A Little Dog Sense

I took my new German Shepherd, Ari, to the local park, and we noticed a nice-looking family of a father, his children, and their German Shepherd. Figuring that Ari would welcome a playmate from the Home Country, we went over to introduce ourselves. Turns out, though, that only one of the girls admitted to knowing English. Humph.

I’m sorry. I well realize I’m not the first to notice that phenomena, but, damnit, even dogs can communicate universally. It’s just basic sense that, if you move your family to another country, you should expect to learn the language! Say what you will about me, I feel like it’s Rome, 405 AD.

Up, Down, and Facebook

Writing
a blog runs the continual risk of becoming a self-indulgent pastime. Yes,
anyone can use the internet to publish their thoughts, but most people
don’t have anything unique or interesting to share. I usually
don’t, explaining why I haven’t written much lately. Repeating
yourself doesn’t normally serve a useful purpose. Still, I do
occasionally have a thought worth sharing, usually in the dead of night while
waiting for Morpheus to return. I seem to have my most lucid thoughts then,
which says why so few of them reach my blog. I am not able to get up record
them.

 

I am
hardly being original in observing that people’s lives resemble the
nightly procession of stars in the sky. Each has its rise, ascent, zenith,
descent, and setting. I’m also not alone when I note with some melancholy
that my own star didn’t rise as high as I would’ve liked. I think
relatively few have the luxury of looking back on their achievements with
complete satisfaction. Someone wiser than I am said that those without regret
haven’t really lived, and I suppose that’s true given that making
mistakes is inherent to being human.

 

What
brings all of this philosophy to mind is that I recently joined Facebook. I
joined to facilitate my search for a new dog with the qualifications I wanted.
In the process, though, I came across a lot of people I used to know, including
a large clump of former high school classmates. I’m amazed—and a
bit sobered—by how well many of them have done.

 

One,
let’s just call him Ed, is finishing up the career I would’ve given
anything for. Ed is now a Navy test pilot after spending decades on active duty
in F-14s (my favorite bird, the “titanium turkey”) and then the
F/A-18. Of course, I couldn’t have been a fighter pilot even without
Cerebral Palsy; nearsightedness runs amok in my family! Still, Ed, I hope you
realize that you’re one fortunate little primate! J

 

Ed is
just one success story from my past. Facebook has numerous others, and
it’s all too easy to draw an erroneous conclusion from that. My
accomplishments don’t compare well to these former classmates,
that’s true. However, I was the only one in my graduating class with a
major disability, and I have to remind myself of that. My successes do fare
well among people with similar disabilities, but I dislike using that metric. I
have never regarded myself as a disabled person, only a person with
disabilities. While the difference is probably lost on most people, it’s
important to me. Plus, Facebook is a self-selecting population by its nature.
Only people who have achieved some degree of personal accomplishment are likely
to bother to join Facebook. Perhaps just the fact that I had the ability and
the capability to join counts as a minor positive note.

 

Yes, my
life has slowed in recent years, enough for there to be more than sufficient
time for introspection and second-guessing my past. Would I still be working if
I was a kinder, gentler version of myself? Would I still be married? It is very
tempting to think so, but then I start looking at the objective facts. I wasn’t
laid off until Shell started shifting entire groups and departments to cheaper
labor overseas. Virtually the entire IT staff stateside was eventually axed so I
was history no matter how charming I might have been. I am simply not
management material.

 

On the
domestic front, I have had the pleasure of a few people who were true gems, and
I miss some of them even today. Yet, one of the realities of my life has been
that I require assistance with almost everything, and that leads to a great temptation
to see a single person as the general solution to all of my needs. Of course
they can’t be, but that trap has snared me more times than I care to
admit. Anyway, people have to run their own lives, and the realities and
limitations of dealing with someone who has significant impairments are not
things most people can accept long-term because of the interference.

 

That’s
one reason why I truly love my dogs. They aren’t merely pets, but working
partners who devote themselves to helping me in whatever way they can. That’s
why I do everything I can for them in return. Even those who don’t like
me give me credit for doing that much. Personally, I feel it’s the least I
can do for my dogs in return for their selfless dedication.

