I just got a very long short message from The College of Law.
That is, it was an auto-forward from my College account, and instead of creating a group to email to, they decided to put our names in separately. The email message was so long, my Gmail account clipped it before it got to the end of the 'N's. I had to press "View Entire Message" just to read the rest of the recipients ... let alone the message itself!
Was the message worth the wait?
No pardner, not really. The suspense was really just building up to a letdown, sorry to say.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Ageism Moans
Let's see, I've ranted about racism, I think I've tried sexism, now let's talk about ageism.
I have my head too stuffed with ageist remarks to rant about them all (I read the Daily Tele Letters page, you see).
However one bit that always irks me as that bit where "oldies" go on about how young people of today are so selfish and lazy, they can't stand on their own two feet, they can't do this, they can't do simple tasks to keep house or whatever it is. You will hear these people moan and chuckle simultaneously like how it's a disgrace you don't keep your room in order or only cook simple meals out of a packet or can.
Then you hang around the house a bit and the same oldies whine "Hey, can you fix my computer for me? Show me how to clear the messages on my phone! How do I change the picture-thing on my Foxtel? Why isn't the printer working? How do I book tickets online?"
And when you do these things for them patiently - and even go through the steps patiently with them, knowing full well that the next time they'll whine to you, please do it for me, they can't remember what they did last time ...
... they aren't that grateful and they still go in for the young 'un bashing later on. They don't really think of it as a skill they ought to learn just to get on in life, but if it isn't done they whine.
Oh yes ... I do know there are some very technologically capable older people out there. There are also some extremely capable younger people who clean their rooms, can look after their car, hem a skirt and cook meals. But it doesn't seem to stop the generation bashing!
I have my head too stuffed with ageist remarks to rant about them all (I read the Daily Tele Letters page, you see).
However one bit that always irks me as that bit where "oldies" go on about how young people of today are so selfish and lazy, they can't stand on their own two feet, they can't do this, they can't do simple tasks to keep house or whatever it is. You will hear these people moan and chuckle simultaneously like how it's a disgrace you don't keep your room in order or only cook simple meals out of a packet or can.
Then you hang around the house a bit and the same oldies whine "Hey, can you fix my computer for me? Show me how to clear the messages on my phone! How do I change the picture-thing on my Foxtel? Why isn't the printer working? How do I book tickets online?"
And when you do these things for them patiently - and even go through the steps patiently with them, knowing full well that the next time they'll whine to you, please do it for me, they can't remember what they did last time ...
... they aren't that grateful and they still go in for the young 'un bashing later on. They don't really think of it as a skill they ought to learn just to get on in life, but if it isn't done they whine.
Oh yes ... I do know there are some very technologically capable older people out there. There are also some extremely capable younger people who clean their rooms, can look after their car, hem a skirt and cook meals. But it doesn't seem to stop the generation bashing!
Friday, 21 August 2009
Been wrestling with fiddly equations in my computing course and ...
If there's one thing I don't need to not see, it's another double negative.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Ode to a Blank Keyboard!
TimT of WillTypeForFood fame was so moved by my blank keyboard dream that he penned a poem in honour of it, and I'm honoured to blog it, right here ... oh you've outdone yourself this time, TimT!
Did I dream? Did I work? Was I dreaming of work?
I sat down to type but the keyboard was bare.
The subconscious is really a bit of a jerk:
I searched for the letters: I searched everywhere.
I searched high and low; I searched here and there:
Was this a design fault? Some curious quirk?
The letters weren’t there. They weren’t anywhere –
Did I dream? Did I work? Was I dreaming of work?
Just what did it mean, this niggle, this irk?
I tried to start working, but I could just stare
Down into my mind, the dim, dark and mirk –
I sat down to type but the keyboard was bare.
I picked up the phone. I needed to share
My problem with IT. I spoke to a clerk
Who knew of my problem – was already aware.
The subconscious is really a bit of a jerk.
Just who was this clerk, and why did they lurk
In the gloomy dim depths of my cortex – somewhere?
Just to think of these questions could drive you berserk.
I searched for the letters. They weren’t anywhere.
And why dream of work, instead of some perk
Like chocolate or champagne? It just isn’t fair.
When I sit down to work, my mind often shirks
And daydreams of buttercups. Does it even care?
Did I dream? Did I work?
Did I dream? Did I work? Was I dreaming of work?
I sat down to type but the keyboard was bare.
The subconscious is really a bit of a jerk:
I searched for the letters: I searched everywhere.
I searched high and low; I searched here and there:
Was this a design fault? Some curious quirk?
The letters weren’t there. They weren’t anywhere –
Did I dream? Did I work? Was I dreaming of work?
Just what did it mean, this niggle, this irk?
I tried to start working, but I could just stare
Down into my mind, the dim, dark and mirk –
I sat down to type but the keyboard was bare.
I picked up the phone. I needed to share
My problem with IT. I spoke to a clerk
Who knew of my problem – was already aware.
The subconscious is really a bit of a jerk.
Just who was this clerk, and why did they lurk
In the gloomy dim depths of my cortex – somewhere?
Just to think of these questions could drive you berserk.
I searched for the letters. They weren’t anywhere.
And why dream of work, instead of some perk
Like chocolate or champagne? It just isn’t fair.
When I sit down to work, my mind often shirks
And daydreams of buttercups. Does it even care?
Did I dream? Did I work?
Monday, 10 August 2009
Hell is a Blank Keyboard
This was last night's nightmare, folks.
I had a terrible dream last night that I started a new job (that wasn't the terrible bit but it could have been) and I had a blank keyboard. I mean, people, there were no letters or things on the keys. I decided to wing it and tried to type anyhow but I wasn't very good. I got madder at the keyboard and started pressing every bloody key combination harder and harder to no avail, faster and faster. No result!
Anyhow after very coolly making lots of mistakes and not knowing what the hell I was doing for about four hours I decided to cave in and ring tech and they said "MARIA! We've been waiting for you! Why haven't you called us earlier?"
I said, "How did you know I was going to call? By the way I've got this silly blank keyboard and it doesn't work and I don't know what keys do what ..."
They said, "Didn't you know that whenever you press one of the keys on those keyboards it automatically sends an email to tech saying "My keyboard is one of those blank ones that doesn't work, I will call you soon requesting a proper keyboard, please wait for my call?" We've been waiting all day for you to call!"
This is probably how tech at many workplaces works. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I had a terrible dream last night that I started a new job (that wasn't the terrible bit but it could have been) and I had a blank keyboard. I mean, people, there were no letters or things on the keys. I decided to wing it and tried to type anyhow but I wasn't very good. I got madder at the keyboard and started pressing every bloody key combination harder and harder to no avail, faster and faster. No result!
Anyhow after very coolly making lots of mistakes and not knowing what the hell I was doing for about four hours I decided to cave in and ring tech and they said "MARIA! We've been waiting for you! Why haven't you called us earlier?"
I said, "How did you know I was going to call? By the way I've got this silly blank keyboard and it doesn't work and I don't know what keys do what ..."
They said, "Didn't you know that whenever you press one of the keys on those keyboards it automatically sends an email to tech saying "My keyboard is one of those blank ones that doesn't work, I will call you soon requesting a proper keyboard, please wait for my call?" We've been waiting all day for you to call!"
This is probably how tech at many workplaces works. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Monday, 3 August 2009
The silence is frustrating me
I don’t mind sitting in a car, or in a room, when the other person doesn’t talk or doesn’t make conversation. Some people find this unnerving or awkward but often, especially with someone you know well, it can be quite comfortable and pleasant. My mother feels the need to fill every silence with words. I don’t.
But what is really frustrating the heck out of me is the lack of output from the computer. Computers should have to give output. Even if that output is “Sorry, I have nothing to say on this topic.” It should be a rule. Otherwise, how do you know whether they’re sitting in quiet philosophical contemplation or whether you should return them for a warranty, or use the Maria-method (a good swift kick)?
I’m starting a computer course now, part-time, which is two subjects, Principles of Programming and Database Systems. The second is far better, maybe because we haven’t got any assignments to do from it yet. The first one is very annoying. I try to write commands in the system. Some are really easy and that is fun, like when you type in a command to see the date and it prints out today’s date. On the other hand I already know what today’s date is. But it would be very helpful if I had sudden amnesia and my computer date in the corner of my screen went haywire but I did remember the command prompt for the date. And of course it makes me feel smart, like I can do something right. So I tested that about seventy times before doing anything else, just for my ego.
