tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52541312580778540952024-03-13T00:44:11.570-04:00Do Not Go GentleCommiseration for boomers coping with technology and such.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-89049823693548174532011-12-06T07:30:00.004-05:002011-12-06T07:40:10.743-05:00"Help yourself but don't take too much"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ODUaQeDk3Hk/Tt4Mh2z5jLI/AAAAAAAAAFo/DTHR6ruRIXw/s1600/CitiSurveyErrorMsg.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 203px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ODUaQeDk3Hk/Tt4Mh2z5jLI/AAAAAAAAAFo/DTHR6ruRIXw/s400/CitiSurveyErrorMsg.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682993555576556722" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A Citibank customer satisfaction survey says "Please select all that apply" but if you select more than 4, you get rapped on the hand with an error message. Really people, it doesn't take any more ink to say "select up to 4 items."Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-9275309824239308932010-04-24T03:03:00.001-04:002010-04-24T03:09:21.620-04:00Songs about Buildings & PreservationFrom various contributors to the National Trust for Historic Preservation professional list-serv, especially Roberta Lane and Pepper Watkins<br /><br />Amusement Parks on Fire - "Back to Flash"<br />Arcade Fire - "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"<br />Architecture In Helsinki - "The Cemetery" <br />Aretha Franklin - "Save Me"<br />B-52's - "Downtown"<br />Bauhaus - "Saved"<br />Bauhaus - "Watch That Grandad Go"<br />Beastie Boys - "Putting Shame In Your Game"<br />Beatles - "Fixing A Hole"<br />Beatles - "In My Life"<br />Ben Gibbard - "You Remind Me of Home"<br />Bill Monroe - "I'm Working on a Building"<br />Billy Bragg - "Back to the Old House" (Smiths cover)<br />Billy Childish & Holly Golightly - "Demolition Girl"<br />Billy Joel - "No Man's Land" (River of Dreams 1993) <br />Bo Diddley - "Don't Let Go (Hold On To What You Got)"<br />Bob Dylan - "Spanish Harlem Incident"<br />Bob Seger - "Main Street" <br />Brendan Benson - "House in Virginia"<br />Bright Eyes - "Big Old House""<br />Brightblack Morning Light - "Past A Weatherbeaten Fencepost"<br />Bruce Springsteen - "My City of Ruins"<br />Bruce Springsteen - "My Hometown" (Born in the USA)<br />Built to Spill - "The Plan"<br />Calexico - "Service and Repair" <br />Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - "The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig)"<br />Chin Up Chin Up - "The Architect Has a Gun" <br />Crooked Fingers - "Wrecking Ball" <br />David Bromberg - "Kaatskill Serenade"<br />Decemberists - "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" <br />Decemberists - "Los Angeles, I’m Yours"<br />Deerhunter - "Saved By Old Times"<br />Descendents - "Suburban Home"<br />Dinosaur Jr. - "Been There All The Time"<br />Don Caballero - "Repeat Defender"<br />Dr. Dog - "Uncovering the Old"<br />Drive Like Jehu - "Future Home of Stucco Monstrosity"<br />Elliott Smith - "Memory Lane"<br />Field Mice - "Landmark"<br />Fiery Furnaces - "Duplexes of the Dead"<br />Fugazi - "Fell, Destroyed"<br />Galaxie 500 - "Parking Lot"<br />George Harrison - "All Things Must Pass"<br />Gothic Archies - "Shipwrecked"<br />Gothic Archies "We Are The Gothic Archies" <br />Gram Parsons - "Streets of Baltimore"<br />Grandaddy - "Go Progress Chrome"<br />Guided By Voices - "Tour Guide at the Winston Churchill Memorial" <br />Hüsker Dü - "Dead Set On Destruction" <br />Iggy Pop - "Neighborhood Threat" <br />Interpol - "The Lighthouse"<br />Interpol - "Wrecking Ball"<br />Iris DeMent - "Our Town"<br />Jam - "Bricks & Mortar" <br />Jam -"The Planners Dream Goes Wrong"<br />Jimmy Buffet - "Ringling Ringling"<br />Joni Mitchell - "Big Yellow Taxi" ("They paved paradise...") (1970)<br />Kinks - "Come Dancing" (the day they tore down the Palais)<br />Kinks - “The Village Green Preservation Society”<br />Kinks - “Village Green”<br />Kirsty Maccoll - "London Bridge Is Falling Down"<br />LCD Soundsystem - "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" <br />Leonard Cohen - "Stories of the Street"<br />Les Savy Fav - "Raise Buildings"<br />Liars - "Protection"<br />Loretta Lynn - "This Old House"<br />Lyle Lovett - "This Old Porch"<br />Madness - "Our House"<br />Merle Haggard - "Okie From Muskogee"<br />Milemarker - "Ant Architect"<br />Mission Of Burma - "Progress" <br />Mississippi John Hurt - "Avalon, My Home Town"<br />Modern Lovers - "Dignified and Old"<br />Modern Lovers - "Rockin' Shopping Center"<br />Modest Mouse - "History Sticks To Your Feet" <br />Mull Historical Society - "Watching Xanadu" <br />My Morning Jacket - "Masterplan"<br />Nancy Griffith - "This Old Town"<br />Nas - "Can`t Forget About You"<br />New Order - "Ruined In A Day"<br />New South - "Old Home Place" <br />Nicole Atkins - "Carousel" and "Neptune City"<br />Norman Blake & Tony Rice - "Eight More Miles to Louisville"<br />O'death - "Busted Old Church"<br />Of Montreal - "The Past is a Grotesque Animal"<br />Old Crown Medicine Show - "James River Blues"<br />Orchid - "Death Of A Modernist" <br />Oxford Collapse - "Please Visit Your National Parks"<br />Pavement - "Grave Architecture" <br />Pet Shop Boys - "Suburbia"<br />Pixies - "Alec Eiffel"<br />Pop Will Eat Itself - "The Black Country Chainstore Massacreee" <br />Pretenders - "My City Was Gone" <br />Propellerheads - “History Repeating” (Shirley Bassey as vocalist.)