you spoiled yourself). In any case, you’re no doubt itching to download all sorts of apps for it.

Perhaps these quotes from a couple of blog posts explain the Apple App Store better than what I can…

Having said that, I have only one major complaint with the App Store, and I can state it quite simply: the review process needs to be eliminated completely.

Does that sound scary to you, imagining a world in which any developer can just publish an app to your little touch screen computer without Apple’s saintly reviewers scrubbing it of all evil first? Well, it shouldn’t, because there is this thing called the World Wide Web which already works that way, and it has served millions and millions of people quite well for a long time now.

Oh, but you say that iPhone apps are different, because they run native code and can do scary things that web pages can’t? Again, you’re wrong, because iPhone apps are sandboxed and have scarcely any more privileges than a web app. About the only scary thing they can do outside the sandbox is access your address book, but Apple can easily fix that by requiring they ask permission first, just like they must do to track your location.

The fact is this: Apple does not have the means to perform thorough quality assurance on any app. This is up to the developer. We have our own product managers and quality assurance testers, and we are liable to our users and the courts if we do anything evil or stupid. Apple may catch a few shallow bugs in the review process, but let’s face it, the real things they are looking for are not bugs, but violations of the terms of service. This is all about lawyers, not quality, and it shows that the model of Apple’s justice system is guilty until proven innocent. They don’t trust us, and I resent that, because the vast majority of us are trustworthy.

I shouldn’t have to argue for why it is better to assume people are innocent until proven guilty. There are plenty of successful platforms out there which free developers to publish anything, but punish them if they do something harmful. This allows developers to move fast, fix bugs immediately, get feedback from users at a very low cost. Any bug that Apple finds after their two week delay would have been found by users on day one, and fixed on day two. I’d rather have a bug in the wild for one day than have an app in the review queue for two weeks.

If you think that all apps should be held prisoner by Apple until proven safe, you should also be able to convince yourself that this is how the web should work. Perhaps I am just spoiled by my many years of web development. The next time I create a web app I will probably feel a little guilty when I upload the files to my web server, knowing that I didn’t have to ask the web police to review the app first to make sure I wasn’t evil.

- http://joehewitt.com/post/innocent-until-proven-guilty/

The other one is much too long, because most of it is relevant, so I suggest you read it here.

Just think about it.

Merry Christmas. J

So, yesterday, after a Road Incidient, I decided to take the plunge and install my newly arrived copy of Windows 7 on my laptop, nuking Vista in the process. The installation was easy enough: once I told it were I was and where to install, it was pretty much self sufficient until it wanted me to introduce myself to it.

Then some problems reared their head, although not strictly the fault of Windows, in that Lenovo didn’t actually ship a proper driver disc. However, all the drivers, bar the audio driver, were easily found on their website. For the Audio driver, I downloaded the Vista driver. Works a treat: in most cases, if there’s no 7 driver the Vista driver should work. If there is a Windows 7 driver available, though, download it.

So, now onto using it. At first glance, it looks an awful lot like Vista. However, it behaves very little like Vista.

For starters, the taskbar has had a makeover. It’s now a bit Mac OS X dockish, but it’s very nice whatever it is. I’ve fiddled with it a bit, so you might see it differently if you go and buy a new machine. On mine, if a program is open, it widens and shows me the title. Otherwise it’s icon only. The three little things to the left of the system tray (Wifi reception, Battery and Lenovo toolbox) are proprietary Lenovo addons. I can’t see myself using the Lenovo Toolbox often, but the Wifi reception bar links to Access Connections which, thank god, hasn’t changed much. The Lenovo battery meter is by far the most usefel thing ever, as it was written by Lenovo exclusively for their batteries and can hence give a better reading than Windows.

