iTunes

Posted: Sun 30 July, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Geeky, General, Sweary, Weirdness | 2 Comments »

With the new PC, I’ve also installed iTunes to deal with a lot of the music. This has turned out to be a bit of a double-edged sword.

For a lot of things, iTunes is great – burning CDs, building playlists, buying music downloads – all great. No problem with that at all.

However, it has fallen down big-style on one particular area. It just won’t read in all the files I’ve got. Well, I say that – it reads the files, but in a good 50% of the cases, it doesn’t get the relevant information. Now, Real Player has no problem with the files, and has always been able to keep track of who’s done them, which album, so forth, so fifth. But oh no, not iTunes. It won’t take into account the file structure ( i.e. they’re all kept in a file structure that goes /music/[Artist]/[Album]/[Tracks] )

So in order to make use of iTunes in general, I’m supposed to go through and re-identify about 6,000 files, enter in all the tag information – all of which is in the file structure, and it even shows in iTunes with the file structure identified. It’s just the information that’s fucked. Yet Real Player has got it all with no problem.

Have I missed something? Or am I just going to have to spend time going through the entire fucking file structure, editing all the ID3 tags for all the music that iTunes insists hasn’t got the right information?

Dumped

Posted: Mon 24 July, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Customer Services, Geeky, Getting Organised, Sweary | 2 Comments »

Well, yesterday I finally dumped the two Shuttle boxes I bought. I got the first one a long time back, in October, and it was a cunt. Never worked, and we finally established that the motherboard was fucked. Nothing worked on it, couldn’t install an OS, and ended up testing the memory, the hard drive, the processor, the optical drive, everything. No joy.

Shuttle wouldn’t replace it, and nor would the supplier, MicroDirect – despite repeated letters to both, they both just put their hands in the air, shrugged, said “Not our problem, mate”, and because it was a self-build system, they pretty much insisted it must be my fault, and I didn’t know what I was doing. Smug cunts.

Anyway, glutton for punishment, I ordered a replacement Shuttle box, this time from Dabs. Some people have said they’re useless fuckers, but when it comes to ordering stuff from them, I’d have to say that they’ve been OK with me. Somehow, I managed to get another box that didn’t work, and had another motherboard problem. All the components, and some new ones, got tested, and no fucking joy.

So I gave up, and ended up ordering a PC from Dell, which is an absolutely storming bit of kit. And I’ve been able to add in pretty much all the components I bought for the Shuttle boxes, with the exception of the processors – Dell use intel, the shuttles were AMD 64-bit processors.

Despite repeated contacts with Shuttle, they’ve absolutely refused to acknowledge any problems with their boxes, even on evidence of everything I’ve tested.

I’ve spent about £600 on the boxes all told, and there’s fuck-all I’m going to get back for them. So now the two boxes have gone to the dump, and I’ve just had to write the loss off. However, what it does also mean is that I would never recommend a Shuttle box to anyone. Maybe – just maybe – if you can buy a system that’s pre-built, and sold as a unit, then OK. But a DIY kit? Don’t touch Shuttle with a shitty stick. In my experience, their products are crap – beautiful, a great idea , but ultimately crap – and their customer service is worse – well, if something non-existent can be deemed to be worse than crap.

And am I fucked off about throwing £600 of stuff on the local dump? You bet your arse I am – but sometimes even I just give up the fight, because I know it’s one I will never win, and in fact never even get a draw on. In this case, it’s just not worth fighting any more. Even when that leaves me almost as pissed off as the battle did in the first place.

Stickup

Posted: Mon 3 July, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Cynicism, General, Sweary, Thoughts | 1 Comment »

With the van that’s been parked outside our office for the last hour, blocking half the road, I’ve gone back to wanting to make up some stickers – with hyper-strong adhesive – that I can slap onto people’s windscreens, printed (on the sticky side, so they can see it when they sit in the car) with the phrase

“Thanks for parking like a cunt”

in very large bold print.

I know, I’ve proposed it before, but the desire is getting stronger and stronger, the more I work in this office and see just how cuntish these drivers are.

Mind you, in twunt-boy’s case, I’d also love to see some grumpy trucker (and that’s not rhyming slang) just barge past, and scrape all down the side of the van. Now that would be funny as fuck.

Inland Revenue

Posted: Mon 12 June, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Domestic, Own Business, Sweary, Work-related | Leave a comment »

Finally, it looks like my ongoing fight with the Inland Revenue may just be coming to a close.