<br />Radiohead - "Palo Alto"<br />Red Sparowes - "Alone and Unaware, The Landscape was Transformed in Front of Our Eyes" (2006) <br />Ricky Skaggs - "Little Cabin Home on the Hill"<br />Rilo Kiley - "Paint's Peeling"<br />Roger Miller - "Tomorrow Night in Baltimore"<br />Rorschach - "In Ruins" <br />Rosemary Clooney - "This Ol’ House"<br />Rufus Wainwright - "Barcelona"<br />Ryan Adams - "New York, New York"<br />Seldom Scene - "C&O Canal"<br />Shipping News - "The Architect in Hell" <br />Shotmaker - "Archaeologist" <br />Simon & Garfunkel - "Bleeker Street"<br />Simon & Garfunkel - "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright"<br />Siouxsie and The Banshees - "Cities In Dust" <br />Six Parts Seven - "Seems like Most Everything Used to be Something Else" <br />Sonic Youth - "The Destroyed Room" <br />Sonic Youth - "The Sprawl" <br />Sonic Youth - "What a Waste" <br />Sufjan Steven - "Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)" <br />Sufjan Stevens - "Chicago"<br />Sun Kil Moon - "Convenient Parking" (Modest Mouse cover)<br />Talking Heads - "Burning Down The House"<br />Talking Heads - "Cities"<br />Talking Heads - "Don't Worry About The Government"<br />Talking Heads - "Nothing But Flowers" (for the open space & landscape preservationists)<br />Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Bridges, Squares"<br />Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "The 11th"<br />Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Dirty Old Town" (Dubliners/Pogues cover)<br />Thermals - "Keep Time" <br />Tipping Canoe - "Order To Stop Construction" <br />Tom Waits - "Come on Up to the House"<br />Tom Waits - "Fannin Street"<br />Tom Waits - "House Where Nobody Lives"<br />Vampire Weekend - "Mansard Roof" <br />Van Morrison - "Cyprus Avenue"<br />Vehicle Flips - “Song For Pahaquarry, NJ (1824-1997)” <br />We Were Promised Jetpacks - "A Half Built House" <br />Woody Guthrie - "This Land is Your Land"<br />XTC - "Ball and ChainJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-16101193138346390812010-03-08T09:47:00.012-05:002010-03-08T10:12:33.424-05:00Crazy E-Z Pass Account UpdatingYet another baffling experience with the E-Z Pass website, which has the worst usability of any site I've ever visited. This time, I received a notice that the credit card on file was about to expire, and I needed to update the information. Here's what happened.<br /><br />I signed in, found my old card listed - indeed it was about to expire. I clicked "New Card" and entered the new information.<br /><br />As you may know, E-Z Pass draws money from your account at their convenience, whenever your balance reaches a certain point. Now, my purpose here was simply to give them a new card to use whenever that next replenishment point occurs, but on the form, there is no "Save" button, only a "Make Payment" button!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/S5UPIgBasoI/AAAAAAAAADk/zTX2KB4jKn8/s1600-h/ezpass-Payment.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446275963083731586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 336px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/S5UPIgBasoI/AAAAAAAAADk/zTX2KB4jKn8/s320/ezpass-Payment.gif" border="0" /></a><br />So, whether it's time for replenishment or not, the only way you can update your account is by making a payment now! Since the replenishment point was not due for a while, I decided to make a lower payment now. I clicked the "Edit" button next to the Payment Amount. Rather than letting me simply edit the amount, however, the system kicked me back to new entry screen, where I had to re-enter the credit card details as well as entering a new amount. But after clicking "Make Payment," I got this informative error message:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/S5US-HvRYDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/sH0KO6Oo_cg/s1600-h/ezpassValidateError.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 68px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/S5US-HvRYDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/sH0KO6Oo_cg/s320/ezpassValidateError.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446280182812991538" /></a><br />My card could not be validated! Bummer! No indication of what the problem might be, or what I might do to fix it! But recalling the notorious stupidity of the E-Z Pass site, I had a hunch. I went back to the data entry screen, re-entered the details a third time, but this time restored the amount to the $30 level that I know they want. Guess what - now it worked.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/S5URnRqpfTI/AAAAAAAAAEE/xFqtE-w54F8/s1600-h/ezpassValidateOK.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446278690829335858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 48px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/S5URnRqpfTI/AAAAAAAAAEE/xFqtE-w54F8/s320/ezpassValidateOK.gif" border="0" /></a><br />The so-called validation error was triggered by foolishly not supplying the number they wanted to hear. Here I thought that by offering the option to edit the amount, they would actually let me edit the amount! Silly me - this is not customer service, this is E-Z Pass!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-44290774492081022832009-01-25T08:32:00.004-05:002009-01-25T08:57:14.810-05:00Research vs DesignI responded the other day to a post on the Interaction Design Association message board (ixda.org), entitled "Say No to Genius Design."<br /><br />Referring a perfectly cogent <a href="http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/designing-for-interaction-an-interview-with-dan-saffer">interview with Dan Saffer in 2006</a> the poster noted that "some newbie designers take it as the secret path to grand design success, which is not a good thing from my understanding."<br /><br />This reminds me of a debate I used to have about instructional design. My friend liked to contrast the "scientific" approach, based on research, with the "intuitive" approach, based on... well, he would said nothing but instinct. I would say that while the scientific approach breaks everything down into individually verifiable tidbits, the intuitive approach makes a many - just as rational - decisions at once.