this is so obviously my day. i just got off the phone with our internet provider. apparently to stop spammers they`ve blocked the port for outgoing mail to any servers other than their own, so i can`t send mail via my mac.com address. it took me the better part of 20 minutes to find that out from them, then another 15 because i`m a mac user.
i finally get to a supervisor who gives me a list of things to go through, that i`ve already done, only to tell me, oh that`s apple`s problem. no halfwit, it`s yours you blocked the port. i finally get it through his thick skull and he tells me that can be remedied by buying a static ip address from them, ummmm no. while, i`m on the phone with this particular version of the telephone assistance primate, i realised that this company uses authentication on their outgoing mail servers, so theoretically i have no need to be on the phone because i could just use their own servers to send my mail.
i ask “wonder boy” on the phone if this is possible while setting it up anyway, only to have him deliver a resounding `No, it can`t be done` as i sent all the mail that had been backed up all morning via same method.
i`m sitting here wondering why do i call? what is the point? every time i have reason to call, it`s clear, i`m leaps and bounds ahead of them by the time they get on the phone. and they have the nerve to get that `i`m explain it to you simpleton` tone in their voice. and i have to resist telling them `i have knowledge that you haven`t begun to learn yet, asshat`
am i living in the land of the blind, so the one eyed man is king? or in this case, the person with less apparent cataracts?
i have a friend who had a network installation done recently, i took one look at it and realised it was crap work, her network has never worked right. because it was overly complicated and set up in such a manner that only by keeping my friend in the dark they could continuously milk her every time there was a problem.
there is a special hell for those who willing withhold knowledge.
edit: someone forwarded this link from salon, very interesting read.
