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Getting Creative With Crippleware
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 12:03:35 AM PDT
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If you discovered a device driver was malfunctioning and published a fix, you might assume the manufacturer of the product would be grateful. In very public fashion though, Creative Labs in the last few weeks has made it loud and clear that users who tinker with their drivers risk being shouted down. As far as Creative is concerned, it's not for you the user to decide how badly your Sound Blaster card will or will not function.
(26 comments, 990 words in story) Full Story
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Yahoo's Not Getting the Message
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 01:25:43 PM PDT
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I couldn't help but shake my head a bit over today's announcement about Yahoo's plans to re-make online advertising. While I truly wish them luck, my readers keep telling me that Yahoo still has a problem with a much more basic part of the Internet -- e-mail.
(9 comments, 659 words in story) Full Story
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HP Aggravates Its Failure Rate
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Thu Apr 03, 2008 at 07:08:56 PM PDT
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It's annoying enough when you suffer a high failure rate on the PCs you're getting from a vendor. But, as one reader has recently experienced with HP, what can be vastly more aggravating is when you can't get them to tell you the solution, even though they apparently know it.
(12 comments, 887 words in story) Full Story
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All Charged Up Over Comcast's Quadruple Play
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Tue Apr 01, 2008 at 12:11:01 AM PDT
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Today's announcement of CHARGES, Comcast's new home energy management system that will be combined with its TV, phone, and Internet services in a new "Quadruple Play" offering, has generated a lot of excitement. To help customers get charged up about this new service, following is a transcript from a Q&A session at Comcast's press conference.
(9 comments, 682 words in story) Full Story
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Logitech Mouse Features Get Shifty
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:01:26 PM PDT
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Sometimes it's not clear if a vendor is deliberately promoting a feature it knows the product doesn't have, or if it just can't be bothered to change the information on its website. Such is the case with one reader who recently found the feature that led him to buy a Logitech mouse was missing.
(5 comments, 895 words in story) Full Story
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Liquidated Damages
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 10:00:33 PM PDT
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What do you do when you're denied warranty service because the vendor claims your system was damaged by a mythical spill of some liquid? I often hear from people who know they didn't spill the milky substance they are being told has invalidated their warranty, but can't prove it. One reader in such a situation however recently found a way to get his warranty honored, and in the process made a point from the discussions we've had about the questionable value of extended warranties.
(8 comments, 1061 words in story) Full Story
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Autorenewal Lurks in Spyware Doctor
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 12:30:00 AM PDT
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As we recently saw, automatic subscription renewals seem to have become de rigueur for antivirus software vendors. But one reader recently discovered that the practice is creeping into the anti-spyware category as well.
(34 comments, 614 words in story) Full Story
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Not a Class Act!
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 11:25:25 PM PDT
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Many people have mixed feelings about class action lawsuits, seeing as how the only real winners are usually the lawyers. But is such litigation more justified against a software company that keeps putting out a buggy product? That was the question confronting one reader when he received notice of a settlement involving Sage Software's Act! 2005.
(14 comments, 1004 words in story) Full Story
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Reader Voices: Subscription Scams
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Fri Mar 14, 2008 at 09:05:37 AM PDT
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Magazine subscriptions have always been something of a racket, but they seem to getting worse both in scope and in the depth of their sheer fraudulent nastiness. But does the blame for this sorry state of affairs belong to the magazine publishers themselves, or does it perhaps lie elsewhere?
(4 comments, 920 words in story) Full Story
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