Being an old-school computer user, I have come to expect that certain things work a certain way. Like Alt+F4 to close the current application. Even though that originally was a feature of Windows, my Linux Mint desktop comes with that key combo enabled by default, because Linux developers are cool like that.
I have a Lenovo laptop with Windows 8.1 on it. I only keep it around for cases where I have a hardware peripheral or software application that wants Windows. Today, I was finished using one such application, and I hit Alt+F4, and the volume slider went up. No, that is not what I wanted.
So I looked for an answer. On Lenovo's community site, basically you have to change this setting "Hotkey Mode" in the BIOS. But if it is not in the BIOS, you need a piece of software called either "Lenovo Settings" or "Lenovo Vantage". Well my BIOS does not have that mode, so I looked for the settings program, supposedly available in the Windows store.
For some reason, I cannot find this software, so I called Lenovo support. Or I wanted to, but the Lenovo site is very well designed to hide their phone number. I guess that is because they don't really care about helping their customers. Anyway, I found their number by ducking it. (DuckDuckGo's verb) There are websites who catalog customer support numbers for companies that don't want to talk to you.
Well, long and short of it is, after talking with two inept Lenovo representatives, both who first told me the solution was to replace my keyboard at a repair centre, I did a BIOS flash to the latest version, which did not make the hotkey mode option appear, and I was told that there is nothing I can do to make this work because the laptop is out of warranty and their "Lenovo Settings" software won't work on it.
I thought at this point, if I really wanted to get this simple yet infuriating mode to be changed, I'd have to download a custom BIOS from a BIOS hacker community, hope that it gives me that option, and that it doesn't brick the laptop. But would you believe I didn't have to do that. I found a post on a StackExchange forum that says all you gotta do is press Fn+Esc!!!
Okay, so that is a major fail on the part of Lenovo phone support. And this toggle actually survives reboots too. Amazing.
I wanted to comment on that StackExchange post that it survives reboots, but while I do have a StackExchange account, I am not able to write the comment because I need a bunch of other members to think I am cool first. That is a piss-off because I want to help people to know that this answer works, and it works great. I understand that spam is a problem, but this is just insane. I can't even truly vote-up the answer because of the lack of "reputation" points.
In my experience with forums, the spammer is pretty easily caught after they make their first 2-3 posts, so having to earn that much respect can't be about spam. It seems like a bit of elitism or something. I mean, I could be over-reacting but I felt like being blocked from writing my comment would could help others was harmful to the community, and I that I was not valued enough to speak.
Unless the community would rather not have anybody from "outside" contribute, and just stick to those who have earned their way up the social ladder. Whatever. I'm not into being part of a clique. I will just treat those sites as references, and I won't contribute. Their loss.
Thursday 12 July 2018
Monday 11 June 2018
Wanting to pay for digital content, but in dispair
When I tell people that I believe in the goals of the Free Software Foundation, they might assume that means I love to download pirated media. Actually, that is incorrect. As best I understand it, believing in protecting freedom means avoiding content that was intended to restrict our rights.
So the most strict way to follow that is to boycott all music, tv and movies with restrictive licensing (that's pretty much everything ever produced). That means that even if I can obtain the content in a way that violates the copyright, such as torrenting, it makes no difference as the license doesn't change when downloaded that way. It is still restricted by its license even if I have it on my computer and can watch it.
As you can imagine, avoiding all entertainment with a restrictive license gets close to living under a rock. So sometimes I do want to enjoy a film or song, and that means I have to begrudgingly accept that the license is objectionable. I also love the idea of supporting artists and creators, who often didn't have a choice over how their publisher licensed their work.
But as a user of a mostly free OS (Linux with drivers), I find that it is EXTREMELY difficult to actually pay for copyrighted works. Not because of the license, but because of the locked-down software that vendors use to prevent piracy at all costs, known as DRM. It is the most widespread and most dangerous threat to software freedom today. As such, I totally refuse to use it.