Then we got our assignment, had to be done in less than two weeks, gosh almighty I spent several days trying to decipher the assignment.
I have four programs to write for an entirety of ten marks. That seems a bit stupid to me, it’s my first time writing a program and I can hardly do anything besides write “date” in a command prompt. And I am going to have to get my head around writing programs, and if I do only one it will be for a lousy 2.5 marks!
They are all mathematical puzzles where you have to find solutions, that is you have to get the computer to find solutions. So I start to write one of the programs and I am barely writing the first bit when I decide to check it to see if it is ok (like running a spell check only on a program) and it spits out at me 34 errors!
I didn’t know I had written 34 things.
It’s a real shame because I thought it had looked very cute.
After a while I thought I was getting the hang of things so I decided to see if any results could be found for the first part of the first puzzle. Only the first part, thank you.
Nothing. Blank. Caput.
Now, I think this is unfair. I don’t know if the computer is saying “there are no answers” or “you wrote this all wrong” or “I am having a deep thinking session about this interesting, nay, amazing dilemma you put before me” or “Gimme some time while I make myself a cocoa” or “Sod off, I hate this puzzle, I’m going to sulk”.
Computers should have to explain what their silence means. It should be a rule.
Because I sat there glaring at the blank screen, but then I found out, that nobody can out-stare like a computer can. They really win in the out-staring match. I gave up. I ended up sulking and making myself a big glass of Ribena.
This is so uncool.
But what is really frustrating the heck out of me is the lack of output from the computer. Computers should have to give output. Even if that output is “Sorry, I have nothing to say on this topic.” It should be a rule. Otherwise, how do you know whether they’re sitting in quiet philosophical contemplation or whether you should return them for a warranty, or use the Maria-method (a good swift kick)?
I’m starting a computer course now, part-time, which is two subjects, Principles of Programming and Database Systems. The second is far better, maybe because we haven’t got any assignments to do from it yet. The first one is very annoying. I try to write commands in the system. Some are really easy and that is fun, like when you type in a command to see the date and it prints out today’s date. On the other hand I already know what today’s date is. But it would be very helpful if I had sudden amnesia and my computer date in the corner of my screen went haywire but I did remember the command prompt for the date. And of course it makes me feel smart, like I can do something right. So I tested that about seventy times before doing anything else, just for my ego.
Then we got our assignment, had to be done in less than two weeks, gosh almighty I spent several days trying to decipher the assignment.
I have four programs to write for an entirety of ten marks. That seems a bit stupid to me, it’s my first time writing a program and I can hardly do anything besides write “date” in a command prompt. And I am going to have to get my head around writing programs, and if I do only one it will be for a lousy 2.5 marks!
They are all mathematical puzzles where you have to find solutions, that is you have to get the computer to find solutions. So I start to write one of the programs and I am barely writing the first bit when I decide to check it to see if it is ok (like running a spell check only on a program) and it spits out at me 34 errors!
I didn’t know I had written 34 things.
It’s a real shame because I thought it had looked very cute.
After a while I thought I was getting the hang of things so I decided to see if any results could be found for the first part of the first puzzle. Only the first part, thank you.
Nothing. Blank. Caput.
Now, I think this is unfair. I don’t know if the computer is saying “there are no answers” or “you wrote this all wrong” or “I am having a deep thinking session about this interesting, nay, amazing dilemma you put before me” or “Gimme some time while I make myself a cocoa” or “Sod off, I hate this puzzle, I’m going to sulk”.
Computers should have to explain what their silence means. It should be a rule.
Because I sat there glaring at the blank screen, but then I found out, that nobody can out-stare like a computer can. They really win in the out-staring match. I gave up. I ended up sulking and making myself a big glass of Ribena.
This is so uncool.
Friday, 17 July 2009
My kind of job filter
I'm searching for jobs, and I just wish there were a different kind of job website.
Right now I'm not too picky about exactly what kind of job I do because I don't have an exact career path. In fact, it would be fair to say I don't have any career path. I'm not like one of those people who can say "I'm an unemployed electrician looking for another electrician's job" because basically I don't know the first thing about electrician's stuff or anything much else definitely for that matter. In fact I have years and years of education stuffed into this brain of mine (and thanks to that, a huge HECS debt) but no real career path. I guess you wouldn't sell me as a career development planner or advisor then.
I can do very skilfully what a heap of other people can do, which is basic office work and research in non-specific areas, which means I could probably be a clerk in some kind of role but that pretty much means looking in every single area posted in the job ads, because there are clerks and people who want people who can type and write and turn on a computer and shuffle paper around and think a bit but not too much everywhere. Dammit.
When you shuffle through these ads it's boring as hell. And rather overwhelming. So you try to use the internet filters which aren't much help. You can search by industry. No thanks. Search by location - how picky should I be? Search by salary - hell, why should I limit myself?
What I really want to filter out of my searches are the following ads but there don't seem to be search buttons allowing me to filter them out, which is annoying:
*ads asking for your academic transcript. I hate them asking what grades you got in first year uni.
*old ads. The ones that look ok but when you write to them they tell you they found someone for that job five weeks ago. Why the heck don't they take the ad down then?
*ads which spend three quarters of the ad in self-interested wank going on about their exciting new firm and project and their great feel-good team and breakthroughs and achievements and say pretty much nothing about the job. Please, please, please don't do that to me ... oh and by the way they usually have stupid sounding names too.
*ads which sound ok but tell you the only way to apply is through the online process, which you need to register for, which is a long involved process including filling in a questionnaire and having to write your resume into little boxes already pre-packaged by them, and doesn't allow you to add in any extra info to sell yourself. Also, your computer times out on you about 7 times in the first two steps.
Did I say something about not too picky about a job?
I'm just picky about the ad.
Right now I'm not too picky about exactly what kind of job I do because I don't have an exact career path. In fact, it would be fair to say I don't have any career path. I'm not like one of those people who can say "I'm an unemployed electrician looking for another electrician's job" because basically I don't know the first thing about electrician's stuff or anything much else definitely for that matter. In fact I have years and years of education stuffed into this brain of mine (and thanks to that, a huge HECS debt) but no real career path. I guess you wouldn't sell me as a career development planner or advisor then.
I can do very skilfully what a heap of other people can do, which is basic office work and research in non-specific areas, which means I could probably be a clerk in some kind of role but that pretty much means looking in every single area posted in the job ads, because there are clerks and people who want people who can type and write and turn on a computer and shuffle paper around and think a bit but not too much everywhere. Dammit.
When you shuffle through these ads it's boring as hell. And rather overwhelming. So you try to use the internet filters which aren't much help. You can search by industry. No thanks. Search by location - how picky should I be? Search by salary - hell, why should I limit myself?
What I really want to filter out of my searches are the following ads but there don't seem to be search buttons allowing me to filter them out, which is annoying:
*ads asking for your academic transcript. I hate them asking what grades you got in first year uni.
*old ads. The ones that look ok but when you write to them they tell you they found someone for that job five weeks ago. Why the heck don't they take the ad down then?
*ads which spend three quarters of the ad in self-interested wank going on about their exciting new firm and project and their great feel-good team and breakthroughs and achievements and say pretty much nothing about the job. Please, please, please don't do that to me ... oh and by the way they usually have stupid sounding names too.
*ads which sound ok but tell you the only way to apply is through the online process, which you need to register for, which is a long involved process including filling in a questionnaire and having to write your resume into little boxes already pre-packaged by them, and doesn't allow you to add in any extra info to sell yourself. Also, your computer times out on you about 7 times in the first two steps.
Did I say something about not too picky about a job?
I'm just picky about the ad.
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Bomb the Moon!
Yesterday I read this article about how NASA as found, in the so called global economic recession, half a billion dollars to bomb the moon.
I'm sure lots of Americans are really glad to know how their tax money is being spent. While they don't have welfare nearly so good as many other countries to prop them up should they lose their job, which is happening is droves at the moment, they can sleep well knowing that their is a nice dent in the moon's surface.
The reasons, according to this article, for bombing the moon, are a) to find water which may or may not be on the moon and b) if there is water, the water vapour which will be sent up in the air by the bomb will form a cloud which will allow us to draw a very detailed map of the moon. Of course this could disturb the water supply and the map of the moon will be different from the moon as we currently know it because it will have a huge dent in the side of it from a bomb, but to hell with that.
