WD Passport Essentials - pure garbage

Recently bought a Western Digital Passport Essential usb drive. It come's preloaded with something called "SmartWare" which is great - if you are an idiot or are happy to use the drive only in the Western Digital Approved way and only on Western Digital Approved operating systems.

I run Linux (Ubuntu). I also run XP and Vista and I run Windows 7. Yes, I have too many computers.

But when I buy a hard drive, I expect to be able to use it as a hard drive. I do not want to be locked into using some garbage software each and every time I plug it in. I do not like being lied to (moreso) about the amount of space on a drive. I do not like being forced to use garbage that does not do what I need it to do.

We already have to put up with hdd manufacturers fudging the numbers around so that they can claim bigger hard drive sizes. Having it use some of the space (230Mb) for their garbage is one thing. Having that be a lie since the actual space used is closer to 640Mb is a dis-service. Being completely unable to remove said garbage is like being spit in the face.

Sure, I can waste time and bandwidth downloading updates and programs from Western Digital that will turn off the GarbageWare but that's ALL it does - the garbage is still there!

I have previously only bought WD drives. They are good and reliable. If I can't get rid of this garbage or a full refund then I will not be buying any WD drives again and recommending to others that they avoid this brand like the plague.

On the tiny, miniscule, microscopic chance that anyone who is affiliated with WD in any way actually reads this - I DO NOT WANT SMARTWARE! I do not want to be locked into one way of doing things. I do not want to have to jump through hoops to use a product.

When I buy an external hard drive I want a hard drive that is external to my computer - that's it! Plug it in, transfer files, unplug it. Simple.

Been a while

Whoops, totally forgot about this.

Going to have to do a catch-up post. Very sore at the moment as have been taking self defense classes and feeling it today. Tsbytomd will be better soon.

Musicwise, hit a bit of a dry spell, but getting better(ish), for loose definitions of the word "better". Getting fitter(ish) sortof. Hmm, lots of room for improvement (lots).

Getting there

Well, on my way today out to get a midi controller. Been playing with the Acid XPress 7 software and it is totally awesome.

I'm sure that people who make music properly would say "pft" but since I'm starting out I really like it.

First podcast finished!

Sweet! I'm on a roll.

Okay, so the first podcast is in the can. Haven't put it up on the website since the host is having issues at the moment and the site is down. But that's okay because I haven't built the site yet!

So got the first one done on schedule (finish them on Sundays for a Monday publication) even though I had a bit of a learning curve with all the new software. I'm using three or four programs at the moment. No doubt I could do it with a single program if I paid for a good one, but I like using freeware.

In related news, dug out the old music I'd made under the Dj Pyro name back in the day and pulled the better ones (read: less bad) into a ten-track album. Of course, calling the album "Pyro" but putting it under my new stage name of Tsbytomd.

So it is all coming together nicely. I have an old friend who has offered to show me how to do midi sequencing and stuff so that should be good. I have a program (also freeware) to get started with and if i can pull some halfway decent stuff together then I'll be splashing out for a midi controller of some type. I have a few on my watchlist on eBay to see if I can pick one up cheapish, but I'm not holding my breathe.

Looking forward to getting started!

Well, sold the Corsair

Today I sold off the Corsair. It served me faithfully for the few months that I had it. Towards the end of December it was a pretty tight toss-up between keeping the Corsair and getting it serviced and such, or picking up a fresh car.

My desire for a ute won out and I bought the XH and have now sold off the Corsair.

May she serve her new owner faithfully.

Ford Falcon celebrates 50 years

That’s right – it has been fifty years since the first Falcon rolled off the assembly line and came to our shores. To celebrate, I bought myself a Falcon Ute – an XH model, one of the rare ones (yes, I finally bought a ute).

Ford, to celebrate, decided to cancel the Falcons.

For the two people who are reading this but have not heard the news, Ford have announced that they will discontinue “regional” cars and use a single large sedan for all countries. From a business perspective, this makes a lot of sense. It means that they have to spend less money on research and development of different vehicles that do the same job and they will need to produce fewer spare parts.

For the end user, it is the end of an era.

I don’t really partake in the big “Ford vs. Holden” mentality that has been the primary focus of car enthusiasts for as long as my generation has been around. I guess this means that Holden wins?

At any rate, I doubt that this will affect me too much. I only buy old, second hand (more like tenth hand) cars. If I really wanted to support Falcons then I would go out and buy a couple of brand new ones. Since that ain’t gonna happen, then I’m not going to kick up a fuss.

I’ll keep driving my XH for as long as I can – though with the increasing fuel prices, I don’t know how long that will be…

Almost at the end of 2009

And not much has happened.

Looking back, it looks like I did very little during the past year. No major accomplishments like 2008. Got my computer back after nearly a year, started, stopped and started exercising again (still hanging around low 85Kg).

I am still hunting around for a fresh car. The biggest drawback being that I don’t know what it is that I am looking for. At the moment, my main criteria is that it be a rear wheel drive and five speed manual. A Ford Falcon would be nice, but they are nearly all automatic. A small 2 door coupe would be nice but they are nearly always front wheel drive.

Oh well, keep looking.

Not much else to report.