Zen of Tofu

This past week I was called in to do a job for my past Summer employer, and the lucky job I received was to buy and set up two new computers to replace one client and the server. The upgrade is required because of the new accounting software they chose to move towards. At least they’re getting rid of their old MS-DOS based accounting software! The big problem was that when the new accounting software was being developed it was right before the company received the specs and APIs for the new Vista, so as a result the software has many glitches when being run on Vista. The only solution was to revert back to Windows XP. As many of you may have noticed if you recently bought a new PC, the majority of them don’t come with floppy disk drives included! And if you have ever installed XP on a new RAID/SATA hard drive you’ll know that you need the drivers on a floppy disk to make a clean install! So with no floppy and no XP drivers for the hard drive, I chose the best solution — return the PCs.

For the moments that I was working on Vista, it wasn’t too bad, but you definitely notice some slow points when you know a top-of-the-line video card is necessary. It’s nice to see all the bells and whistles in action like the glass effects, the window thumbnails, the gadgets, and the new start menu, but it’s a shame that the OS needs such high requirements to provide a sensible interface and decent add-ons. It is quite evident that Vista borrows many elements from Mac OS X, and it’s a praise to the great benchmark that Apple has made on their user interfaces and design elements. Do I like Vista? Not after switching to a Mac, quite honestly. If money wasn’t an issue I’d have my eyes set on the new quad-core Mac with the potential of 16GB of RAM. Quite amazing indeed.

I’ve heard many good and bad things about Vista since its release and after trying it out first hand, I must say they should have kept it in development longer. With all the software compatibility issues and steep hardware requirements, Vista should have been aimed for Christmas time instead. Perhaps the flaw is in the complicated framework it was built on to begin with. I think Vista may have actually convinced more consumers to switch to trying a Mac! I’m sure Vista will soon take off once the new PC game titles are released with their 7.1 surround sound and graphical realism, but for now I’d rather avoid Vista altogether and buy my PCs with XP installed.

written by tofu

Recently I’ve been reading Gordon Ramsay’s autobiography Humble Pie, and it has led me to asking myself “who are my heroes?” and “who inspires me?” Other than typically writing about my close family members, I’ll introduce one person who inspires me that is not within reach of my last nam — Gordon Ramsay.
For one, I must say I am quite inspired by Gordon Ramsay and the struggles he faced as a child that made him the man he is today. His whole work ethic, objective vision of life, and ability to see “the big picture” are quite admirable. Many see him as a foul-mouthed bastard hungry for television fame and fortune, but after hearing and reading how he conducts himself in his daily life, the claim is a shallow one. Sure, he swears a lot, but has the average public ever heard how a top-rated restaurant is run in order to produce top quality food? I’m sure there are high-class restaurants out there with talented chefs who produce top-notch food, but how many head chefs out there can bring out the best out of any kitchen crew? That is what sets Gordon apart from the rest, and I may be making uninformed statements here, but it’s through his sternness and strive for perfection that causes people to either hate or love him.

I’ve watched many of Gordon’s television shows and heard the way he speaks to his workers, and then compared that to how he treats strangers. The respect for others is there, but when it comes to business he is simply all about business. And when I read his autobiography, it was odd because the exact way he speaks is the way it was written, and it’s almost comical to say that when I read it, it was almost like I heard the words coming out of his mouth. I’ve read autobiographies before, but I’ve never known the real-life person and how that person sounded or acted. This has been the first autobiography I’ve read that features a person still alive today, and while it’s not a complete autobiography, it is much easier to relate to because the times have not changed very much in some respects.

So why does Gordon inspire me? I guess it is simply his work ethic and his strive for perfection that inspires me. I’m not a perfectionist by any measure as people close to me can easily observe, but I’ve just never seen someone put so much honest work into achieving something so materially temporary, but yet timelessly memorable. It’s quite amazing how far we go to create everlasting memories through temporal means.

written by tofu

I’m almost done. My second year of university that is. I know the exam countdowns are getting lame but in the spirit of tradition, I’m done three with my last on Monday morning. One exam I was truly worried for was my first year logic course, since I just couldn’t seem to grasp the concepts and be able to construct bullet-proof proofs on tests. Assignments didn’t pose much of a problem because I had time to analyze the questions and take my time to construct the proofs, but when I wrote the tests nothing seemed to click. I’m sure it’s not due to pressure, but somehow I always made silly mistakes that would give me pathetic part marks and sum to a fail.

I’ve never had such a poor work-to-grade ratio in a course before, but by midterm I figured I could get through this. After the exam I wrote for logic last night, I believe I have some hope. Either I actually started to “get” this rhapsody of logic, or I really had no clue what I was doing. I’m convinced of the former, and I hope my prof is convinced enough to pass me!

written by tofu

Do all the people in tech support believe that every customer is totally clueless? Do all the people in tech support read off of cue cards when walking through procedures? Do all the people in tech support ever listen to what a customer has to say and respond accordingly? Are people in tech support really people?