Way back in March last year, I got a snotty letter from the Inland Revenue telling me that my tax return for 2003/4 was now officially late, and I was being slapped with a penalty fine of £100 as a result. OK, fine – except, well, I hadn’t actually received a tax return for 2003/4. I called them immediately, and told them so. “We’ll send one out, and put the account on hold” they said.

Did they fuck as like.

In May I got another demand – it was still late, another £100 had been thrown at me, and I still hadn’t received the bloody tax return in the first place. Another call, another promise, and finally a tax return arrived. I filled it in, enclosed all the shit they asked for (P45, P60, blah blah) and sent it back. Like a numpty, I didn’t send it recorded delivery.

Yes, Inland Revenue lost it. Along with all the documents. Oh shit.

Everything’s gone on from there, really. Two more returns (one lost, one finally received), shitloads of demands for money, invoices, the lot. Oh, and a similar scenario for the 2004/5 one, which started happening this year, to a disturbingly similar pattern.

Finally it’s all looking like it’s been sorted. It turns out that a company I was a director of, and left back in August ’04, hadn’t told Inland Revenue I’d left. (and had earned fuck-all with) So Inland Revenue thought I was still self-employed, and getting money from the company. Except I’d left them, and told Companies House so as well. Your standard “linked up government” *cough* scenario. I got a return for 2005/6 as well, but it now looks like common sense may have taken hold, and I won’t have to fill it in. That’s getting verified today, as you can imagine. I want that decision in writing. Ideally in 48point bold, with flashing lights.

And the final amount? After two years of stress, hassle, threats of court, (Well, being told the day before the court date “Oh, you’re supposed to be in court tomorrow”. I’m sure there’s some kind of statutory requirement to fucking tell me that? “Oh, we sent out a letter”. In a similar way to the other ones that I haven’t received? “Oh.”) threats of bailiffs and tax inspectors?

£150

That’s it. One hundred and fifty sodding pounds. It’s cost more than that, just in administration at their end. Hell, it’s cost me a bundle just in phone calls and postage. Pity I can’t count that against the payment.

Still, the cheque goes off today, and hopefully that’ll be the end of it…

“Royal” Visitations

Posted: Wed 22 March, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Sweary, Thoughts | 2 Comments »

Yesterday, Wokingham had a visit from the Countess of Wessex, or “Sophie thingy” as she’s known. One of the more useless royals, along with her husband.

Anyway, in order to “protect” her from the “crowds” (To whit, no-one. Not a fucking one. No-one cared, or was likely to. And it was only the local Lions she was visiting anyway – hey, talk about high-powered. *cough*) the entourage consisted of :

  • One Chauffer-driven Audi A6
  • Two Close-Protection Bunch Range Rovers with two plods in each
  • Five plods on motorbikes and
  • another six all propping up the walls of the town hall

All for absolutely sod-all. SIXTEEN bloody people to protect one minor minor royal on a day-trip to a meeting with a bunch of local Lions Club members. I believe this could be filed under “Overkill”.

How good to see my council tax money going to such good use. *cough*

Chuff

Posted: Tue 14 February, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: D4D™, Sweary | Leave a comment »

I’m so proud. Wandering through my referrer stats, I came across a google search for “Fuck My Chuff” (an elegant phrase – what a pity it didn’t come up as an entire line. Still, it will now…) so I thought “Ah, what the hell, let’s see where I come in google for that.

#1, Baby.

I’m so sad…

*Shudder*

Posted: Mon 13 February, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Sweary, Weirdness | 3 Comments »

McVities have introduced – sit down before reading this – new flavours for Jaffa Cakes. There’s now Lemon & Lime jaffa cakes, and blackcurrant Jaffa cakes.

In the name of all that’s holy, why? The clue is in the name – Jaffa Cakes, meant to be made so the orangey bit tastes of Jaffa oranges. That’s why they’re called Jaffa cakes. What the fuck do you call a Lemon and Lime variant? It ain’t Jaffa, that’s for sure. Maybe “Kir Cakes” for the blackcurrant ones, or “Cassis Cakes”. Only then people wouldn’t realise that they’re alternatively-flavoured Jaffa Cakes.

Oi, Mr McVitie – Get your hands off our proper Jaffa Cakes, and leave ’em alone!

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