 

After I left
Shell, I did everything I could to market Xpress-It, the assistive
communication software I developed while at Shell. Believe me, that whole
sorted travail is amply archived elsewhere in this blog page. The bottom line
is that it wasn’t enough to just build the better mousetrap. You also
must find a way to infiltrate what turned to be a very closed market. Since I am
way too brash to do sales pitches, I needed to finance a sales force to wine
and dine the relatively few decision-makers in the assistive and augmentative communication
market. I simply couldn’t afford that so I am stuck with Xpress-It for my
own use.

 

So here I
am, sitting here realizing that my star is sliding toward the horizon. I would’ve
liked for Xpress-It to be my legacy, but that’s not going to happen. The IRS
is going to get my house after I’m gone simply because of the stupid
employer taxes I get charged for having caregivers. Then again, I have no heirs
so I don’t really care. And, since Fate ruled out children for me, this
blog will be my only legacy. Hmm. I don’t know how I feel about that.

Royall: 1, ADT: 0

All done without actually communicating with me or admitting
they screwed up.

Yet More Dell “Fun”

This is a good example of why Dell Customer Service has acquired such a bad reputation in recent years. Why do businesses offer customer service via email, and then always ask the customer to call when there’s a issue? That just doesn’t compute for me. There are people who don’t have the option, perhaps due to disability. (Technically, I can call, but trying to read off long numbers to an Indian or Panamanian is not my idea of fun.) Others simply prefer to use email. Besides, I’ve already provided the meager information I have on this missing order so a phone call would be completely redundant. I don’t know what more I can provide to help find the order.

—–Original Message—–
From: US_CAG_Customer_Care [mailto:US_CAG_Customer_Care@dell.com]
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 6:16 AM
To: Scott Royall
Subject: RE: Dell Support Request: Status of my order #kptx# (KMM44571161I57L0KM)

Dear Mr. Royall,

Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.

I understand from your e-mail that you have placed an order online, however you have not received the confirmation.

Mr. Royall, I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you due to the order confirmation. I would like to inform you that we always send the order confirmation with in 24 hours after place the order. As you did not receive the order confirmation So, I would suggest you please get in touch with our Sales Department at: 1-800-999-3355 between 7 AM to 11 PM CST All days. Our representatives at Sales Department would be glad to assist you with this concern.

We immensely value our relationship and consider it a privilege to serve you. We value you as a customer and your satisfaction is our highest priority.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist you. Your case number for this interaction is 158608362. Please keep this number for your records; it will help us keep track of this issue so we can better assist you if you have any further questions or concern about your issue.

If you require further assistance, please feel free to visit our website at:

http://support.dell.com

Thank you, again for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.

Respectfully,

Harvindra Singh

Rep ID: 493895

1200 hrs to 2100 hrs CST

Dell Online Customer Care

http://support.dell.com

When responding to me, please use the *REPLY* function of your e-mail program. This will keep the SAME SUBJECT LINE of our e-mail. Otherwise your message may be delayed or lost.

Original Message Follows:

————————

No, I am a very experienced Dell customer and already was aware of all this

verbiage. I never received the confirmation emails, but my DPA was

definitely charged.

From: US_csd@dell.com [mailto:US_csd@dell.com]

Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 4:21 PM

To: royall@conchbbs.com

Subject: Re: Dell Support Request: Status of my order #kptx#

(KMM2264975I4735L0KM)

<http://www.dell.com/> Buy Online or Call 1-800-WWW-DELL

<http://www.support.dell.com/> Dell Customer Support

<http://search.dell.com/> Search Dell

<http://www.dell.com/us/en/gen/corporate/general_news_news.htm> About Dell

<http://emarketing.us.dell.com/Apps/DCS/mcp?q=STD00JTFt9kZOu> Please help

us

improve this

Automated Response

Please read the first paragraph below to see if our Email Automated Response

addresses your question; if not, follow the bold blue instructions at <>

the bottom of this message.

Dear Dell Customer,

In an effort to provide you with an answer to your question or concern as

quickly as possible, our automated response system is sending this first

reply to your inquiry. If the system has interpreted your message correctly,

you have asked a question about an Order Confirmation e-mail or about how to

check the status of your order. This response covers the topics listed below

in the Table of Contents.

