Archives by Subject: rants
How many elevators does $1 million buy?
My college career is alas winding down, so tonight I went to attend a reception for graduating students in NYU's Kimmel Center. Situated on Washington Square South, it houses NYU's one swankiest spaces -- on the tenth floor houses is the Rosenthal Pavilion, a large ballroom with a a great view up Fifth Avenue.
Tonight, the Rosenthal Pavilion apparently was holding a reception for members of NYU's Sir Harold Acton Society, an exclusive club for NYU trustees and those that have given over one million dollars.
And so older people in tuxedos and gowns passed through the Kimmel lobby. Kimmel has four elevators, but apparently one had been "reserved" for the event, an NYU representative told me. "They probably paid for it!" she said. Well, perhaps, but my ever-growing tuition probably helped too. "It's actually a common misconception that tuition only covers..." she shot back.
So then another elevator arrived. "Actually, we're using this one, too," I was told. Yeah, not so much. I walked into the elevator anyway, and the 30 other students that had been waiting followed.
Meanwhile, I receive frequent solicitations to give money to my Senior class gift! I wonder how many elevators that will buy?
I'm a big supporter of giving back to institutions. I'm very active in fund raising for the school I attended in Baltimore.
But this whole experience makes me less than eager to start donating to NYU.
Posted in on April 19, 2007, 12:42 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
OMG .MOBI
The new hotness in bed-and-breakfast marketing: .mobi websites!!!
Johannes Tromp says the Web site for his South Carolina bed-and-breakfast generates good business. But last fall, he found a way to reach even more potential customers: He made a version of the site for cellphones.
Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.
"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp.
30 to 40 calls a month from people visiting his website on mobile devices? I call bullshit. Most decently-designed sites will degrade gracefully on blackberries and the like -- no special site needed.
But hmm... I wonder if ScottKIdder.mobi is available?!?
Mini Web Sites Target Users of Mobile Phones [WSJ]
Posted in on April 05, 2007, 03:41 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Election Day!
"We got five machines -- one of them's got to work." Take that quote from an Ohio election official as your inspiration when you vote today. The Associated Press says electronic voting machines are causing headaches (and maybe stolen elections, whatever) all over the country. Some machines are just down all morning....
"I never thought I'd say this, but...can we get some help from a Web 2.0 company?
Really, right now I have more faith in a thumbs-up on Digg than in those Diebold touchscreen machines."
Posted in on November 07, 2006, 05:51 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
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
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
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
Adventure on Flight 4219
I woke up at 3:30am to go to Chicago. Unfortunately, 5 hours later, I am still on the ground in New York.
Apparently bad thunderstorms have closed the airports. When the flight attendant noticed I was looking at the radar, she asked if she could walk up and down the cabin with my blackberry and show the other passengers.
I maintain she shouldn't have charged me $3.95 for my snack box!
Update: Over 6.5 hours after settling into my seat, I landed in Chicago.
Posted in on August 24, 2006, 08:34 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Searching on Wired.com
If someone can tell me how to search for an article on Wired.com, I will give them a cookie.
Posted in on August 22, 2006, 11:34 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Ford's Executive Dining Room?
From an article in today's New York Times about the troubled Ford Motor Company:
In the executive dining room, the last of its kind at Detroit’s big automakers, waitresses take orders from a multicourse menu and bring silver finger bowls between the main course and dessert.
Uhh...
His company reported losses of $1.6 billion in North America last year and lost $1.2 billion worldwide in the first quarter this year.
Posted in on July 16, 2006, 09:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Make the Bad Man Stop
Trying to work is difficult when they are filming a movie literally right outside your window.
Especially when that movie involves a car crash scene.
Which they are shooting approximately 3,466,352 times.
I'm just saying.
Posted in on February 27, 2006, 05:01 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Gizmodo: Your Boxes Resource
Are these people serious? Emphasis added.
Hi,
I took a look at your site a couple of hours ago...and I want to tell you that I'd really love to trade links with you. I think http://www.gizmodo.com/ has some really good stuff related to my site's topic of boxes and would be a great resource for my visitors as it deals with some great aspects of boxes that I'd like to give my visitors more information about.
