Random Fusion

General assortment of links:

On Wired News

Looks like the record industry is getting ready to storm the big castle. A trial in Australia has begun in an attempt to find out who is running Kazaa, one of the biggest and most popular file sharing programs out there. Link

In medicine, it looks like the Swiss are taking a foot step into the frontiers of medicine. Swiss voters have endorsed a plan for stem cell research but not allowing cloning. This is something that will no doubt make the american right wing upset. Link

Blogs

This is a site I read almost every day. Nothing hugely politcal or artisitc, and average guy doing average stuff and talking about average things. However, the site is not average. I go there every morning to at least see if Tien has put up any more photos.

Comic

This is how I feel this week.

The weekend was pretty good we cleaned the apartment, rented some movies with a friend and generally did nothing all weekend long and it rocked. World of Warcraft is slowing sucking the life out of me as I get deeper and deeper into the game. I am mostly playing my paladin, who is at level 12 now and rising. Again I cant say enough about how much I love this game. I seriously believe that its the best game of 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Anyway, still at work, and cant write too much. Enjoy boys and girls.

Posted by Random Fusion at 4:18 PM | Permalink

So on November 23, on my lunch hour, I went and got the Collectors Edition for World of Warcraft. I had played in the stress test earlier in the year and was completely floored by what I saw. The graphics are pretty amazing for my computer (read: piece of junk) and I could only imagine that they would be awsome for a newer computer. The sheer scale of the game universe is unbleiveable. Basically there are two large continents to play on and I do me LARGE. The icing on the cake for me during the stress test was the sound, the soundtrack for this game is amazing.

Flash forward to this past Tuesday. I ran over to Future Shop and purchased my copy of the Collectors edition, which contained the following:

The full game on both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM

1-month subscription to World of Warcraft

The Art of World of Warcraft, 200+ page hardcover art book

World of Warcraft Behind-the-Scenes DVD

Exclusive in-game pet

Official soundtrack

Cloth map charting the continents of Kalimdor, Azeroth, Khaz Modan, and Lordaeron

Signed Collectors Edition game manual

10-Day Free Guest Pass invite one of your friends to join the epic quest

(See a picture here)

I tell you, the day could not end fast enough for me and that damn game sitting there (opened of course). I got home that night and installed it and played it for a bit and it was even better then the stress test had been.

The first few days have been filled with the usual first day stuff for an online game. The servers that Blizzard had set up for the game were no where near enough to handle the number of players that ended up on the servers. While I had no complaint about it (250,000 bought the game the same day I did and all tried to log on the same time I did, what was supposed to happen), many others did, like this:

ok ive had it!!, for the past 5 days i have had almost no playing, the only time i have had to play was in between 2-6 AM. and thats only because its a holiday! i have had to wait 40-50 minutes everytime i want to play this game, dont get me wrong i love it, but im not going to play a game the dissconnects me every so often just to sign back in and have to wait an hour, just to sign into a game that is so laggy i run in circles and cant see nothing but w/e ditch i end up in. im fed up with it, you released this game and i put up with it in beta, you need to fix this or reimburse me and my fellow peers. please do something i would rather play, but if i cant i want my 80 bucks i spent on the CE back.

or

THIS IS NOT A AMMUSEMENT PARK

OR I CANCEL Simple as that

And those are the polite ones. The forums for the game are filled with people going on and on about how mad they are. Now, when I logged on the other night and I couldnt get to the server that I had started on, I looked through the realms list, found one that had a low population and then went on it and played. No waiting, no laq and no waiting in a line to get on. Now for various reasons some people dont want to do this and I can sort of understand why. But you would not believe the amout of people screaming obscenties at Blizzard on the forums over this. Many people demanding their money back or demanding that Blizzard fix it RIGHT NOW.

Sigh.

For me, I have had only one crash and only a little bit of lag. I have NO complaints about this awsome game and can only say that it was worth the money I spent to get it.

I would wrap up this entry with some personal news, but, you have read it all now. Hehe, I have been working, eating, sleeping and playing World of Warcraft. I can only hope now, that they are beginning to work on World of Diablo.

