I see people complaining and whining about Twitter’s downtime and issues¹ all the time. I understand where they are coming from, but believe it or not I actually like the fact that Twitter isn’t a 100% reliable service.

I don’t want Twitter to become a responsibility; I like having a casual relationship with it. I read tweets when I want to, and ignore things I’ve missed most of the time. I’ve already got people asking me if I get their replies or direct messages on Twitter - I know it will only get worse if reliability improves.

Twitter is a fun service for me - a distraction, an amusement. It’s something I like to turn to when I have time. I don’t want it to become something I’m beholden to (like e-mail).

I know that other people have very different views on this, but I actually like the fact Twitter is a bit of an adventure .

1. I’ve had my own experience struggling to scale what some people consider a simple service, so I guess I’m also pre-disposed to be sympathetic to people trying to bring services to the web. [back]

ShareThis

The jazz version of O Holy Night at the end of tonight’s episode of Studio 60 knocked my socks off. When the voiceover said to go to nbc.com for more on tonight’s music, I was very hopeful. I thought, “perhaps they really are getting it!” After all, they are offering video of the episodes over the web now - maybe there will be an MP3 version of the song to download or purchase.

Unfortunately, all this hope turned to utter disappointment when I arrived at nbc.com, poked around for a while, and found only this:

A listing of the musicians and a pointer to a web site to support the rebuilding of music in New Orleans. Sure I think this is a good cause, but I was really hoping to get myself a copy of that O Holy Night performance.

If you missed the show, you’ll be able to see it online in a couple of hours. Jump to the end to watch and listen to the musical performance - it’s breathtaking.

I’ve been enjoying watching Studio 60 this season. It isn’t as good as the West Wing, but I really enjoy Sorkin’s writing. And I’m not the only one - love this quote (emphasized below).

Sorkin is at his best when dealing with conflict, and this episode takes on conflict. It’s not the explosive kind of conflict that is the result of the John-Wellsification of NBC TV, but the strive to explore both sides conflict that TWW thrived on. John Goodman’s character delights in thwarting the Hollywood suits’ expectations of him by messing with their heads, and Sorkin delights in showing it to us. Matt at one point sums up the culture wars by saying that “Your side hates my side because you think we think you’re stupid, and my side hates your side because we think you’re stupid.” These kinds of semi-in-depth looks at the culture wars could be the bread and butter of Studio 60.

It’s just on a different level then the rest of what I see on TV.

UPDATE: The let down continues:

UPDATE #2: Here is a direct link to the musical performance. Just beautiful.

ShareThis

A few online searches showed that CompUSA was the only local big box retailer to carry the S 530 (nothing at Best Buy, Circuit City, MicroCenter, Office Max or Office Depot), and they had them at all of the local stores except th one closest to me.

So I called the number for the next nearest store, followed the prompts to check product availability, and was transferred to a central operator who told me all of the local stores were sold out except for one ~25 miles away.

This was surprising to me for 2 reasons:

1. It means that the inventory information on the web site (including the option to buy online and pick up in the store) is wrong, and there is updated information available internally.
2. Calling the local store will route you to a central operator instead of getting the local store you called.

I asked the central operator how I could get in touch with the local store, and was told to hit ‘0′ when I got the IVR. So I called the local store back, and hit ‘0′ at the IVR. Sure enough, I got transferred to someone in customer care at the local store.

I asked this fellow if he could see if an item was in stock for me, and he told me he was very busy and that I’d have to hold. So hold I did, for 13 minutes, until I was hung up on. I called back, sat on hold for another 5 minutes, then got through to a different person who transferred me to a “sales rep”. Another 3 minutes on hold, and the sales rep confirmed what the central operator had told me - there was no stock available at the local store.

I asked if he could check the other stores in the area, and he told me that he couldn’t. He told me to call the other stores directly. Since it took nearly 30 minutes to get the info from this store, I decided it wasn’t worth it to do the same song and dance for the other stores.

Instead I went online to Amazon, and with a single click ordered the Logitech S 530 to be delivered overnight for $15 $24 (including tax) cheaper than the local brick and mortar stores had it listed for.

Sure I didn’t get to test drive it first, but quite frankly I’d be a lot happier if I’d never even bothered with the local stores and had just ordered it online to begin with. Even if I don’t like it and have to send it back, it’s still less hassle.

ShareThis

I’m getting more and more e-mails that end with something like (using John Doe as the name in the example):

… Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Regards,
j.

or even a plain:

… Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

JD

Why am I seeing more and more of this?

Is this supposed to signify an informal relationship between the two people?

Perhaps the person is so busy and important that they don’t have time to type their entire name? (I even know some folks who have this as part of their auto-attached signature. What, too busy to type it even once?)

Or is it a cult of self-loathing, where these folks hate their names so much they can’t stand to see it in print?

Chime in and pile on or, perhaps, defend yourself and educate me in the comments…

ShareThis

This weekend I saw that Chase is using “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles as the background music for their current credit card commercial. That’s right, a song against commercialism being used to pimp a card to let you buy happiness .

Seriously, who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?!

Does anyone else think about these things?

ShareThis

The recent drama around Rocketboom being played out in public is hurting the reputation of both Amanda Cogdon and Andrew Baron - whatever the real story is.

