I'm currently on MSNBC doing a chat...MSNBC's chat system does not support Macs. Why? I have no idea. They have Java, the net is supposed to be cross platform...blah blah blah. Apparently their lame-ass excuse for an operating system can't handle a CHAT PROGRAM without loading a proprietary module that forcefeeds you advertising.
So I can't see what's going on, and when I ask why on earth they don't support Macs, unlike every other chat site I've used, the guy laughs and says, "Heh heh heh...hey man, we're Microsoft."
So then I tell him I use Microsoft products every day, as they theoretically support my platform--was it just too hard to code a chat client? He is silent. I tell him that I am disappointed, and he is more silent. Typical, passive-aggressive Microsoft: let the silence grind over you, since they believe no one has an alternative to their way of life. Let no one mistake--you can find a company guilty of abusing a monopoly and even indict them, but that doesn't make them any less a bunch of pricks. Not a lot of humility or humanity floats out of their idustrial complex.
The chat went well enough, though I did get an inordinate number of questions about my relationship with V.S. Naipaul, a subject I haven't wanted to bring up so much in public. I've made some rather pointed remarks about Mr. Naipaul's use of his literary fame in bludgeoning others into listening to his social criticisims, and he has responded in kind with deprecating remarks about my scholarship. So if this can not remain under the wraps, let it come out--let this literary feud blossom in all its warty and confused glory so that the chips fall where they may.
I've been restrained before, Naipaul...now you'll discover that my Fists of Fury know no human boundaries, and that my wrath is as deep as my tolerance had been commendable.
3:42 PM
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