Anyway, I’ve had no problems with it. UAC has popped up several times, but that was mainly because I was installing a bajillion drivers yesterday (although in all fairness and honesty, it did’t pop up much in Vista unless you were having a field day installing programs or whatever). Some problems that I had with certain programs under Vista (Yes, Chrome, I’m talking about you) are still there: as I said, Chrome has this nasty habit of not showing the taskbar when it’s set to autohide I hit the bottom of the screen with my cursor, although this is universal across all Windows versions, allegedly.

Aero Peek is sort of like Enchanced Thumbnail view which you may or may not have used in Vista. If you have a group of programs opened, you’ll get a popup like this:

Another interesting thing is this:

Windows Live Messenger, a staple in my Computer Software diet, has two icons, yet only one window. This confuses me as I go to click on the first one, and the window on the right comes up anyway. And if I close the first one, they both close. Go figure.

Feature for those who are in love with tabbed browsing: middle click on a thumbnail in that little window. You will be in love. If you click directly on an icon on the taskbar of an open program, it tends to either make another Window that is somehow related the the one you clicked on (for instance, middle clicking on an Outlook email message will open a new Outlook window, middle clicking on Devices and Printers opens a new Control Panel window), which is interesting as I thought it would make much more sense for it to nuke the window as well. Go figure.

Aficionados of the Windows Media Player Toolbar will be a bit depressed as the toolbar has been removed. However, some of the functionality remains in it’s Aero Peek window:

In a way, this is a good thing because I always managed to click on the toolbar in a funny way and bring up the visualization, which required many more clicks to get rid of. However, Mute and the volume control have been removed from this window. Also gone is the little popup that tells you what the new song playing is: you must mouse over the icon to find this out.

Devices and Printers is now a new feature: it takes the Printers folder and adds a splash of Device manager. Whereas Device Manager show just about everything that the computer has (ACPI Sleep Buttons, anyone?) Printers and Faxes tends to stick with things that the user would see and\or have knowledge about; in this case it shoes me that I have a laptop named Archimedes, a webcam, a fingerprint sensor, and so on. Another cool feature is that, if you give it permission, it will scout the internet for icons of your hardware (with the exception of the fingerprint sensor, I have no idea what that icon is), which might come in handy if you have someone who gets confused easily as they would be able to open this, look at their device, look for a matching image, and go, ah, so it’s an Epson TX300F Series. The mouse and printer are actually quite accurate, but again, no idea what’s up with the fingerprint sensor.

Remember Desktop Themes from Windows 98? It was the only version of the OS to have them as part of a default install (Windows 95 needed the Plus! Pack and Windows Me required the user to install them manually). It made customizing your Windows install easy, and, dare I say it, fun: within five minutes you’d have a new wallpaper, colour scheme, screensaver, icons, cursors and sounds.The concept of themes, sadly, died off when Windows XP was realeased and mainly became a way to switch between Windows XP style and Windows Classic Style. In Windows 7, this has changed:

Windows comes with a variety of themes, with things like Architecture, Nature, Scenes and <insert name of your country here>. Why I say that like that is because that, when you install Windows, it will install a theme based on which country you select. Because I chouse Australia, I got the Australia theme. If I chose Canada, I’d've gotten the Canada theme. And so on. The others are available from the Microsoft Theme gallery, which you can get to by clicking the Get more themes online link. Windows 7 also includes some new sound schemes, which are for the most part variations on the default sounds (which are the same as Vistas), but they’re nice. Screensavers are pretty much the same as well. There are more default colour schemes as well, and the ability to choose your own colours are also retained. And, as per Vista, Aero Basic is still the same bland colour.

Hovering over the Show Desktop button (now the rightmost thing on the taskbar) makes all your windows transparent, so you can either admire your wallpaper, desktop icons or inspect your gadgets. As we can see, it’s a horrid day in Mount Gambier.