Posted by Random Fusion at 4:46 PM | Permalink

I am about disappear for a while.

World of Warcraft is currently sitting at my feet here at work and I am using all of my self control to keep working and not rush home.

So, if there are no posts for a month, or three, you will know why.

Posted by Random Fusion at 4:14 PM | Permalink

Providing excellent service for computers that we sell, is something that we always try and preach. Our custoemrs are important and deserve good service. Now as I mentioned in the previous post, sometimes, customers have a hard time understanding that certain things are not covered under their warrranty. On occasion we choose to waive the labour for these people, simply because its easier to let them have $30 of labour for free then argue about it with them and possible loose the customer. It begins to get into a grey area at this point. How much service do you offer to a new customer to keep them happy?

Case in point: A customer brought in a laptop, not purchased from us but under warranty from the manufacturer. The computer was full of viruses and desperately in need of a serious cleaning and reinstall. One of our techs removed the viruses and sent it on its way. The lady returned a short while later and complained that the laptop would not start again. So, we looked at it and lo and behold, more viruses. Now she clamined that she shouldnt have to pay for the service since her laptop was still under warranty. Now this is flawed in two ways. One it wasnt even our warranty that she was wanting us to cover; and Two, viruses are never covered under any warranty at any time. Now, the question is, why did she think that it would be? Its possible that she thought that it SHOULD be coverd or that it WAS. Which is partly her fault for not fully reading all of the material that came with her computer and partly the fault of the salesman who sold her the computer for not making sure that she knew to read all of her documentaiton.

So what is the solution to these problems? The solution that would show the most immediate sign of working would be to make sure that the salesmen are properly education the people who buy new computers or computer products. Some customers may not want to hear it but they need to be made aware in advance what will be and what wont be covered by their warranty. The second solution, something that I myself have begun to implement is telling the customer upfront before any work is done. I tell the customer, before I do any work now, that software related issues are not covered under their warranty and that they will be billed for labour done. It's better that they get mad at this point rather then AFTER I have done all my work.

Lets see how it all works out.

Posted by Random Fusion at 8:29 AM | Permalink

Part I

In a previous post, I spoke about customer support and how important it is. In this post, I would like to kind of delve into obligations.

As a seller and producer of computers, we supply our customers with a 3 year warranty on all of our machines. This warranty covers parts and labour. Should your hard drive fail inside that time, then we can replace it for you at no cost to you. However, this warranty does not cover software on your machine. Should at any point you install a program and it makes your machine unusable, we charge the customer for support and for any repair bills. Now, over the last two weeks, I have had a handful of customers tell me that they dont want to pay for services that render while the machine is under warranty. Which is something that I can understand, you just purchased the machine and now it isnt working right and you want it fixed.

Part of the problem is the line of obligation. How much support are we, as the people who sold you the computer, obligated to give you, the person who bought the computer, for free? We installed Windows on your computer for you, but we are not Microsoft. If you have trouble with your Windows, you should call Microsoft. I know its easier to call us, but you shouldnt.

My biggest beef is with virus trouble. Almost constantly we are getting calls or having machines brought to us, for virus removal. Personally, I can not see how we, as the people who sold you the computer, are obligated to clean your computer of viruses for free. I think that part of the problem lies in our court. We provide the customer with a copy of their warranty and talk to them about what things the computer comes with, but we never say what obligations the user has. The user has the obligation to read their warranty and see that we tell them that certain things are not covered under their warranty and that certain things, such as not cleaning out their computer, can void their warranty.

I will finnish this off later, stay tuned!

Posted by Random Fusion at 11:07 AM | Permalink

Monday: Cant recall.
Tuesday: Yesterday, cant recall it either.
Today: Sucks ass.

Shauna has been really sick since Sunday and so far I have managed to fend it off, but there is a good chance that this weekend could entail me just sitting around doing nothing and drinking juice. Which really wouldnt be that different from any other weekend, except that I would be drinking something else.

