Tag Archives: Assholery

When spambots get it wrong

6 Replies

I’ve posted before about the amusement that can be had at the expense of the clueless spammers who set up their bots with poorly written strings. Thanks to the various anti-spam tools now protecting this blog, there are few comments appearing in my spam folder. There was one today though, and the cluelessness reached new heights. The dolt writing the spambot was too dumb to set it up correctly to spew out a series of inane generic comments from a list, but instead put the whole lot of the comment strings in a single self-contradictory comment!

Here it is in all its glory:

I’m extremely pleased to discover this website. I want to to thank you for your time due to this fantastic read!! I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to look at new stuff in your blog.
 
May I simply say what a comfort to discover someone that actually understands what they are discussing on the net. You definitely know how to bring a problem to light and make it important.
 
A lot more people need to check this out and understand this side of the story. I was surprised you aren’t more popular because you most certainly possess the gift.
 
Excellent article. I definitely appreciate this site. Thanks!
 
It’s difficult to find experienced people about this topic, however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
 
Thanks
 
You should take part in a contest for one of the most useful sites on the web. I will highly recommend this site!
 
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to publish more on this topic, it might not be a taboo matter but generally folks don’t speak about these topics.
 
To the next! Kind regards!!
 
Hi there! I simply want to give you a huge thumbs up for your great info you’ve got here on this post. I’ll be coming back to your web site for more soon.
 
After I originally left a comment I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is a way you are able to remove me from that service? Many thanks!
 
The very next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesn’t disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I genuinely thought you’d have something helpful to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something you could possibly fix if you weren’t too busy searching for attention.
 
Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely think this site needs a great deal more attention. I’ll probably be returning to see more, thanks for the information!
 
You’re so awesome! I don’t suppose I have read something like that before. So good to find somebody with some genuine thoughts on this issue. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This website is something that’s needed on the web, someone with a bit of originality!
 
I love reading through a post that can make men and women think. Also, thanks for permitting me to comment!
 
This is the perfect site for anyone who hopes to find out about this topic.
 
You realize so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I personally would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a fresh spin on a subject that’s been discussed for ages. Great stuff, just excellent!
 
Aw, this was an exceptionally good post. Finding the time and actual effort to produce a great article… but what can I say… I put things off a whole lot and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.
 
I’m impressed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and engaging, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something too few men and women are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I came across this in my search for something relating to this.
 
Oh my goodness! Awesome article dude! Thanks, However I am having troubles with your RSS. I don’t understand why I am unable to join it. Is there anybody else getting identical RSS issues? Anybody who knows the solution will you kindly respond?
 
Thanks!!
 
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a colleague who was conducting a little research on this. And he in fact bought me lunch simply because I stumbled upon it for him…lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this issue here on your blog.
 
After looking into a handful of the articles on your website, I really appreciate your technique of blogging.
 
I added it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back in the near future. Please visit my web site as well and tell me your opinion.
 
This website really has all the information I needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
 
There is definately a great deal to find out about this subject. I like all of the points you have made.
 
You have made some decent points there. I looked on the net for additional information about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this site.
 
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis.
 
It will always be exciting to read through content from other authors and practice a little something from their web sites.
 
I blog frequently and I seriously thank you for your content. Your article has really peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your website and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
 
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful post. Many thanks for providing these details.
 
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this post! It’s the little changes that will make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
 
Hi there! This blog post couldn’t be written any better! Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I most certainly will send this post to him. Fairly certain he’ll have a great read. I appreciate you for sharing!
 
Hi, There’s no doubt that your website might be having internet browser compatibility issues.
 
Whenever I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however, if opening in I.E., it’s got some overlapping issues. I merely wanted to give you a quick heads up! Apart from that, fantastic site!
 
Having read this I believed it was really informative. I appreciate you finding the time and effort to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worth it!
 
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve visited this blog before but after looking at a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m certainly pleased I came across it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!
 
I needed to thank you for this good read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it. I have you book marked to check out new things you post…
 
Hi, I do believe this is a great blog. I stumbledupon it I’m going to come back yet again since i have bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.
 
Your style is really unique in comparison to other folks I’ve read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this page.
 
I was able to find good advice from your articles.
 
Excellent post! We will be linking to this great content on our website. Keep up the good writing.
 
This is a very good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere. Brief but very precise info… Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!
 
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!
 
Saved as a favorite, I really like your web site!
 
Very good post. I’m dealing with some of these issues as well..
 
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this write-up and also the rest of the site is extremely good.
 