The same thing happened last month with PubSub, when information was broadcast that really should have stayed private. Bob Wyman even stated as much:

I recognize, as some have pointed out, that raising this issue in public will undoubtedly cause some cloud over my name for the rest of my career.

In start contrast, Scott Johnson managed to keep his mouth shut when he and Feedster parted ways . Amidst massive speculation (and from all the rumors I heard, Scott would have had public opinion on his side), he resisted the temptation to air his dirty laundry and my respect for him grew as a result.

UPDATE: As a side note, Danny and I actually speculated about this exact possibility with Rocketboom over lunch last month.

UPDATE #2: I forgot that Amanda’s initial post got her a job offer. However, the second post was not so well received:

The whole thing is a mess and everyone winds up losing.

UPDATE #3: He said.

ShareThis

I’m not like everybody else…¹

But… they’re all singing the same thing together - each one, like everybody else.

Is the irony here intentional and I’m missing a larger joke?

1. by the Kinks, I believe. [back]

ShareThis

I never gave much credence to the folks who talked about blogging replacing traditional journalism, but perhaps there is something to that - at least to a degree.

ShareThis

With gas prices exceeding $3/gallon in some areas, I wonder if we may be starting to reach this point.

I think it will be interesting to see if people start changing their driving habits or if we see more fuel effecient cars on the road. It’s a good time for companies to be coming out with hybrid SUVs.

ShareThis

The point of this is to raise money for JA, so if you’d like to sponsor my participation in the bowl-a-thon (basically give some cash to JA), please send your contribution to paypal at alexking dot org.

I’ll report back with how much money I raised, and how poorly I bowled.

ShareThis

1. Go to bloglines (don’t think you need to have an account).
2. Find your own blog on bloglines (if it’s not there you can sign up and add it I guess, if you don’t have a blog this one’s not for you).
3. Click related feeds (each time you click they may change slightly).
4. Post the top 5 (or more) on your blog.

Here it is:

1. Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report
2. Dave Shea’s mezzoblue
3. Slashdot: (subscribed - why, I don’t know)
4. Simon Willison’s Weblog
5. kottke.org
6. Google Blog - Live
7. A List Apart: for people who make websites (subscribed)
8. Joel on Software (subscribed)
9. Photo Matt (subscribed)
10. Daring Fireball (subscribed)

Looks like everyone gets Joel, Simon and Slashdot.

ShareThis

ShareThis

• Is that cop pulling out after me? Whew, only a warning ticket - I almost don’t mind the delay.
• Man, I feel sorry for this guy at the checkin counter. Apparently changing his flight might cost more $$ than he has. Sounds like he’s going to work it out…
• It’s bad enough that the only open security checkpoint is all the way on the other side of the building, but do I really have to walk this rat maze when I’m the only person in line?
• Sure, go ahead and look through my carry-on luggage.
• I wonder who ok’ed the expense to put pinwheels on the sides of the walls inside the train tunnel in the Denver airport. Sure, they’re fun and cute, but it must have cost something.
• One good thing abouyt red-eye flights, you get your own row of seats to sleep in.
• JFK seems really small, at least at the jetBlue terminal.
• After watching the cars coming and going from the airport, I’m very happy to be travelling by car service.
• Hmm, a New York City Environmental Protection Agency labelled car is a Toyota Prius. I understand why the NYEPA would choose a fuel efficient car, but I imagine there was a bit of a fight before a non-American car was chosen. Maybe not… :shrug:
• And we’ve hit traffic…
• Um, I have doubts this was intended to be a 2 lane on-ramp.
• How much do you tip a car service?
• I wonder why some buildings have little silos on top of them. What were those for?
• Ok, the driver just put on his seat belt.
• The last words I see as we pull into the tunnel: ’stay in lane’. That sure is comforting since this is a 2 lane road w/ oncoming traffic in the other lane (at least in the morning commute).
• So this is what they call the concrete jungle (at least I think that’s what they call it, right?).
• Ok, getting through the tunnel safely is apparently a que for the driver to take the seatbelt off.
• Once again, I’m very glad I’m not the one driving.
• This reminds me of the Financial District in San Francisco, to an order of magnitude.
• (work starts, several meetings occur)
• Desk is too tall, I wish I’d brought my lap-desk.
• Didn’t really need to bring my sunglasses, the sun doesn’t get down here.
• (work is done)
• I wonder if any city would be willing to build a Grand Central Station in this day and age.
• That was a damn good cheeseteak sandwich (the food court @ Grand Central Station).
• I’ve now been up for about 36 hours and I’m very, very tired…

ShareThis

I’ve posted a few times asking if anyone would like to help with a security audit of Tasks Pro™ but hadn’t found anyone who was able to help. On a whim, I posted a message to one of the PHP communities on Orkut and the next day I got 20 some odd responses. Of those, a handful were willing to take a look and I’ve gotten some excellent feedback (turns out, I’d actually done a decent job). +1 for Orkut.

In the last week or so, I’ve gotten a few “friend invites” from people I don’t know. What is the proper etiquette here? I’ve declined these invitations so far, but I’m curious if this is happening to other people too? I’m sure some or all of these folks are great people that I’d be interested to meet - but is a friend on Orkut someone you already know? Or someone you’re interested in meeting? Either way, it’s very interesting to see.

Your thoughts?

ShareThis

What am I missing? What is it about these sites that has people so excited?

ShareThis