=================

Table of Contents

=================

1. Receiving confirmation of order placed online

2. Possible causes for not receiving one of the confirmation e-mails

3. Requesting copy of confirmation e-mail

4. Checking the status of your order

5. An important note about fraudulent confirmation e-mail

1. Receiving confirmation of order placed online

==============================

When you place an order online, if your order is received correctly by Dell,

you will receive two e-mails confirming your order. The first e-mail you

will receive is an Order Acknowledgement e-mail. This e-mail indicates that

your order was successfully submitted through the Web Server. The Order

Acknowledgement e-mail will list the billing and shipping information you

entered and the items you ordered.

The second e-mail you will receive is an Order Confirmation e-mail. It may

take up to 1 business day from the time you submit your order before you

receive this e-mail. This e-mail indicates that the order was successfully

entered into Dell’s system and is ready to be sent to production once

payment authorization has been received. This e-mail will provide your Order

Number, and total cost including shipping/handling and any applicable tax.

2. Possible causes for not receiving one of the confirmation e-mails

==============================

Delivery of an e-mail involves many different processes all working together

in order to be successful. If any of these processes are not functioning

correctly, it can cause a delay in, or even prevent delivery of, the e-mail.

For example, if a server goes down that is between Dell and your ISP, it

will cause a break in the flow of the e-mail. Below are some common causes

for not receiving one, or both, of the confirmation e-mails.

If you do not receive the Order Acknowledgement e-mail, it could be due to a

misspelled e-mail address when the order was placed, or it could indicate

the order was not successfully submitted through the Web server. It is

recommended that you do NOT place a new order. If the problem is only due to

a misspelled e-mail address, placing a new order could cause a duplicate

order. In turn, you would receive and be charged for two orders. Instead, we

recommend that you reply to this message. You will receive a reply from a

representative within approximately 24-48 hours, and the representative will

be able to check to see if your order was received by Dell. If it has not

been received, then you can place a new order. For even quicker assistance,

you may chat immediately with a Dell representative by visiting the

following web address:

http://support.dell.com/chat

If you receive the Order Acknowledgement e-mail, but do not receive the

Order Confirmation e-mail, this may indicate a problem with the order. The

problem could be with the configuration ordered, or with the payment

information provided. Please note that this confirmation e-mail may take up

to 1 business day to receive. If you do not receive the confirmation e-mail

within 1 business day, we recommend that you check "My Account" to see if

your order is listed. For information on logging into "My Account", please

see Section 3 of this document.

If your order is not listed under "My Account", you may reply to this e-mail

and a representative will be able to assist you with your order. For quicker

assistance, you may chat immediately with a Dell representative by visiting

the following web address:

http://support.dell.com/chat

3. Requesting copy of confirmation e-mail

==============================

Unfortunately, we are unable to send a copy of the confirmation e-mail once

it has been sent to the customer. However, if you need a copy of the items

listed on your order, you may obtain a copy of your quote by logging onto

"My Account" on Dell’s Web site. Simply go to the following address:

http://membership.dell.com/dellportal/signin.aspx?c=us

<http://membership.dell.com/dellportal/signin.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&~ck

=pn> &l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&~ck=pn

Enter your information, or if you have not registered for "My Account", you

will need to click "here". After signing in, click "Order Status". Click on

the Order Number for your order to see the Order Details, which will list

the items on the order.

4. Checking the status of your order

==============================

If you placed your order through Dell’s Web site, you can sign into "My

Account" to check the status of your order.

If you placed your order over the phone and haven’t set up an account under

"My Account", you may enter your Reference Number and Verification Data in

the Order Status boxes located at the following URL:

http://support.dell.com/support/order/status.aspx?c=us

<http://support.dell.com/support/order/status.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs>

&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Using the drop-down boxes on this page, you can select the type of

information that you will provide for both the Reference Number and the

Verification Data.

For the Reference Number you can choose from the following list:

Order Number

Customer Number

Link Number

PO Number

For the Verification Data you can choose from the following list:

Customer Number

Link Number

PO Number

Zip Code

Company Name

For your security, we require two unique pieces of information. This means

that you can not use (for example) your Customer Number as both the

Reference Number and the Verification Data.

TIP: When entering your data, do not use any parentheses, spaces, or dashes.