So, I’ve waffled on a bit. The next question is: is it worth the upgrade? If you are using Windows XP, the OS itself is well worth the upgrade: Windows XP is almost ten years old now, which means that it really shouldn’t be supported as much as it is, but Vista has kept it alive. But doing the actual upgrade isn’t really, because you have to wipe your hard drive and do a clean install, so you may as well buy a new computer with it preinstalled (A decent Dell with Windows 7 Pro starts at about $900, look under Small Business, Desktops at the Vostro range for this price). If you have Vista, and it’s annoying you, then by all means, buy it. You can either install 7 over the top of Vista, which isn’t always a good idea, especially if your Vista install is dodgy, or you can wipe your hard drive and do a fresh install.

But whatever version of Windows you have now: it is a worthy upgrade.

I’ve been following the Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering blog for a while. For the most part, it’s very interesting and generally intellectually stimulating (lately it’s been about how they’ve designed the user interface, this article is quite interesting), but I just don’t get this…

The new Microsoft Office brand gesture and updated orange color palette is showcased in the animated splash screen. The animation adds energy, expressiveness, and an element of delight to the product launch experience.

Umm… I think Microsoft’s intentions are sincere, but why should I be delighted by a splash screen? I should be delighted by the actual program, silly people!

Anyways, if you’ve not looked at Office 2010 yet, it’s a more sedate design than that of 2007. The icons have also had a makeover, for the worse, I think. Have a look here, and wonder about the quote while you’re at it (it’s almost at the end of the article).

I hate Apple Products. iPods are expensive media players with half the features of their competitors. MacBooks and MacBook Pros command a price premium that no sane person should be able to justify. The MacBook Air is a glorified netbook. The iMac is missing out on features that it’s competitors are getting, such as touchscreens (Linky and, sadly, linky). And I can’t think why a consumer would need a Mac Pro, but, if you do, go ahead, it’s one of the few workstations that make me drool. Businesses are nuts if they want to use Macs, because they’re not as flexible as Windows machines and are expensive. One thing that Apple has got going for it is that they won’t service a Mac if it has been owned by a smoker. And smoking can kill a computer/

But my biggest peeve is with the humble iPood (not a typo) and the iPhone.

They are, if you ask me, two of the wankiest pieces of technology in the history.

The iPod, for instance, is stupid. You have the Shuffle, which is tiny and requires a $40 pair of earphones to make it work. Then there’s the Nano, with a camera (because we never have enough cameras on our persons), the Classic (they’re still making it?) and the Touch (If I may say so, biggest wank ever). And then you have the iPhone, which should really be called the iWantToBeAPhone, because it took Apple a while to integrate features that most other phones had (Copy and paste, anyone? Use of Bluetooth to transfer files to other devices?). Sure, it had a fancy browser, but anyone who has a phone capable of running Java Apps or that has a phone running Windows Mobile or Symbian can have that too. It also has a touchscreen, but Windows Mobile devices had been doing that for years (granted, in an unelegant fashion, but there we go). The first generation also lacked 3G support, so you were always on dialup speeds (Clearly someone at Apple wasn’t thinking straight, but then again, they never are at Cupertino).

Then there’s the apps. Ick. Perhaps this and this will sum up the Apple App Store and how stupid it is. If Apple hasn’t approved an application, then it can’t run on your phone. Yet most other mobile OSes have no issues with letting you run whatever you want… most phones are happy with Java apps, Symbian merely asks that one self signs the application in question at the least, and, well, Windows, being Windows, really doesn’t care.

And of course, why buy a decent phone when you can have an iWantToBeAPhone? Have a looksee here…

Now, I took a sampling from three different phone crowds: iPhone, WinMo and Symbian. The Nokia N97 is clearly the superior phone, as it has features that both the iPhone and HTC lack, specifically a full QWERTY keyboard. It also has a screen the same size of that as the iPhone but with a higher resolution, meaning things look sharper, crisper, et cetera. HTC seem to think that really high resolution on a small screen works (it doesn’t), but if it is executed right it can. And for some reason, the Nokia seems to be able to cram much more into a phone than Apple can and charges $220 less for it. Perhaps it’s because Nokia know that they have a better product, but because people are like, Ooh, iPhone, must be good!, they are ignored. Which is typical, really: people ignore the good and go straight for the nastiest thing they can buy.