<br /><br />Of course, the catch is that the results are good only when the person making the intuitive design decisions is really smart, understands technology constraints, and has a great instinct for users as well. When Steve Jobs does it, it usually comes out pretty well (ipod) but not always (Newton - or was he gone then?)! Anyway, good designers do have - or develop - a reliable intuitive sense of what works and what doesn't.<br /><br />BTW another factor in the Jobs/iPod success is that the designer was the CEO! He had the power to see the concept through to complete expression in all aspects and at all levels; many great product concepts get compromised or destroyed through bureaucratic compromise, turf wars, etc. <br /><br />Sure, some testing is better than no testing, and before release is better than after, but keep in mind some critical limitations of testing:<br /><br />- Testing is not design. Testing reveals problems, but simply reversing the condition you tested is seldom the best design solution. Usually there are clusters of related issues. To address them all well takes creative design, which always involves some degree of "intuition" or "genius."<br /><br />- You can't test everything. During development, you can test the bit you're unsure about and improve them, but some aspect you thought was a no-brainer could turn out to be the most problematic for users (or buyers).<br /><br />- Don't forget the factor of fashion! Sometimes the market likes something that doesn't make a lot of sense but just seems new and fresh. These market hits seldom come out of research!<br /><br />In short, a bit of research never hurts, but it's no substitute for creative design.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-65472210511979344142008-12-02T21:22:00.000-05:002008-12-02T21:24:40.070-05:00Traveling in "Airplane Mode"+ I fly a lot and can't help noticing certain changes and trends in the experience, including the little speeches given by flight attendants. For one thing, I've noticed they have started to say when you can use your device is "airplane mode." As far as I know, only the iPhone has something called "airplane mode," so I take this as another index of the product's popularity.<br />+ (I love my iPhone, by the way, by I have no idea exactly what gets turned off in airplane mode. Apple doesn't explain it, but that's because the folks at Apple are so convinced that their products are easy to use that they never explain anything. They are easy, of course, but a few hints on some points would be nice.)<br />+ I still don't understand why my iPhone has to actually be off during take-off and landing. What I like to do is crosswords - they are not sending or receiving radio waves. Can it be that filling out a crossword cause interference with air traffic control? Somehow I doubt it.<br />+ Lately I've noticed another warning - you are not supposed to leave your cell phone, PDA or Other Electronic Device loose on the seat next to you! I'm guessing this has nothing to do with radio interference but with the danger of small object flying through the air and hitting people in the head. So be it, but then where is the proscription against untethered tomes by Stephanie Meyer or Peter Drucker? Surely, a flying 500-page book can do more damage than a PDA!<br />+ Ah the mysteries of modern life. Perhaps someday all will be revealed.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-22522818278381012162008-10-31T22:23:00.002-04:002008-10-31T22:31:55.682-04:00What happened with the TVIn the end, I gave up trying to select a TV through research. The are so many models on the market, and so many features to compare - I just selected Sony as a reliable brand and picked out a model whose physical design I liked.<br />Then, as I was ordering it through a mail order place, the agent told me that was last year's model, and this year's had better specs, so I bought that one instead.<br />I'm happy with picture quality, but this new one came with a goofy physical design element - a little strip of clear plastic at the bottom, which offers a splendid view of nothing more appealing than the cables running out the back! In addition I wish it had a few more "wide" picture formats, like the Philips sets I used to work on. Also, it seems to take 5-6 seconds to tune from one HD channel to the next. But aside from those complaints, it's fine!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-56806529082660877692008-06-15T11:44:00.004-04:002008-06-15T12:23:32.749-04:00Buying a TVHow does anyone buy anything these days? Thanks to the internet, anyone contemplating a major purchase might justifiably sink into terrified inaction for months on end. That was where I stood on the TV question until recently forced into action.<br /><br />After my son's "ex" demanded her TV back, and I gave him mine, I finally got around to shopping for a new flat TV, which I've been desultorily researching for 2-3 years! I quickly realized that, to make an informed decision, you would need to spend several hours a day for several months to get up to speed -- and by then most of what you learned would be obsolete. With an empty spot where my TV used to be, I couldn't wait that long, so I resolved to get this done!<br /><br />First, I decided the technology: I opted for LCD over Plasma, because LCDs are more lightweight and energy-efficient, and the deeper blacks and wider angle of view offered by Plasma didn't mean that much to me.