"Thank you for calling Smarty Mart. For customer service, press one. For job opportunities, press two. To demand an enormous amount of money for the safe return of our founder, press three." --Smarty-Mart Automated Answering Machine, Kim Possible
Five-Time W of the Day (5/27/02; 7/3/02; 7/30/04; 8/28/04; 12/16/05)
Fan of the Indianapolis Colts-- Super Bowl XLI Champions
Certified RFMC Member-- Ask To See My Credentials!
Defending champ here, but I don't like my chances of winning this year. I pretty much won last year because I was biased and ended up being one of the few to pick Florida, but this year I don't think I'll be the only one picking them to go far.
Degenerate? You wanna talk degenerate? OK, here goes:
Not being one to pass up a challenge, I decide to enter The W Pool. I go to Yahoo!, sign in, join the group, etc., etc., all without incident. That is, until I reach the screen where I'm prompted to make my selections. I click on the team's name, as instructed, and...nothing. Did my computer lock up? Did the site go down? Did I miss the deadline? Did my mouse die? No. No. No. No. It doesn't seem that anyone else had any difficulties making their picks. So what gives?
Well, I play a hunch and I figure that the problem may be with the browser. See, being the fiscally prudent person that I am (i.e. a really cheap bastard) I'm still running Windows 98 on a computer I bought back in June of 1999. Since the latest version of IE won't run with Windows 98, I'm still using IE 6.0. Which really isn't a big deal. Until now. When I figure it's the reason why absolutely nothing is happening when I try to submit my picks in an NCAA Tournament Pool on Yahoo!.
So, to make a long story not significantly shorter, there I am at approximately one-thirty in the morning down-loading Netscape Version 7.2 (since it appears that their newest version isn't compatible with Windows 98 either) just so I can enter a Tournament Pool with a bunch of strangers regarding a sport I don't even follow. Yeah, that seems like a pretty good working definition of degenerate gambler.
Oh, and if by divine intervention of the Almighty I should happen to win that million dollar prize, I expect AOL/Time/Warner/HBO/Turner and whoever else owns Netscape to throw some significant endorsement money my way if they expect me to repeat this story of how using IE almost cost me a million smackers.
Originally posted by whateverSo the fact that I used IE6 (albeit on XP) shouldn't reflect badly on you/your setup?
Hey, you tryin' to mess with my endorsement money?
Listen, my days of being a home computer "expert" died when Windows replaced MS DOS, so there's no way I can declare with absolute certainty the reason why the system behaved as it did. Those who read these posts will believe what they will. Feel free to believe that the problem was some sort of user error, that somehow I was stricken with a debilitating mental illness right at the moment that I was trying to make my selections and forgot how to use my Microsoft mouse, and that I was miraculously healed of this decease immediately upon accessing the same page using Netscape. Think if you will that the problem was that my Microsoft mouse decided to take a cheese break right when I was trying to make my picks, and returned to work once I logged onto the same page using Netscape. Blame it on Jupiter not being aligned with Mars. Chalk it all up to some other incredibly amazing coincidence. But the fact remains that IE 6 could not handle this simple task, and it took Netscape 7.2 to get the job done. And that's the bottom line.
Originally posted by whateverSo the fact that I used IE6 (albeit on XP) shouldn't reflect badly on you/your setup?
Hey, you tryin' to mess with my endorsement money?
Listen, my days of being a home computer "expert" died when Windows replaced MS DOS, so there's no way I can declare with absolute certainty the reason why the system behaved as it did. Those who read these posts will believe what they will. Feel free to believe that the problem was some sort of user error, that somehow I was stricken with a debilitating mental illness right at the moment that I was trying to make my selections and forgot how to use my Microsoft mouse, and that I was miraculously healed of this decease immediately upon accessing the same page using Netscape. Think if you will that the problem was that my Microsoft mouse decided to take a cheese break right when I was trying to make my picks, and returned to work once I logged onto the same page using Netscape. Blame it on Jupiter not being aligned with Mars. Chalk it all up to some other incredibly amazing coincidence. But the fact remains that IE 6 could not handle this simple task, and it took Netscape 7.2 to get the job done. And that's the bottom line.
I know, I know, you do not deserve this. For what it's worth, I will gladly accept a cut of the endorsement $$$ for shut-up money. Hey, I'm cheap. Hell, the only reason I use IE6 is 'cause that's what my fair employer's products are compatible with. But much like our products, strange things can certainly happen when the sky is blue on days ending in 'y'.
Well, the lack of upsets is really swiss-cheesing my bracket (I'm looking at *you*, George Washington and ODU.) I had both picked for the Sweet 16. Booooo. Glad to see VCU take out Duke, even if I didn't pick them. Now I'm counting on Winthrop to go far.
Man, how about those SEC teams. I think we can agree that Arkansas didn't belong in the tournament but other than that the SEC has been surprisingly good (this coming from a biased SEC fan). Florida wins by 43. Tennessee wins by 35. Vanderbilt wins by 33. Kentucky wins against Villanova. THe Florida game is no surprise of course but I know many people who were picking all the other three to get beat because the SEC teams seem to have a history of getting upset.
Damn, I had Duke going to the Final Four. Thanks a lot, VCU. But actually I'm rootin' for 'em, since they're from Virginia. (Just as long as they don't win at the Hoosiers' expense.)
"Thank you for calling Smarty Mart. For customer service, press one. For job opportunities, press two. To demand an enormous amount of money for the safe return of our founder, press three." --Smarty-Mart Automated Answering Machine, Kim Possible
Five-Time W of the Day (5/27/02; 7/3/02; 7/30/04; 8/28/04; 12/16/05)
Fan of the Indianapolis Colts-- Super Bowl XLI Champions
Certified RFMC Member-- Ask To See My Credentials!
Doesnt matter who the Nets get, becaise the East wont win a NBA championship for a long time. Kings, Lakers, Spurs, and now the T'Wolves are too powerful and talented for any team that comes from the East.