My first impression of Vista was not bad. The configuration Dell had set up is very Mac-like. The Windows sidebar is a nice feature that includes plenty of space for whatever tools you like. Weather, an alarm clock, news and even space for notes. The Dell Rocketdock is interesting too. While it doesn’t have some of the flash and bang of some of the other docks for windows, it definitely has the functionality I was looking for. Have large icons representing top level hierarchies for groups of programs helps me find my applications quickly, instead of muddling through the re-designed start menu.

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When I ordered my new Dell XPS laptop with all the bells and whistles, my heart sank a little bit when I noticed my configuration is only shipped with Windows Vista. “WHY?” I gasped in horror. The negative press surrounding Vista has been so pervasive, everyone I know hates it, even though almost none of them have tried it. I ordered the new laptop anyway and quickly began hatching plans to turn it into a “hackintosh“. How could Microsoft have gone so wrong as to abandon our beloved XP for this freakish mutation? I was fully in the throws of panic. In true Dell fashion it took over a week for them to actually ship my laptop. I had begun amassing support data. Would my hardware be supported under OS X? Could I make it work with my *very* minimal programming skills and the internet at my fingertips? I wasn’t sure, so I started to explore other options. I certainly was NOT going to pay for another copy of XP. Ubuntu? Perhaps. I started to weigh out the Pros and Cons…

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I’ve been really busy and going through some personal stuff lately, so sadly, this blog has gotten neglected. I’m not writing this update to talk about that though. What I really want to talk about is the current US Presidential election campaign. Over the past couple of weeks, things have gotten really ugly to the point it makes me ashamed to call myself an American. I am not one of those spurned liberals who moved to Canada in protest because my favored candidate did not get elected. While, I am aware Americans have a very poor reputation abroad, there are lots of great things that have come from America and that is wonderful. Unfortunately, some not-so-great things are coming out of America too. This election season, aside from being unusually long, has also been unusual in the way it was conducted. Anyone who remembers the last several elections (as many as I can remember), has watched from the sidelines as the far right has injected fear, hatred, and intense moral posturing into every campaign. The strategy has been to paint the opponent as an America hating, communist, immoral who seeks to degrade the country’s fine moral standing. Often those who have pointed the finger and shouted the loudest were exposed as being even worse, but somehow it’s been a pretty successful strategy. The result has been a drastic image makeover as one of the most hate filled, aggressive, self-aggrandizing countries in the Western world.

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I recently had a very negative experience on eBay involving an item I was selling. I spent quite a bit of time posting my listing and ensuring the description was as accurate as possible. The buyer (whose username is dealingdirect702) sniped the bid from several other buyers who were bidding on the item and then waited a day to actually pay for it. The item was shipped the day after payment was received, packed well, as promised and included EXACTLY what was listed in the ad. No more, no less. This buyer received the item (well after the listed return time period I might add) and complained that the lot did not include additional items not in the original description. I explained to him that he received exactly what was advertised and he insisted on returning it anyway. When I declined to accept his return (it was beyond the return period and his only claim was essentially that he did not carefully read the original auction ad), he engaged PayPal buyer dispute.

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