<br /><br />I figured the next thing was to choose a size. The advice columns say most buyers wish they bought something bigger, so after thinking 40-42 inches would be fine, I expanded to 46 inches. But even then, there must be hundreds of models to choose from! If you start from "Consumer Reports," you get good advice, but they cover only 15-20 models. Other comparison sites cover more, but how can you trust any old enthusiast who says "This is a great TV" when you have no way of vetting their knowledge, judgment, or honesty!<br /><br />Head swimming, I decided to let others narrow the field for me, so I re-joined a discount membership retailer and had a look at what they had to offer. Even side by side, it was hard to tell which TVs were really better, and whether they had all been set up comparably. In the end, I decided that I just didn't want devote my life to the problem, so I went with Sony, on the theory that if they are consistently more expensive, they must be better. (I know, it's a dumb argument that plays into the hands of the market leader, but Sony owners are satisfied, and I reckon at worst I'm overpaying, but at least I'll a decent product.)<br /><br />Having settled on a model, I went back online to check prices. Not surprisingly, I found some better prices, or so I thought. First, I decided I could go a little over my initial budget, say $300 over. Then, I thought, buying mail-order, maybe I can avoid sales tax, though it's a trade-off with shipping. OK, here's a place, they list a shipping charge but no tax. I go with them, adding $150 in shipping, but wait, it turns out they charge sales, too, so another $150. Then, it turns out I have to "confirm" my order by phone, which is really where they try to get you buy more stuff! It turns out I just ordered last year's model, but this year's model is so much better, and only $150 more! Well, who could say "no" to that! And don't forget those HDMI cables... <br /><br />Needless to say, the budget is distant memory. I'll report on what happens when the beast gets delivered.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-81318950260020609972008-04-27T19:06:00.002-04:002008-04-27T19:12:48.111-04:00Catching Up with Belgian Banking in the 90sMy bank recently sent the following breathless announcement:<br /><br />"Great News! Effective May 2008, we're enhancing Online Bill Payment to offer you faster payments. In most cases, you'll be able to pay your bills in as little as 24 hours."<br /><br />Well, gee, that was fast. I've been using online banking for about 10 years, and in all that time, the bank insisted on taking 5 business days between my placing an order and their being ready to deliver money to the payee -- just like the old days of the "float" in paper-based checking accounts. Even after the laws required faster processing of actual checks, electronic payments preserved this quaint custom of the 5-day wait!<br /><br />I always found this frustrating, because back in 1993-94 when I lived in Belgium, it was possible to send instant electronic payments not only to big businesses but to corner shops, friends, and scout den leaders, anyone! -- and the transfer was overnight! Like most Americans, I assumed we had the most advanced of everything, but the silly little country of Belgium was miles ahead! (Thanks to this system, we went from writing 50-60 checks a month to maybe 5 or 6!)<br /><br />Meanwhile, back in this country, it seems now we are finally able to make electronic payments that actually reflect the technology behind them! Why did it take so long? Presumably because the banks could get away with it -- I wonder who was using that money from the time it left our accounts to the time it reached its destination 5 days later. I'm sure the change from my bank reflects more consumer-friendly practices of upstart customer-centric banks, and the old guard has finally decided to fall in line.<br /><br />But not without a little self-congratulation: "It's just another way [bank] is working to make banking better for our valued customers." Gee, thanks!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-42023029464894060612008-03-04T18:59:00.001-05:002008-03-04T19:02:35.339-05:00Things To Do While Not Doing Your Taxes- Dust and vacuum<br />- File away all papers<br />- Print new labels for all your existing file folders<br />- Replace the shelf paper in all your kitchen shelves<br />- Change the oil in your car<br />- Rearrange your closets<br />- Transfer all your CDs to your ipod,and toss the CDs<br />- Scan all your proposals, reports, storyboards, etc from all past projects<br />- Cut up last year's Christmas cards, and make a collage!<br />- Read that [DVR/VCR/TV/phone/camera] manual at last<br />- Alphabetize your library<br />- Alphabetize your CDs (Oops, never mind, we tossed those)<br />- Pack up some clothes and shoes for the Goodwill<br />- Rearrange all the accounting categories in Quicken<br />- Delete all that pre-installed crap on your computer<br />- Do the laundry<br />- Write a few long-lost friends<br />- Start your memoirs<br />- Digitize all your old family photos<br />- Reorganize all the photos on your computer<br />- Try a new operating system!<br />- Change cell phone carriers (that will take a few weeks)<br />- Update your family pictures in their frames<br />- Make some lists!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-50287623985446870072008-02-28T11:04:00.003-05:002008-02-28T11:21:07.997-05:00Architects and Real PeopleHas it ever struck you that architects continually design features into buildings that people who use their buildings continually ignore? For example:<br /><br />- Architects continue to make men's and women's bathrooms the same size. It makes for a nice symmetry in plan, but women take longer, so you always find long lines of women outside their bathroom, while men zip in and out. This has been going on for a long time! Come on, architects, wake up!