So basically, we are spending half a billion dollars to find water in outer space that mightn't even exist but if it does exist, it will be a long way from us so I'm thinking, what exactly will a water supply out there do for us, wouldn't it be smarter to build a really cool dam or water catchment on Earth? What's next, a big pipeline from Earth to the moon or little modules that go out to the moon every so often with astronauts whose sole job is to fill up little plastic bottles, load them on to the ship and then bring 'em back and sell them to restaurants at exorbitant prices?
What's more, if we interfere with the moon to much, by bombing the hell out of it with target practice or draining it of large amounts of water, who knows what it may do to affect our own environment, as the moon has a direct effect on Earth - including its own water movements (oh, and some say our mental health).
The next thing is, we're trying to get a map of the moon.
I'm not sure why, I don't know how many people holiday there, we are slack enough about getting maps on Earth. My bus route map is inaccurate. Start at home.
Wat are they hoping to do with a map of the moon, start a Google Moon project?
I can just see it, Google will announce a Google Moon service, and everyone will want to see their favourite part of the moon.
Whoopee!
Then you'll download the service and it will tell you "Please type in an EXACT STREET ADDRESS" or it won't show you the pic of the moon bit you want which will be absolutely fantastic. I want my Google Moon money back.
There is probably a reason why intelligent life from outer space doesn't contact us and that's possibly because we don't rate as intelligent to them. They're ringing all their more intelligent buddies and writing human beings off in the "dumbass" sector, not worth bothering with or contacting.
I'm sure lots of Americans are really glad to know how their tax money is being spent. While they don't have welfare nearly so good as many other countries to prop them up should they lose their job, which is happening is droves at the moment, they can sleep well knowing that their is a nice dent in the moon's surface.
The reasons, according to this article, for bombing the moon, are a) to find water which may or may not be on the moon and b) if there is water, the water vapour which will be sent up in the air by the bomb will form a cloud which will allow us to draw a very detailed map of the moon. Of course this could disturb the water supply and the map of the moon will be different from the moon as we currently know it because it will have a huge dent in the side of it from a bomb, but to hell with that.
So basically, we are spending half a billion dollars to find water in outer space that mightn't even exist but if it does exist, it will be a long way from us so I'm thinking, what exactly will a water supply out there do for us, wouldn't it be smarter to build a really cool dam or water catchment on Earth? What's next, a big pipeline from Earth to the moon or little modules that go out to the moon every so often with astronauts whose sole job is to fill up little plastic bottles, load them on to the ship and then bring 'em back and sell them to restaurants at exorbitant prices?
What's more, if we interfere with the moon to much, by bombing the hell out of it with target practice or draining it of large amounts of water, who knows what it may do to affect our own environment, as the moon has a direct effect on Earth - including its own water movements (oh, and some say our mental health).
The next thing is, we're trying to get a map of the moon.
I'm not sure why, I don't know how many people holiday there, we are slack enough about getting maps on Earth. My bus route map is inaccurate. Start at home.
Wat are they hoping to do with a map of the moon, start a Google Moon project?
I can just see it, Google will announce a Google Moon service, and everyone will want to see their favourite part of the moon.
Whoopee!
Then you'll download the service and it will tell you "Please type in an EXACT STREET ADDRESS" or it won't show you the pic of the moon bit you want which will be absolutely fantastic. I want my Google Moon money back.
There is probably a reason why intelligent life from outer space doesn't contact us and that's possibly because we don't rate as intelligent to them. They're ringing all their more intelligent buddies and writing human beings off in the "dumbass" sector, not worth bothering with or contacting.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Techno-nannying doesn't go far enough
According to this article there's a new device being tested to speed-limit cars.
This is a special device which would recognise what the speed limit was, and then sound a warning if you tried to abuse it, and also stop you from speeding. It'd stubbornly refuse to let you speed!
Now some people think this is a great idea. I for one have never really understood why cars can go up to 180km/hr anyhow, I have never seen a 180km/hr zone.
But of course there were people who complained about nannying and how what speed you were at should be your personal responsibility.
Of course this does assume that all car drivers know what 'responsibility' means which many don't seem to from the looks of the roads out there.
Then I read a whole bunch of letters groaning about how we are the most over-governed country in the world, which I think is just an excuse for people who don't want to be rioters.
I think there are plenty of places in which we are not governed enough and I would like to see certain sorts of idiots reined in immediately with new technologies. These people don't exhibit proper responsibility and therefore it's useless saying it's up to their personal responsibility. They NEED nannying!
1. People who pack bags in supermarkets. They who are about to put a heavy item on top of a soft item should have a device attached to them which immediately gives them an electric shock and jerks their arm away from the bag!
2. People who smoke and are tempted to throw their cigarette butt out without stubbing it. These people need to have a device attached which makes them stub out it out properly first. Oh, before they stub it, huge neon lights should go off over them saying JERK JERK JERK for a bit of public humiliation.
3. People who go into the 12 items or less lane with more than 12 items should have a little robot who comes out and screams "YOU CAN'T COUNT" and shoves them into the right lane.
In fact, "12 items or less" lanes should have little robots which flash "We know this should say '12 items or fewer' we're just made a mistake and we're too cheap to change all the signs!"
4. People who try to comment on a blog and use all CAPS or have lots and lots of common spelling errors, especially mixing up "your" and "you're", "they're", "there" and "their", etc, should have a "beep" that stops their comment from being posted and after three attempts, bans them from posting until they've done some basic literacy courses.
This is a special device which would recognise what the speed limit was, and then sound a warning if you tried to abuse it, and also stop you from speeding. It'd stubbornly refuse to let you speed!
Now some people think this is a great idea. I for one have never really understood why cars can go up to 180km/hr anyhow, I have never seen a 180km/hr zone.
But of course there were people who complained about nannying and how what speed you were at should be your personal responsibility.
Of course this does assume that all car drivers know what 'responsibility' means which many don't seem to from the looks of the roads out there.
Then I read a whole bunch of letters groaning about how we are the most over-governed country in the world, which I think is just an excuse for people who don't want to be rioters.
I think there are plenty of places in which we are not governed enough and I would like to see certain sorts of idiots reined in immediately with new technologies. These people don't exhibit proper responsibility and therefore it's useless saying it's up to their personal responsibility. They NEED nannying!
1. People who pack bags in supermarkets. They who are about to put a heavy item on top of a soft item should have a device attached to them which immediately gives them an electric shock and jerks their arm away from the bag!
2. People who smoke and are tempted to throw their cigarette butt out without stubbing it. These people need to have a device attached which makes them stub out it out properly first. Oh, before they stub it, huge neon lights should go off over them saying JERK JERK JERK for a bit of public humiliation.
3. People who go into the 12 items or less lane with more than 12 items should have a little robot who comes out and screams "YOU CAN'T COUNT" and shoves them into the right lane.
In fact, "12 items or less" lanes should have little robots which flash "We know this should say '12 items or fewer' we're just made a mistake and we're too cheap to change all the signs!"
4. People who try to comment on a blog and use all CAPS or have lots and lots of common spelling errors, especially mixing up "your" and "you're", "they're", "there" and "their", etc, should have a "beep" that stops their comment from being posted and after three attempts, bans them from posting until they've done some basic literacy courses.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Sign up for Direct Debit so we can take Nothing from your Bank Account!
Readers of OJS know that I think Three (the mobile company) is a bit cracked. Potty, like.
I also had a bit of trouble with them previously. I had a contract with them and was paying by direct debit; they attempted to charge me for the same amount twice as well as charge me a late fee I didn't owe them. So I stopped paying by direct debit - just so they couldn't take money from my bank account automatically each month and then pretend they hadn't done it, and then take over a month and a lot of calls at my expense for them to fix their mistake. (That's what I hate about phone providers - they make a mistake and when their incompetence takes you about fifty calls to pursue their mistake, they bill you all over again. It shouldn't even cost you one call.)
Anyhow, I am now on with Telstra. I don't know whether it will be a smarter plan choice but the mobile itself is cooler so that's a plus.
When I switched to Telstra, I was told all i had to do was switch my phone number over to Telstra. Three would issue me a final bill as they would "see" that I was no longer with them.
I did that, and I got a 'last' bill from Three which I paid and I'm no longer with Three.
Then for some reason I got another bill from Three ...
It has written on it that my bill is $0.
And I haven't made any calls.
They WROTE to me to tell me that?
Not only that, I received the whole standard bill, with a lovely little place in it saying "Amount owing for this month $0.00" and a big notice underneath saying "would you like to sign up for Direct Debit? Make your bill easier!"
