You've all been enlisted as unpaid Microsoft beta testers! Vista service pack one has been released - and has promptly caused serious problems for many Vista users.
A day after it was released for public download, Windows Vista SP1 is drawing barbs from some computer users who say the software wrecked their systems.
"I downloaded it via Windows Update, and got a bluescreen on the third part of the update," wrote "Iggy33" in a comment posted Wednesday on Microsoft's Vista team blog.
Iggy33 was just one of dozens of posters complaining about Vista Service Pack 1's effect on their PCs. "What a disaster," wrote "SeppDietrich" of the update. "It exiled all my Nvidia drivers to the Bermuda Triangle."
"Bikkja" said that "after installing SP1 things seem to go really slow, even though my computer shouldn't have any problems."
Other troubles reported by Vista SP1 users ranged from a simple inability to download the software from Microsoft's Windows Update site to sudden spikes in memory usage. "Went from using 650 MB RAM idle to 1 Gig… I'll be switching back," said "Kurrier."
It's not uncommon for major software patches to cause problems when first released. Windows XP Service Pack 1 inflicted numerous glitches on host computers when it shipped in 2002. Microsoft fixed many of the problems with subsequent patches.
Microsoft on Tuesday made Vista SP1 widely available for the first time. The company has admitted it's still not perfect.
The service pack will not install on computers that use peripheral device drivers that Microsoft has deemed incompatible. The list includes a small set of audio and display drivers made by Realtek and Intel, as well as drivers from several other manufacturers.
Microsoft said it's working to resolve the compatibility issues.
Meanwhile, my Linux laptop just chugs along taking care of all my Crabitat needs. But now I have to dread updating my daughter's laptop. Oh goody.
Bruce Webster over at And Still I Persist used that phrase as the title for his post about the death of Arthur C. Clarke. I think that's more fitting than 'rest in peace.' Bruce's tribute is worth reading all the way through.
Regular commenter Maggie linked to this piece that is a very nicely written retrospective of Clarke the author and Clarke the profound influence on others. I think the second piece proves Bruce Webster's points perfectly.
British banking officials and financial regulators believe they have a potential rogue trader out there who may be manipulating the markets. If true, it makes one wonder exactly how much of the current madness in the financial markets is actually being driven by unscrupulous traders.
A hunt has been launched for a stock market trader who may have made £100 million in a "modern day bank robbery" after an attack on the share price of the country's biggest mortgage lender.
Shares in Halifax Bank of Scotland fell by 17 per cent as traders attempted to make a fortune by betting on the bank's falling stock.
Malicious rumours circulated by speculators were blamed for the run, which saw more than £3 billion wiped off the bank's value.
Britain's financial watchdog launched a criminal investigation to hunt down "ruthless" rogue traders, including one speculator thought to have made £100m from buying and selling shares during the day.
A senior HBOS executive said: "This is the modern day version of bank robbery."
The day's developments - which followed several days of turmoil on the world's stock markets - were triggered by the circulation of false information the state of HBOS's finances.
An email circulated in the City by an anonymous banker, seen by The Daily Telegraph, falsely alleged that a newspaper was to run an article today on problems at HBOS which "will raise the spectre of a run on the bank".
It was also falsely alleged that HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, had sought emergency talks with the Bank of England over the Easter weekend.
This doesn't exactly ispire confidence in the integrity of traders, does it? This is the second time a European financial scam has reared its head in recent months. How much of the market turmoil comes from things like this? One wonders.
German efficiency reaches new heights. A German couple recently purchased a stroller from an internet auction and were surprised to find that it came fully loaded - with six rounds of 9mm ammunition and a nifty little Sig Sauer pistol to fire them from.
A young couple from the northern town of Verden found the 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol in a side pocket of the pram after collecting it from nearby Hamburg. They called the police.
Officers searched the house of the 39-year-old seller, who could not explain how the weapon had got there.
Heck, I don't own a Sig Sauer. Apparently, I should buy more strollers.
One Irish pub in New Jersey has a curious custom. For the past 24 years they have held a post-Saint Patrick's Day party known as "Bag Day." Revelers at The Irish Pub must attend the celebration wearing a paper bag as a hat.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Paul Murphy came all the way from Glasgow, Scotland, to stand against the back wall of The Irish Pub with a pint in his hand and a paper bag on his head.
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He did not stand out in the least at the bar, which was packed Tuesday afternoon with people wearing brightly decorated paper bags atop their heads, for this was Bag Day, the second-greatest day of the year at The Irish Pub.
Each March 18, the day after St. Patrick's Day, people come from far and near to jam the joint, most wearing some sort of bag fashioned into a hat atop their head. The tradition dates back 24 years to a group of exhausted waitresses and casino workers who realized they had worked through the entire night and missed St. Paddy's Day.
"We said, 'We didn't have too much fun on St. Patrick's Day; let's start our own holiday,'" said Cathy Burke, who owns the pub. "The bartender had just brought out a pile of bags that they use behind the bar, and we put some on our heads and said, 'We declare today Bag Day, the official holiday of The Irish Pub and anyone who has to work on St. Patrick's Day.'".
Well, you've heard of getting bagged before. This seems logical. After the wearin' o' the green comes the wearin' o' the bag. Of course, after two days of non-stop partying, many people will experience the unheralded third event: the usin' o' the bag.
Geek Stuff | Gaius Wednesday, 19 March , 2008 | 
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