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I had my biggest computing disaster for some time today. And the cause was a surprising one. A Plug and Play USB joypad.

I bought myself a Sidewinder USB joypad, thinking it would be the easiest to install and configure. And after all, if its made by the same guys who made my computer operating system, it had to work well, right?

Not so. I unwrapped it, and plugged it in. Nothing happened.
Hmm, I thought, and tried it in a different USB port. I repeated this for all 4 USB ports on my computer. Nothing happened. So I went to look at the Microsoft web site. They had a number of articles about possible solutions to this problem. So I started to work my way through them, uninstalling hardware profiles and registry editing where told. However, still my little sidewinder remained stubborn and refused to work.

I felt like such a girl. Installing new CD drives, formatting a hard disk or upgrading to XP didn't phase me, but plugging in a joypad did. Sigh.

I'd thought, that since the thing had no moving parts and came from a reputable manufacturer, there would be little chance of the actual device being faulty. Snort. Feeling very silly, I drove over and picked up a new pad. Plugged it in and it installed itself straight away. It works like a charm, and I really dig the see-through plastic.

But somehow I feel the whole process was a little unfair. Sigh.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Pick your ideal Enterprise creative staff.

-When did you become a Star Trek fan?

-Is there too much adherence to established Trek canon on Enterprise?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Today's Television Listings

• TNN will be showing TNG's 'Samaritan Snare' at 8:00pm Eastern Time and TNG's 'Allegiance' at 11:00pm.

• The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series's 'Spock's Brain' at 6:00pm Eastern Time.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series's 'The Cloud Minders' at 10:00am Eastern Time, 'Day Of The Dove' at 2:00pm, TNG's 'The Enemy' at 3:00pm, DS9's 'What You Leave Behind, Part I' at 4:00pm, and Voyager's 'Jetrel' at 5:00pm.

• In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'The Passenger' at 06:00 GMT, E4 will be showing the Original Series's 'This Side of Paradise' at 14:00, and Sky One will be showing TNG's 'A Matter of Honor' at 17:00. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

• In the Netherlands, Yorin will be showing 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' at 21:30 CET. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!

• In Australia, TV1 will be showing TNG's 'Suddenly Human' at 23:50. Thanks go out to Sci-Fi TV Schedules International!

Tomorrow's Television Listings

• TNN will be showing the Next Generation episodes 'Up the Long Ladder' at 8:00 p.m Eastern Time, with 'Interface' at 9:00 p.m, 'Phantasms' at 10:00 p.m, and 'Captain's Holiday' at 11:00 p.m.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series episode 'For the World is Hollow...Sky' at 10:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m Eastern Time, with TNG's 'The Price' at 3:00 p.m, DS9's 'What You Leave Behind-Pt.2' at 4:00 p.m and Voyager's 'Learning Curve' at 5:00 p.m.

• In the United Kingdom, E4 will show the Original Series episode 'The Devil in the Dark' at 14:00 GMT, Sky One will show TNG's 'The Measure of a Man' at 17:00. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

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