I have a feeling I could make that bill a lot easier by plain ignoring it, but hey, I'm just a layperson.
I also had a bit of trouble with them previously. I had a contract with them and was paying by direct debit; they attempted to charge me for the same amount twice as well as charge me a late fee I didn't owe them. So I stopped paying by direct debit - just so they couldn't take money from my bank account automatically each month and then pretend they hadn't done it, and then take over a month and a lot of calls at my expense for them to fix their mistake. (That's what I hate about phone providers - they make a mistake and when their incompetence takes you about fifty calls to pursue their mistake, they bill you all over again. It shouldn't even cost you one call.)
Anyhow, I am now on with Telstra. I don't know whether it will be a smarter plan choice but the mobile itself is cooler so that's a plus.
When I switched to Telstra, I was told all i had to do was switch my phone number over to Telstra. Three would issue me a final bill as they would "see" that I was no longer with them.
I did that, and I got a 'last' bill from Three which I paid and I'm no longer with Three.
Then for some reason I got another bill from Three ...
It has written on it that my bill is $0.
And I haven't made any calls.
They WROTE to me to tell me that?
Not only that, I received the whole standard bill, with a lovely little place in it saying "Amount owing for this month $0.00" and a big notice underneath saying "would you like to sign up for Direct Debit? Make your bill easier!"
I have a feeling I could make that bill a lot easier by plain ignoring it, but hey, I'm just a layperson.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Things you didn't know your Mobile or PIN could do!
Perhaps you've received an email that has information like this or this claiming your mobile and PIN have secret powers.
Like, if you enter your PIN in backwards at an ATM the police will be dispatched to the ATM, so do this if a robber forces you to withdraw money. Or you can unlock your car via mobile phone.
(the links set you straight, you can't unlock your car via mobile and the ATM thing doesn't work. it would make it pretty weird for people with palindromic PINs if the one forwards was your regular PIN but the PIN backwards was a special one which alerted the police, because the police would get very confused. However it is somewhat rooted in fact because someone tried to introduce the concept and it got rejected by banks.)
There are also some other tricky things circulating by SPAM which tell you magical things your mobile can do, like have special codes to lock your mobile or find hidden reserves of battery.
ANYHOW.
ORANGE JUICE SNOBBERY is here to provide you with a service, to tell you some VERY SPECIAL powers your mobile has, especially in emergency situations.
none of this "dial #06# and find your special 15 digit authentication code for your handset stuff, who has the time for that anyway?
1. If you are ever forced by a robber to enter your PIN at an ATM and to withdraw money for them from your bank account, forget entering your PIN backwards or dialling emergency. THROW YOUR PHONE AT THEM. It works for Russell Crowe.
2. Your phone has magical powers to unlock your car door if you:
a) buy one of those natty key rings and attach it to your phone. You won't lose your keys so long as you have your phone as well then!
b) you have the NRMA number stored on your phone.
c) you have a very heavy phone and a good swing and don't mind a shattered window on the driver's side.
3. Your phone has magical powers to move crowds, and often ensure you are the first in line of any queue, so long as your taste in ringtones is as bad as mine. Try rap, or themes from TV cheesy TV shows in the 80s.
4. Your mobile phone has the magical power to begin ringing just when you have closed it up and stuffed it in a pocket in your bag behind some books and under a big woolly jumper and done up the zips. It has the capacity to stop ringing and flash "MISSED CALL" just when you have burrowed under all your stuff, thrown all of your accessories out of your bag and onto the pavement in public on a wet day and just grabbed it.
Like, if you enter your PIN in backwards at an ATM the police will be dispatched to the ATM, so do this if a robber forces you to withdraw money. Or you can unlock your car via mobile phone.
(the links set you straight, you can't unlock your car via mobile and the ATM thing doesn't work. it would make it pretty weird for people with palindromic PINs if the one forwards was your regular PIN but the PIN backwards was a special one which alerted the police, because the police would get very confused. However it is somewhat rooted in fact because someone tried to introduce the concept and it got rejected by banks.)
There are also some other tricky things circulating by SPAM which tell you magical things your mobile can do, like have special codes to lock your mobile or find hidden reserves of battery.
ANYHOW.
ORANGE JUICE SNOBBERY is here to provide you with a service, to tell you some VERY SPECIAL powers your mobile has, especially in emergency situations.
none of this "dial #06# and find your special 15 digit authentication code for your handset stuff, who has the time for that anyway?
1. If you are ever forced by a robber to enter your PIN at an ATM and to withdraw money for them from your bank account, forget entering your PIN backwards or dialling emergency. THROW YOUR PHONE AT THEM. It works for Russell Crowe.
2. Your phone has magical powers to unlock your car door if you:
a) buy one of those natty key rings and attach it to your phone. You won't lose your keys so long as you have your phone as well then!
b) you have the NRMA number stored on your phone.
c) you have a very heavy phone and a good swing and don't mind a shattered window on the driver's side.
3. Your phone has magical powers to move crowds, and often ensure you are the first in line of any queue, so long as your taste in ringtones is as bad as mine. Try rap, or themes from TV cheesy TV shows in the 80s.
4. Your mobile phone has the magical power to begin ringing just when you have closed it up and stuffed it in a pocket in your bag behind some books and under a big woolly jumper and done up the zips. It has the capacity to stop ringing and flash "MISSED CALL" just when you have burrowed under all your stuff, thrown all of your accessories out of your bag and onto the pavement in public on a wet day and just grabbed it.
Friday, 25 July 2008
Borders Books: Identity Theft and Indian Giving
Now, I enjoy a good bookstore - wide variety of products and discounts - and while Borders books has offered that to me, it's a pity that like many of those big corporations that gets popular for products, it falls down severely on the customer service side.
Like my experience with Panasonic and their idiocy about not advertising correctly what their stereo system will do, and then their lame compensation which actually puts me at a disadvantage. These big corporations can afford better than others to both be accurate and to do a little more to please the customer and keep them onside; it just seems that many have got so big for their boots they don't bother - and forget that pissing off one customer can cause a chain reaction that pisses off many. And it's a lot harder and more expensive to gain a customer - especially gaining back a lost customer - to maintain one.
My experience was with this year's Border's The Ultimate Kids' Collection Competition.
Now, I happen to like kids' stuff, so I thought, hey why not? Besides, the stuff I don't particularly "get" - the stuff that's a bit too twee and not nostalgic or in my category of fun - if I win it, I'd give it to my cousins' kids. Or the disabled children my sister babysits. Hey, I know lots of children who would get a kick out of a good story book, picture book, adventure book, whatever. I thought it would be fun. But if I won that gift edition of Pippi Longstocking - it was going straight to the poolroom!
The game is pretty easy in formula - there is a picture of a bookcase with 100 prizes lined up on it. You have to log in and say you'll accept marketing communications from Borders as part of the conditions. You get to click on a prize to see if you've won. You might win the prize you've clicked on. Alternatively you could win a coupon like "3 for two kids books" or you could possibly win the whole 100 books in one swoop. There's only 1 of the big swoop prizes to be given out, and 1 each of the individual prizes.
In order to play again and again, you have to each time enter a "friend's email address" - or what the conditions say has to be a "valid email address" (so they really don't care if that happens to be your worst enemy, not your friend).
Then you get another shot at guessing where a prize may be.
Sounds easy enough, and I played a lot.
One thing I did do though, which probably a lot of ordinarily email savvy people do nowadays, is one of the first emails I entered as a "valid email address" was one of my own alternate email addresses - hey, I am my own best friend!
I then logged in to that email address to see what happens.
Instead of sending an ordinary email from Borders saying "Your friend [my login name] has recommended that you play this game, here's the link" sort of message:
Borders sent a message that PRETENDED TO BE A FORWARDED MESSAGE FROM MY EMAIL, REVEALING MY EMAIL ADDRESS, BUT INCLUDED A FORM EMAIL FROM BORDERS.
Identity Theft.
Basically, what does this look like, especially if you play this game a lot - which, by the way, Borders explicitly encourages you to do on its website (with its "Play again - hurry up - prizes will go fast - etc exhortations)
It makes you look like a spammer. Without your permission, or even your notification, and unless you send this to yourself near the beginning - you mightn't find out. If you had instead sent them to all friend's emails, you might have annoyed friends complaining, possibly even blocking you, if they don't like that stuff and they see you've sent it to a couple of their emails.
