X10 Automation Website

You know I mostly write to complain... well this is no different.

Take a good look at the X10 Website

It makes me puke. This is by far the most disgusting design I have come accross in many years. The thing they should understand is that the web is no TV ad or infomercial. Period. They have even gone lower recently by adding half naked chicks to their distasteful design. Phewww. What if I am a simple customer looking for information on a light switch. I don't want your stupid package deals, all I need is some simple information about your products not blinking lights and color all around.

That was it. I didn't even mention their twice a day newsletter you get in your email when you purchase stuff over there.

Fell free to bash as well with any comments!

Epson Artisan 700 Review

Well, I wish this was a review but unfortunatly this is the second DOA for the same model. OMFG. What are the chance you get 2 defective unit (2 weeks appart)?

So here is my review so far:

After unpacking and removing every little blue sticker holding the printer tightly closed for transport (and that yellow plastic thing) I plugged the unit into an electrical outlet and then when I hit the On button - I got the following:

 X Error - An error has occured with the product. Turn it off and turn it on again. See your documentation for more information. (with many blinking lights on the front panel)

Then all there is left to do is turn off the printer and try again.... and again... and again... installing cartridges won't do anything... turn off again.

Now this time I won't send the printer back to my reseller. I am too ashamed of my choice of a lame product like this. I'll be sending the unit back to epson as soon as I have faxed my invoice to them and they'll keep a charge on my credit card until I return this piece of garbage.

I'll keep you posted.

Nice work Epson, made in indonesia

Update on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 20:07 by Patrick Laforte

I got the replacement from Epson delivered under 24-hours (even if the support lady on the phone told me between 6 to 10 business days!)

The third seems to be the charm. This one works and I am currently trying this unit and for now, so far so good. The Artisan line seems to be packed with lot of features. For 200$, you get a nice printer and scanner accessible over your network. That's great.

I like the fact that you put 50 sheet in the tray + some photo paper and the CD tray is built in.

I don't expect much durability but Epson is backing this product with a two year warranty upon registration.

More later...

Dear Spammer, Go Fuck YourSelf

Bastard.

Email to SuperMicro: Great Motherboard, Unnaceptable Warranty terms

Once Again I fell the only way to easy my mind is to warn you about SuperMicro's warranty terms on their Motherboards

Click to read more ...

Symantec EndPoint Protection (v11) - The Only Protection you Need!

Symantec is offering one of the strongest security product out there: Endpoint.

This software suite has 3 products under the hood:

• Antivirus and AntiSpyware Protection
• Proactive Threat Protection
• Network Threat Protection

This new concept here is simple: IF YOUR COMPUTER CAN NO LONGER ACCESS OR SHARE NETWORK RESSOURCES, THEN YOU ARE SAFE! That's right, once you install this piece of shitty software you won't be able to access a network share and you will be also protected against anyone trying to access your "so confidential" files and printers shares.

To make it simple, here is a breakdown of what is working out of the box and what is not.

WORKING:

1. Remote Desktop Connection
2. Internet Access
3. Antivirus? (not tested)

NOT WORKING:

1. Accessing Network Shares
2. Sharing files and printers
3. Deployment from the Symantec Console (try it, it's fun to watch a nice progress bar for 1-2 minutes, then get a confirmation that everything when OK and then walking up to the deployed workstation were absolutly nothing has been installed.)

THE BOTTOM LINE:

1. Even if you manage to enable file and printer sharing (once you found the right checkbox in EndPoint) this solution will only work temporarily. I don't know the condition yet (reboot, update) but after a week or so even if the checkbox is still active you'll lose your local file and printer share again... I ended up making my own set of rules in the firewall to allow this traffic and it seems to be permanent now.
2. Not being able to see shared ressources on your network is the most disturbing part ... I ended up reinstalling my Windows Vista 64-Bits were I had much trouble and tought the network issues were caused by Vista.
3. For now, I just disabled the Network Threat Protection to regain access to the shared stuff... but I discovered some annoying lag while browsing the network (I tought my wireless mouse batteries were low at first!). My computer was slow and choppy when accessing a network share so I also disabled Proactive Threat Protection as well.

Nice work Symantec!

P.S. Vista 64-Bits sucks and so does Symantec Endpoint. Install Creative Suite 3 on top of that and you'll begin to understand why people want to switch to MAC or Linux.

Update on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 12:48 by Patrick Laforte

A little note to mention that I updated Symantec Endpoint Protection to version 11.0.3001 MR3 on my Windows Vista 64-Bits and I still have theses issues...

STILL NOT RESOLVED

I must also mention I wasted *again* 1 hour of my life trying to make a simple file share on my home network between two computer... I was thinking "It can't be Symantec, there is no icon on my destop tray..." I felt like a newbie when I found that indeed it was symantec endpoint was running on this computer and for some *again* obscure reasons the icon didn't show.

Network Path not found said Vista. Yes I know it can answer to a Ping but hey.