Archives by Date: September 2006
Click to jump to: Previous Month (August 2006) | Next Month (November 2006)
September 20, 2006
They Say Imitation...
They at least could have copied the design better!
· Viral 'Studio 60' Gossip Blog Unlikely To Bring Up Aaron Sorkin's Problems With Drug Abuse And Mouthy Call Girls [Defamer]
· Defaker
Posted in on September 20, 2006, 06:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
September 10, 2006
Get Your Facebook Card Holders!
I know that Facebook has had some problems, but this sponsored group from Chase is absurd.
Win an exclusive Facebook card holder? I bet that will impress the recruiters! And what the hell is "first look" status?
Posted in on September 10, 2006, 06:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Veritas Airlines
From a recent piece in The Economist on what a truthful in-flight announcement would sound like:
"Your life-jacket can be found under your seat, but please do not remove it now. In fact, do not bother to look for it at all. In the event of a landing on water, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero. This aircraft is equipped with inflatable slides that detach to form life rafts, not that it makes any difference. Please remove high-heeled shoes before using the slides. We might as well add that space helmets and anti-gravity belts should also be removed, since even to mention the use of the slides as rafts is to enter the realm of science fiction."
· Welcome Aboad [Economist]
Posted in on September 10, 2006, 04:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
September 06, 2006
Citibank Sucks
I currently use an American Express card almost exclusively. But when I received an offer in the mail regarding Citibank's PremierPass card, it seemed interesting. So, I applied.
Then, I received a letter stating that neither my address, nor my phone number, nor my income is verifiable or exists. They want original (NO COPIES) telephone bills, bank statements, credit card statements, utility bills (other than telephone bill), copies of tax returns, etc.
Yet on the same day I received this obnoxious letter, I received another offer from CitiBank. To the same allegedly fraudulent address!
For the record, my address is in fact on my credit report.
Posted in on September 06, 2006, 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
September 05, 2006
Facebook's Giant Blunder
This morning, social networking megasite Facebook launched self-proclaimed "cool features" called feeds AKA stalker aides. You can see everything every one of your friends has done -- changed their relationship status, written on people's walls, changed their interests -- and exactly when they did it.
Facebookers are not happy. There are dozens of groups bashing the feature, the largest of which has over 20,000 643,000 (as of 5pm EST 9/7) members -- in under a week.
Mike Arrington got a secret preview of the features which he says will let users have "a much easier way of staying up to date on what their friends are up to." GigaOm writer Liz Gannes announces that "Facebook finally makes itself useful."
Mike and Liz: have you ever used Facebook? Not tried it out, but seriously used Facebook, day after day? This is not cool. It's one thing to stay up-to-date by seeing a friend has updated their profile. It's quite another to be able to view the history of their relationship status, and see exactly who and when they make new friends.
I feel bad for Facebook Feeds Product Manager Ruchi Sanghvi, whose name is plastered all over the anti-feeds groups and is likely receiving thousands of messages.
I feel especially bad because this mess is overshadowing Facebook Elections, which also launched last night -- and is a pretty cool feature.
My suggestion: Facebook needs to immediately make a very simple way for users to stop their items from appearing in anyone's feeds. Then, they need to publicize it. They say you can just change your privacy settings, but I don't see an option to disable feeds.
If Facebook chooses to ignore the impressive and loud feedback of its users, it may lose them.
Posted in on September 05, 2006, 07:49 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
September 04, 2006
Caveat Emptor
Yesterday, my old nasty tennis shoes were stolen in the locker room of a New York Sports Club while I was showering. Curiously, nobody touched the jeans or nicer shoes in my unlocked locker.
Not sure what to make of this...
Posted in on September 04, 2006, 12:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