Anyhow, undeterred, I played on. However, I decided that this was really unsavoury, and after all, it did say "valid" not "working" email address, so why should I enter working email addresses if a whole lot of people may receive them and Borders would make me look like a spammer?
I decided then to enter valid, but not working, emails. They had a correct form - in fact, if you don't enter an email address with the valid form, the competition prompts you that it's not valid, please enter a valid email, so it seems if they accept it, it fits in with their definition of "valid".
I played on and won a lot of prizes. I mean, a lot.
It wasn't difficult because Borders seemed to choke the game for a while then suddenly give them out in spurts and I got in when they were given out in spurts.
I even won Pippi Longstocking!
Later, I received a phone call from a Borders spokesperson on a Monday before the comp ended - whom I will call Melanie Paris here. Melanie called from Melbourne and asked me to call her back. It was about the competition.
I did. Twice. She didn't answer the phone, but I left messages.
On the Tuesday afternoon I looked at the prize tally - suddenly it had gone up by a lot - coincidentally by the exact number of prizes I had won! It looked suspiciously like they had decided to strip me of my prizes and place them back in the prize pool before talking to me. I checked my email, they hadn't notified me either. So I decided I'd send my time that afternoon winning many of them back. And I did - not all but most of them. And as I suspected, they were the prizes I'd won before - I was winning back many of the same prizes.
On the Wednesday, I received a call from Melanie Paris, who wanted to talk. She sad she was concerned over the NUMBER of times I had entered and WON and that she wanted to investigate because she thought that the emails weren't valid and were bouncing. I pointed out valid wasn't the same as working, and a bouncing email wasn't indicative of whether either an email was either not working or not valid.
She just went on about some "investigation" and later on - that afternoon - Melanie Paris called and told me that they'd decided to strip away all the prizes except one token prize (the first book I'd won, which wasn't Pippi Longstocking) because they'd decided that "valid" meant "working valid email address.
It's such a pity they'd decided this and don't put it in the rules.
My guess is, they saw I'd won a whole lot of prizes, freaked a bit, and tried to come up with an excuse to take them away because they realised they'd mucked up - instead of getting it right in the first place.
So I asked Melanie Paris, what would I need to do to win a prize? Enter a working valid email address.
Funnily enough, the prizes went back in the prize pool last night. I knew exactly where every single prize was, and which prizes were already taken - as I'd won them all previously - yet although I played continuously for quite a while, I didn't win anything while the prize tally went down ... until I changed IP address, logged in under a different email and cleared the cookies on my browser. Possibly a coincidence, but rather suspicious. Could it be that they blocked me - thus it was not playing against the rules they were against, but just me, personally?
A summary of offences:
1. Borders steals your identity, sending spam-like emails as Borders promotions under your name and email identity, without your express permission
2. Borders changed the meaning of "valid" email address to mean "working" email address - to suit their needs
3. Borders didn't return my calls - but returned prizes to the pool without letting me know (on Tuesday). This also meant that I had no chance to ask them what they objected to in my playing before they were returned and no real possibility of asking how I could win them back in a manner they would approve of on Tuesday.
4. I "suspect" Borders blocked me from playing last night, after my books were returned ... for the second time
5. If Borders was really concerned that I had won so many prizes, and needed some prizes for the continuation of the game for the week, but it was clear I had played by the rules, then the obvious way to deal with it would ave been to negotiate with me more fairly. Taking away all the prizes I had won and giving back 1 isn't negotiation. Asking to negotiate with giving back some prizes would have been.
6. If Borders' real beef was that I had entered in non-working email addresses:
a) There should have been terms that set this out clearly
b) They could have installed a system that checked for this
c) They certainly could have notified me about this when I first started winning prizes. So I had a chance to change my style. But considering the fact they waited til the end of the game ... it obviously shows complete incompetence ... or that they didn't so much care about non-working addresses as the fact that they couldn't stand that someone had let all their prizes fall off their competition before the official closing date. Dumbasses!!!!
Like my experience with Panasonic and their idiocy about not advertising correctly what their stereo system will do, and then their lame compensation which actually puts me at a disadvantage. These big corporations can afford better than others to both be accurate and to do a little more to please the customer and keep them onside; it just seems that many have got so big for their boots they don't bother - and forget that pissing off one customer can cause a chain reaction that pisses off many. And it's a lot harder and more expensive to gain a customer - especially gaining back a lost customer - to maintain one.
My experience was with this year's Border's The Ultimate Kids' Collection Competition.
Now, I happen to like kids' stuff, so I thought, hey why not? Besides, the stuff I don't particularly "get" - the stuff that's a bit too twee and not nostalgic or in my category of fun - if I win it, I'd give it to my cousins' kids. Or the disabled children my sister babysits. Hey, I know lots of children who would get a kick out of a good story book, picture book, adventure book, whatever. I thought it would be fun. But if I won that gift edition of Pippi Longstocking - it was going straight to the poolroom!
The game is pretty easy in formula - there is a picture of a bookcase with 100 prizes lined up on it. You have to log in and say you'll accept marketing communications from Borders as part of the conditions. You get to click on a prize to see if you've won. You might win the prize you've clicked on. Alternatively you could win a coupon like "3 for two kids books" or you could possibly win the whole 100 books in one swoop. There's only 1 of the big swoop prizes to be given out, and 1 each of the individual prizes.
In order to play again and again, you have to each time enter a "friend's email address" - or what the conditions say has to be a "valid email address" (so they really don't care if that happens to be your worst enemy, not your friend).
Then you get another shot at guessing where a prize may be.
Sounds easy enough, and I played a lot.
One thing I did do though, which probably a lot of ordinarily email savvy people do nowadays, is one of the first emails I entered as a "valid email address" was one of my own alternate email addresses - hey, I am my own best friend!
I then logged in to that email address to see what happens.
Instead of sending an ordinary email from Borders saying "Your friend [my login name] has recommended that you play this game, here's the link" sort of message:
Borders sent a message that PRETENDED TO BE A FORWARDED MESSAGE FROM MY EMAIL, REVEALING MY EMAIL ADDRESS, BUT INCLUDED A FORM EMAIL FROM BORDERS.
Identity Theft.
Basically, what does this look like, especially if you play this game a lot - which, by the way, Borders explicitly encourages you to do on its website (with its "Play again - hurry up - prizes will go fast - etc exhortations)
It makes you look like a spammer. Without your permission, or even your notification, and unless you send this to yourself near the beginning - you mightn't find out. If you had instead sent them to all friend's emails, you might have annoyed friends complaining, possibly even blocking you, if they don't like that stuff and they see you've sent it to a couple of their emails.
Anyhow, undeterred, I played on. However, I decided that this was really unsavoury, and after all, it did say "valid" not "working" email address, so why should I enter working email addresses if a whole lot of people may receive them and Borders would make me look like a spammer?
I decided then to enter valid, but not working, emails. They had a correct form - in fact, if you don't enter an email address with the valid form, the competition prompts you that it's not valid, please enter a valid email, so it seems if they accept it, it fits in with their definition of "valid".
I played on and won a lot of prizes. I mean, a lot.
It wasn't difficult because Borders seemed to choke the game for a while then suddenly give them out in spurts and I got in when they were given out in spurts.
I even won Pippi Longstocking!
Later, I received a phone call from a Borders spokesperson on a Monday before the comp ended - whom I will call Melanie Paris here. Melanie called from Melbourne and asked me to call her back. It was about the competition.
I did. Twice. She didn't answer the phone, but I left messages.
On the Tuesday afternoon I looked at the prize tally - suddenly it had gone up by a lot - coincidentally by the exact number of prizes I had won! It looked suspiciously like they had decided to strip me of my prizes and place them back in the prize pool before talking to me. I checked my email, they hadn't notified me either. So I decided I'd send my time that afternoon winning many of them back. And I did - not all but most of them. And as I suspected, they were the prizes I'd won before - I was winning back many of the same prizes.
On the Wednesday, I received a call from Melanie Paris, who wanted to talk. She sad she was concerned over the NUMBER of times I had entered and WON and that she wanted to investigate because she thought that the emails weren't valid and were bouncing. I pointed out valid wasn't the same as working, and a bouncing email wasn't indicative of whether either an email was either not working or not valid.
She just went on about some "investigation" and later on - that afternoon - Melanie Paris called and told me that they'd decided to strip away all the prizes except one token prize (the first book I'd won, which wasn't Pippi Longstocking) because they'd decided that "valid" meant "working valid email address.