<br /><br />- Architects always seem to think their interior spaces will remain as immaculate as they are on the day the last coat of paint is applied. But virtually every interior space occupied by humans -- especially office and work spaces -- are covered with pieces of paper, affixed to painted walls with tacks or tape. Why don't architects design shared spaces with some kind of surface treatment designed to accept attached documents?<br /><br />- Architects generally put double doors as the main entrance to any public space. But have you noticed how often the occupants of that space open only one door and leave the other on locked? OK, I would have to fault the users in this case, but why do they do that? Do they think they are saving "wear and tear" on the bolted door? Do they enjoy watching people yank at one door, feel the frustration, and then open the other one? If people are going to behave like this, maybe there is some design approach that would make this practice seem normal or expected.<br /><br />Anyone else out there have any architectural pet peeves?Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-90122687548452956832008-02-07T02:14:00.000-05:002008-02-07T02:51:55.789-05:00On-Line DatingRecently I've been trying on-line dating. I must admit I've had some some limited success, if that's what you call it when you find someone worth going out with several times now, albeit after slogging through dozens and dozens of utterly hopeless candidates.<br /> I've used only two services, and I haven't surveyed them all enough to either plug or pan these two in particular, but I've noticed a couple of things that seem to apply to all on-line dating services.<br /> First, it's really hard for anyone to sound original in a self-description. When asked what's most important in life, guess what? Health, family and friends loom large for pretty much 100% of the populace! And it seems that every last person in the world is looking for a mate with a good sense of humor! Favorite activities invariably include "a quiet evening at home." If these are all the things we're looking for, we should all be able to find a mate just by standing outside the supermarket and waiting for someone to walk by without a wedding ring!<br /> In one area, however, people exhibit quite a range of taste and competence - namely in posting photographs of themselves. I am amazed by how many people post really awful photos of themselves -- awful in a technical sense: too dark, washed out, with the figure so small you can barely make out the subject. Come on, people, surely you have an image that shows your face in adequate light in reasonal isolation - how about that passport photo! (I finally understand why the passport office is so particular in their photo specifications.) <br /> The other popular practice that mystifies me is when people post photos of themseleves with others in the picture. If it's another person of the same gender, which one is you? Even worse, what's the deal with the picture of you snuggling up to your "ex" when you are presumably looking for a new mate? Are we supposed to compare ourselves to the ex and make sure that we match some physical quality or wear the same hat? Or should we assume you're looking for someone completely different? <br /> Still, even a bad photo is better than none at all. With no image posted, the prospective dater can only assume the worst!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-48367656730086674942007-12-03T16:53:00.000-05:002008-02-07T02:54:04.997-05:00Magazines & Passwords (Provoking the Opposite)Last month (November) I received renewal notices for two magazines I enjoy and to which I intend to keep my subscriptions. What drives me nuts is that the subscription are good until May in one case and July in the other!<br /><br />Why do they do that? Do they think we won't notice that the renewal offer is 6-8 months early? Do they think we'll just say "yes" to every notice that arrives, and with any luck they'll have us signed up for 5 or 6 years before we notice anything?<br /><br />Well, guess what? Being a person of discernment and taste (and who else would subscribe to such fine rags), I do notice! And I think it's pretty silly to renew in November for a subscription that's good until next July! So, behaving as a rational person, I ignore the renewal offer. When the next one comes, I ignore that one, too. In fact, I'll probably keep ignoring renewal offers until it finally dawns that the magazine has stopped coming! That's when I'll renew, maybe after missing 2 or 3 issues. This seems a perfectly rational way to deal with problem. I imagine the magazine would rather have me as a continuous and uninterrupted subscriber, yet my "reminding" too often and too early, they provoke the opposite outcome.<br /><br />This reminds me of the problem with changing passwords. Online companies let you set a user name and password and leave it unchanged for years, but the IT departments of most companies insist that employees change their passwords every 2 or 3 months, ostensibly in the interest of better security. <br /><br />Changing your password every 3 months sounds good in theory -- if you have only one account in world. But what if you live in the real world? In that case, you probably have 50-100 accounts, each with its own password and user name. You can make this plenitude of accounts less onerous by using the same name and password for multiple accounts. But if your IT department insists that you change passwords every 3 months, how do you keep track of them? Most people write them down -- in a file on the computer or PDA, on a white board, or on post-it notes displayed prominently on the monitor for any and all too see. <br /><br />With so many passwords to remember, this is a perfectly rationale way of coping with the changing-password demand. Of course, it must also be admitted that it has the opposite effect of the intended purpose. Rather than improving security, forcing users to change passwords makes security weaker, since everyone has to find some coping mechanism for dealing with the short expiration. Under the flag of strengthening security, this practice actually weakens it.