I am slowly trying to get the site to look the way I want it. It shouldnt be too much longer (hopefully).

I wrote an email to an old friend the other day, and I hope she got it. I put the address for this site in the email, so she may come here and read what I write. I kind of hope she does, since this is the best way for someone to kind of get a general idea of who I am. Not the best idea of who I am mind you, but still a good idea. The site here doesnt have too many personal details and I have never really spoken all that much about my thoughts on politics or religion. Which as I write this, I am thinking, if you were a new reader, what would I want you to know about me? So, here is a short list of things I would like for you to know about me.

1. Male
2. Living Common Law with someone
3. Almost 30
4. I am a dork and a geek. I like video games, computers and comics.
5. I am very much in love with my significant other
6. I am not religious or political
7. I have a very broad education, but shallow. I know LOTS of stuff in general, but not that much in specific
8. In a crisis, I am the calmest person you can find
9. I work in a computer repair shop and I love it
10. I used to work in a McDonalds and in a grocery store
11. I have two cats, Tatum and Spoo, both of whom are insane
12. I have done some travelling, but not enough
13. I eat poorly
14. I excersise as often as I eat well
15. 13 and 14 bother me a great deal
16. I am pretty lazy
17. I strive to make sure all the customers I help, feel that they are the only customer I have
18. My folks are divorced
19. I have one brother
20. I live in Canada in the middle of the country
21. I like summer more then winter
22. I laugh at bad jokes
23. I tell bad jokes
24. I place more blame on myself then necessary
25. I want everyone I meet to like me
26. I want everyone I have known to like me.
27. That there are people out there who I know dont like me, bothers me.
28. I want to be the best at what ever I do
29. I am at work right now and not working.

Anyway, thats a short list to be sure and I think that it could be more in depth. Perhaps one day I will really let loose.

Posted by Random Fusion at 4:48 PM | Permalink

New layout for the time being. I am going to spend the week putting some serious thought into the site and getting it the way I want it. More to come later for sure.

Posted by Random Fusion at 2:21 PM | Permalink

Rented three games for the xbox this weekend and I thought I would take a few moments out of my day and give you my thoughts on them.

Game One: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
This is one game that I have seen a handful of times over the last few years since it came out, but have never played, until now. The graphics are good but dated (it did come out a few years ago) but the one thing that I LOVE about this game is the soundtrack. You can find the game site here. The game takes place in a fictional city called Vice City on some Florida coast. The timeline of the game is the mid 80s and there is tons of music to make you smile as you steal cars and run over pedestrians. The plot of the game is deep and full of twists and turns and is surprisingly well written.

The point of any Grand Theft Auto game is to steal cars and commit crimes without getting caught. Usually there are things you have to do along the way to get money or things done. With Vice City, the main character has to find out what happened to his money when a drug deal goes bad. Along the way you have to do all sorts of things to get information from people or contacts in the underworld. From using a chainsaw on a unwanted gangster to causing union trouble in town, there is a never ending foutain of trouble flowing for you to drink from. And in the back of all the violence, is Flock of Seagulls singing, "and I ran, ran so far away.

Game Two: Medal of Honor: Frontline
Another amazing game! It's site can be found here. I LOVED this game. Basically you are a soldier during world war two. You begin the game storming the beaches of Normandy and go from there. From secret missions to front line fighting, this game takes you through everything.

The graphics are fairly detailed and the soundscape was amazing. I couldnt help but cringe every time I heard a bullet wiz over my head. I played through about half of the game over the weekend and have come to the conclusion that I definately want to own this game. I think that replay value is a little low, but the drive to finnish each mission with a gold star would keep me playing. The controls were a little hard to get used to at first and if you have every played Halo, then I recommend choosing the sharpshooter settings for the controler, it will make things so much easier for you.

The gameplay isnt too difficult and I found that if I died, then doing things a second time around wasnt too hard because I got to know where some of the guys were.

The weapons you can get your hands on are all realistic weapons of the era and act appropriately. From weapons kicking to accuracy, they all are properly done.