In fact, I went ahead and added your site to my Boxes Info4u website at [redacted]
Is that OK with you?
Can I ask a favor? Will you give me a link back on your site? I'd really appreciate you returning the favor. There's some html for linking back to me on my Add URL page (http://boxesinfo4u.com/addurl/).
Thanks and feel free to drop me an email if you'd like to chat more about this.
Best wishes,
Nick
Boxes Info4u
info@boxesinfo4u.comP.S. If you'd like the description of your site modified just drop me a line.
Posted in on February 22, 2006, 05:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Dell Hell: Currently in Purgatory
For those playing along at home, my Dell Hell episode is almost complete. After additional hours and hours on the phone, on the web, and over email, I think I've come to a resolution.
As far as I can tell, the original tech support team that helped me (in India, in case anyone cares) was entirely negligent. They violated numerous Dell policies, were unclear, and did not respond to follow-up requests for assistance. It's possible they even tried to sabotage the case number.
This final chapter resulted in a Dell US-based Small Business Customer Care representative and her supervisor staying on the phone with me, fighting the agents in India that were disconnecting and transferring me to automated systems. I owe an enormous amount of gratitude to these valuable employees, but don't want to print their names in case Dell decides to freak out.
Read on...
Last week, I decided this had to end, and called Dell and said I was a small business customer (more on this later) determined not to hang up until this was resolved. Now, I am a small business customer. I've even signed a reseller contract with Dell. Yet for some reason, this order was processed as a home office order.
Regardless, I reached a nice representative, explained the situation, and asked for her supervisor. In summary, my client had shipped the computer back to Dell over a week ago, and Dell had neither refunded my money nor begun processing an exchange.
The supervisor told me there wasn't anything they could do as it was the wrong department, but they promised to make a new case number, clearly explain what had to happen in the notes, and direct me to the correct department. I was then transferred to the Home Office department and sent to India. The representative was, again, incompetent. Even after pulling up the new case number and being told by Small Business policy states I should receive an immediate refund, she cited some nonsense and said I had to call technical support. I said I need to speak to her supervisor. Here's how it went:
Dell Rep: "Yes sir I will transfer you to the appropriate supervisor, please hold."
(hold music)
"Thank you for calling Dell's Automated Technical Support Status System."
At this point, I literally scream. Loudly. I couldn't believe after all that, I had been essentially hung up on. All of the sudden, I hear a voice:
Dell Rep: "Scott, Scott, are you there???
It turns out my amazing rep from the powerless Small Business department had secretly stayed on the phone with me to witness the incompetent representative ignore procedure, cite incorrect information, lie to me, then pawn me off to an automated system -- certainly not their supervisor!
My amazing rep was obviously horrified. She didn't know what to say, besides "This amazes me." We decided to try again. She called again, this time staying on the line and explaining the situation. This time, the Indian rep randomly disconnected us, or at least that's what my amazing rep's system indicated. She was once again speechless and didn't know what to say.
Finally, the third time being a charm, she was able to convince the Indian Home/Home Office rep to issue me the credit I deserved. After dozens of hours dealing with Dell, it is possible my situation may be resolved.
Some other notes:
- I had learned that you receive better service when you call and say you are a small business customer, not a home/home office customer. Home and home office customers are outsourced to India. Small business customers are handled in the US. I hate to sit here and give power to a stereotype, but it was absolutely my experience. With only one exception, every Dell representative I spoke to in India was incompetent.
- The credit card I actually ordered the computer on has since expired, so I doubt the credit can go through. We'll see how long it takes me get them to credit a different credit card.
- Don't forget to read about the evidence I uncovered proving that the refurbished system I was shipped was such a lemon that the previous owner eventually sent it back, too. Apparently, Dell didn't take this as a hint that something needed to be fixed.
- I am exhausted. Anyone know any good lawyers?
· Previously: The Dell Outlet: Lemons for Sale! [ScottKidder.com]
· Previously: Dell Hell, Indeed [ScottKidder.com]
Posted in on February 07, 2006, 01:53 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
The Dell Outlet: Lemons for Sale!
