>>>Exactly what is your problem with India?>>>>Well, even though it's off topic, I'll bite. Firstly I have>no>>problem with India personally. I have a problem with>>outsourcing, which I could talk for days on. I also don't>like>>to spend 50% of the conversation saying "I'm sorry, could>you>>say that again, please? I can't understand you through your>>accent." when I'm dealing with a company supposedly based>out>>of, for instance, Omaha (one of my credit card companies in>>particular).>>>>EDIT: EdrickV: Bingo.>>>>>>I thought it was an odd commment either way. The accent,>sure, it takes some getting used to. But without the>explanation, it seemed that there was some sort of insinuation>that perhaps someone in India couldn't handle your problem. >Of course, I read that after sitting down with the three>system administrators in my department who are here on work>visas, and seriously combine to be the best Unix>administration team I have ever had the pleasure to work with.> So, as I said, the comment just seemed odd. >>If you have the time, since you seem to run into it often>through your credit card company, I would suggest immersing>yourself in India's culture some. It would smooth the>proceeding somewhat in your phone support dealings, and it>really is the most diverse and vibrant cultures I've ever come>in contact with.Look, I don't know what you're trying to prove here, but I resent the insinuation that my comment was due to some sort of racial prejudice. By suggesting I "immerse" myself in Indian culture you're insinuating that I am ignorant about India and its people, and that's way off base and totally uncalled for. You don't know me and are in no way in ANY position whatsoever to make that sort of character judgement about me, so back the #### off.

>>>>Exactly what is your problem with India?>>>>>>Well, even though it's off topic, I'll bite. Firstly I have>>no>>>problem with India personally. I have a problem with>>>outsourcing, which I could talk for days on. I also don't>>like>>>to spend 50% of the conversation saying "I'm sorry, could>>you>>>say that again, please? I can't understand you through your>>>accent." when I'm dealing with a company supposedly based>>out>>>of, for instance, Omaha (one of my credit card companies in>>>particular).>>>>>>EDIT: EdrickV: Bingo.>>>>>>>>>>I thought it was an odd commment either way. The accent,>>sure, it takes some getting used to. But without the>>explanation, it seemed that there was some sort of>insinuation>>that perhaps someone in India couldn't handle your problem. >>Of course, I read that after sitting down with the three>>system administrators in my department who are here on work>>visas, and seriously combine to be the best Unix>>administration team I have ever had the pleasure to work>with.>> So, as I said, the comment just seemed odd. >>>>If you have the time, since you seem to run into it often>>through your credit card company, I would suggest immersing>>yourself in India's culture some. It would smooth the>>proceeding somewhat in your phone support dealings, and it>>really is the most diverse and vibrant cultures I've ever>come>>in contact with.>>Look, I don't know what you're trying to prove here, but I>resent the insinuation that my comment was due to some sort of>racial prejudice. By suggesting I "immerse" myself in Indian>culture you're insinuating that I am ignorant about India and>its people, and that's way off base and totally uncalled for.>You don't know me and are in no way in ANY position whatsoever>to make that sort of character judgement about me, so back the>#### off.>Whoa whoa whoa.You're in insinuating anything and I'm not insinuating anything. My comments were just based on my own recent experiences. I'm not trying to say anything about you. In my new job, I've just met a lot of really interesting people, and I was just attempting (poorly) to relate that.No judgements here. I guess that proves my point about how things can be read other than they are intended though, eh?

To get back on topic I have an interesting story to tell:Some time ago a had a problem with Starforce protection. I had legally bought the game, but I couldn't run it (the reason is unimportant). I tried finding a solution in the net and the result was quite interesting really. I had a hard time finding the solution to my problem, but I found a collection of 100++ sites on how to break Starforce protection (and I hadn't even included keywords like "crack", etc.).What companies don't seem to grasp is that the effect of their copy protection schemes is:A). To create problems for legit users,:(. To force crackers to work a whole extra week to crack the program .And for proof I could post several links for illegaly downloading and using WinXP as well as links on how to bypass the authentication process of Windows Update with only a few seconds of googling (somehow I think the admins wouldn't appreciate it so I'll skip it).Seriously now, how many programmers in MS are working in Anti-piracy coding? 10, 20, 100? The crackers are thousands. One of them is bound to prove smarter.

It's not always a question of "smarter" as much as time and determination.