Once the Order Status Web site lists the order as shipped, you can click on

"View Shipping Detail" to get shipping status/waybill information, if

available. If the waybill information is not available, you may reply to

this message and a Customer Service representative will be able to assist

you. You may also call our automated status line at (800) 433-9014 for order

status inquiries. You may also chat immediately with a Dell representative

by visiting the following web address:

http://support.dell.com/chat

5. An important note about fraudulent confirmation e-mails

==============================

If you have received a confirmation e-mail but have not ordered anything

from Dell, it is probably a spoof email. Three fraudulent e-mail addresses

that have been identified are "customercare@dell.com," "info@dell.com," and

"orders@dell.com." If you have received an e-mail from any of these

addresses, you have received a spoof e-mail.

Spoof emails, also known as hoax or phishing emails, are fraudulent emails

that claim to be sent by well-known companies, usually in an effort to

obtain financial or personal information in order commit identity theft.

These emails may have harmful viruses attached. Never open an email

attachment from an unknown or suspicious party.

If a fraudulent email you received refers to an order, please be assured

that we are not processing the order or charging you for anything referenced

in the email.

In an effort to stop this criminal activity, the Federal Bureau of

Investigation has requested that you report any suspicious e-mails by filing

a complaint at the following web address:

www.ic3.gov

For more useful information about these types of emails and how to protect

yourself against them, you may visit the following web address:

www.dell.com/spoof

******************************************************

******************************************************

Original Message Follows:

————————

*****************************************

— Start customer’s original message —

*****************************************

* * * PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT WHEN REPLYING * * *

*** This is a feedback Message from the Dell Online Communications Center.

***

******************************************************************

Customer Information:

***********************************************

Requesting Organization(Empty for DHS) =

Name = Scott Royall

Customer Number =

Requestor E-Mail =royall@conchbbs.com

Contact Phone =281-923-3594

Service Tag =

Order Number =

Issue Category = Status of my order

Year Of Birth = NA

***********************************************

Ship To Address:

, –

Bill To Address : 15906 Manfied

Houston, TX 77082-

***********************************************

Problem:

I ordered a Western Digital 500 GB external hard-drive last Wednesday or

Thursday. I received no confirmation emails, and nothing about it appears in

My Order Status. However, my Dell Preferred Account was charged for the

purchase. Where is it?

***********************************************

Sent To: us_csd@dell.com

Referring URL: 72.177.161.190

Date Submitted: 3/4/2007

Date Received(K): 3/4/07 04:21:07 PM

KMM: KMM2264975I4735L0KM

***************************************

— End customer’s original message —

***************************************

If this document does not fully answer your question or solve your problem,

you may chat <http://support.dell.com/chat> immediately with a Dell

Customer Service representative, or reply to this document to be contacted

by a Dell Customer Service representative (normally within one business

day).

Dell’s Customer Service agents can assist you with non-technical issues like

order changes, billing, and delivery questions.

Dell’s Technical Support agents are available to assist you with hardware

issues as long as your Dell hardware is still under warranty and solving

this kind of problem is included in Hardware Warranty Support. To reach

them, please chat <http://support.dell.com/chat> or e-mail

<https://support.dell.com/support/supportrequests/create.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=e

n&request=true&s=dhs> Technical Support.

If your hardware warranty support has expired and you wish to speak to an

agent, Dell offers a fee-based diagnostic service with our technical support

agents. This fee is charged per incident and will include phone diagnostic

support only. Please visit the Expired <http://www.dell.com/ar-t001>

Warranty page for more information or call 800-624-9896 and choose the

option for Technical Support. Please be sure to enter your Express

<http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?d

n=1027149&l=en&langid=1&c=us&cs=19&s=dhs> Service Code when prompted.

If your technical issue is not handled by Technical Support, our Dell On

Call <http://www.dell.com/ar-t010> service may be able to assist you for a

fee at 866-934-3355, or you can utilize other Self-Help options on

Support.Dell.Com <http://www.dell.com/ar-t002> . Dell On Call supported

products and more details can be found on the Dell On Call

<http://www.dell.com/ar-t010> site.

_____

Special Request for AOL Users Only: AOL’s e-mail application is set to

truncate message "threads" which eliminates important technical support

information. Please select "Include original text in Reply" in your AOL

configuration before you reply to this message.

_____

For the best support results, please address only one issue per e-mail. The

artificial intelligence application and Dell’s e-mail agents can also help

you most effectively with one issue per communication.

On Support.Dell.Com <http://www.dell.com/ar-t002> you will find many of the

same resources and troubleshooting tools our Dell agents use to answer your

common questions.

