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Dumbest Phone message…(and yes I should have known better!)

Try phoning a Domino’s store out of hours… and this what you get.

Thanks for calling Domino’s Pizza
Unfortunately our store is closed
Please call again and ask our staff for our opening and closing times.

When do I call again???? and how do I get the opening hours with out calling you to get the message… I may spend the rest of the day hitting redial just to get the opening and closing hours….

The reason for the call was to cancel an order which I tried placing on the internet at 11 last night. When the order finally went through I admit I did not see the little AM text instead of the PM text, which left me thinking the pizza would arrive at 11:45pm (ie in 45 min), so when the system had the nice icon saying your pizza is being made, it wasn’t! The store was closed, the ovens were turned off, the staff at home tucked up in bed and the pizza was not going to be made for 12 friking hours.

Seriously that is bad design. You don’t stick a big icon saying your pizza is being made, when it is not.

Do they really think that if someone tried to order a pizza that if it is going to take more than say 1 hour to get to you a warning box would come up saying hey that food you want is not going to be ready till sometime tomorrow!

How hard can that be….

Update…

I did manage to get through on the phone to cancel the order, had to wait until 11am before the phone their phone was working.  The poor man at the end of the line had no idea how to cancel the order and give me a refund.  Now what is with that!  Yikes, looks like training is an issue for the 16y/olds as well.

Will let you know if the refund ever comes through, but am not holding out much hope given how bad the experience has been so far.

I sent a complaint via through the feedback form last night.. still nothing… but at least I am now getting their junk mail as of this afternoon.

Firmware… update your firmware…

Would all those people in the room who have never checked if the firmware on their phone is current please leave the room, check it and then return when it is done. Would the smarter more confident people also go and find all their friends and update their firmware as well. And would the representative from Nokia out the back (yes you know who you are) please find away to update firmware automatically without the user having to do anything.

My reasoning for this is simple. Think of the developers. How can we develop cool apps for your phone and give them to you if your phone is not up todate! O.k so Flash Lite 3 is cool and make my life a lot easier in the development space, but Nokia and Adobe have also screwed every developer and user at the same time.

The reason being that Flash Lite 3 is coming out on all sorts of phones now and coming out as firmware versions, not just phones. The e90 got updated to a flashlite 3 version this week, and there was a firmware update for the n95-4 8gb NAM (that is the American version of the n85-8gb). The ng5-1 (and all variations there of) have also had firmware updates to flash lite over the last few months as well. Plus a whole pile of other phones either have or will get it shortly.

So the old days of getting a user to select a phone from a list and giving them the correct software are long gone, perhaps never to join us again. You can forget Device Central for a while as well, as that takes so long to update that is it old before you get it.

And I wont even go into the rumours of Flash Lite 3.1 fixing a bug with local/remote file handling…..

So stop reading find every Nokia device that you know has firmware and update it…

and then and only then can you watch this neat video I found on
http://community.forum.nokia.com/ showing the evolution of the mobile….

Windows 7 goes MultiTouch???

From Betanews..

At the Wall Street Journal’s 6th D: All Things Digital conference in Southern California Wednesday night, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer offered up a “small snippet” of the next version of Windows after Ballmer acknowledged that he wants to “do better” than Vista. A video showed how Microsoft is bringing the touch technology from its Surface table-tops to standard laptops and desktops.

Users will be able to manipulate objects with their finger tips, such as organizing and zooming in on pictures or drawing in MS Paint. The entire Windows interface will be designed around the touch concept, with a larger taskbar to accommodate bigger icons. For now, however, Microsoft is simply showing off examples of how the technology could potentially be used.”


Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

and more info here at the Vista Blog

And my rant….

O.k,… now I am excited about windows 7.. I say as a dedicated xp user. Touch is coming that is for sure. So at least I will not look like such an idiot as I do most of the time… I own the Asus R2H which is a single touch screen and now every monitor that I go near has my finger prints as I want to touch the surface to do something. Of course it does mean that there will be a shit load of old monitors that will just not be up to the grade of what users want.

