Product Activation

Product Activation is supposed to prevent piracy and freinds from copying or borrowing software, but it's an annoying and completly worthless feature of Windows XP, TurboTax, Norton Anti-Virus and many other programs and games that forces users to call the company and register to be able to run it after you install it.

If you change hardware (such as a video card or hard drive) on a Windows XP computer many times, XP will force you to call Microsoft to register the OS again. It also unfairly forces users to buy 2 or more copies for each computer you own. The best thing is complain to the company and tell them you will not buy thier products anymore. Dont support companies that force product activation.

I couldnt run TurboTax this weekend because I had to call an 1-800 number for Product Activation - and the office was closed until monday morning!

Product Activation by Whatever April 15, 2005

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product activation

An anti-piracy scheme created by Microsoft which requires users to "activate" their copy of Windows or Office. Activation sends your product key and a unique hardware identifier to Microsoft, so they know that a given copy of Windows is installed on a given PC. If a user tries to install that same copy of Windows on another computer, they are blocked. Activation is usually done automatically over the internet, but can also be done by calling Microsoft and talking to a rep.

Product activation was designed to stop piracy. But the only thing it's succeeded in stopping is the installation of legitimate copies of Windows by users who rightfully own it. Activation often fails when someone upgrades the hardware in their computer (since the hardware identifier is different). People who pirate software can easily get around product activation by use of cracks and key generators.

When I reinstalled Windows on my computer, it failed product activation, because I had replaced my processor and video card.

I downloaded a cracked copy of Windows off of Warez and it doesn't even try to activate itself!

product activation by computer_guy February 17, 2008

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bang a you-ee

of Massachusetts orig. "to make a u-turn"

hey, we missed the bar, bang a you-ee

bang a you-ee by Pistolero Pierro May 4, 2008

Word of the Day on July 19, 2026

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Fleg

The word 'flag' as pronounced by people with thick Belfast accents. The term is a perfect encapsulation of the disproportionate and overblown reaction to the removal of the Union Jack (as in 'de fleg') from above City Hall in Belfast. Where previously it had flown for 365 days per year, it is now flown on 17 designated days of the year - in line with many other British cities.

The event caused a portion of the Protestant community ('fleggers') to make international pricks of themselves as they proceeded to wreck the fucking place, claiming it was another erosion of a 'British' identity they perceive to have been under attack since the horrifying spectre of equality reared its head in Northern Ireland.

The word 'fleg' - and indeed 'fleggers' - fittingly describes a section of humanity unconcerned with knowledge, reality or the vagaries of the English language. Like America's tea-baggers they are ruled by instinct, fear and paranoia with a side dish of rampant bigotry and startling ignorance of the world around them.

"Wat de fuck like! The taigs got de fleg took down! Let's wreck de fuckin place! No surrender!"

"De fleg has been took down! Before ye know it there'll be a united Ireland! Attack Short Strand! God Save The Queen!"

Fleg by OnionFleg August 9, 2013

Word of the Day on July 18, 2026

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Skeef

To take something small, that doesn't quite qualify as a theft. Probably from the Danish "skæv" or the Dutch "scheef", both of which are pronounced similarly, meaning "askew, or not quite right'. To change an item's ownership without permission, but only something small and of little worth.

"I skeefed an apple off the neighbor's tree." "I skeefed some chips outta your bag when you looked away." "Don't skeef my chair when I go to the bathroom."

Skeef by kachinaflonk July 16, 2026

Word of the Day on July 17, 2026

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Hair spider

A tight, tangled knot of loose hair and lint that forms inside clothing during the clothes dryer cycle. It typically hides inside garments, causing an annoying lump or a phantom tickling sensation against the skin until it is found or falls out onto the floor during folding.

I was folding my clothes and a huge hair spider fell out onto my hand

Hair spider by Kmorsels July 15, 2026

Word of the Day on July 16, 2026

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bullshot

n. A screenshot fabricated by a company to misrepresent the graphics of a game; a combination of the words bullshit and screenshot.

Originated from Penny Arcade, a popular gaming webcomic.

-Have you seen Madden 2006 for the Xbox 360? The graphics are gonna be awesome!
-Dude, the Madden 2006 images they showed at E3 were bullshots. It doesn't look nearly as good as they said.

bullshot by Worker Unit #503,298,545 September 26, 2005

Word of the Day on July 15, 2026

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