Amazon Prime (Germany) and Original Language

I just started using Amazon Prime, that is for accessing their Amazon Instant Video, in Germany. Unfortunately the service doesn't allow switching between languages, dubbed and original. Or so I thought. Technically you can't really switch between languages of the movies or tv shows, but at least they have some offerings in that direction. What you can do is add "OV" (original version) or "OmU" (original with subtitles) to the search when looking for a particular movie or tv show, e.g. "Breaking Bad OV". (OmU usually means that the language is the original one plus subtitles, but almost all the time you cannot turn off the subtitles (which will be usually in German).

Unfortunately only a rather small portion of the overall content on amazon.de is available in the original language. Better than nothing, but it's now 2014 and I would really expect that in the global environment and economy we're living in, it's a cruel joke that this dual offering (original and dubbed) is not possible. Companies will argue, "oh yeah, but we don't have the proper DRM for this kind of offering, bla bla", while usually they're claiming "we there customer", "we understand the customer", etc. etc.

Then please understand, this dual language offering is what we want! And yes, subtitles would be nice, too, if you turn them off and on!

Afterlife

Books -- Ten

Ten Books that stayed with me ..

• Lord of the Rings -- J.R.R. Tolkien
• Starship Trooper -- Robert Heinlein
• Ender's Game/Ender's Shadow-- Orson Scott Card
• The Legacy of Heorot -- Larry Niven
• Earth Abides -- George R. Stewart
• The Guns of August -- Barbara Tuchman
• The Golden Compass -- Philip Pullman
• The Name of the Rose -- Umberto Eco
• Game of Thrones -- George R.R. Stewart
• Old Man's War -- John Scalzi

Honorable Mention (or #11): Curse of Chalion -- Lois McMaster Bujold

Windows 7: Disable Homegroups From Windows Explorer

Disable Homegroups from the Windows explorer (Windows 7) works as follows:

• Disable Homegroups
• Open Windows explorer.
• Right click on Libraries.
• Select "Change HomeGroup" settings.
• Click on "Leave the Homegroup", then confirm the selection.
• Click on "Finish".


• In the Windows Services, seach the "Homegroup Listener Service" and "Homegroup Provider Service".
• Stop both services.
• Disable both services.

A reboot of Windows might be necessary.

XCOM: Removing the Intro Videos

To remove the annoying intro videos for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you need to edit the configuration file "XcomEngine.ini", which is located in the directory "My Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Unknown\XComGame\Config".

1. Stop XCOM 
2. Open the file XcomEngine.ini with any text editor,
3. Search for the four lines starting with "StartupMovies", and remove them from the file
StartupMovies=Logo_2KFiraxis
StartupMovies=UE3TechLogo
StartupMovies=LogoLegal_PCConsole
StartupMovies=1280x720_Black
4. Save the file

Any subsequent start ofXCOM should now immediately go to the start screen.

ESR To The Rescue

As it seems, yesterday's post seems to be only part of the truth .. another "great" feature was to remove the original download browser config option (and the old download browser entirely with Firefox 26 or so .. wtf .. again!

But what I learned is that something Firefox ESR, where ESR stand for Extended Service Release. Which offers security fixes etc., without this constant, nagging, freaking pushing towards upgrading and pointless, unnecessary, unwanted new "features".

So now it's downgrading to Firefox 24.5 ESR with the hope that next (more less) forced upgrade is in the future in a galaxy far, far away ...

Please Mozilla Foundation, do not force upon the users these changes to the user interface without some sort of reasonable fallback option. Even better, why do new UIs need to be mandatory. Why do it as theme/add-on/extension or whatever you wanna call it?!?! Currently all I am doing after upgrades is spending more and more time on restoring the old usability of Firefox.

The day is not far ahead ..

The day is not far ahead .. that I am going to quit using Firefox. Again with Firefox 29 and their new and "improved" Australis user interface. I just want to use the goddamn browser, not cope and learn a new interface every 6 months. Now after updating I always have to check if there's a proper way to order title bar, menu bar, bookmark bar, the way it used it be .. this is annoying as hell.

It's like when your bringing your car to an inspection and they'll tell you, OK we can do this, but we have to switch the gas and break pedals, the rear view mirror is now on the hood, and you have to keep pressing the button for the high beam seven times to make it work. Sure it'll work, and you'll find some guys liking it that way, but you're sure as hell annoying a lot of users as well ..

There two options, either stop adjusting the user interface in such radical ways or give the users at least option to stick (easily) with other/older default configurations. Oh wait, there's a third option .. I just quit using this quicksand of a browser and switch a to viable alternative like Sea Monkey.

P.S.: My thanks goes this time to the guys who programmed the "Classic Theme Restorer".

Also see Microsoft and their Windows 8 user interface fiasco.

Music -- Ten

Ten Music Albums that stayed with me ..

• 1974 -- Mike Oldfield -- Hergest Ridge
• 1983 -- Yes -- 90125
• 1983 -- The Police -- Synchronicity
• 1984 -- Sade -- Smooth Operator
• 1985 -- Latin Quarter -- Modern Times
• 1987 -- Queen -- The Works
• 1989 -- Tom Petty -- Full Moon Fever
• 1990 -- Indigo Girls -- Nomads Indians Saints
• 1991 -- Baby Animals -- Baby Animals
• 1993 -- Marc Cohn -- The Rainy Season