Um… hey Banks, you need to work with default browsers

banklogos

Just got off the phone with one of the banks I do business with. Turns out the bank whose online banking used to work just fine with my Mac OS X supplied Safari, or the default Windows 7 browser Internet Explorer now is broken on both.

Say What?

The very nice gentleman suggested that I use FireFox or Chrome. Uhhh NO! 

I was nice about it, I told him that neither of these were viable options because of all the wonderful “Malware” these browsers ship with.

I have no need to have my system infested with tracking software, crappy antivirus solutions, new tool bars, switching my default search engine to AskJeeves, or any of the other shenanigans that these 3rd party solutions are often loaded with.

Oh I can say No to loading this crap, I can even remove it if one of these “solutions” sneaks past me. 

But I shouldn’t have to.

If your product is good and clearly a better solution than the default, then prove it to me and by that I mean make the product FOR SALE. If during a free trial I decide that your product is in fact better than the default, then I’ll pay for it and continue to enjoy an ad free existence.

Bundling your product with crap that installs all over my computer is not likely to endear you to me.

When I explained my reasoning, the 2nd level support guy was laughing. He understood exactly what I meant and was good with it. He reminded me that the IOS version of the bank’s software might provide me with the functionality I needed.

I hadn’t thought of that, so I thanked him and ended the call.

The thing that blows my mind, is that the bank rolled out customer facing software that didn’t work with the default web browsers supplied with the two leading computer operating systems.

Who’s brilliant decision was that? What kind of testing did they do, and what the HELL kind of Software QA department are these people running?

I guess it touches home for me since A) I’m pretty much a career Software QA guy, and B) I’m looking for a job in my field.

Clearly the bank needs my freaking services!

I can tell you that the version of software these guys rolled out would NEVER have seen the light of day on my watch.

You always start your testing with the DEFAULT browsers unless you specifically check the OS and browser versions and then politely inform the client, “We don’t work with your browser / OS combination.”

At least then you’re not annoying the hell out of your customers who are using the same computer, browser, OS, etc they used last week.  Only now, not only can’t they log on, your web site is actively telling them incorrectly that their password and user id is incorrect. “Was I hacked??” 

Folks, it’s time to clean house.

h-1b visa

Fire all the offshore QA companies and hire Americans.  You know, the folks you made homeless by importing H-1B visa holders, then forced to train the H-1B’s under threat of layoff,  which you did anyway. 

Oh and by the way corporate America most of us will work pretty darn cheap these days.

God is Great… But apparently his “Warriors” leave much to be desired!

geertwilders

So did ya hear this one?

Two guys get all dressed up in body armor, with so called “Assault Rifles” (Probably some variant of an AR-15) go to Texas…

TEXAS!?!?!

…Hop out of their car at a cartoon conference and start shooting up the place. 

They’re taken out within 15 seconds by a traffic cop armed with a Glock .45.

One officer is slightly injured, treated and released.

PamelaGeller

It reads like a bad three stooges script. Kinda what happens when Curly and Schemp have contract issues.

TEXAS! ????

With the possible exceptions of a Neo-Nazi rave, or a KKK Rally, I couldn’t imagine a worse place to do what these two geniuses attempted.

Well the moron count for the weekend is -2 and the virgin ass count for the demonic goats of hell is +2.

ThreeStooges

Oh, didn’t you hear? Satan is far too busy to personally fuck every ISIS martyr, so the goats that these guys fucked in life, are now getting sweet revenge in Hell.

“Whos your Daaaaadddyy now? BITCH!”

The media is tying themselves up in knots trying to blame Pamela Geller for this “outrage.” I guess they’re pissed off that Geller planned for the possibility of violence and that the police did their job. Perhaps the police did their job too well, the media would probably be happier if there were a bunch of innocent folks dead inside the venue. 

deadjihadis

Two dead Jihadis on hard Texas pavement normally wouldn’t even cause my news radar to twitch, what caught my attention is the media attempting to blame the would-be victims.