So if anyone knows how to take 2×24″ Dell Monitors and can retrofit a multi touch interface to them call me:-)

Of course there is the small (and oh so small knowing MS) risk that this will be a feature right up until the product ships at which point it will be coming in some future service pack which never gets delivered.

Greedy Landlords get their comeuppance!

Well well well…. you may all remember the reason that we moved a month ago was the rent was going up to a price that we felt was unreasonable for the property that we lived in. The rent increase for us was to be only $23 per week and we balked at that.

Well it looks like we were not alone. When the property first went on the market it was at $70p/w more than we were paying and after 2 weeks it came down to only $60p/w more than we were paying… now another 2 weeks later is has come down again to $50p/w more than we were paying and still no tenant. Now the house has been empty for a month they are nearly at the point of losing more money for this year than they would have got if they left the rent as it. More so as if it takes another open inspection and say at least a week after that before someone moves in and starts paying rent that is taking the property to being empty to nearly 6 weeks.

So there is hope for those in the rental market that a tiny property that is over valued by a greedy landlord is nothing more than that and if you are looking you can take your time to find something that is what you want.

I’ll let you know if it gets any cheaper.

P.S I tagged this funny cause to me it damned well is as we enjoy the use of the dishwasher and the central heating in our NEW house that is twice the size.

Dreamweaver CS4 Beta outnow.

here is the caveat however on the trials below…
The latest betas of Adobe’s Dreamweaver, Soundbooth, and Fireworks tools are now available for free download. But unless you already own CS3, they’ll only give you a brief peek at the product, before the 48-hour self-destruct timer goes off.”
thanks to betanews.com
Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe® Dreamweaver® beta

(May 27) New features help teams and individual developers alike reach the next level in performance and functionality.

The top new features of the next version of Dreamweaver include:

Live View

View your web pages under real-world browser conditions with the new Live View in Dreamweaver — while still retaining direct access to the code. The new rendering mode, which uses the open source rendering engine WebKit, displays your designs like a standards-based browser.

Related FilesManage the various files that make up the modern web page more efficiently in Dreamweaver. The Related Files feature displays all the documents associated with your current page, whether CSS, JavaScript, PHP, or XML, in a bar along the top of your document.

Code Navigator

The new Code Navigator pop-up window shows you all the code sources that affect your current selection. A click in either Code or Design view brings up the Code Navigator pop-up, which displays CSS rules, server-side includes, external JavaScript functions, Dreamweaver templates, Library files, iframe source files, and more.

CSS best practices

The Property inspector’s new CSS tab shows the styles for the current selection as well as all the applicable CSS rules. Hover over any property to view a tool tip with jargon-free English explanations of CSS principles. New CSS rules can be created and applied in the Property inspector panel and stored in the same document or an external style sheet.

Code hinting for Ajax and JavaScript frameworks

Write JavaScript more quickly and accurately with improved support for JavaScript core objects and primitive data types. Work with popular JavaScript frameworks including jQuery, Prototype, and Spry.

HTML data sets

With HTML data sets functionality, you can create your data in a standard HTML table, a series of div tags, or even an unordered list and then choose Insert > Spry > Spry Data Set to integrate that data into a dynamic table on the page with sortable columns, a master-detail layout, or other sophisticated displays.

Photoshop Smart Objects

Photoshop and Dreamweaver integration has evolved to the next level of compatibility and functionality. Drag and drop an Adobe Photoshop® PSD file into a Dreamweaver page to create an image Smart Object.

Subversion integration

Dreamweaver integrates Subversion software for a more robust check-in/check-out experience with file versioning, rollback, and more. Once you’ve defined Subversion as your version control system, you can update your site to get the latest versions of its pages directly from within Dreamweaver; no third-party utility or command-line interface is required.