Now, after reading this and all the associated links, I want you to tell me that Apple make the best products. How many of you are game enough to do it?

And believe me, they don’t.

/rant

Look! It’s all shiny! I updated the theme to something more 2009. I like it. The gloss is so in.

Anyway, I apologize for my lack of updatage. Check back in a couple of days and I’ll have put something interesting up for you to look at.

Toodle-oo for now,
Douglas

You forgot some things on your last post…

I did. Thanks for reminding me. The images were sourced from www.touchscreensolutions.com.au. They’re a good site with various touchscreens and good prices.

Now… Where were we?

The HP Touchsmart?

Yes. That one.

Well, the HP Touchsmart is an all in one computer (meaning no box, just a screen with everything in it) with a giant twenty-something inch touchscreen.

So… I can buy this one?

Yes.

Okay. You’re very quiet on the subject, though.

Yes. I don’t like HP. They’re systems are dodgy at best, and the horror stories about HP support… you don’t want to know.

So… avoid?

Yes.

Any others?

There’s the Dell XPS One.

Your thoughts?

It’s a Dell. It’ll work.

How much?

From $1999.

You’re joking.

No, I’m not. It even says on the Dell website (That’s an Australian website, too). The right hand one is the only with the touchscreen included in the base price (I was fooled, too, thinking that they all came with it)

Okay. Tell me more.

That’s what it looks like. By default, it comes with a pink trim (eurgh!), but if pink is not your thing, it can be changed to the illustrated blue, a smart looking charcoal grey, a Tuscan red that almost matches my hair, or choose a fully white system. I liked the red, so for my sample build, I chose that.

I reasoned that a Core 2 Duo E7500 was processor enough for Vista (let alone Windows 7), so it would suffice for now.

You’ve got no choice in OS at present (Vista Premium only), so that’s all good.

Office will come in useful for the kids (if you have them), but I’d recommend going out and buying it at a local retailer: contrary to what Dell say, it isn’t cheaper to buy Office preinstalled on a new computer. If you walk into almost any computer store, or Dick Smith or Hardly Normal (Harvey Norman) store, Office 2007 Professional Academic sells for about $200-$300. That’s anywhere from $180-$280 cheaper. And you get a pretty box. But you have to install it yourself, but it’s foolproof. You would think the academic implies student only, but provided you don’t use it in a business, you’re good.

Extended warranty is a must for any computer. Don’t skimp on it. That $150 extra you spend on the warranty also includes some form of insurance for it, I believe.

As with Windows, there’s no choice with RAM: 4GB only. However, being Windows Vista 64bit, it can handle a lot of memory. I can’t remember how much, but it’s quite a large number

You can add a bigger hard drive, right up to 750GB, so I added a 750GB in lieu of the 500GB hard drive.

It comes with an optional Blu-Ray reader\DVD burner and reader\CD burner and reader. However, I don’t think that Blu-Ray is quite mature yet, so I’ll stick with good ol’ DVD.

I left the graphics as is, as I didn’t know what the difference between the two offered models were (an nVidia GeForce 9200 and an nVidia GeForce 9400)

Don’t buy Dell’s printers. They charge an arm and a leg for the cartridges. Buy yourself a good Epson or Brother when you go down to a computer store to buy Office.

Again, no choice for keyboard and mouse, its Dell’s provided wireless keyboard and mouse or Dell’s provided wireless keyboard and mouse, or perhaps even Dell’s provided wireless keyboard and mouse. Your choice, really.

I’d recommend upgrading the wireless card to the b/g/n model. That $20 may save you a lot of headaches in the future.

If you’re a computer novice, welcome to my blog and how did you find it? Also, you’ll want a Gizmo service to come and help you with Mr. Computer. I opted to not have one, as I am quite proficient with a computer.