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-69023659891502759672007-10-26T00:23:00.000-04:002008-02-07T02:53:24.488-05:00More Wacky E-Z Pass AdventuresI ruminated previously about the oddities of E-Z Pass and their conceptions of customer service as expressed in their computer systems.<br /><br />Recently I had to make changes in my E-Z Pass account, and once again I was struck by their strange view of the world as revealed in their technology.<br /><br />I had a simply need. Having recently changed jobs, I no longer needed the "commuter special" for crossing a Hudson River bridge every day, but now I needed to sign up for a discount program for daily travel on the New York State Thruway. All I had to do was cancel the bridge discount and sign up for the Thruway discount. Should be simple, right? Should be able to do both online, right? <br /><br />Nope, wrong on both counts.<br /><br />E-Z Pass comes close to offering an efficient and user-friendly means for canceling a bridge commuter plan, but they couldn't bring themselves to go all the way. There is nothing on the website, but on the phone system, you can "suspend" a bridge discount. Not cancel, mind you, but suspend until a specified date. OK, I thought, I can deal with that. I'll just pick a date after I'm dead -- say, January 1, 2082. The system, fussy enough to reject a Start date of yesterday, had no problem committing to resume service 75 years in the future. OK, I thought, if that's the way around it, fine -- at least I accomplished my goal. But as I was thinking this, I suddenly heard the E-Z Pass voice system explaining that my plan would suspended until the date requested OR until the next time I went across the bridge, at which time it would start up again! So, even if you suspend it for 75 years, the system knows better and will undo your instructions if you ever set foot on the bridge again!<br /><br />On the phone finally with a real person, the E-Z Pass customer service associate found my 75-year suspension amusing but admitted that it was rather odd that you couldn't simply cancel it in the automated system. That required a personal conversation, and she agreed to take care of it.<br /><br />When it comes to a Thruway discount, however, a mere phone call is not enough. It turns out the only way to sign up for that program is by sending them a letter in the U.S. Mail! E-Z Pass needs no additional information -- they already have my credit card number for replenishing the account whenever their comfort demands it. I can only imagine their rationale: "It's just that, we don't know, with a Thruway, it's so big and everything, somehow a letter seems better." If anyone has a more coherent theory, let me know!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-29747950301684261962007-09-03T19:14:00.000-04:002007-09-03T20:02:44.538-04:00These ARE the Good Old DaysPeople often fret about how information technology is changing our lives, and it's easy to fret about the negative aspects, but really, there are always gains and losses. Yes, hardly anyone writes proper letters any more, but people can communicate more quickly and more often! The advent of Federal Express meant that the "grace period" between sending an important package and its receipt his disappeared - and now everybody wants everything yesterday!<br /><br />Personally, I miss the old impact printers, which took an hour to print out a 20-page document; before background printing, there was nothing else to do while printing was in progress. The great thing was that it forced you to take a break and relax a little - and yet you were actually working, making progress, during this time. Sort of like playing shuffleboard while making your way across the Atlantic on a ship!<br /><br />Some day, our grandchildren will listen with amazement as we explain that, in our lifetime, the world was such a freewheeling, innocent, Wild West sort of the place that it was perfectly normal for people to:<br /><ul><li>Hop into a car and drive where ever they wanted - and if they changed their minds, just go off in some other direction!</li><li>Enjoy a complete absence of advertising in so many places, like our cars, refrigerators, golf clubs, security alarms - you name it.</li><li>Actually fill out paper applications for drivers' licenses, passports, and voter registration. All kinds of people had fake document created, and it sometimes took years to track them down.</li><li>Pay bills <span style="font-style: italic;">after </span>you got the money into your account.</li><li >Tell people "the check is in the mail." People actually believed this! (Well, the first time, anyway.)<br /></li><li>Not answer the phone! Really! If someone didn't want to talk, they could just not answer!</li><li>Lie about location! Back in the day, you could fly off to Vegas or wherever, then call in to the office with a groggy voice and say, "I'm not feeling well - I won't be in today." Back in those days, the boss had no way of knowing where you actually were when you called in sick - how cool was that!</li><li>If you passed a pretty girl, you couldn't just query her ID and send her a signal of interest. Nobody had implants back then! If you didn't know her, you had to accost her directly (pretty scary), or follow her around and see who else knew her, and ask them what her name was, and where she lived, and was she married or not. Romance involved a lot of pure legwork back in the day!