Astute readers may have noted that a certain blonde girl was talking a little smack about one of her rivals when she asked if the actual telephone aspect of dear, darling Treo was working. As it happens, it was not, thanks to a very annoying series of foul-ups by the retail outlet and PalmOne, who conspired to provide me with a replacement PDA phone that worked very well, except for the communications bit. The Treo happened to be blocked.
A series of telephone calls to tech support landed me in a vicious circle; by the time I spoke the first person I’d contacted to begin a THIRD CIRCLE, I was contemplating various illegal activities that probably would have landed me afoul of several aspects of the Patriot Act. There was, quite simply, no way I was going to return the Treo again, wait a month and hope that they didn’t manage to replicate their mistake.
Only then did I remember that I was a pirate by nature, intellectually opposed to most intellectual property law with millions of minds at my disposal via the Internet. Fifteen minutes, a five-meg download, two firmware upgrades and a reset, voila! Now I have a completely unblocked phone and I will certainly refrain from renewing my contract with the bureaucratic bastards when it runs out in a few months. I took great pleasure in calling their technical support and telling them precisely how I’d slashed through their Gordian Knot.
“Well, that might void your warranty with us, you know.”
“I know you’re saying you might not fix my phone if something doesn’t work. What I don’t know is how that’s any different from what you’ve been doing for the last two months.”
When the law is a ass, a man has a responsibility to go and kick it.