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Anti-Microsoft rap

Cory Doctorow at 2:25 am Thu, Feb 3, 2011

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Copyfighting rapper Dan "Dear Lily" Bull has a new rant up, this one about Microsoft and the horrors thereof.

Dear Microsoft (an open letter by Dan Bull)

 
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I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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The Snowden Principle

  • The Chemist

    It’s not just that, it’s a variant of Moff’s law. Criticism of a service can be valid or invalid, but isn’t dependent on whether you use it.

  • Baldhead

    Is there in fact a difference between Windows Live mail and Hotmail?

  • paul m doherty

    Cringe!

  • pidg

    Hi Dan, I’m from customer services at Microsoft and we’ve seen your video. Please get in touch directly with me and we would be happy to discuss your strange inability to use other products that better suit your needs…. SYKE!

  • Anonymous

    I have a Hotmail account that I no longer use but it seems unable to receive any emails whatsoever. I have the account set up like another Hotmail account. This one has really stumped me. I am not able to figure out why it will not get any of my emails. I much prefer Yahoo and Gmail.

  • gipszjakab

    Internet commenters fail to understand that opinions not in total agreement with their own opinions are not necessarily a sign of mental handicap. Movie at 11.

  • Sagodjur

    While I’m impressed with the stress he’s expressed in his verse, some people can’t help that they’ve called down the curse, when you use hotmail you’re bound to fail like a fail whale, why would anyone put themselves through that hell? you can solve all your probs by switchin’ to Gmail.

    Peace out. Word to your mum.

  • siliconsunset

    this guy is amazing. anyone who thinks otherwise should really look into his YouTube account before passing judgment.

    Millbank Wankers is an amazing look at the hypocrisy of the people ruining the legitimacy of the student protests in England.

    • gipszjakab

      Formed my opinion right after spending 15 minutes sampling his YouTube videos.

      Most “Millbank Wankers” are probably just Met Provocateurs or individuals beyond the power of any reasoning.

  • Anonymous

    People still use hotmail?

  • LeFunk

    Hi i’m 32 years old and what is this?

  • gipszjakab

    Yes, I admit I picked up racist tendencies on BoingBoing.

    Again in plain English:
    Dan Bull has some skill. Much more than the people collected under “white people rapping poorly”. Still, in my opinion, he is overusing the same form/technique that made his firs video/song funny, which is, again in my opinion, not funny and relegates him into the realms of poor rapping/entertainment.

    [sarcasm]Now don’t get me started on that Eminem guy. [/sarcasm]

  • Stay_Sane_Inside_Insanity

    It was fine until he stopped showing the words on screen. Then it became incomprehensible.

  • Anonymous

    interesting rap. But your not a customer if you do not pay for the service.

  • benher

    If you watch it to the end you’ll see the whole punchline is that he switches services and is kind enough to give MS a cleverly rhymed reason as to why.

    Ripping on his delivery, his skin color, or saying”F.U.just use something else!” only reflects on your own inability to grasp what the rest of us call a “Joke.”

  • swestcott

    mmm Bitching about a free service people still use hotmail might as well have an @aol.com address am I wrong but most ISP give you a bunch of email address and then you could use a real email client maybe I am too old school does any one use an email client any more windows Live mail is quite good

  • Anonymous

    I liked it very much. I converted to Mac OS in 2006 and havent looked back. You have options and it just works!

  • brillow

    Microsoft ranting is so 1997.

  • GrymRpr

    Don’t like it?
    Don’t use said services.

    • Nash Rambler

      It’s not so much what he said as the incredibly clever and catchy way he said it.

  • Laroquod

    Internet commenters fail to perceive the modal shift required by humour, and instead attempt to answer a comedy skit with serious counterpoints. Brought to you by the socially challenged nerd faction, from everywhere.

  • Anonymous

    I like the artist, his songs are great and I could never write something like this better than him – but personally, it’s easier for me to understand his accent if I can read his own lyrics while listening along.

    The video was good – it would be better (in my case) if he kept the ‘writing out his lyrics as an email’ method going through the whole song, maybe one line at a time in the bottom half of the video with the scenes playing on in the top half.

    But YMMV, great video regardless :)

  • Anonymous

    Don’t like Hotmail? Use Gmail. Oh yeah, that’s almost (did I say almost) worse.

    At least with Hotmail you know you have an easy out when your email address starts sending spam.

    With Gmail, you give your entire life story to the Feds.

    The choice is simple – to the devil with both of ‘em! Seriously, anyone with any web savvy knows their options :P

    Great rap though, I’d love to find the lyrics so I can send them (anonymously) to a few clients *cough*

    ~William Lee

  • IamInnocent

    Microsoft is not your mom or dad: you actually have a choice of OSes and services and solutions.

  • gipszjakab

    Is this from white people rapping poorly? I mean Dear Lily was nice but this is getting really old really fast.

    • wrybread

      To each his or her own, I think he’s great.

      But I know its always ever so tempting for some people to say he must be bad just because he’s white.

  • ElectroDruid

    Eh, not his best song/video, but pretty good. But what’s with all the racism here? White people can’t rap? A nondescript English accent is incomprehensible? Really?

    It’s 2011, people. There is no shortage of excellent rappers who aren’t black and/or aren’t American, and Dan Bull is one of them.

    • gipszjakab

      Seriously man?

      Whites can rap?

      Next time they will steal the sarcasm mark from the black brothers.

    • Astragali

      Actually, I had a little trouble understanding his words when the lyrics went off the screen. And I’m English.

      That said, I still enjoyed the rap.