Adobe® AIR™ authoring support

Create multiplatform desktop applications from your Dreamweaver HTML and JavaScript sites with new Adobe AIR™ authoring support.

New user interface

Work faster and smarter across Dreamweaver and other components of the next version of Adobe Creative Suite® thanks to a new level of integration and common user interface

Adobe Fireworks

Adobe Fireworks® beta

(May 27) Create, edit, and optimize web graphics more accurately and faster than ever with the enhanced toolset.


Adobe Soundbooth

Adobe Soundbooth® beta

(May 27) New tools for video editors, designers, and others who need to accomplish their everyday audio work.

4 weeks to get the ADSL to work…

This is classic blame shifting. Firstly, blame the consumer… must be their equipment then bounce them from Telstra to Voice provider to ISP and back again. All the while blaming the equipment.

Edit – the exchange in question is the South Oakleigh Exchange.

A tale of woe!.

  1. Monday 21 April 2008
    Requested new phone be connected on this date.
  2. Thursday, 24 April 2008
    Telstra technician between 9am and 1pm – called at 1pm arrived 1.30pm.After which phone was working.
  3. Wednesday, 30 April 2008
    ADSL working (Cheers to Internode only 2.5 days since they got the phone number to set up a new account). Phone line still working.
  4. Saturday, 3 May 2008
    First problem with the phone.

    Continuous hiss on the line and engaged sound when dialing from outside line.

    ADSL still working.

    Phoned AAPT and reported fault. They logged a fault report with Telstra.
  5. Monday, 5 May 2008
    Phone line working, but hissing noise when ADSL and phone are plugged in.
    Unplugged everything and replugged everything is every combo possible, still no joy.
  6. Tuesday, 6 May 2008
    *11 am Telstra technician phoned, said there is no problem. Informed him that the phone line began working on Monday, but there is now a lot of static noise on the line. He said if there is still a problem call Telstra back and someone will have to come into the house to check the line in the house.*Called AAPT and told them there was still a problem. They said they would have to log a fault report with Telstra and said Telstra will have to come into the house. Asked if there was anything else we could check, before having to be home for a technician. Was advised purchase another filter.

    Took equipment to old house which still had old adsl active… to confirm equipment ok.

  7. Thursday, 8 May 2008
    *Purchased new filter. Made no difference.

    *Called AAPT and told them there was still a problem. They logged the fault report with Telstra and said Telstra will have to come into the house.

  8. Friday, 9 May 2008
    I spent the afternoon working from home for the Telstra man. Telstra man only phoned rom the exchange. Said there was no problem on the line and he did not and would not come into the house. Advised to get a central filter installed to cut down on line noise ($$$). Did not care about any other problems said problem was my equipment and that was that.

    *AAPT called my wife saying had heard from Telstra who advised there was no problem on the line. Concluded that the issue must be with our equipment.

    *AAPT then called me, talked through all the options I had tried, (two modems, 4 filters, two phones, two phone connections – all of which has worked everywhere else). Still concluded that fault must be with equipment. Wished me ‘good luck’.

  9. Monday, 19 May 2008
    Now find out from Internode that there was a Telstra problem with the exchange on Monday 5 May. There was an exchange port swapped telstra wholesale (this is news to me, and also to AAPT and Telstra by the sounds of things)

  10. Tuesday, 20 May 2008
    Voice line goes down…. This time AAPT state there is a problem at the exchange – 2 Days to fix.

  11. Thursday, 22 May 2008
    Voice line is working again.. adsl is still generating line noise.

  12. Monday, 26 May 2008
    Made a phone call in the evening… standard unplug adsl to make a call routine…
  13. Tuesday, 27 May 2008
    Earliest I could get Telstra to come to the house due to work commitments. Blair from Telstra arrive 10am, at which point I explain everything from the begining again. I go to show him the problem only to find the voice line not working again.
    Blair leaves 10 min later… saying there is a problem at the exchange, not our equipment.
    10.34 – Blair phones line is working again… line noise however still hasn’t gone away 🙂 1 Hour or so later all fixed. Internode call me in the afternoon saying case is closed, new cables or some such at the exchange….