Great site you have here.. It’s difficult to find good quality writing like yours these days. I honestly appreciate people like you! Take care!!
 
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Take care! Exactly where are your contact details though?
 
I truly love your blog.. Great colors & theme. Did you build this web site yourself?
 
Please reply back as I’m looking to create my very own site and would love to find out where you got this from or just what the theme is named. Kudos!
 
Everyone loves it when folks get together and share opinions. Great blog, stick with it!
 
Great info. Lucky me I ran across your site by accident (stumbleupon). I’ve book marked it for later!
 
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me. Thanks a lot!
 
Everything is very open with a clear description of the challenges. It was truly informative. Your site is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
 
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this site. I’m hoping to view the same high-grade content by you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own website now

Autodesk confirms its own unconscionable conduct

40 Replies

It took several attempts over a period of months and was like pulling teeth, but Autodesk has now confirmed that it is deliberately withholding bug fixes from some of its customers.

Autodesk has taken customers’ money and in return has provided defective software (OK, that happens). It has fixed some of those defects (that happens too, sometimes). But it’s limiting distribution of those fixes to those prepared to pay Autodesk further (that has never happened before).

Just let that sink in. Autodesk broke stuff you paid for, could easily fix it, but won’t do so unless you pay more. If you thought ransomware only came from Russia, think again.

Here’s how the scam works.

Let’s say customer Fred paid thousands of dollars for his perpetual license of AutoBLOB and paid thousands more for upgrades and maintenance over several decades. Due to Autodesk no longer making significant improvements to AutoBLOB, he finally gave up hope and decided to drop off maintenance. Understandable, particularly as Autodesk has announced maintenance prices are getting jacked up.

Never mind. Thanks to his perpetual license, Fred can keep right on using AutoBLOB! Aren’t perpetual licenses just the best thing?

Let’s say Fred made the decision after discovering AutoBLOB 2017 was slower than, and really not significantly better than, AutoBLOB 2016, 2015 or even 2010. Fred’s maintenance period carried him through to beyond the release of AutoBLOB 2018, which he intended using for a few years until he transitioned to an alternative product. (Or until Autodesk Becomes Great Again, but Fred doesn’t consider that likely).

Meantime, Fred discovers that there’s a new bug in AutoBLOB 2018 that makes it useless for his needs. It’s not a crash, drawing corruption or security issue, but it is something that makes it difficult of impossible for him to produce the required output. Because he installed AutoBLOB 2018 before his maintenance expired, Autodesk won’t allow him to use 2017 or any earlier version.

Meanwhile, Autodesk has, miracles of miracles, developed a fix for that nasty bug. All Fred has to do is download and install the hotfix or Service Pack, right? Wrong. Because Autodesk has wrapped up the bug fix with AutoBLOB 2018.1, a mid-term update that includes not only bug fixes but also a few new minor feature improvements. Unlike the competition, Autodesk restricts such updates to continuously paying customers. AutoBLOB 2018.1 is therefore only available to subscription and maintenance customers. Fred’s bug has been “deemed non-critical” by Autodesk and therefore the fix won’t be distributed to him.

Fred is screwed by a combination of Autodesk’s worst aspects: chronic failure to improve the product, price-gouging business practices, incompetence in development and testing, and unreasonably restrictive licensing terms. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s then screwed again by one final, nasty, vindictive, petty piece of bastardry by a company desperate to strong-arm its reluctant customers into subscription slavery.

This is not OK.

This is no way to treat customers. It’s unethical. It’s unconscionable. It’s immoral. It’s disgusting. It’s evil.

In the EU at least, it could well be illegal. I certainly hope so; Autodesk being fined a few hundred million Euros might discourage other companies from following suit.

Although it’s tempting to think of Autodesk as a single edifice, it’s important to remember that it’s made up of many individuals. Many of them are great people who would never dream of stooping this low and who are probably quietly embarrassed to be associated with a company that does so. Those people have my sympathy and should stop reading now.

But if you’re that person at Autodesk who thought up this idea? Or one of those who thought it would be OK to do this? Or just sat silently during the meetings where this was discussed and didn’t pipe up, “This is just WRONG”? I have a message for you.

You’re an asshole.

Autodesk excludes maintenance customers from AutoCAD 2017.1 update (Edit: actually, it doesn’t)

11 Replies

Edit: it turns out that when Autodesk said this was subscription-only, that wasn’t true. See my later post for details.