Online Backup has its pros and cons. I am a fan of physical backup media, like an external hard drive, so I just kept the default 2GB of which I am unlikely to ever use.

Eurgh! McAfee! I’ll take Trend Micro, thanks. If we lived in the US, this would be an option. It isn’t so add this to your shopping list with Office 2007 and printer, and make a note to remove McAfee the moment you get the computer.

Living in a regional area, I don’t get after hours delivery, so default delivery it was.

Mmmm… Nice system! How much?

AU$2,336.40.

That’s not bad.

Well, a 19″ LCD touchscreen alone is $1119 without GST from the aforementioned Touchscreen Solutions (which means $1230 with GST), and if we were to assume that the touchscreen in this system costed the same amount, then the actual computer component costed a measly $1105.50. Which, for this system, isn’t bad, it’s bloody brilliant.

Now I want one!

Go buy one. But not now.

I’ve got the credit card ready, let me at it!

No. Seriously. Windows 7, the next version of Windows, is due out before Christmas. Windows 7 includes (you guessed it) better Multi-touch support.

So… I could get someone to buy me one for Christmas?

If you wanted. Failing that, wait a month and a half. Microsoft are doing their Upgrade Voucher offer again, meaning that you buy the computer, keep the voucher, and when the next version of Windows is released, you win a free (or cheap(er)) upgrade to Windows 7!

Cool!

Indeed. Although I would wait for Windows 7 to actually come out, and buy it with Windows 7 Professional, as Professional has features I would use that Home Premium does not.

I’ll take your word for it.

Yes. On the note of multi-touch and Windows 7… Linkage.

Now what’s next?

A Brief History of Windows.

BOR-RING!

Not really. There are pretty pictures…

Ooh!

Glad I’ve got your attention. See you next time, then.

Woo! Touch screens! Screens you are allowed to fondle and touch and rub and so on. You’ve probably seen them, and you may have used one. So you’re probably wondering: what’s so special about them that make them work just by touching your finger to them, and if you can get one yourself for your home computer.

So, continue forth, fine reader, and find out more.

How do they work?

Well, as there is with almost anything computer-related, there’s about four or five different technologies that all achieve the same task. These are:

• Capacitive
• Resistive
• Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW)
• Infrared
• Multi-touch

We’ll go on a bit about each one in further detail.

Capacitive

Look! Pretty Picture!

So… what essentially happens with this type of screen is that a slam small amount of electrical charge is applied to the four corners of the touchscreen. Now, because you, being a human, conduct electricity, you complete the circuit. The capacitance of the circuit is then measured, and the controller card for the screen transmits the X,Y location of where you touched to your computer, hence moving the pointer to where you touched.

There are some disadvantages, however: only fingers (or other human body parts) can control it: you can’t use a coin or a stylus to move the cursor around the screen as these won’t conduct the charge. If you’re wearing gloves, then it’s not going to work both (although we have this type of screen at work, and they are more than happy to work with a latex gloved hand fondling the screen). You also need to recalibrate the screen on a regular basis: otherwise your cursor can get way, way, WAY off (and it is most irksome when this happens).

Resistive

Look! Another pretty picture!

Resistive technology has a glass or acrylic panel with some electrically resistant layers, separated by invisible separator dots. As with capacitive technology, an electrical current is passed through the screen, and when you press the screen, the layers touch together, and cause a change in the electrical current. The pointer then follows your bidding and proceeds to where you touched.

As with capacitive technology, there are some disadvantages. You need to calibrate it every now and then, otherwise the cursor ends up somewhere undesirable. There are some clarity issues with these screens as well. They are also easily damaged by scratching, poking and impact (The latter two confuse me: the whole point of a touchscreen is that it is poked and impacted. So, poke gently, I guess.), and they aren’t considered suitable for public access applications. And they can wear out over time.