I would totally recommend this game to anyone. Go get it, play it and love it, you know you want to.

Game Three: Kingdom Under Fire
Sigh.

I wanted to like this game, I really did. I have a friend who bought it and says he likes it, but I couldnt get into it.

1. The music wasnt right. It was all 80s hard rock and didnt really seem to fit the game.
2. The cut scenes were terrible. The dialouge was stupid and for some reason, the people who were voicing the characters, couldnt say Patriarch.
3.The setup story made no sense, was erratic and inconsistent. For example. This demon comes and makes use of some heart of evil, something so terrible that even mentioning its name, turns you to evil. BUT they mention it a dozen times in the story set up and in the beginning of the game!
4. The game play was very difficult to pick up and not too easy on the hands.

Anyway, theres more to it then that, but out of the three games I rented, I played this one the least.

Stay away from it.

Posted by Random Fusion at 10:36 AM | Permalink

After a visit to my grandfather after work yesterday, I am glad that I can say he is doing MUCH better then on Thursday.

He was dozing when Shauna and I went in, but he woke up when he heard our voices and looked quite pleased to see us. He still had a tube down his throat but he was moving about a bit and was able to write notes for us.

They are discussing the possibility of taking the breathing tube out tomorrow or the day after depending on how well he is doing. More then likely this is a positive step forward and we can continue to hope he gets better.

I will certainly write more later.

Posted by Random Fusion at 10:49 AM | Permalink

Ok, so last night, I made a post about my grandfather. I didnt think I would want to talk about it, but here I am and here we go.

Yesterday morning at about 8:30ish, I get a phone call from my brother, he sounds pretty upset. He tells me that my dad just got a phone call from my grandmother, that my grandfather, my dad's dad, has taken a turn for the worse and is in serious trouble. This was something of a blow out of left field since he had only got into the hospital to have some minor back pain looked at. Thinking that it was his osteoperosis again, I didnt go visit him. The last time he was in for back pain, they gave him some muscle relaxents and sent him home before anyone could get there. So with that thought in mind, we all thought that it wouldnt be too long before he was home. But it appears we were wrong.

Over night on Wednesday into Thursday, his breathing got worse, his heart had trouble and it looks like his kidney began to fail. Minor back trouble changed into "he may not be coming home". We got to the hospital as quick as we could and began the waiting game. Basicly this game involves a group of people, any size will do, waiting for information about a loved one. The game is won by the person says "Has the doctor come out yet?" last. If you can avoid saying it, you win. The game takes hours to play (in our case, we played for about 7 hours) and sometimes no one wins.

I got to see him at about 1:30ish after most of my family had seen him. There isnt much to say about it. No one at any age, can be said to "look good" with a dozen tubes, attachments and machines coming off of you. For someone as old as him, with as much wrong with him as there was, then I guess I could say he looked better. He was pretty weak when we went in and he had trouble opening his eyes. But he did and he was aware of us, which was a good sign.

It was hard to go in there and see him, not because he looked bad, I mean I expected him to look that way. What was hard was just not knowing what to say. I made a couple dumb jokes and tried to make light of the situation, but that didnt really seem to be the right thing to do.

The rest of the afternoon was spend with crying aunts, uncles, cousins and friends of people. Part of me was mad at some of them for crying so much. My grandfather was still in there and nothing had changed in the last few hours and people were crying like he was gone. Now, please dont misunderstand me, I accepted the fact that he could die and still may die. BUT, with no changes or information, crying about it did nothing. I am, at this point, more worried about my grandmother, who is herself, very frail and elderly. I got to see my grandfather one more time before we left. This time he looked a little more "there" and was very aware of us and his surroundings. He moved more of his body parts and even tried to talk (which he couldnt do with the tube in his throat.

I dont know, really, what to say or do. I obviously dont want him to die. But to keep him around for my own selfish reasons is stupid and cruel. We dont know at this point, that if he goes home, what his quality of life will be and how long he will have after that. I dont want him to come home if he is going to be bedridden and feeble for the next ten years. But I dont want him to die because I know how hard it will be on my grandmother.

