Wednesday, April 29, 2009

HP Tech Support

Everyone knows that companies outsource their tech support to India. There's no secret about that. However, I was particularly annoyed about the help I got from HP.

Here's the thing: we got an Officejet 6500. It's a terrific machine, but it has issues when trying to print from QuickBooks Point of Sale. It will sometimes work, and other times it will act like it printed something and make a beep sound like it finished, even though it printed nothing. After playing with it for several hours, I found someone on the internet who had this issue and started using a Deskjet 990 driver with the Officejet 6500 to get it working properly. I tried it and found that it indeed made it print (we can't say for certain that there won't be any further problems, but so far, it appears to be working.)

It was suggested to me by my step-mom that I call HP tech support before making any changes to the computer. I agreed, and for the next 98 minutes and 57 seconds, I was on the telephone. I got this lady who was trying to help me. What I didn't realize at the time was it was her first day on the job, and as luck would have it, I was her first customer. Oh boy!

Her computer crashed about an hour into the session, so we had to start from the beginning by me giving my name, zip code, and other information. Each time I'd answer a question, it would take her a few minutes to go to the next step.

When we finally got to the part where she takes control of my computer, we tried several times to print a document. It never worked. Finally, she adds a new printer. She picks the Deskjet 990 (which was the default on the screen since I had previously added it.) We tried printing, and what do you know, it printed. Wow, I didn't see that coming. That was the solution. That. After all of that trouble, the bass-ackwards solution I already found was the conclusion of the session.

I just wasted 99 minutes of my life away talking to some lady from India for nothing. I didn't complain, I was very nice to her, particularly since it was her first day. Still, I felt quite annoyed that I did that for nothing.

So the conclusion I have come to is there must be something wrong with the HP Officejet 6500 driver. The driver is dated March 2009, so it's definitely new. I'm hoping they fix whatever is wrong, because I feel more than a little funny about using a driver that wasn't made specifically for it.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Starfish Really Loves You

Starfish loves you! Starfish really loves you! Starfish also wants you to watch Charlie the Unicorn 3. Tell me, can you feel the love?



Starfish deserves his own video. Starfish will take over the world. Maybe. That would be great!

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Bomb Throwers Run Wild at OCR

Take a look at these two links:

- Overclocked ReMix
- Sonic Retro

The topic is on curse words. I started it at Sonic Retro first. After being fairly surprised at how many people didn't see things the way I did, I made a video on the subject. Although I didn't go into great detail in my video, I made the most important points I felt needed attention. After making the video, I decided to make a post on Overclocked ReMix about the same subject.

As you can tell, attitudes between the two message boards aren't even close. While some Sonic Retro members poked fun at my opinion, there really wasn't any malice towards me for it. Overclocked ReMix members made fun of my opinion in every possible way they could. I applaud Sonic Retro members for showing some class. Overclocked ReMiX once again doesn't live up to the same standard. For several years now, the OCR forums have become a place for spewing hate at those who they deem "n00bish" in any way, shape, or form. If they don't like what you post, they'll throw it right in your face. There are some classless Sonic Retro members, but the vast majority understand the meaning of respect.

I've been at OCR since 2003, and I've never seen it this bad. Apparently, the staff hasn't paying attention. The OCR staff should listen up for a change and get much stricter with their out-of-control members if they want OCR to be a welcoming place for newer members in the future. Otherwise, they'll get bad publicity like this. Hey, it's not doing harm to me. I actually love the attention my topic is getting. As I right this, 10% of my latest video's viewership comes directly from OCR. It's good for me, but it can't be good for them.