</li></ul>So, rather than fretting about these piddly little invasions of privacy we experience today, let's all enjoy the wide-open frontier free-for-all that life today will appear to be in another generation or so! Let's just hop in that car and go... anywhere!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-55297895383012739942007-08-29T22:43:00.000-04:002007-09-03T19:52:13.562-04:00Death and PDFs<span style="font-size:100%;">In a word: you can scan multipage documents directly into PDF format with Adobe Acrobat Professional, thereby saving lots of time and space.<br /><br />What is so interesting about this, you ask? Well, for me, it's all tied up with intimations of mortality.<br /><br />My mother, who died at 92 this year, had many excellent qualities, but it often seemed that her most passionate ambition was never, ever to be a bother to anyone. It this she succeeded at many levels, but one aspect became very clear only after her death. This was not a complete surprise, but as my siblings and I went over her effects, it was obvious that she had already disposed of virtually all her possession in advance. We quickly dealt with the shelf of books, box of photos, and few clothes -- all quite harmoniously, we are all proud to say.<br /><br />Her example on this particular issue has inspired me. As I think of my own shuffling off and then regard the small mountains of stuff still filling my closets and file cabinets, I can't help wondering what I can do now to simplify the settling of my own pathetic table scraps by their designated heir and assign, whose name is Colin.<br /><br />In particular, I look at paperwork. Certain personal papers of sentimental interest are understandable, though quantity can be a problem. Where I feel ridiculous, though, is that I have had trouble parting with certain artifacts from my professional life. Clearly, no one on this planet will ever need to review my proposal for a game about the U.S. Presidents that never went anywhere. And yet, it amuses me to recall the optimism that went into preparing it, not to mention the propoal's charming use of the latest technology -- photocopies! Much as I know I should dump the lot, I can't quite part with this documented evidence of personal creativity, however modest.<br /><br />Enter Adobe Acrobat Professional, the software that lets you create compressed read-only PDF (Portable Document Format) documents that occupy little storage space and can be read on all computer platforms. It's probably done this for years, but I only just discovered that Acrobat lets you scan multiple pages from a scanner straight into a multipage PDF.<br /><br />This means you can capture that entire proposal electronically, and then throw the original away! You can do the same with correspondence, treasured ticket stubs, wacky birthday cards, even those warm and fuzzy letters from the IRS they told you never to discard. You can zap it all right into the computer, and then haul all those files to the dumpster. Your physical environment becomes freer, larger and cleaner from the absence of all that documentation.<br /><br />Arguably, none of your heirs and assigns may have the slightest interest in any of your stuff, but at least now they no longer have to make the minimum commitment of hauling boxes home and storing them in a garage or basement. Even if they never look at them, the only imposition is to take home a CD-ROM or two. Everyone has room for those.<br /><br />Of couse, another advantage of digitizing your personal records that you can hand them over to multiple people. If none of your kids has any interest, maybe one of their kids will stumble upon your detritus and find it interesting. Maybe so, maybe not -- but either way, digitizing records opens a potential door in the future while removing the burden of you or anyone else having to cart around your "stuff" in the physical sense. I highly recommend it!</span>Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-90059135161859161372007-08-21T22:04:00.000-04:002007-08-21T22:59:50.078-04:00Coping with E-Z PassComputers are marvelous things that bring all sorts of benefits. But have you ever been told by a Customer Service Representative that some perfectly reasonable request of yours cannot be fulfilled because the computer does not allow it? Of course you have - this happens all the time!<br /><br />At the risk to stating the obvious, computer systems are designed by humans. What a system can or cannot do reflects the priorities and personalities those who designed it and their view of the people who will interact with the system.<br /><br />For example, take the EZ-Pass system installed on bridges and toll roads over most of the northeast U.S. Now, don't get me wrong: EZ-Pass is a wonderful thing. I love being able to sail through the EZ-Pass lanes on bridges and thruway exits throughout the area. It saves a lot of time, and I'd never give it up.<br /><br />But there is something one-sided about the way EZ-Pass computers keep track of tolls, accounts, and "replenishments" -- that's EZ-Pass talk for "payments." It seems perfect for collecting money, but not quite as well tuned for the customer experience.<br /><br />Take the "replenishment" system. EZ-Pass requires a running deposit, presumably just in case you split for the West Coast and never return that little box on your windshield. Staying ahead of cash flow is an understandable business strategy, but unlike most service companies, which bill on a fixed date every month, EZ-Pass deducts more money whenever your balance drops to about 25% of your predicted monthly bill. That's handy for them, since they always have some of your cash. But for us customers, we never know when that automatic withdrawal is going to happen. It might come the day after payday -- no problem -- or the day before, which, if your budgeting skills are like mine, could cause a minor liquidity crisis. If they can do all that fancy predicting, why can't they bill people on the same day every month?