However, they are cheap. So, bonus.

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW)

Yet another pretty picture! WOW!

SAW Technology sends sound waves (also known as acoustic waves) across a clear glass panel with transducers (Perhaps a Dr. Furter played a part in its creation…) and reflectors. Upon your touching of the screen, the soundwaves are absorbed, and a touch is registered. Tada!

It is quite similar to infrared technology in regards to its sophistication, and is well-suited to things such as public access terminals. However, because it is similar in sophistication to infrared with regards technology, but is more expensive than infrared, it’s not as highly recommended. It also must be touched by a finger (gloved or otherwise) or a soft tipped stylus. Anything else, i.e. coin, credit card, fingernail, pickaxe, won’t work. And it can also be affected by dirt, dust and water.

Infrared

You’re probably sick of the pretty pictures, aren’t you?

Infrared technology is simple: the screen is crossed with infrared beams. Your touch obstructs two beams, and a touch is registered by the computer. Hooray!

Apart from being quite possibly the best form of touchscreen, it’s also the easiest to explain. J

As a general rule, if you can afford it, go infrared: it’ll last longer, and doesn’t need calibration, and, unlike SAW technology, isn’t really affected by dust, dirt and water.

Can I Get One?

Short answer: yes.

Really?

Really.

Really Really?

For the last time, yes.

So, I can walk into Billy’s PC Shop, and buy one right there and then, and take it home and be fondling my around Windows licketyspit?

No.

So then I can’t buy one, then, can I?

Well, the thing is, at the moment, touchscreens are niche items and cost around about $1000 for a small screen (I’m talking 12 to 15 inches, here), and when most people see 22″ screens, they suddenly want that one.

But, wait! Something about a Touchscreen computer springs to mind!

The HP Touchsmart?

Yes.

Well, that is valid. But, unfortunately, we’ll have to talk about it in the next post. Mmkay?

Oh, alright. But you better post it… or else!

I will.

About six months ago, a friend and I started talking on Google Talk. In Google Talk, if you enclose words in asterisks, *like this*, it bolds them. If you enclose words in underscores, _like this_, it makes them italic. If you do both, it makes them both.

When you chat with someone, you generally put actions in asterisks. For instance, let’s say you were insulted by something the other person said. You, being offended, might do this: *slaps*. Or perhaps this: *clobbers*. Or, my personal favourite: *takes to desolate island, leaves, drops 15 megaton nuclear warhead on said island*.

And that’s how the concept of *War* came about. My friend getting irked by my *slap*ping of him. He then punched me back. And so on and so forth.

Having A War

Four tips:

• You don’t have to have it in Google Talk. Other chat clients will do. We do it in MSN now, works a charm (just without automagical bolding)
• Let the person know about the war before you hold it. You don’t want to shock them, or confuse them, or make them cry.
• Start off small, with *slap*’s and *punch*es and stuff like that, then work your way up to the nuke.
• A good war can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour. Do it when you have free time or when you’re at work with nothing better to do (i.e. that fifty page report on sales of turnips in rural Tasmania that you have to have done by tomorrow)

Rules

There are only three rules, they’re simple… but there’s penalties, of which one must remember.

1. You can only have one turn before someone else takes theirs.  For instance:
       Douglas says:
            *punches*
       Douglas says:
            *shoots*
   Is totally unacceptable. However:
       Douglas says:
            *punches, shoots*
   Is acceptable, as you’ve made two moves in one turn.
   Penalty: Number of extra turns you took x 2 turn penalty (i.e. you took three turns instead of one, thats 3 x 2, and 3 x 2 = 6, the opposition gets six consecutive turns)
2. With Rule 1, comes a sub-rule: you cannot make more than three moves in one turn.
   Penalty: Two turns
3. Suicides, or suicide missions, are forbidden unless the chances of either person winning are unlikely. Ditto for big stuff in the first bit of the war.
   Penalty: war continues as if though nothing happened, two turn penalty.