So far there havent been any phone calls to me here at work or at home, so that means that he is doing ok and there hasnt been a change for the worse, which would have got the phone ringing off the hook.

I think I have more to say, in fact, I know I do, but I think that this entry is done.

Posted by Random Fusion at 8:53 AM | Permalink

Not much to say today or for the next few days.

My grandfather is in the hospital and is very ill.

I will write something up later.

Posted by Random Fusion at 8:29 PM | Permalink

Ok, so I had written half and entry before I scrapped it and began this one. Monday has come along as it always seems to and like 50 million people who had to get up and go to work just like me, I am complaining about it being a Monday. Nothing seems to be more cliche then someone complaining about it being a Monday on their blog. So, as you all seem to know how Monday's suck, I will dispense with the cliche and get to other crap.

Weather: Sunny and cold. Looks like it will be like this all week long.

Friday: Went and visited with my grandparents for a little bit after work. They want me to set up a new printer for them and I had to make sure their computer would work with it.

Saturday: Lots of nothing. Played XBox for a while and then tried to have a nap. I failed. Shauna got up and we puttered around the apartment for a while and then I went squirlly and we went out for a bit. Came home and had nap till 8pm. I felt better and she went to work.

Sunday: Shauna slept, I went out to the mall and bought nothing. Damn.

That brings us to today. It is cold today and I can feel the cold death like grip of winter getting ready to reach out and grab me like no one can. I dont mind winter, but I hate the transition. I wish 10 feet of snow would fall all at once and the temperature would drop over night and then stay that way.

Anyway, I wish I could think of something more to write, but I cant.

so, have a nice day.

Posted by Random Fusion at 9:51 AM | Permalink

And so does my web site.

Well, the change bug has gotten up my butt again. But this time it was something that was expected. I knew when I updated to the new version of MT that a change was gonna be required. Since all of the templates for the pages were getting new code, I thought it best to go to a default page and then try to make something new when the update was final and everything was working fine. Well, things are looking good and working fine and it appears that I can no longer stand the general look that comes installed by default.

Work is crazy today. both our service manager and one of the tech's in service are off in training today. Leaving only two people to answer the phone, accept machines in for service, work on machines and do tech support phone calls. Sounds like too much fun eh? Not too much work stupidity going on today, but I am sure that will change. Perhaps there will be a good customer story today.

Went and saw Humble Boy, at MTC last night. The set was fantastic. It was a recreation of a small british back yard. The set was fantastic, only rarely do we get to see a set with so much detail. The acting was nothing to write home about but it wasnt forgetable and I am sure that I will think fondly of this play in the years to come.

We had dinner with my dad at Johnny G's diner last night, first time in a long time that I have had dinner with my dad without the whole family around. I enjoyed it and I think Shauna did as well. We sat and talked about work for a while, Dad made a few well placed comments about work, stress and my lack of proper excersise. He's gotten better about those lately, before they were really annoying and now I now they are just concerns.

Anyway, more later.

Posted by Random Fusion at 12:44 PM | Permalink

Well, first and foremost, today is Shauna's birthday. So far, I am thinking that its one of her better birthday's as a huge gift came from my grandparents yesterday. She got a call from her mother yesterday as well, which wasnt something that I expected. But there was no phonecall from her father or brothers yesterday, and I hope for their sake that they call and leave messages today.

On Friday, we made a frivolous purchase. We went and bought an X-Box. Shauna and I had played a few games on our friends machines and liked it enough to splurge and buy one before we went home on Friday. We immediately went off and rented a few games for it at our local Blockbuster and rushed home to veg and play games. Shauna's friend Dallas brought over a few games that he owned and was willing to lend us. Out of the three games he brought over, Fable, is the best.

So we spend most of the weekend playing video games and eating junk food (which isnt a bad thing).

Tonight we are going to MTC to see their season opener and have dinner with my dad.

More later.

Posted by Random Fusion at 9:14 AM | Permalink