problems@stupid.computers.com
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Why? Why? Why?
Why does it seem that my computer is out to get me? I have a long history of owning computers which develop problems that no technical support person can figure out or even guess as to what is going on. Well, with the exception of the laptop which was working fine until one day someone sploshed it with a large cup of water by dropping their books onto the table, catapulting the cup, which was about 3 feet away from it, into the laptop (I say 'splosh' because in fact it was a very tall Coca-Cola cup COMPLETELY FILLED with water, and 'splash' just didn't seem to paint it accurately). It eventually worked again, but never fully recovered. The water blew out the backlight of the screen and shorted out the motherboard in some areas, causing it to become extremely slow and requiring it to now be tethered to a monitor just to see what you are doing. Grr. Other than this, computers seem to have developed problems by themselves, without the help of a flying cup of water.
Case in point. I got this wonderful tv-to-computer video recording device called the "WinTV PVR2 USB" from Hauppauge. Granted, the price was good - free, as I inherited it from someone else. I want to use this thing to import video clips of my improv group for editing and then posting to Youtube.com. As you can see, I was successful at first (see archives for posts of clips uploaded to Youtube) But then something happened and I had to reinstall it. Now I can record the video to the hard drive, but no editing software will open the file! The only programs that will open the file are those that came on the CD which came with the hardware. Of course, none of THOSE titles do what I want. Going to the manufacturer's website was about as useful as a microphone at a Briney Spears concert (you can thank Drew Carey for that one). I found out that the part of the software which was the source of the problem (this part is called the CODEC) was created by a company in Germany, whose only phone access is an international number (guess I won't be calling them anytime soon). Neither company had this issue in any of their FAQ's, yet online complaints of this problem can be listed in a length longer than my arm! These are all characteristics of the various problems I have encountered. I get more help and support from other users than I do from the companies themselves. Does this sound right to you?
I end this post with the current problem yet unresolved. I can record the video, as sloppy as all-get-out, and HOPEFULLY post it to Youtube.com. It won't be pretty - although it SHOULD be - but it will have to do. I say "hopefully" because since this little problem surfaced, I have not uploaded anything to Youtube. Now watch. After saying that, it would come as no surprise if Youtube can't recognize the file either. I'd be torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to slam my head against the wall. I mean, it's not the end of the world for me. But it is most certainly very frustrating.
Here's hoping to a successful upload. Check back in a couple of days to see if I was successful.
God bless you, and I hope that you computer problems aren't as wacked-out as mine. But if they are, then we are not alone. Hehehe. Let me know and I'll bring the sledgehammer.
mE
Why? Why? Why?
Why does it seem that my computer is out to get me? I have a long history of owning computers which develop problems that no technical support person can figure out or even guess as to what is going on. Well, with the exception of the laptop which was working fine until one day someone sploshed it with a large cup of water by dropping their books onto the table, catapulting the cup, which was about 3 feet away from it, into the laptop (I say 'splosh' because in fact it was a very tall Coca-Cola cup COMPLETELY FILLED with water, and 'splash' just didn't seem to paint it accurately). It eventually worked again, but never fully recovered. The water blew out the backlight of the screen and shorted out the motherboard in some areas, causing it to become extremely slow and requiring it to now be tethered to a monitor just to see what you are doing. Grr. Other than this, computers seem to have developed problems by themselves, without the help of a flying cup of water.
Case in point. I got this wonderful tv-to-computer video recording device called the "WinTV PVR2 USB" from Hauppauge. Granted, the price was good - free, as I inherited it from someone else. I want to use this thing to import video clips of my improv group for editing and then posting to Youtube.com. As you can see, I was successful at first (see archives for posts of clips uploaded to Youtube) But then something happened and I had to reinstall it. Now I can record the video to the hard drive, but no editing software will open the file! The only programs that will open the file are those that came on the CD which came with the hardware. Of course, none of THOSE titles do what I want. Going to the manufacturer's website was about as useful as a microphone at a Briney Spears concert (you can thank Drew Carey for that one). I found out that the part of the software which was the source of the problem (this part is called the CODEC) was created by a company in Germany, whose only phone access is an international number (guess I won't be calling them anytime soon). Neither company had this issue in any of their FAQ's, yet online complaints of this problem can be listed in a length longer than my arm! These are all characteristics of the various problems I have encountered. I get more help and support from other users than I do from the companies themselves. Does this sound right to you?
I end this post with the current problem yet unresolved. I can record the video, as sloppy as all-get-out, and HOPEFULLY post it to Youtube.com. It won't be pretty - although it SHOULD be - but it will have to do. I say "hopefully" because since this little problem surfaced, I have not uploaded anything to Youtube. Now watch. After saying that, it would come as no surprise if Youtube can't recognize the file either. I'd be torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to slam my head against the wall. I mean, it's not the end of the world for me. But it is most certainly very frustrating.
Here's hoping to a successful upload. Check back in a couple of days to see if I was successful.
God bless you, and I hope that you computer problems aren't as wacked-out as mine. But if they are, then we are not alone. Hehehe. Let me know and I'll bring the sledgehammer.
mE
Labels: problems stupid computers