A mid-term update containing a bunch of useful stuff, AutoCAD 2017.1 is the first update made available exclusively to subscription customers (renters). I’d love to tell you about how great this update is, but I can’t because I’m not allowed to use it.

If you’ve been a loyal customer of Autodesk for 30 years and have paid countless thousands for your software, upgrades and Subscription (now called maintenance) over those years, even if you are right now still paying maintenance to keep that software up to date, Autodesk is rewarding that loyalty by waving a virtual digit in your general direction. If you’re not a renter, you’re now officially a second class customer.

Autodesk is going to progressively hammer in a wedge to try to separate customers from their perpetual licenses. AutoCAD 2017.1 is the thin end of that wedge. Expect worse to come.

Microsoft demonstrates why automatic updates are a terrible idea. Listening, Autodesk?

1 Reply

I like Windows 10. After some investigation and with some trepidation, I have upgraded two Windows 7 computers and one Windows 8 (ugh) computer to Windows 10. In use, I’m generally very happy with it. It boots fast, works well and most of the more ridiculous aspects of the Windows 8 “let’s assume your computer is a phone” interface are gone. The fact that I can scroll windows using my mouse wheel without first clicking on those windows to obtain focus is a real productivity plus. I would be happy to recommend Windows 10 to all Windows 8 users and most Windows 7 users, dependant on individual needs. I would, but I’m not. Microsoft is entirely responsible for that reluctance; read on.

The one thing I really, really dislike about Windows is the way it pushes updates. With Windows 7 I was always selective about what updates I allowed through and when they were applied. Windows 10 doesn’t give you that choice. It downloads and applies its updates as it sees fit, regardless of the importance of those updates, my bandwidth and the level of inconvenience applying those updates might cause. Windows 10 Professional only allows you to defer updates until the next restart, and will nag you to restart until you give in.

This is bad enough, but the Home version just takes over your computer and updates and restarts whenever it feels like it. Yes, even if you are in the middle of doing something and have unsaved work, and the update process leaves your computer unusable for two hours. I wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t happened to a very computer-smart member of my own family. Quite astonishing levels of malicious arrogance from the utter wankers at Microsoft.

I know there can be some very important reasons for keeping your OS up to date, particularly as far as urgent security patches are concerned. But really, given the choice between a tiny chance of some unknown malicious action by some unknown party (that hasn’t yet happened to any computer I’ve been running in over 30 years) and a 100% chance of known multiple malicious actions by Microsoft, which would you pick? Problem is, I made my choice on those three computers a few months ago and now I’m stuck with it.

Microsoft’s arrogance has triggered a minor in-house rebellion; two of my other former Windows computers are now happily running Linux. Five years ago, 100% of the computers in my household were running Windows. Now the figure is 43%, and I’m not even counting handheld devices (that would make it 20%). I haven’t bought a new version of Office in many years. Yes, I know, Microsoft isn’t exactly quaking in its boots, but it makes me feel better to raise the digit in this way.

Various other people are holding back on Windows 10 for this and other reasons, despite the insistent placement of update icons and nag notices. Some of those nag notices have made the news for all the wrong reasons. Last month, many people found themselves updated to Windows 10 without their explicit consent and against their will because Microsoft changed the status of the Windows 10 update for Windows 7/8 users and employed other sneaky tricks.

To Microsoft: that’s a really, really abhorrent low-life scumbag way to behave. These are our computers, not yours. We’re the customers (the ones providing the money) and you’re just vendors (the ones who want our money). Get back in your box and stop behaving like dickheads. Your assholery has been a significant factor in your decline. Give it up, it’s bad for you.

If you’re a Windows 7 or 8 user who wants to stay that way, please don’t disable updates altogether, because that could leave you vulnerable. Instead, I suggest you check out the free utility GWX Control Panel. If it’s too late and you’ve been updated, here’s what you can do. You have a limited amount of time to roll back.

Autodesk wants your software to be updated like this, continually and automatically. This is a bad idea for a whole range of reasons that go beyond why it’s a bad idea for Microsoft to do it. I hope to expand on those reasons later, but this post is long enough already. Trust me, it’s a terrible idea.

Although right now Autodesk is doing a heart-warmingly poor job of implementing this concept, eventually it might get the technical details right and be in a position to force it on you. Fight it tooth and nail. Make your voice heard wherever you can, online and in person. Uninstall, disable or block any software that attempts to do this. Look for any utilities, tips, etc. that stand between your software and automatic updates, and spread that news far and wide. This is an important battle for control over our own property, so please don’t give up.

Navel gazing note: this is the 500th post published on this blog.