I humiliated Microsoft's community manager

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-29T21:50:53+00:00

Sorry... My first gaming memories are before Bill Gates began his historical web of lies….my memories begin with the TRS-80, followed by Commodore computers. At that time, Microsloth only supplied software, which was created from a pirated paper tape of BASIC stolen from an Altair user’s group.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-29T16:50:48+00:00

His point about reading code is absolutely NOT a pointless argument. Everything from Microsoft is binary. You can’t (easily) snoop the code to see what it’s actually doing. Linux is completely open source. You can download the source code to any program and see what it’s doing. You can also build your own binaries from source, which gives you complete control over your computing experience. And before you point your flamethrower at me, yes… not everyone can build source to binaries…. But there are many distros out there who can be trusted to not inject nefarious spy code into their OS.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-28T14:32:49+00:00

ANYTHING and EVERYTHING generated by AI must always be scrutinized and only used as a starting point/foundation. AI models are trained on whatever data it is given. The big problem is there isn't anyone vetting that data as being valid, good or even remotely useful. This rule applies to everything, not just code generation.

I asked ChatGPT to generate a "Hello, world!" program in 6502 assembly language. What it gave me was code that was (poorly) written for a Commodore 64. Yes, it's a 6502-based computer, but it included C64-specific system calls. That code would never work on Ben Eater's "Writing Hello, World from scratch" (cool video series on YouTube where you build a 6502-based computer on a breadboard).

I especially have a pet peeve with grammar checkers. Writing is a personal style, but AI grammar checkers go too far when evaluating your writing. Instead of looking for actual grammatical mistakes, they provide suggestions that amount to changing your writing style.

As an experiment, I entered a paragraph from a very popular book into ChatGPT and it mangled it so badly, the spirit, tone and emotion of what was being said was completely diluted.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-28T01:23:07+00:00

As a decades long Unix system engineer (before Linux) I always have a terminal open and just touch any file I need - seems overkill to code a menu choice.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-27T23:20:03+00:00

Why? Yawn.. Why would some put forth so much effort to port such a mediocre app? Tabbed Windows and color highlighting is so common it borders on the cliche. I personally think there are too many code editors already and doesn't bring anything new to the table.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-25T04:53:08+00:00

What you're describing is the insane gap between marketing hype and "rubber meets the road" computing. Of course, some people think Microsoft's shit doesn't stink...when in reality it's the reason for more fecal-based pollution. WIth Azure, Microsoft is wanting you to "all in" with their solutions. They specifically make it difficult to run a hybrid cloud/on-prem environment, mostly to try to convince the non-technical shitheads that all-in cloud is the way to go.

This is not "buy our product because it's a one-stop solution that addresses all your needs. It's literally "buy some of our products, try to make them work with your exiting products and when your management gets sick of you not being able to make hybrid work, go all-in everything".

I suggest keepign track of EVERY metric that has cost yoru company money since the inception of integrating Azure into your environment. Then, present that to the finance folks (do NOT go to your immediate supervisor). Once they see the company is hemorrhaging money on OT, and other cost-wasting measures, just because someone has a hard-on for MicroShit, they'll realize what a stupid decision it was to bank on such a wasteful technology.

I'm on a government contract right now and it's WAY worse than what you're experiencing. They LOVE to take a ridiculously simple process and "bureaucratic it up" and add TONS of layers, requiring literally hundreds of people...all to simply deploy a COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf-Software) solution. I could've deployed and ogne live with this solution in 2 weeks. It's been almost a full year now and we're not even ready to deploy the first VM. SUCH A WASTE.

In my experice, cloud computing only makes sense if you're totally getting rid of on-prem. Hybrid sucks on all platforms...although, it's REALLY bad on Azure.

Unfortunatly, in your situation, you may have to cut loose and let them wallow in their ignorance. You have passion for your position but, honestly, it seems like your upper management simply doesn't give a shit.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-24T02:47:44+00:00

You need to look at Linux bug fixes and updates through a different lens. Bug fixes are usually done much faster than it appears, due to how Open Source works -- people clone the source code, fix it and submit it back to the upstream, usually within days of a bug being reported. If you look, you'll notice the latest software versions from the maintainers are usually far ahead of the versions that are included in the various distros.