<br /><br />The EZ-Pass website is better than it was. You can now view your account details by logging in with a User Name and Password. When your statement is ready, they can send you an email with a link to the statement, but when you log in this way, you have to enter a PIN number, not your password. Come on folks, make it a PIN or a password, but do we have to remember both?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/RsuluSPMp2I/AAAAAAAAAAU/MCDnpu1QFiE/s1600-h/tbt_ezpass.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zcEv5MZfjXg/RsuluSPMp2I/AAAAAAAAAAU/MCDnpu1QFiE/s320/tbt_ezpass.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101353217515366242" border="0" /></a>EZ-Pass computer systems have an acute sensitivity when it comes to recording your charges and collecting your payments. But when it comes to detecting patterns that might save you money, you're on your own.<br /><br />Somehow I missed the fact that when you sign up for a commuter discount, you have to declare which bridge or road you plan to take every day -- like calling the pocket in billiards. I discovered this fact after changing jobs, so that instead of traversing one bridge 17 times or more each month, I switched to another bridge for my daily ritual. This went on for months before I noticed that instead of 50 cents per trip, I was paying a dollar each time and getting penalized for not using the first bridge! Silly me -- I assumed that going over anything 17 times a month would trigger the discount. But no, if you sign up for one route and then start going somewhere else every day, you have to call E-Z Pass.<br /><br />Computers are good at keeping track of every little detail. The designers of the E-Z Pass system could have designed the software to detect a change in commuting routine and adjust the discount automatically. I wonder why they didn't. Too much work? Could the loss of unwitting additional revenue had anything to do with it? I can imagine the discussion: "But what if customers complain?" The answer is obvious: "We can just blame it on the computer."Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-7321304594682641452007-08-20T23:40:00.000-04:002007-09-03T19:53:47.904-04:00Your First PCLet's say you're of a certain age. Your first memories do NOT include a personal computer in the house. You knew that everybody had one, your kids got them, they kept telling you to get one, but somehow you managed quite nicely without one, thank you.<br /><br />Until now. For one reason or another -- maybe you realize it's the only way to have frequent contact by email with your kids -- you have finally decided to take the plunge and get a home computer.<br /><br />OK, so you're late to the game. But maybe that will be an advantage, you think. They've been working on these things for a generation, so they're bound to be a lot easier to use now, right?<br /><br />Well, yes and no. It's true that kinks have been ironed out of a few things. But there are many aspects of personal computers that are still pretty odd. One problem is the terminology that seems fiendishly designed to obscure rather than clarify.<br /><br />For example, starting and stopping. As you've learned by now if you have a Windows PC, when you want to stop, you have to click Start! Patently absurd, of course, but essential to understand. On an older Macintosh, if you wanted to eject a flopyy disk, you had to drag the disk icon to the trash!<br /><br />Dig a little a deeper, try to become conversant with the language of personal computers, and you encounter additional oddities. You might learn, for example, that computers have "memory," made of silicon microchips, and "storage" consisting of disk drives, some of which are "hard" and stay put, and others that are "floppy" and removable. (Actually, floppies are almost extinct these days.)<br /><br />But how about the CD-ROM? The CD part, of course, refers to "Compact Disk," though almost nobody remembers the monstrous 12-inch video disks in comparison to which these are considered "compact." But what about the ROM part? This stands for "read-only memory." Of course, a CD-ROM is not memory at all, but we still call it that. You just have know these things.Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254131258077854095.post-14990508671660611352007-08-20T09:36:00.000-04:002007-09-03T19:54:57.690-04:00Purpose of This BlogThe idea of this blog is to provide solace and comfort to those who do not "go gentle" into the brave new world of modern life -- those who do not find every innovation a blessing and yet wish to keep up with the times. Those who are ready to embrace change as a fact of modern life, but who also wish to look at changes critically, observe the trade-offs that accompany them, and occasionally mourn the passing of some pleasing byproduct of the old way as it hurtles toward obsolescence.<br /><br />For the moment, I wish to remain anonymous, but I will admit to being both technologically literate and "of a certain age." I've lived in most parts of the country and abroad for a few years, but I now live in the Northeast.<br /><br />My hope is that these ruminations will be of interest to people a little older than the typical blog watcher, perhaps just lately becoming more conversant with technology, and in need of hearing that their frustrations with a new computer, audio system, or online account need not reflect badly on their intelligence but rather on the excessive complexity or poor design of the products with which they are wrestling. Of course, anyone can read and participate!Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05416261633668399942noreply@blogger.com2