It's such a pity they'd decided this and don't put it in the rules.
My guess is, they saw I'd won a whole lot of prizes, freaked a bit, and tried to come up with an excuse to take them away because they realised they'd mucked up - instead of getting it right in the first place.
So I asked Melanie Paris, what would I need to do to win a prize? Enter a working valid email address.
Funnily enough, the prizes went back in the prize pool last night. I knew exactly where every single prize was, and which prizes were already taken - as I'd won them all previously - yet although I played continuously for quite a while, I didn't win anything while the prize tally went down ... until I changed IP address, logged in under a different email and cleared the cookies on my browser. Possibly a coincidence, but rather suspicious. Could it be that they blocked me - thus it was not playing against the rules they were against, but just me, personally?
A summary of offences:
1. Borders steals your identity, sending spam-like emails as Borders promotions under your name and email identity, without your express permission
2. Borders changed the meaning of "valid" email address to mean "working" email address - to suit their needs
3. Borders didn't return my calls - but returned prizes to the pool without letting me know (on Tuesday). This also meant that I had no chance to ask them what they objected to in my playing before they were returned and no real possibility of asking how I could win them back in a manner they would approve of on Tuesday.
4. I "suspect" Borders blocked me from playing last night, after my books were returned ... for the second time
5. If Borders was really concerned that I had won so many prizes, and needed some prizes for the continuation of the game for the week, but it was clear I had played by the rules, then the obvious way to deal with it would ave been to negotiate with me more fairly. Taking away all the prizes I had won and giving back 1 isn't negotiation. Asking to negotiate with giving back some prizes would have been.
6. If Borders' real beef was that I had entered in non-working email addresses:
a) There should have been terms that set this out clearly
b) They could have installed a system that checked for this
c) They certainly could have notified me about this when I first started winning prizes. So I had a chance to change my style. But considering the fact they waited til the end of the game ... it obviously shows complete incompetence ... or that they didn't so much care about non-working addresses as the fact that they couldn't stand that someone had let all their prizes fall off their competition before the official closing date. Dumbasses!!!!
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Category Uncategorised
I have a "Miscellaneous Items" Folder. Yep Sirree, I do.
I've seen people put a "Miscellaneous" Label on their posts.
Then I saw a blog where someone went one step further and put an "Uncategorised" Label on a post.
I thought the point of labelling was to categorise.
Next step Label - "Unlabelled".
I've seen people put a "Miscellaneous" Label on their posts.
Then I saw a blog where someone went one step further and put an "Uncategorised" Label on a post.
I thought the point of labelling was to categorise.
Next step Label - "Unlabelled".
Monday, 25 February 2008
The Bird Feeder
I got this bit of spam:
I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed.
Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table...everywhere.
Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.
After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore.
I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone.
I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...... quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.
Now lets see....... our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen.
Then the illegal's came by the tens of thousands.
Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor: your child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English: Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.
Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.
Hmmm, I thought.
I liked birds, so I bought a bird feeder. Which was the only reason you'd buy a birdfeeder in the first place. I put it in the backyard and put in birdseed. Birds came a long squawking and they pooped too! Just like the parable.
So I took away the birdfeeder.
Then I would sit in my backyard and dammit!
I couldn't do any birdwatching any more, even though it was pretty serene and peaceful it was also DAMN BORING. Back to square one. I figured I actually preferred it when the birds were pooping and squawking. It's like saying to a dog lover, would you prefer no dog at all, or would you prefer a dog who mooches around, poops on the floor, and expects unconditional love and a rub on the tummy and free dog food for no pay? They'd take the dog.
Also, I found out everyone else got this spam and there were no bird feeders around. So all the birds were going into the wild.
Then they got killed off by the bigger animals because they didn't have safe places to eat birdseed.
Hmmm hmmm. Still our gardens were very peaceful. And boring.
Then I thought a bit more and figured out - spam parables suck and don't explain real life properly!
I have an inbox. I put it out for free. I put out my email address for free.
But within a short time, all these ... emails take advantage of it and poop spam in my inbox.
Then they get very mean and start sending crap like penis enlargement programs and credit card scams and pyramid schemes. They bomb me with the stuff even though I had been very kind and given out my email address for free and set up my account out of my own time.
Then the hijackers and woems and viruses come out of nowhere.
Suddenly it costs heaps for anti-virus programs and you spend all day getting rid of 800 pieces of junk to read one email from your friend. And hackers are demanding more rights and liberties and getting them than we ordinary one mail a dayers.
Maybe it's time I took done the birdfeeder. I mean email account.
After that I didn't get any stupid parables about bird feeders or karma or blondes or how to keep your car like your relationship.
I liked the birds. I could do without the bird spam.
I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed.
Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table...everywhere.
Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.
After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore.
I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone.
I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...... quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.
Now lets see....... our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen.
Then the illegal's came by the tens of thousands.
Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor: your child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English: Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.
Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.
Hmmm, I thought.
I liked birds, so I bought a bird feeder. Which was the only reason you'd buy a birdfeeder in the first place. I put it in the backyard and put in birdseed. Birds came a long squawking and they pooped too! Just like the parable.
So I took away the birdfeeder.
Then I would sit in my backyard and dammit!
I couldn't do any birdwatching any more, even though it was pretty serene and peaceful it was also DAMN BORING. Back to square one. I figured I actually preferred it when the birds were pooping and squawking. It's like saying to a dog lover, would you prefer no dog at all, or would you prefer a dog who mooches around, poops on the floor, and expects unconditional love and a rub on the tummy and free dog food for no pay? They'd take the dog.
Also, I found out everyone else got this spam and there were no bird feeders around. So all the birds were going into the wild.
Then they got killed off by the bigger animals because they didn't have safe places to eat birdseed.
Hmmm hmmm. Still our gardens were very peaceful. And boring.
Then I thought a bit more and figured out - spam parables suck and don't explain real life properly!
I have an inbox. I put it out for free. I put out my email address for free.
But within a short time, all these ... emails take advantage of it and poop spam in my inbox.
Then they get very mean and start sending crap like penis enlargement programs and credit card scams and pyramid schemes. They bomb me with the stuff even though I had been very kind and given out my email address for free and set up my account out of my own time.
Then the hijackers and woems and viruses come out of nowhere.
Suddenly it costs heaps for anti-virus programs and you spend all day getting rid of 800 pieces of junk to read one email from your friend. And hackers are demanding more rights and liberties and getting them than we ordinary one mail a dayers.
Maybe it's time I took done the birdfeeder. I mean email account.
After that I didn't get any stupid parables about bird feeders or karma or blondes or how to keep your car like your relationship.
I liked the birds. I could do without the bird spam.
Friday, 22 February 2008
It's over Three Weeks, and Three still is THREE
It's over three weeks since I last really whined about Three.
They STILL haven't dealt properly with my phone bill and I have been at them since January. How long does it take to look at my bank record, look at their record, and ring up my bank to confirm where the discepancy lies?
I ring them up, and they tell me they will have a result by that afternoon, please ring back. So I ring back, they tell me in two days, so I ring back, they tell me in two days, I ring back, they tell me in two days, and so on. Not those exact margins, but somthing similar, It's an ongoing saga and I keep ringing back to hear that they are 'still investigating' and to call back in x number of days, when I find out they are in the same position as last time.
So one day I got a message telling me to call back in three-four days. I was getting sick of this, and so I rang back in one day to complain about how they kept fobbing me off and to ask if there was anything I could do or someone I could speak to to hurry up the progress (or actually get the motion moving, as it didn't seem to be!)
The man told me: "Call back in three-four days"
I explained that was exactly what I'd been complaining about and I was asking if there was an alternative to that, and he asked me to call back in three-four days.
He kept repeating that over and over like some sort of robot.
Then he repeated information to me that was incorrect, such as telling me what I had been informed, which I hadn't been informed about. When I explained I hadn't told him that, he started yelling and arguing with me.
What has customer service come to - a battlefield?
It seems many peopole in customer service haven't figured out yet that they are the service and you are the customer; they're supposed to be listening to you and providing a solution and/or explanation, not simply trotting out standard phrases and trying to establish a moral high ground over the customer. If you don't have the authority to deal with the customer's problem, maybe you shouldn't be dealing with it at all. And if they don't intend to listen and even pretend to solve your problem, then why are they in customer service? If I wanted the standard phrases I'd read the website.
They STILL haven't dealt properly with my phone bill and I have been at them since January. How long does it take to look at my bank record, look at their record, and ring up my bank to confirm where the discepancy lies?