Some of the Self-help options for most issues:

* Dell <http://www.dell.com/ar-c003> Support 3

(for Windows XP only) is a complimentary, automatic upgrade and notification

system for your computer that offers you software updates and information

that is relevant to your specific computer.

* Dell <http://www.dell.com/ar-c004> Community Forum

is an online community where our customers are providing solutions to other

customers.

* Interactive <http://www.dell.com/ar-c005> troubleshooting

on the Dell Solution Network.

* FAQs <http://www.dell.com/ar-c006>

Find answers to the most commonly asked questions.

* To try this

Email Automated Response <http://www.dell.com/ar-c007> again, rephrase your

question or issue and limit it to one concise issue. When emailing or

chatting for for hardware warranty support issues, please include the

results of any troubleshooting you performed.

DISCLAIMER

The information in this document has been reviewed and is believed to be

accurate. However, neither Dell nor its affiliates assume any responsibility

for inaccuracies, errors, or omissions that may be contained herein. In no

event will Dell or its affiliates be liable for direct, indirect, special,

incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect or omission

in this document, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. This

information applies to the continental United States only, unless

specifically stated otherwise.

<http://www.dell.com> Buy Online or Call 1-800-WWW-DELL

<http://emarketing.us.dell.com/Apps/DCS/mcp?q=STD00JTFt9kZOu> Please help

us improve this Automated Response

I’m starting to despise Intuit

I really am.

I use Quickbooks to pay my caregivers because it prints IRS-blessed W-2s. It’s a very expensive solution, but it has gotten the job done–until now. I just received a nice email from Intuit, creator of Quicken, Quckbooks, and a plethora of other financial software, warning that existing version of Quickbooks "may be adversely affected when used on a computer running Windows Vista."

<Expletive deleted> Why? Intuit’s explanation is that those Quickbooks versions were written before Vista and use technologies that may be incompatible. To translate that in real-world English: "Oh, we’ve been writing piss-poor software that broke many existing rules for Windows programs. Since Vista is less lax in enforcing those rules, we’re going to seize this opportunity to force you to buy yet another version of Quickbooks instead of fixing our code like most vendors do." You can imagine my reaction as a Windows applications developer. Why should we subsidize Intuit’s laziness and greed?

Yes, I am running Vista. The experience has thus far reminded me of Lilly, my service dog. Both are large, with a lot of fluff (at least when Lilly has her winter coat), and not especially fast. However, the biggest similarity is their behavior. At least one friend has described Lilly as "placid," very little upsets her. That also seems to apply to Vista, at least on my laptop. I’ve thrown a rather dizzying variety of programs at it, some over a decade old, and only one sound card driver has caused any issues. The migration has been surprisingly smooth. Xpress-It works on Vista. There’s a problem with Xpress-It’s copy protection under Vista, but that in no way affects the program’s functionality. I’ve already created a temporary solution,and will have to choose a permanent answer. Tell us again, Intuit, why you shouldn’t be expected to treat your customers with that same sort of respect?

At their heart, Quickbooks and Quicken are database programs just as Xpress-it is. Of course, additional features are layered over that, but it’s no mystery how these programs basically work. I’ve tested Quickbooks Pro 2006 under Vista, and the only issue I’ve seen is that the program gets confused about whether or not it needs to download updates. Otherwise, it appears to work. Intuit would do well to remember that Quickbooks isn’t just used by businesses, it’s also important to individuals who must do W-2s. Please don’t continue to make us buy new versions every year.

More Valentine & Kebartas

Mr. Kebartas, Mr. Sweeney ,

Mrs. Reilly continues to annoy. Is it your policy to call people with no money? That seems futile to me. About the only way for your client to collect their money would be by hiring me.

Scott Royall

Valentine & Kebartas

Sir,

I am being pointlessly harassed by one of your employees, a Mrs. Reilly. Of course I realize that harassment is pretty much the stock and trade of any collection agency such as yours. I suppose the operating theory is that, if a target is harried hard enough, they will do anything to appease your clients, including commit crimes. Unfortunately, that plan assumes the target has more than a subsistence income, and I sadly no longer do. Go ahead and “google” me on the Web so you can actually see who you’re dealing with. You can find my web site here and my blog here. Yes, I had a nice income back during my 14 years with Shell Oil. However, I haven’t even had a job interview since they started furloughing stateside information technology staff five years ago. Nobody else seems to have the courage to look beyond my wheelchair to my education and experience. The only personal income I have left is Social Security Disability, which doesn’t even cover all of my daily needs.