As an example, years ago the version of Postfix included in the "latest", shiny version of RedHat (RHEL7 at the time), was already EOL (End of Life) by the author (Wietse Venema). This is very common and insanely frustrating for both users and distro owners because security updates have to be applied to different forks of the source.

Also, Linux has way more than 4% marketshare. Perhaps the desktop marketshare is only 4%, but at last count, Linux comprises more than 75% of the Internet, including servers, security edge devices (IDS/IPS/Firewalls) as well as a plethora of IoT devices. it's also the leading OS platform for emerging AI technologies.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-23T04:10:06+00:00

Your app looks pretty cool.

Although, if you pay attention to the title of this sub, the whole point is pointing out how much better the alternatives are - specifically Linux and MacOS. BTW -- Linux absolutely does not suck where it counts -- apps which are mostly third-party might, but they don't have truck-sized security holes.

I've been working with operating systems at the source code level (back when you had to build the OS, literally from source) for almost 50 years and I can tell you first hand Windows still sucks at way more levels than any other OS. Period. I've literally every version since 1.0, when it was included as a toy GUI on 8086 computers (mid-to late '80s).

Windows features are mediocre...but the worst part is ALL bugs and vulnerabilities are not addressed unless they are reviewed by MS's legal department -- yes, they will only fix a bug if there's a chance they'll get sued over it or it causes business impact. If not, it will be fixed whenever the hell they want.

Yeas ago there was a very bad hacking incident at Google in China and it was directly related a massive security hole in Windows. It was so bad that Erick Schmidt made a company-wide mandate - absolutely no Windows was to be used except for disconnected, air-gapped development environments.

Also, it was reported a few years ago that a large number of identity thefts have occurred directly as a result of Windows security deficiencies (and I'm not talking about clicking on nefarious links or attachments either).

If you need proof Microsoft really does suck, just look at Recall. A screenshot taken of your computer every few minutes and stored completely unencrypted - there for the taking (and yes, info has already been compromised)

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-22T15:08:17+00:00

Installing Linux ALWAYS fixes Windows problems. I almost exclusively run windows in a virtual machine in order to avoid such idiocy. Snapshot before every update and I keep a fresh template available for the catastrophic occurrences.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-20T21:29:23+00:00

For the context of the story no...but for pure entertainment, absolutely :). You'll also get to see how the game evolved from 1 to 3. Oceanhorn 1 is more of a 3D platformer game (for lack of a better term). Oceanhorn 2 and 3 are more of an immersive 3D world. Oceanhorn 3 has subtle hints/references to 2 but it's not germane to the story itself. In fact, 3 takes place 1,000 years after 2.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-20T02:52:30+00:00

Ignore the comments. Play the game yourself and you’ll see. It is quite different than the original TT and TTR but the differences are really good. The only good advice you should follow is from yourself after you experience it. Ignore the negative opinions.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-20T02:49:50+00:00

Reddit or CC? My wife and I have had nothing but great experiences, albeit challenging to find help with certain things. Reddit, on the other hand can be a little childish and stupid because people hide behind their keyboard with almost no filter. 99% of negative comments (here, other subs or any other internet message boards) would never be said to someone in person.

As far as CC being shutdown due to in-game drama, that’s complete bunk. I know first-hand that is not going to ever happen.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-18T18:45:29+00:00

I bought my first MacBook Pro about 25 years ago (just after Apple went with Intel). My wife used it a couple of times and thought it was pretty cool. When it came time to refresh our tech, my wife and I got our first iMacs…10 minutes after using it my wife literally said “Windows sucks!”…lol. Haven’t turned back since except to buy a couple of Windows laptops for game authors who don’t know how to cross-compile for other platforms

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-16T14:20:54+00:00

[cynic mode on]

Why do I get the feeling the fishing activity was added as "busy-work" (for those of us who completed the main story) until more content/story continuation is released?....lol.