I ring them up, and they tell me they will have a result by that afternoon, please ring back. So I ring back, they tell me in two days, so I ring back, they tell me in two days, I ring back, they tell me in two days, and so on. Not those exact margins, but somthing similar, It's an ongoing saga and I keep ringing back to hear that they are 'still investigating' and to call back in x number of days, when I find out they are in the same position as last time.
So one day I got a message telling me to call back in three-four days. I was getting sick of this, and so I rang back in one day to complain about how they kept fobbing me off and to ask if there was anything I could do or someone I could speak to to hurry up the progress (or actually get the motion moving, as it didn't seem to be!)
The man told me: "Call back in three-four days"
I explained that was exactly what I'd been complaining about and I was asking if there was an alternative to that, and he asked me to call back in three-four days.
He kept repeating that over and over like some sort of robot.
Then he repeated information to me that was incorrect, such as telling me what I had been informed, which I hadn't been informed about. When I explained I hadn't told him that, he started yelling and arguing with me.
What has customer service come to - a battlefield?
It seems many peopole in customer service haven't figured out yet that they are the service and you are the customer; they're supposed to be listening to you and providing a solution and/or explanation, not simply trotting out standard phrases and trying to establish a moral high ground over the customer. If you don't have the authority to deal with the customer's problem, maybe you shouldn't be dealing with it at all. And if they don't intend to listen and even pretend to solve your problem, then why are they in customer service? If I wanted the standard phrases I'd read the website.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Three Reasons Not to Use Three
Why is it mobile phone companies can't get their act together? I'm not sure whether they're trying to annoy us on purpose, or whether it's just accidental. I'd like to believe it's not malicious, but on the other hand to believe that they crap up so much mindlessly is a bit disheartening too. I've had some pretty disheartening experiences with Three, but here are some standout stupid ones:
1. Not Explaining Above Cap Charges Properly The whole reason people want a cap plan is so they know what charges are in the cap and what's not. And if they have a pretty extensive cap plan, they usually use up quite a bit of that. My Three phone told me there were special bits that were billed outside my Cap plan called "Planet Three" They could be found in a special section called "Planet Three". I could browse Planet Three, however, without being charged, so long as I didn't hit anything with a special icon next to it. So I studiously avoided this section.
However, I did send an email from a section that wasn't in Planet Three and wasn't marked with a special icon. Guess what - it's classed as "Planet Three" and billed outside your cap plan.
"Special calls" like 1900 calls are also billed outside your cap. Funnily enough, this wasn't told to me when I signed up, and it wasn't shown on the table which was given to me as the "all the info I need on my billing" booklet - it was written in fine print at the bottom of my bill, after they charged me. Thanks a lot.
2. Crap Service When Your Phone Breaks Down My Phone wasn't working for a while, it wasn't calling, receiving, and it was making funny noises. Naturally this wasn't acceptable, so I took it to my nearest Three Shop, which was also the place I'd signed up for the deal. I asked if they could fix it for me on the spot. They couldn't, so I asked if they would do anything about it, like give me a new phone.
"No that's not our policy, we send your phone away to be fixed," they explained. "if it can't be fixed then we give you a new phone.
"How long does that take?" I asked.
"Could be 4-6 weeks, maybe longer, there is a big queue," they said.
"I have to be without my phone?" I said incredulously.
"No, we give you a loan phone," they explained. I wasn't thrilled about that, considering it could be a very different model from my phone that I was used to, and also, I had all my info stored on my own phone!
Still, I asked them about this loan phone.
"Um, we don't have any at the moment, and there's a queue ... not likely to be one for a while."
"So what about giving me a new phone, since you can't fix my phone or loan me a phone?"
"That's not our policy, we have to send yours away."
"and I have to be without a phone?"
"Since we don't have any loan phones ... yes ... or maybe there's one at another store ..."
"So how long will it take for you to bring a loan phone in?"
(I still wasn't impressed - I mean my phone was mucking up NOW - not next week or whenever they thought hey could bring a loan phone in!)
"We can't, you have to go and look around yourself. There are other stores all over the place - maybe you could try the city - or out - some other suburb - ask around if they have a loan phone ..."
So basically they wanted me to trot about and buy train tickets all around Sydney to track down a loan phone that mightn't exist because of their "policy" of bad service!
You know what I did? I went outside, and gave my phone a good few thwacks. I turned it on and off a few times and reset it. It started working after a while.
DAMN, I should be a Three technician - I do better than those bozos!
3. Charging Twice For The Same Bill The final insult. You'd think after all that I ought to be getting some freebies, but instead they had the hide to recently ding me twice for the same bill. I got a statement saying my December bill (due early January) was overdue, and they wanted me to pay the December plus the January bill in February, PLUS an overdue payment charge.
I checked my bank account. No, the bill was PAID on the due date in early January. My bank confirms it. The money's out. And then I've got Three whingeing that the bank refused the money when any monkey can see that the bank took the money out of me account. Refused? I'll tell you what I refuse - I refuse to pay up twice.
I'm paying by direct debit, and I always keep enough money in the bank to pay off my phone bill, so if the phone company and the bank, can't get their act together, why is it I'm always the one who has to jump around and tell them they're idiots? They should be the one with the money to hire the people with the smarts to know what to do and the technology to make it happen - I'm just a gal who never did an IT course in her life and I can debit an account and fix a phone better than they can. The world has gone to pot.
1. Not Explaining Above Cap Charges Properly The whole reason people want a cap plan is so they know what charges are in the cap and what's not. And if they have a pretty extensive cap plan, they usually use up quite a bit of that. My Three phone told me there were special bits that were billed outside my Cap plan called "Planet Three" They could be found in a special section called "Planet Three". I could browse Planet Three, however, without being charged, so long as I didn't hit anything with a special icon next to it. So I studiously avoided this section.
However, I did send an email from a section that wasn't in Planet Three and wasn't marked with a special icon. Guess what - it's classed as "Planet Three" and billed outside your cap plan.
"Special calls" like 1900 calls are also billed outside your cap. Funnily enough, this wasn't told to me when I signed up, and it wasn't shown on the table which was given to me as the "all the info I need on my billing" booklet - it was written in fine print at the bottom of my bill, after they charged me. Thanks a lot.
2. Crap Service When Your Phone Breaks Down My Phone wasn't working for a while, it wasn't calling, receiving, and it was making funny noises. Naturally this wasn't acceptable, so I took it to my nearest Three Shop, which was also the place I'd signed up for the deal. I asked if they could fix it for me on the spot. They couldn't, so I asked if they would do anything about it, like give me a new phone.
"No that's not our policy, we send your phone away to be fixed," they explained. "if it can't be fixed then we give you a new phone.
"How long does that take?" I asked.
"Could be 4-6 weeks, maybe longer, there is a big queue," they said.
"I have to be without my phone?" I said incredulously.
"No, we give you a loan phone," they explained. I wasn't thrilled about that, considering it could be a very different model from my phone that I was used to, and also, I had all my info stored on my own phone!
Still, I asked them about this loan phone.
"Um, we don't have any at the moment, and there's a queue ... not likely to be one for a while."
"So what about giving me a new phone, since you can't fix my phone or loan me a phone?"
"That's not our policy, we have to send yours away."
"and I have to be without a phone?"
"Since we don't have any loan phones ... yes ... or maybe there's one at another store ..."
"So how long will it take for you to bring a loan phone in?"
(I still wasn't impressed - I mean my phone was mucking up NOW - not next week or whenever they thought hey could bring a loan phone in!)
"We can't, you have to go and look around yourself. There are other stores all over the place - maybe you could try the city - or out - some other suburb - ask around if they have a loan phone ..."
So basically they wanted me to trot about and buy train tickets all around Sydney to track down a loan phone that mightn't exist because of their "policy" of bad service!
You know what I did? I went outside, and gave my phone a good few thwacks. I turned it on and off a few times and reset it. It started working after a while.
DAMN, I should be a Three technician - I do better than those bozos!
3. Charging Twice For The Same Bill The final insult. You'd think after all that I ought to be getting some freebies, but instead they had the hide to recently ding me twice for the same bill. I got a statement saying my December bill (due early January) was overdue, and they wanted me to pay the December plus the January bill in February, PLUS an overdue payment charge.
I checked my bank account. No, the bill was PAID on the due date in early January. My bank confirms it. The money's out. And then I've got Three whingeing that the bank refused the money when any monkey can see that the bank took the money out of me account. Refused? I'll tell you what I refuse - I refuse to pay up twice.