I must thank my wife for the detailed list, or this would have been a much shorter blog post. But this just goes to show you. Take notes, believe what you are saying is true and keep annoying them…

Because 99% of the people that I have spoken to in the last 4 weeks have blamed me and I knew it wasn’t my fault. So one for the little guy I say.

The problem with a gps…

On the way home last night my wife was driving so I got to play with the gps a little more and found one of those little quirks. Now I am sure that the maps are full of quirks, but if I find one not 500 metres from my house one does have to question just how many their actually are.

The following google links show two routes… the first is what google maps told me was the route, and the second is what Nokia Maps told me was the route.

Google Maps Route

Nokia Maps Route

Now, I know the area (I live here so I should :-)) but the Nokia Maps is convinced that I can not drive across North Road at the intersection with Murrembeena Road. That would be fine if it was a small intersection but it is not. It is really quite large. When the new maps beta came out the first thing I checked was another turning bay just up the road. See that has been added, but in the processes they killed a very large intersection. And they make you do a right hand turn across what in peak hour is one of the main feeder roads into and out of the city, instead of at the lights!

Now I don’t for a minute think that Nokia is alone is doing stuff like this, I am sure all the maps and mapping companies are just as bad as each other.

Perhaps one day (all the privacy issues aside) Nokia Maps will upload any route that you take that deviates from the route that the software suggests, then look for patterns in this and create new routes out of the real world travel (perhaps even real time?). Then I might be able to turn right at the intersection and not drive around the block as anyone coming to visit me who didn’t know the way would go.

P.s

The Maps are done making the new Static Maps API… this I am in love with.

Friends, Enemies and My Army – from Mark Pesce

how I spent 2 hours on sunday arvo….

“Friends, Enemies and My Army”, video of Mark Pesce NSFW preso at Next Wave.

Looking at the strengths of twitter, blogging and social media.

Unit Pricing!

Unit Pricing!

All these boxes are the same size… and they were all the same price even. But they were not the same.

now given that head of coles, or someone like that came out today and said that people would just be confused by unit pricing...

“Correction… they say they want to do it… but it will take at least 12 months”

“Mr McMahon also said the issue of unit pricing, in which prices are listed according to an item’s weight or size, was one that Coles supported, adding it expected to be able to introduce full unit pricing over a period of 12 months.”

But take a look at this photo.95,100 and 110 tissues… so one works out cheaper than the other!.. The more interesting thing is the the yellow box used to contain 100 tissues, but now it only contains 95. Of course the price didn’t change just the contents of the box. Sure it is only a few cents we are talking about but it really peeves me off.

I found a tin of spag that was 20 cents more for twice the volume as well and yet Australians don’t need unit pricing according to the big wigs. Of course we don’t, cause if we did we might actually buy items that are the cheaper not the ones that make the companies the big money.

(and I do most of my shopping at Aldi these days and one of the reasons is that they do have unit pricing!)

Maps 2.0 – Thoughts

Well hats of to nokia (and those that know me will know I never take of my hat :-)) the new Maps 2.0 is much improved.

Firstly any of the issues that I have had with the beta seem to have all gone away.  So someone must have been listening.  Secondly a lot of the map issues have been updated.  Even with Maps 1.0 there were a few strange things such as railway lines that just stopped and started again and they are all working as they should.

However… why oh why for Melbourne do they not show tram tracks.  Come on people, anyone who drives in Melbourne will really want to avoid roads with tram tracks.  But you can’t.  I have lived here for 5 years now and still get caught out on some roads.  Navigation needs to avoid things like this.

Also river crossings for the Yarra.  There are a few pedestrian only crossings.  Why doesn’t the ‘Walk mode’ have them.  You have to walk a long way to cross the river unless you knew the area.  So tourists are going to have issues.

But overall it is stable, it works and I am happy 🙂