A few months ago I listened to a song on Youtube that I really liked, and I wanted to send a little 'Thank You' to the artist by buying the song as a digital file, probably an mp3. I could not. I only found it available on Amazon US, and Apple iTunes store. Living in Canada, the Amazon offering was not even available for purchase to me, let alone the issue of whether DRM would be involved. Apple is a lost cause for somebody like me. You would think in 2018 that I could just make a payment to a vendor of music and get the song file. Nope. I ran in circles on the iTunes website, ended up calling Apple and a representative, who was a little bewildered that I don't own an Apple device, said that I simply cannot purchase the song unless I run the iTunes DRM software. Well I tracked down an email to ask the artist directly if I can pay them for the song. No reply. Maybe one day I'll hear back.
Today, I found a really funny movie from a decade ago that I really want to watch again. I decided to look into my options for making a payment to watch it, however once again, I hit the DRM brick wall. I can't watch it on Amazon Prime, that would require a restricted streaming player such as Microsoft Silverlight or a Chrome, a DRM-encumbered web browser. I don't even know if an old movie like this one would be available on a service like Netflix, but that also refuses to work without DRM so it doesn't even matter. I found with a sigh that it is on Apple iTunes also. The "Microsoft Store" has it, but I can't see that working without SilverLight installed.
So I have emailed the company who licenses this particular movie, and maybe they will allow me to watch the film without DRM. I also mentioned to them that DRM backfires for all the people who care about their digital freedom, and instead of protecting profits causes losses.
I will now have to think about whether to choose to live with my values and just miss out on the movie, or to access it the only way I can without the threat of DRM - to download via bittorrent.
Perhaps I will get a positive response from the company about making a payment for the film to watch it without DRM. I'm not holding my breath, but let's wait and see.
So the most strict way to follow that is to boycott all music, tv and movies with restrictive licensing (that's pretty much everything ever produced). That means that even if I can obtain the content in a way that violates the copyright, such as torrenting, it makes no difference as the license doesn't change when downloaded that way. It is still restricted by its license even if I have it on my computer and can watch it.
As you can imagine, avoiding all entertainment with a restrictive license gets close to living under a rock. So sometimes I do want to enjoy a film or song, and that means I have to begrudgingly accept that the license is objectionable. I also love the idea of supporting artists and creators, who often didn't have a choice over how their publisher licensed their work.
But as a user of a mostly free OS (Linux with drivers), I find that it is EXTREMELY difficult to actually pay for copyrighted works. Not because of the license, but because of the locked-down software that vendors use to prevent piracy at all costs, known as DRM. It is the most widespread and most dangerous threat to software freedom today. As such, I totally refuse to use it.
A few months ago I listened to a song on Youtube that I really liked, and I wanted to send a little 'Thank You' to the artist by buying the song as a digital file, probably an mp3. I could not. I only found it available on Amazon US, and Apple iTunes store. Living in Canada, the Amazon offering was not even available for purchase to me, let alone the issue of whether DRM would be involved. Apple is a lost cause for somebody like me. You would think in 2018 that I could just make a payment to a vendor of music and get the song file. Nope. I ran in circles on the iTunes website, ended up calling Apple and a representative, who was a little bewildered that I don't own an Apple device, said that I simply cannot purchase the song unless I run the iTunes DRM software. Well I tracked down an email to ask the artist directly if I can pay them for the song. No reply. Maybe one day I'll hear back.
Today, I found a really funny movie from a decade ago that I really want to watch again. I decided to look into my options for making a payment to watch it, however once again, I hit the DRM brick wall. I can't watch it on Amazon Prime, that would require a restricted streaming player such as Microsoft Silverlight or a Chrome, a DRM-encumbered web browser. I don't even know if an old movie like this one would be available on a service like Netflix, but that also refuses to work without DRM so it doesn't even matter. I found with a sigh that it is on Apple iTunes also. The "Microsoft Store" has it, but I can't see that working without SilverLight installed.
 | |||
| Firefox is trying to be 'popular' with DRM offerings, but I'm sorry, I won't use that because I care about my freedom. |
I will now have to think about whether to choose to live with my values and just miss out on the movie, or to access it the only way I can without the threat of DRM - to download via bittorrent.
Perhaps I will get a positive response from the company about making a payment for the film to watch it without DRM. I'm not holding my breath, but let's wait and see.
