A Typically Microsoft Moment

I’ve created another new category here at Howl @ The Moon! called Moments… for those special moments that only ever come along every now and then which deserve to be captured for posterity

I’m kicking this section off with a lovely transcript from the Microsoft Antitrust Trial. I know I’ve been guilty of referring to some of the Microsoft stormtroopers as ‘drones’ before, but this transcript kind of reinforces that position I reckon. It’s not doctored, edited or changed in any way… what you are about to read is an excerpt from the Trial and records an actual interchange between Bill Gates and the Government Attorney. Bill was being his usual helpful self. Enjoy

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Despicable Army Recruitment Policy at US Schools

It’s not often that I post about something serious here at Howl @ The Moon, but every now and then I come across something which prompts me to do so. Today, while reading my copy of Saturday’s Irish Times newspaper I read an article about Army Recruitment policy in US schools which made my blood boil, and when you read the facts as I present them to you in this article, you too will become enraged.

It’s bad enough that Americans have to put up with having an idiot in the Whitehouse running their country into the ground, while they stand by and witness the gradual destruction of freedom and democracy in their own land, living in a constant state of fear and isolation as huge chunks of the free world turns against their foreign policies and falsehoods, but now they have to worry about protecting their children from his army recruitment monsters in their schools as well. I couldn’t believe some of the things I read in this newspaper today, but given the amount of media censorship and control now in evidence in the USA, I share them here with you today in the hopes of spreading the truth as far and wide as possible.

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Up Sith Creek Without A Paddle (or any talent!)

Some people can be considered to be fans, others (perhaps those considered to be a little more intense) may be called geeks. Some people are percieved to be talentless where others are considered to be uncoordinated. In extreme cases, a rare few people may be thought to be completely insane. It’s rare to find all such qualities in single person, let alone a Jedi Padawan, but - you guessed it - I’ve come across something that just has to be seen to be believed… a Jedi trainee at the peak of his physical and mental prowess…a man in control of his abilities… a warrior with unmatched skills…in other words, a complete arsehole making a fool of himself
This Star Wars fan should never again be let out in public, both for his own protection… and ours. If this is anything like the training regime the dark lords of the Sith embrace, I don’t think Yoda and the boys have too much to fear. Check out this short Jedi Training Video and you will see what I mean.

Premature Excitation… and the Lemon Effect!

So, I’m barely awake yesterday morning, trying to squeeze my eyes open without recoiling in fear from the sunlight streaming through the windows, when my wife tells me there is a large envelope in the post for me. She deposits it on the bed, leaving to complete nefarious pre-work deeds and ministrations. I gradually focus on the offending item and suddenly I’m taking a short, sharp intake of breath as I realise what it is.
For those of you who are regular readers, you will recall my nightmarish preparation and ultimate engagement in the Prince 2 Project Management exam trail. Many sleepless nights, hard hours of study and the odd rant contributed to a stressful exam back on May 20th, and now I hold an envelope from the Prince2 Training group in my grubby litte mits. I open it slowely, anticipation building, scanning down the page as it emerges from the brown envelope…

Prince 2….Check
Exam Results Certificate…Check
Result…Yeeehaa!… a Pass

And then I realise that it’s a sodding certificate from the first exam, the Prince 2 Foundation one, the easy one dammit! I still don’t know if I passed the tough one yet, guess I’ll just have to wait for another brown envelope sometime in the near future. This was definately a case of premature excitation on my behalf, and boy, did I feel like a lemon afterwards  Bastards!!!

How NOT to hack School Grades!

We have all heard about teenagers hacking into their schools, to improve their grades. We’ve probably even seen movies where some 12 year old manages to overcome all the network security measures and manages to infiltrate the required software. In reality however, it’s not that easy… not impossible, but just not easy. This story concerns a teen over in the USA who made history recently. The scheme was simple enough - hack in, change grade to an “A”, exit leaving no trail of any changes. This time however, the clever scheme went a bit south to say the least. The teen in question hacked successfully into his school and did manage to change his grades to the required A… but thats when it all started to go wrong. It didn’t take the school staff long to notice that something was wrong and they had him picked up by local authorities pretty smartish. So - What was his mistake? What little breadcrumb of evidence did he leave hanging around for clever investigators to pick up after his exit?

Well, basically he managed to not only change his own grade to an A… he changed all 18,697 students in the district at the same time, so when school staff members checked the results not only was every student in their school suddenly promoted to genius level, but every student in the district had also developed IQs higher than Einstein

Safe to say this teen hacker went too far!.

Woman - Defined

Women; we know and love them, but do we really understand them? Of course not! To do so would be to understand female logic, which as we all know defies science, logic and even voodoo at the best of times. The world as we know it would be a terrible place to live in without them, but it doesn’t stop us poking a stick at the female of the species every now and then just to convince ourselves we are still awake
I had these lovely images sent to me by email today and they are just too good to keep hidden away, so I give to you some images which will help define the entity we know as Woman; feel free to rant and rave in comments afterwards!!.

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Committees; Need I say More?

I just felt the need to offer up three quotes which define my views on the beuracratic nightmare we have all come to know as “committee”.

With me it’s pretty much a hate-hate relationship. I can’t stand committees; I detest those that need them and those who serve on them. I think anyone who honestly believes that effective decisions can be made by committee needs to have their heads examined, or preferably removed