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The Putting Out The Flames Rant

Introduction

Being as how I have openly exposed my life and my computer knowledge to others freely on blackviper.com, it seems that their is always somebody that feels they are the chosen one to insist their point of view is correct. Needless to say, most of the time, they are wrong. This seems to disturb me in more ways than one.

As I begin, keep in mind that I enjoy reading other opinions as long as they are presented in a clear manner. Someone that feels compelled to voice their opinion to a complete stranger in a vulgar and rude way is by no means counted, usually by anyone, as a rational thinker, nor a person that knows what they are talking about.

For example, while you are sitting in a restaurant, a person stands up and announces loudly that “This place sucks and will be closing in 5 minutes.” At this point, a few things will happen:

  • Most people will shrug off this announcement and continue enjoying their meal because “it is fine for them.”
  • Some will think that “Hey, that jackass has no clue because I know the place does not close for another 2 hours.”
  • Others still will wonder if this person actually knows something but “wait to see if anyone else gets up and leaves.”
  • Even still, an employee, spooked by the rude outburst, may call the police and have this “possible violent individual removed for the safety of the customers.”

Regardless of the outcome, the results are “nothing good comes from this person making a fool out of themselves.” If this individual, instead, decided to contact the person responsible for his discontent, then, just maybe, they would have a much better chance of actually accomplishing something and getting their complaint resolved.

In my E-Mail box, I have witnessed on many occasions, this exact type of behavior.

Personal Attacks

In 30 years, I have yet to have anyone walk up to me in public and say anything about my hair length, how I dress, or be visibly angry that I am driving a new car or live in a nice house. In the last few months, I have received dozens of E-Mails saying, in part, just that. Is it because the Internet acts as a shield to people? False sense of anonymity? Do they feel that banging on the keyboard and hitting send “really does not do anything?” Do they feel that another human is not on the other side receiving this dialog? What drives someone to be so upset at viewing a personal web site of someone they have never met or never will, but feel compelled to voice their, usually irrational opinion, to them? Is this a plus?

Windows XP Knowledge Attack

With my Windows XP pages dealing with Service configurations, I have received numerous positive feedback and kudos. Plenty of people enjoy my information and glad I spent the time in studying the different configuration options to relieve the burden on the “average” user. Not to mention, share this knowledge while asking “nothing” in return. As you may have already guessed… some people do not like this.

This person was absolutely sure that their information was correct! They even had proof! So sure that they felt they must write to me and tell me that I had no clue what I was talking about! Here are some quotes directly from it, including punctuation errors (but slightly edited for a PG-13 audience)… and I am the dummy: 🙂

“hey dummy..

its amazing how stupid people are when they link to your page.. so at least you can fix the HUGE F#$^%&G ERROR on your page…

setting the service to manual WILL NOT ALLOW WinXP TO START IT ON ITS OWN WHEN IT NEEDS IT…

manual can ONLY BE STARTED BY THE USER

this is directly from f#$^%&g help in service section..”

They then quote this passage in the Windows XP Help section:

“If you have a typical installation, many services are configured as “automatic” (that is, they start automatically when the system starts or when the service is called for the first time). If a service is configured as “manual,” you must start the service manually before it can be loaded by the operating system and made available for use.”

Judging by only the help document information alone, this person has a good case. At least they thought so. In reality, they are way off.

For example, if you place the System Event Notification service in Automatic, then place COM+ Event System service in Manual, then reboot. Upon returning to the desktop and getting back to the services.msc, you will clearly see that COM+ Event System service fired right up EVEN THOUGH it was configured as Manual.

Other services, depending upon system configuration, will do the same thing. In fact, with regards to the Help and Support service, even if it is disabled, it will place itself back to automatic and start if you click on the “Help and Support Icon” in the start menu. I replied with that information and never received a response back. This knowledge is the difference between reading a help document and real world experience.

Please remember, folks, if you do insist on flaming someone because of their “knowledge,” ensure that your facts are correct.

A few more flames are located on the Windows XP Praise and Flames Page.

Hacks, Cracks and Cheats

Probably the MOST negative feedback I receive is due to my “Hacks, Cracks and Cheats Rant” located here. I am not going to reprint the mass amount of items I have on that page, but in summary, it seems that plenty of people commend me on my strong opinion to “stop” that type of behavior, but it is not intended that way! Being as I am only one person, I am not attempting a crusade against all the “bad” people destroying the software industry, nor trying to rid the planet of cracks and cheats with regards to (multi-player) gaming. I just got tired of rude people asking me for illegal material. Funny thing is, these same rude people, instead of asking me questions about hacks, cracks and cheats, are now turning against me and filling my inbox with flames. Why?

True Story

Being how that I am tall and thin… I have endless difficulty finding pants my size. This is not helped any by the fact that I ONLY wear Levi Pre-Washed Button Fly 501’s. One day while wandering around town, I found a “Levi’s Outlet Store.” A smile appeared on my face and I proceeded to park and wander on in… After a few minutes of looking and failing to find 501’s, I asked a clerk where they were located.

“I am sorry, we do not carry those.”
“What? You do not carry Levi’s or just 501’s?”
“Levi’s… Sorry.”

Wow. I was mad. I figured that this was “false advertising” and a pathetic excuse to lure people into a store just to find (what I feel) are cheap imitations.

What did I do? I could have thrown punches, kicked racks over and broke windows but instead… I took my puzzled look and left. Even if the store decided to “actually” carry the products they “advertise,” I would not go back.

This is how the “flamers” should feel about my “Hacks, Cracks and Cheats Rant.” Search, look, not find anything, move on… These people type a few words in a search engine, notice my “page” is full of “hits” about the very topic they are looking for. A smile appears and they click on in just to find it is the exact opposite of what they were seeking. They yell, cuss and must voice their opinion on “why I am wrong for not having Cracks, Hacks and Cheats.” Once again, why?

Some positive feedback… for once…

After placing some Flash content for the Navigation bars on the site, I received nothing but good comments concerning the structure and layout. After a few months, I received a rather lengthy E-Mail about how the alternating pictures under “My Stuff,” while fading in and out is pretty, actually is more annoying than any banner or pop up ads and continue to bog his P166 down. They must scroll the Navigation bar off the screen to even be able to read the site. I replied with, in short, Okay… what would you like me to do? I received another lengthy E-Mail on possible solutions. I implemented some suggestions on how to make the site better within the hour and looked at doing more. This interaction made them happy that “their really is someone on the other side of this site and their opinion counted for something” and it made me happy that “my site is accessible to a variety of viewers.”

If this person wrote “You suck and so does your site. Fix it.” I would have ignored the E-Mail, giggle at the “need” to upgrade their “P166” and continue business as usual.

Before you hit that “send” button, ensure you understand that their really IS a person on the other side of the web receiving your comments. At that time, they are also looking back at you.

Black Viper
June 14, 2002

Revision History

June 14, 2002: Initial release.

Posted in Articles, The Rant

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