Very B.S.D.T.

And the punchline is: I can't even format the hard disk and start again. An error message appears, saying (and I quote at full length) Windows konnte die Formatierung nicht abschliessen. You will note the absence of explanations or reasons or suggestions or even ways to go about finding out what happened.

I am going to throw this fucking thing out of the window.

What enrages me most, as a pampered Mac user, is the utter opacity of Windows. "The operation failed." Whaddaya mean, you want to know why? You are not entitled to know that, you pathetic little (scornful sneer) user. If you were entitled to know why the operation failed, it would not have failed. Just because it's your computer does not mean that you have any say in what it does or doesn't or should or shouldn't do. So there.

And people voluntarily buy this stuff? Does not compute.

B.S.D.T.

The world needs a new emoticon: the exact opposite of the heart in "I heart NY". I propose the big stinking dog turd (imagine it as drawn by Keith Haring).

I big stinking dog turd Windows XP.

I've written before about the problems of getting things to work properly after reinstalling Windows XP. Well, tonight I cannot get the compiled application to run. It throws out an error number which doesn't exist (i.e. is not in the system documentation) and then quits. I can't even open it with the debugger to watch how and where it crashes. I would format the hard disk and start again, were I not afraid that it would take two weeks to get the system running again. Damn damn damn damn damn and damn.

Very big, and very stinky.

In happier news I'm listening to a recently-purchased CD, Em Minas ao Vivo which I'd recommend to all fans of Antonio Carlos Jobim. This is a live album recorded in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1981. It's very simple, just Tom and his piano, miked up very close and personal as though he were singing just to you. There are no surprises here, you know every tune by heart; but damn he's good.

The web page linked above is worth reading (for Jobim fans) even if you aren't going to buy the CD.