You may be surprised to learn that Mrs. Reilly and I haven’t actually conversed yet. All we’ve managed so far is to exchange voicemail. She claims to be unable to understand my synthesized voice. That may be, but I find it odd when high-intelligibility is the primary hallmark of Xpress-It, the program I wrote to enable me to function at Shell. In any case, I don’t definitively know which of your clients Mrs. Reilly is representing, but I imagine it’s Chase Cardservices since they are the only creditor of mine who hasn’t been cooperative. Yet, even they had no problems understanding me.

Long story short, I have nothing to help Mrs. Reilly with so she is only wasting her time and annoying me. Please call her off.

Scott Royall

Fun and Games

Regular readers of this blog know that it usually deals with serious, heavy stuff. How about a quick switch-up to something a bit lighter? I am also a PC gamer. That’s right, a PC gamer with serious fine muscle-control issues. J Hey, gaming actually helps somewhat. The nature of Cerebral Palsy is so varied that doing a task repetitively can help the motor skills of some of us. Unfortunately, at least in my case, the positive effects aren’t permanent. 

 

In any case, I recently bought Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Black Edition) sealed on Ebay for $19. (Sigh. You know times are tough when you can’t afford a $50 game.) Of course I immediately updated it with the patches from the Electronic Arts website. That’s just what you do with games. I actually kept an eye on the development of this game through 2004-5, though, and posted my input on what direction the game should take. So did many others, including a significant contingent of people over 30. However, EA once again took the predictable path of catering to teenaged (and younger) males whose brains are dominated by Testosterone. That group does have a simple majority among registered users, but that means that at least 40% of their users aren’t in that demographic pigeon hole.

 

In fact, several of us pleaded for EA to expand the role that players could take on the side of law enforcement. The NFS franchise is at least twelve years old, with now seven or eight different entries over the years. At its heart, NFS is a street racing game, usually pitting the player against computer-controlled opponents and cops. Yet, as far back as NFS II (which is when I joined the story), there was an option to play as a cop. In many ways, NFS II was actually the most flexible of the series, with extensive ability to modify the car you use. I don’t just mean its appearance, but also its performance and handling characteristics. I remember having a very sweet pursuit Corvette I had set up just to suit my driving style; acceleration over speed, and a slightly loose rear-end to facilitate slipping around those tight corners. Alas, NFS II aged poorly as hardware advanced.

 

Several aspects of NFSMW lead me to rant. First is its almost juvenile effort to cater to those juvenile males. It isn’t as bad as the infamous Grand Theft Auto, but not for the lack of trying. NFSMW is great in many respects; the graphics are gorgeous and the game mechanics are well-refined for the most part. Why does EA then feel compelled to ignore the wishes of a sizable portion of their audience? The game has a so-called ‘career mode” where the player is forced into life as an illegal street racer slowly working his/her way up the blacklist to be “most wanted.” That tells me it would’ve been almost trivial for EA to add a second career path as a cop charged with the challenging task of busting each and every blacklist member. I must wonder if EA even bothered to read their own forums where many users were clamoring for features like this. To my knowledge, NFSMW only offers a few opportunities in the Challenge Series section to play as a cop.

 

Another point in NFSMW is the total lack of consequences for player actions. Apart of a low-quality (and rather insincere) video by Josie Marin, an actress who plays one of the blacklist members in the cut-scenes, NFSMW seems to glorify illegal racing and destructive activity. You can’t blame the actress, she’s just reading a script for a paycheck. However, EA should be quite aware of the numbers of people killed or maimed each year as a result of street racing. Juvenile males already think they’re immortal, they don’t need any extra encouragement! There should at minimum be an option to have a serious wreck knock the player out of the current race event. As things are, the player is encouraged to run over a lot of objects as part of creating shortcuts.

 

For anyone who might wonder, I do fairly well in some simulations. I don’t think much about flying a F-16C Block 50/52 nap-of-the-earth (less than 300 feet) at Mach 1+ through the valleys of Korea in Falcon 4: Allied Forces. The complexity of that sim can match even Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, and I manage to hold my own. Then again, I don’t allow my Testosterone level to keep me for using all the assistance the onboard systems can offer. J