From hell

To find out how deep love and hate can go, it is recommended to purchase a Datastorm Satellite System.

When it is working, one feels in heaven to be able to be in touch with anyone anywhere no matter where one is.
This is a great feeling: to speak for example to someone on the other side of the world and even see her image.
All solar powered and using Skype and the Datastorm Satellite System.
Elating!

But frequently Datastorm Satellite System manages to awaken feelings of hate rarely coming to the surface.
After working flawlessly for 3 months, suddenly the Datastorm modem starts sabotaging life and happiness.

Two days ago it turned out that it had by itself changed the longitude of the satellite in its settings.
When that was fixed, which took more than a day, it worked fine again.
But this morning again it had changed suddenly that longitude.
And worse, eliminated the Site ID.
Now the thing is without an identity and has made itself useless.

It is like being in Stanley Kubrick’s fascinating film “2001: Space Odyssey” where “Hal” (pronounced “hell”), the main computer of the spaceship, turns against the crew and kills them.

The scary part is that the excellent help desk collaborator of Datastorm, Mitch Collins, doesn’t know why this is happening.
How can an electronic device change settings by itself?
If even the expert doesn’t know, maybe we should go back to communicating with smoke signals.

So now the poor Datastorm user needs to trot to a most friendly neighbour who happens to have Internet to get in touch again with the help desk of Datastorm.
And publish this posting.