You know, the innocent folks inside the building? The folks enjoying their first amendment right to free speech? If I have to listen to CAIR mouth off on the news about how abused they are, then they sure as hell can AVOID a place where a bunch of folks are looking at cartoons, or Art, or listening to an anti-islamic point of view.

Based on the islamic behavior we’ve seen in France, England, Germany, Italy, and other areas of Europe, I find myself asking if Pamela Geller and Geert Wilders are absolutely right in pointing out the elephant in the room.

Lookfamiliar

That’s going some distance for me. Not because i believe Geller and Wilders are wrong, but because Wilders creeps me the hell out.

Has anyone else noticed that he looks like one of the kids from Village of the Damned, only he’s all grown up? I keep expecting his eyes to start glowing.

As long as he’s on our side I guess it’s ok… Its still creepy.

Anyway, I’m sure the great state of Texas has told Pamela Geller’s organization “Y’all come back now, ya hear?”

The 2nd ammendment doesn’t grant the right to bear arms…

Momsdemand1

It is supposed to insure it.

I found an interesting analysis about the 2nd amendment a few weeks ago. The analysis states that the language of the 2nd is straightforward and unambiguous.

It is assumed, according to this analysis that citizens living under the constitution inherently have the right to own arms and that right is not granted by the 2nd amendment but is protected from government interference by the 2nd amendment.

The analysis is far more detailed and can be read in its entirety here.

Everytown1

So without thinking about it too much, I sent the link to an acquaintance on Twitter.

He was, as always embattled with one of the gun control advocates from one of the groups like Moms Demand Action, or Everytown for Gun safety. This analysis made his point and he sent it to the gun grabbers.

Progressives

I’m always surprised by the nasty comments from the gun control crowd. For an “enlightened”, “Progressive”, “Well Educated”, group, you’d think their vocabulary would have a bit more depth.

Nonetheless it got me thinking about the logic the gun control folks are using.

USConstitution

Some of the gun control people absolutely believe that guns should be removed from the hands of people because of the harm some guns might cause.

That led me to this thought;

By their logic, I could advocate bringing back Eugenics Laws because one of their descendants might be responsible for killing a bunch of people.

Their logic is just as flawed about guns as mine is about descendants.

You can’t know a gun is going to hurt someone any more than you can know a descendant is going to be a criminal.

Eugenics1

There is no family on the planet that doesn’t have at least one criminal in the family tree and no family is immune from producing criminals.

I could as easily make the case that preventing people from breeding is likely to be equally beneficial to society and the planet in the long term, as removing guns.

After all, fewer people sucking up resources burning fossil fuel, etc. would be better long term to combat global warming.

I’ve considered invoking the Zardoz paradigm where the primitives were given guns so that they’d war amongst themselves thereby keeping their numbers manageable.

Eugenics2

I don’t think that would add anything useful to the debate other than to offend the fem-nazis by forcing them to view a half naked, hairy, violent, Sean Connery.

Humm… Might be worth it after all!

I wonder all the time, why the “Moms Demand” and “Everytown” groups aren’t also teaching gun safety. I believe that there are too many guns to confiscate, even if I believed that line of illogic. I believe instead, that teaching children gun safety would save more lives.

I absolutely believe the fewer people in the general population who have knowledge about proper handling of, and behavior around guns; the more likely gun accidents become.

Zardoz1

For me its simply pragmatic. If you teach gun safety you can’t go wrong.

The educated gun control folks reject that kind of education. These are the same people that seem content with censoring other knowledge as well.

These folks are content with not teaching children via Chemistry Class about dangerous chemicals in the home. In spite of the fact that accidental poisoning is common.

They’re offended by locker room nudity, but not extremely suggestive nudity & sexuality in movies. They’ll decry playground fights as unacceptable, but will show DVD’s to their children depicting bloody fights and dismemberment.

Zardoz2

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating censorship any more than I’m advocating gun control.

I just wish these groups were consistent in their logic.