So… what are you waiting for? Go find a good friend, hit them up on MSN\Googly Talk\AIM\whatever, and go to *WAR*!

I work at KFC. Deal with it. Anyway, here are some of the things that really annoy me:

1. “I’ll have a medium <insert name of thing here> please.”
   We’re KFC. We have regular and large. There is NO medium. Study our drinks fridge for an example: we’ve got cans, and bottles. That’s it. Nothing more. So, how the hell do you expect us to get a medium out of those two sizes? Yes, some meals might come with a little baggy of chips, but that holds the same amount as a little box.
2. Customers who order something huge and change their mind about it.
   Our registers are clever. They track how many times we push the Delete Last Item button, and the value of those items. It then tells us this, as a percentage, at the end of the shift, in full sight of the manager. If it’s too high, it either means you’re incompetent (which is what the managers are most likely to believe), or that you had very picky customers (not so likely to be believed). So, make up your mind before you go to the counter and tell me what you want, or I will kill you.
3. Asian people with thick accents and\or who think they know the menu better than we do.
   Now, I’m not racist, just so you know. But it really annoys me when an Asian person comes up with a thick accent, and I have to try an decipher what they say. They also annoy me when they think that we’ve rung it up at the wrong price (The Computer Never Lies), or rung up the entire thing wrong.
4. People who think sauces are free.
   They’re not. They’re 30c each. If you order a meal with a sauce in it, and come back and ask for one, you get one sauce. If you don’t and come back for one, I’ll give it to you anyway, and think, “God, people are fuckwits”. Sometimes I’ll charge you. If you want more than one, either way, I’m charging you. If you order it with your meal, then I’m going to charge you. I don’t want to be killed by a mob of angry managers.
5. People who go through the drive through and come in and accuse us of not doing  our jobs right.
   Yes, because I packed your order at the drive thru while contending with about forty million other people in here who are wanting to be served. If you accuse me of not doing my job right, and I packed your meal, then, fine. But if you came through the drive thru and I’m inside on the front counter, and you accuse me of this, expect me not to be impressed with you
6. People who go through the drive through and talk really quietly at the first window.
   For those of you who are not scientifically minded, here’s a fun fact for you! You can talk quietly in a small room and people will hear you because the sound bounces off the walls! I know, it’s a revelation. You can’t do this at a drive through window because the only walls are the ones inside your car, which have been breached because the window is open, and in my little alcove, again, which has been breached because the window is open. (in fact, one customer got very angryw ith me and said he wasn’t coming back because I had to keep asking him the same questions over and over again because he was talking so quietly. The good thing was, I acted all professional and he went all off his head, so he can complain about my service as much as he wants, I’m in the clear).
7. People who ask for things that don’t exist.
   We have promos. Last one was the All star box (much cheering and applause was heard at all KFC stores that had them when they finished). Ask yourself this before you order: Can you see it on the menu board? No? Then don’t order it. It really annoys me when I have to say to customers, no, that promo finished so long ago.

See? I’ve ranted. I could go on… but I’ve got other things to do.

Got a virus scanner? Quick! Copy and paste this line of text into a blank notepad file!

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Saveit as Eicar.com. Put it on your desktop.

Cngratulations! You’ve just created the EICAR Test file for Virus Scanners! Let your computer sit for a few minutes, and see if it finds it (It will label it as a virus. It’s not, it’s harmless). Doesn’t find it? Scan the file manually with it. It should find it. All credible AV programs must react as if though it’s a real virus (It’s not).

Still doesn’t find it? Could mean your antivirus program is broken. You might need a new one. Try Avira AntiVir or Avast! Antivirus.

More info found here and here, and you can download it here (Scroll to the bottom, and try each one from the top row to test how your AV program reacts to them. The second one is it pretending to be another type of file, the third one it in a ZIP file, and the fourth one a zip file within a zip file with the EICAR thing in it).