Sunday 1 April 2018
[2013] Toronto: Strange Behaviour of Future Shop Salesperson Explained
(I am sharing this now as I thought I already published it. Turns out all I did was email it to the FSF. So, finally, here it is)
I was at a Toronto Future Shop outlet looking for a netbook that was on sale, in the lower price range. The salesman who was helping me said that a tablet might be cheaper then the netbook, if I was after the lowest cost computer.
I told him that I wasn't sure if I could get Linux onto the tablet, so I would hold off for now. All of a sudden, the salesman went cold and told me that he wouldn't talk with me anymore if that was what I was going to do.
Stunned, I asked him why he would say that and risk losing a sale, he fudged around a bit, then offered a story where another salesman had sold a laptop, the user failed to install Linux on it and then was angry because the store wouldn't accept the return with an erased windows partition.
So I'm thinking, that's a BS answer, all he has to do is tell me that it voids the warranty and make a sale, but that he would threaten to stop talking with me because of my personal OS choice, well that's extremely rude! And he'd lose a sale to Future Shop just because of I said the word "Linux" with him?
Now I'm rather upset, I demanded to speak with the store manager, and the three of us had a discussion about this on the sales floor. The manager confirmed that it would be rude and not per Future Shop's policy to outright refuse to talk to a customer because they prefer Linux. I offered a better way to handle Linux inquiries. As long as Future Shop salespeople tell the Linux users that it voids the warranty and complicates the returns process if the user wipes out Windows, that properly informs the customer and is probably already in the fine print somewhere. Salespersons at Future Shop aren't liable for what a customer does with their computer to void the warranty.
There is NO reason to just stop talking with a customer, and basically walk away from a sale! Linux users are just as valuable customers as anybody else, and the way that salesman acted completely devalued me as a customer.
Finally after the chat with the manager, I went to get the netbook off the shelf. As I was on my way to the cashier, the salesperson in question finally told me the truth: he used to work as an Apple technician at an Apple store. His rude behavior came from Apple's fascist policy about user's rights and he was making Future Shop look bad by carrying forward that terrible attitude.
Hopefully he realized he doesn't have to treat Linux-wielding customers like crap at Future Shop.
I was at a Toronto Future Shop outlet looking for a netbook that was on sale, in the lower price range. The salesman who was helping me said that a tablet might be cheaper then the netbook, if I was after the lowest cost computer.
I told him that I wasn't sure if I could get Linux onto the tablet, so I would hold off for now. All of a sudden, the salesman went cold and told me that he wouldn't talk with me anymore if that was what I was going to do.
Stunned, I asked him why he would say that and risk losing a sale, he fudged around a bit, then offered a story where another salesman had sold a laptop, the user failed to install Linux on it and then was angry because the store wouldn't accept the return with an erased windows partition.
So I'm thinking, that's a BS answer, all he has to do is tell me that it voids the warranty and make a sale, but that he would threaten to stop talking with me because of my personal OS choice, well that's extremely rude! And he'd lose a sale to Future Shop just because of I said the word "Linux" with him?
Now I'm rather upset, I demanded to speak with the store manager, and the three of us had a discussion about this on the sales floor. The manager confirmed that it would be rude and not per Future Shop's policy to outright refuse to talk to a customer because they prefer Linux. I offered a better way to handle Linux inquiries. As long as Future Shop salespeople tell the Linux users that it voids the warranty and complicates the returns process if the user wipes out Windows, that properly informs the customer and is probably already in the fine print somewhere. Salespersons at Future Shop aren't liable for what a customer does with their computer to void the warranty.
There is NO reason to just stop talking with a customer, and basically walk away from a sale! Linux users are just as valuable customers as anybody else, and the way that salesman acted completely devalued me as a customer.
Finally after the chat with the manager, I went to get the netbook off the shelf. As I was on my way to the cashier, the salesperson in question finally told me the truth: he used to work as an Apple technician at an Apple store. His rude behavior came from Apple's fascist policy about user's rights and he was making Future Shop look bad by carrying forward that terrible attitude.
Hopefully he realized he doesn't have to treat Linux-wielding customers like crap at Future Shop.
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