Recently I have been having continuous problems with my ISP, which I will not name, and I’ve had to call in for tech support at least three times a week for the past three weeks approximately, to have things resolved. It all started when they decided to remove my line card for my DSL service. It took me a week of constantly getting on their backs about the problem, before I got the little green DSL light to shine bright again. Then I found out that their computers were not accepting a connection from my DSL modem. Lucky me. After getting back on the phone again they said it would take two days before the problem would be resolved. After many headaches and phone calls I finally got a connection — but there was a catch — I was getting a mere 128KBps when I was paying for 5MBps. Huge difference in speeds. (After a lot of complaining I got upgraded from 3MBps to 5MBps at no extra cost, my monthly payments were reduced, and I got two free routers!) By then I was already at two weeks with either no connection or sub-par connection speeds. Again I got on the phone to try and get the problem rectified. This time I found out that the line card they re-installed could only accommodate 128KBps and no higher, so it would take another 48 hours for them to replace the card with one that can handle 5MBps. And then tonight I had to call them again because even though they upgraded my card and I could connect to the Internet, it was STILL at sub-par speeds. Pathetic! So tonight I called again and got possibly the worst tech support representative of all time.

With a heavy accent I have grown accustomed to understanding, she walked me through the client-side procedures that I have done at least four times in the past two weeks. I even asked her right off the bat if she could send me to a tech level two technician, who would understand my problem right away in all likelihood, but she insisted on going through the procedures before escalating my case. So I was patient and went through the usual painstaking steps knowing they would prove nothing. (Talk about a leakage in the economy — waste of time!) After all that she puts me on hold and escalates my case as I was clearly showing signs of losing patience and annoyance. She put me on hold for twenty whole minutes! (Probably because she was annoyed at me too. At least it was mutual.) After she gets back she says the profile of my line is sub-par and will be urgently upgraded in 24 hours. Hallelujah! The entire time I wasted was not in vain! But I can’t celebrate too much yet, as the problem and 24 hours has not passed as yet. I expect it to be done as soon as possible, or else they should expect another call from me, and this time I know how to play their game.

Now tech support is usually supposed to be friendly, helpful, and empathetic, but it turns out more often than not that the level one tech support reps of my ISP are just pathetic! The lady I got tonight had to be new at it, or else there is just no other excuse. When walking through procedures she was clearly reading off her sheet and not even contemplating what she was saying. She expected my PC to reboot in less than 5 seconds and for me to click as fast as she spoke. My blackBook can’t even reboot that fast! And she would read the procedures as if she was reading the news — brisk and brief enough to be unable to keep up. Luckily I had done all the steps a week ago so I knew where to go and what to do. What was even worse was when I tried to get her to understand the problem I have been dealing with the entire three weeks and she would simply stay silent for a few secs, say “hello” to make sure I’m still on the line, and then begin again with “What you need to do next is…” and totally disregard my statement! Not only is it ignorant, but very irritating! It’s like talking to a robot! If that’s how the level one tech support reps are trained, then they might as well hire chimps! Act, rinse, repeat. Not only was she the most annoying rep I have received to date, I almost wanted to file a complaint, and I’ve never felt like doing that before! Maybe I’m being a little idealistic, but there should be more rigorous training sessions in place to have these non-technical reps learn what they recite!

From getting a rep that sounded like a squeaky mouse, to a totally incompetent rep, I am officially tired of dealing with tech support reps. And that ends my rant about the nightmares I’ve had with tech support. Not one fond memory has come of this — only tests to my tolerance and painstaking patience.

written by tofu

I heard two great quotes last night while watching Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares on the Food Network.

“The name is not critical, the change is crucial.”
“Safe means we’re in the sh**!”
- Gordon Ramsay

The first quote is concerning a restauranteur’s reluctance to change his restaurant’s name and make the necessary changes to start fresh. It struck me as enlightening because we often find it hard to make changes in our lives even though they are for the better. When we live in the past, we are hesitant to change our ways and not willing to start from scratch, not realizing that we have more experience and talent than when we started from scratch before. Especially as times change, we need to keep ourselves up to date and conscious of our present day situation, despite the hardships and fears accumulated from the past.

The second quote emphasizes on the first and is just plain hilarious when heard in context. It arises from the restauranteur doubting that a name change will bring him more business, and believing that if he stayed where he was, he would be safe (but also neck deep in debt). I tend to agree with this quote although it may seem reckless at first. Playing it safe doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll end up in the deep-end, but playing safe definitely doesn’t leave any room for fun or spontaneity, and if you like an exciting lifestyle then playing safe would not get you anywhere.

So that’s just my two cents on some intellectually inspiring quotes. I don’t usually pay attention to famous quotes, let alone try to identify them and write them down, but these two definitely seemed unique and ~nutritional~.

written by tofu