I'm paying by direct debit, and I always keep enough money in the bank to pay off my phone bill, so if the phone company and the bank, can't get their act together, why is it I'm always the one who has to jump around and tell them they're idiots? They should be the one with the money to hire the people with the smarts to know what to do and the technology to make it happen - I'm just a gal who never did an IT course in her life and I can debit an account and fix a phone better than they can. The world has gone to pot.
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Jawbreaker! The Ball Breaker!
It's only ... no, less than a month into 2008, and already I'm breaking resolutions. Informal ones. I really wanted to avoid mind-numbing computer games this year, as I'd wasted far too much time on mindless computer games , and what happened?
Mr Coffee introduced me to a game on his PDA which I've been able to play on my computer as well, and I got addicted. I've been hurting my eyes, staying up all hours, Jawbreaking.
Yes I wanted to practice and be good at this game. But rather contrarily I've wasted time on this mindless game because I'm not really getting much better at it or developing much strategy. My mind is turning to jello.
The aim of the game is to get high points by busting balloons in little groups like this, of the same colour. Once you bust the balloons, the rest in the columns fall down, and regroup the other balloons. The higher the number of callooons busted in one group, the higher your score. And you can only bust a group if the balls are sitting next to each other (diagonally doesn't count) and they are the same colour. And it's hard to explain the fascination except you end up playing over and over again. And if you're me, you end up not thinking much about what you're doing - especially if it's 3am.
Ball Breaking, is the nickname I've given to this game, but in reality it's a complete waste of time, and I'm getting back to it ...
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
Immigrant Idol!
I just hit on a fantastic idea, after reading a whole lot of stuff about how people are racist, when they really mean religionist.
Funny, that, when you read an article about Muslims in Australia there always seems to be some debate about racism when in fact we're talking about religionism. This article started off about whether or not there should be a Muslim school in Camden, and went on about whether there should be any Muslims in Australia at all and some talk about whether Muslims were an insidious group which was planning a hostile takeover of Australia.
One person who commented on this article suggested "Let's vote once and for all who we want in this country!"
And I thought - fantastic idea!
Should we do it on TV, or by internet? Internet could be faster, but TV would be flashier, and probably would be more attractive to the adman.
The Internet Concept
First of all, you'd pick a web host, like MyAussieImmigrationApplicationSpace. Immigrants could log in, and post their photo, and application, and a profile. Maybe a few youtube videos. Internet voting for applicants would be assessed - you would have to get a minimum number of votes in your favour from Aussie citizens, and more than a [certain percentage] than those in your disfavour.
I s'pose there's always the problem, just like on RSVP, of someone like Osama Bin Laden sticking up a hot 22 year old blonde's pic, but there are always risks with new concepts.
The TV Concept
The TV Concept is a far more drawn out concept, but would just make the process more selective. I'm sure all the mobile phone companies would love it. Immigrants would be lining the streets to get into the final twelve, and go through weeks of agony, performing tasks, songs, dancing to prove their worth as Aussies, and face the whiplash remarks of the judges. "You throw a prawn on a barbie like a girl!" "Oh sorry - you are a girl - I can never figure it out with those Afro haircuts" "Your Neighbours trivia SUX!"
The government would be forced to back the people's Immigrant Idol - but only for the length of his/her visa. After which the choice could be made to drop the Idol or renew the contract, depending on whether they'd made good their contribution and were a viable asset.
I like it already!
Funny, that, when you read an article about Muslims in Australia there always seems to be some debate about racism when in fact we're talking about religionism. This article started off about whether or not there should be a Muslim school in Camden, and went on about whether there should be any Muslims in Australia at all and some talk about whether Muslims were an insidious group which was planning a hostile takeover of Australia.
One person who commented on this article suggested "Let's vote once and for all who we want in this country!"
And I thought - fantastic idea!
Should we do it on TV, or by internet? Internet could be faster, but TV would be flashier, and probably would be more attractive to the adman.
The Internet Concept
First of all, you'd pick a web host, like MyAussieImmigrationApplicationSpace. Immigrants could log in, and post their photo, and application, and a profile. Maybe a few youtube videos. Internet voting for applicants would be assessed - you would have to get a minimum number of votes in your favour from Aussie citizens, and more than a [certain percentage] than those in your disfavour.
I s'pose there's always the problem, just like on RSVP, of someone like Osama Bin Laden sticking up a hot 22 year old blonde's pic, but there are always risks with new concepts.
The TV Concept
The TV Concept is a far more drawn out concept, but would just make the process more selective. I'm sure all the mobile phone companies would love it. Immigrants would be lining the streets to get into the final twelve, and go through weeks of agony, performing tasks, songs, dancing to prove their worth as Aussies, and face the whiplash remarks of the judges. "You throw a prawn on a barbie like a girl!" "Oh sorry - you are a girl - I can never figure it out with those Afro haircuts" "Your Neighbours trivia SUX!"
The government would be forced to back the people's Immigrant Idol - but only for the length of his/her visa. After which the choice could be made to drop the Idol or renew the contract, depending on whether they'd made good their contribution and were a viable asset.
I like it already!
Saturday, 5 January 2008
Facebook and Label Neurosis
Facebook or Labels? That isn't a choice between two, I'm wondering whether I should do either. And I'm spiralling into a black hole of indecisive despair.
For months now I've been asked to join Facebook by various people, be their friends (usually by people I thought were friends, or people I didn't know knew my name, let alone wanted to be my friend). I'm tossing up. Should I join? Should I not join? On the one hand, it's good for photos, and Scrabulous, some say. On the other hand, it's a villainous invasion of privacy and more importantly more of a waste of time than these blogs. And goodness knows I spend enough time blogging. Is everyone talking about Facebook but me? On the other hand, if I join, will they be talking even more about me, because I'm on Facebook and they can see me - and worse still, my Scrabulous scores!
So should I set up Facebook and spend my time nudging, winking or whatever people do, and putting up photos and playing Scrabulous, and exactly what IS Facebook anyway?
Next: Labels
Should I put Labels on my blog?
Other people seem to do it. In fact labels seem to be everywhere. I haven't got round to labelling my email but one day I probably will and then I won't be able to find a thing but it will all be filed very neatly, thank goodness. The trouble with labels is I'm sure I will have a new label for every blog-post, which kind of destroys the purpose of a label, doesn't it? What if I can't think of anything but daggy and unoriginal label names? I can't think of anything but daggy and unoriginal label names! On the other hand, is my blog hard to read if I don't have labels? Are labels like mobile phones, soon everyone will have them plastered to them, and if I don't too, I can't communicate with other labelled people? What if I can't think of a label for a post, do I label it "unlabelled"?
I HATE making unimportant but world wide web changing decisions in my life!
For months now I've been asked to join Facebook by various people, be their friends (usually by people I thought were friends, or people I didn't know knew my name, let alone wanted to be my friend). I'm tossing up. Should I join? Should I not join? On the one hand, it's good for photos, and Scrabulous, some say. On the other hand, it's a villainous invasion of privacy and more importantly more of a waste of time than these blogs. And goodness knows I spend enough time blogging. Is everyone talking about Facebook but me? On the other hand, if I join, will they be talking even more about me, because I'm on Facebook and they can see me - and worse still, my Scrabulous scores!
So should I set up Facebook and spend my time nudging, winking or whatever people do, and putting up photos and playing Scrabulous, and exactly what IS Facebook anyway?
Next: Labels
Should I put Labels on my blog?
Other people seem to do it. In fact labels seem to be everywhere. I haven't got round to labelling my email but one day I probably will and then I won't be able to find a thing but it will all be filed very neatly, thank goodness. The trouble with labels is I'm sure I will have a new label for every blog-post, which kind of destroys the purpose of a label, doesn't it? What if I can't think of anything but daggy and unoriginal label names? I can't think of anything but daggy and unoriginal label names! On the other hand, is my blog hard to read if I don't have labels? Are labels like mobile phones, soon everyone will have them plastered to them, and if I don't too, I can't communicate with other labelled people? What if I can't think of a label for a post, do I label it "unlabelled"?
I HATE making unimportant but world wide web changing decisions in my life!
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
"The Used Ink Tank is Almost Full"
Message from my printer.
Phew. And I was starting to get worried about all this artificial intelligence hype.
Phew. And I was starting to get worried about all this artificial intelligence hype.
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