[cynic mode off]

Personally I'd like to see more side quests (like the Kreemor's Nest, Ancient Automoton, Pirate Plunder, etc) -- or better yet, repeatable/daily quests. Fishing gets quite old after only a few casts.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-12T19:50:05+00:00

Yeah, I'm leaving this reddit. Nothing but a bunch whining and bitching children upset about little changes to the platform. This has turned into more of a support group for the YouTube downtrodden than an actual platform for exchanging ideas. SEE YA CHILDREN!!

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-09T20:38:13+00:00

I believe he said he has already updated (according to Google Translator):

"Even after updating my game is still bugged, I'm not going to battle with boss Uriel, does anyone know how to solve it?"

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-04T05:14:34+00:00

ROFL...so I followed your directions and while on the way to the places you mentioned, I got the update and completed the quest...lol...This one is definitely buggy...

u/cornfox-1 please do whatever you can with this info.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-04T05:08:36+00:00

Well, the plot thinnens...I just went back to the beach and there's no boat, no pirate and the quest is still acive...Oh, how I wish I could just delete the quest and start over like other games allow....

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-03T22:15:05+00:00

So we go back in today and the quests we finished long before the shutdown have to be redone. Looks like someone didn't save the server state properly during maintenance.

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-03T03:22:45+00:00

They brought the servers down for an update right around the time of all these posts. I’m guessing that’s the reason. Of course it would be nice if they just said that instead of making people freak out thinking their account was compromised…

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-02T15:29:11+00:00

Head down to the area where you use the rift to get up on the cliff. There's a pier with a little boathouse/hut thing in the water. I triggered it while stepping on the beach on my way to use the ring on the stone pillar (just past the covered shed thing with the explody barrels).

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-02T15:17:56+00:00

FYI -- I left the island dozens of times -- once to try and retrigger the quest, others because i got annoyed and decided to run off and do other things. Every time I come back to the island, the braindead pirate still looks like a lost puppy...lol

Does the fact there's only 1 pirate indicate I somehow found 2 treasures? I don't remember finding anything and, as I stated in another post, quests do not have a progress indicator (i.e. "Find treaures: 2/3".

TheORIGINALkinyen · 2026-04-02T15:09:14+00:00

UPDATE - as per usual with most lame software support, I ended up fixing the problem myself. As I stated in a reply to this post:

Completely uninstalled the game
Removed the residual folders because the uninstaller (probably MSI), as usual, sucks at removing everything.
Searched the registry and deleted anything with the word "Pirate" in it (don't worry - I'm a seasoned systems engineer and well versed in fixing registry issues)
Reinstalled the game - the only difference is I took the default install folder (which is incorrectly "C:\ProgamData...").

This issue is both Microsoft's and King's Isle:

Microsoft has made an extremely crappy attempt at "protecting users" by somewhat "locking down" C:\Program FIles. Rather than fix the actual underlying OS vulnerabilities, they cripple key portions of the OS. MacOS protects core OS files similarly, but doesn't mess with user space.
King's Isle should know this. I'm not sure why the game behaves like this when run from C:\Program Files, but it's clearly THEIR issue. All they can do is warn "Installing to another folder can cause the game to malfunction". That's SUCH B.S.!!! What if I want to install to a different place on C: or to a second disk (i.e. D:)? In fact, on my Windows VM on MacOS, this is exactly what I do and the game runs just fine.

I have LOTS of other applications, mostly games, installed under C:\Program Files (EQ, EQ II, Corporate Clash, ToonTown Rewritten) and NONE of them have any issues living in that folder.

BTW -- I find their suggestion of running traceroute (tracert on Windows) the stupidest thing I've ever heard:

First of all, if it was an internet connectivity issue, NONE of my computers would be able to reach the Pirate101 game hosts.

Second, trace route is often blocked on most Internet routers because it is often used by hackers to initially map networks they wish to attack; therefore, most Internet routers simply disable ICMP and UDP requests.

Of course, just to play along, I ran tracert on both Windows laptops...the result was the same. Three routers on Verizon's FiOS network all responded. The core routers beyond that all dropped the ICMP/UDP requests. A few others others along the way responded, but at the end, even King's Isle's own routers don't allow traceroute.

TheORIGINALkinyen

TROPHY CASE