Click to see the full size screenshot.
I recently documented the problems I had with a client's Dell refurbished computer. Up until now, I've been a big supporter of the Dell Outlet. No longer -- apparently, they don't fix machines that are sent back because they are faulty!
As this screenshot shows, I wasn't the first person to have major problems with Dell Service Tag 7PN0581. The previous owner had almost a dozen support calls with problems that seemed to focus on a blue screen error (the support history "detail" doesn't tell me much). They had so many problems that they ended sending the computer back. Just like I did.
Why wasn't this system fully tested? Even minimal testing would have discovered the serious problems this computer had.
· Previously: Dell Hell, Indeed [ScottKidder.com]
Posted in on January 13, 2006, 04:08 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Dell Hell, Indeed
Jeff Jarvis isn't the only one that has been unhappy with Dell recently.
For as long as I've been dealing with the technology needs of myself and my clients, I've recommended Dell. In the past 14 days alone, I've spent thousands of dollars at Dell ordering new computers for clients.
So, obviously I was upset when I got a lemon yesterday. I'll save you from the technical details, but the machine just simply didn't work. From out of the box, Windows crashed with every opportunity. I called them and after 1.5 hours on the phone, "Sam" determined that the problem was... a defective Dell Resource CD?
I don't think so. Later they said it was the hard drive. Then they weren't really sure. They also apparently have no way to tell the time in America from India: they asked me what time it was at least six times.
Almost 5 hours of being on the phone, hours of hold time, 2 techs and a manager later, I convinced them to ship me a completely new system. But the experience was far from pleasant.
Buyer beware, indeed.
Posted in on January 06, 2006, 07:17 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Why PayPal Sucks
Lots of people don't like PayPal. But I've never had any problems with them. I use them with a lot of my clients, and we use them at Gawker to power our Shop.
Yet on today, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, their downloadable log files decided not to work. For no reason. And that's all they told me: "Please try again later."
This is topped only by an email received from PayPal earlier in the weekend:
I couldn't believe they were serious. After waiting a week for a response for a serious issue, they just decide not to answer my question and then have the nerve to tell me what to do if I have "further questions"?
PayPal sucks. Right now, at least.
Edit: Apparently the history problems are only with the accounts with the highest numbers of transactions. In other words: their best customers. Go figure.
Posted in on December 20, 2005, 05:53 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
From Florence to Baltimore
On Saturday evening, I arrived at Baltimore's Penn Station. Over 48 hours earlier, I had left Florence's airport. Quite an adventure, indeed.
Some of my friends were bumped off of the flight in Florence because too many girls had too many shoes -- so many shoes that there was a weight problem, and they had to bump people to make room for luggage. Other highlights included waiting in lines, waiting in lines, and waiting in lines.
Be on the look out for all that I've been meaning to post, but just haven't had time to.
Posted in on December 19, 2005, 11:43 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Bank of America Hates Italy
Here's my gripe: each time I withdraw money, using any ATM in Italy, I am charged $5 USD and another percentage surcharge -- on top of the exchange rate.
So... if I wanted to withdraw EUR 250, or USD $292.06, I ended up paying USD $299.97. USD $7.91 may not sound like too much to complain about, but imagine being charged ~USD $8 to access your account for several months.
The best part? My roommate John uses Bank of America, withdraws money from the exact same ATMs, but isn't charged any of these fees! I've called BOA's national call centers, my local branch, branches in other states, and everyone tells me the same thing: "Sorry, there is a $5 fee. We're not sure why you're being charged that second fee (the percentage), though. And we're not sure why your roommate has no fees charged. Maybe you can give us his account number?"
Citibank isn't the only bank with problems.
Posted in on November 29, 2005, 06:47 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink
"No Wilma, No Rubble"
Reading the New York Times online moments ago, I saw this ad for the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys are a beautiful place and I've spent a lot of time there, but using the destruction (and 47 deaths) of Hurricane Wilma as a selling point? Seems pretty insensitive to me.
· Hurricane Wilma [Wikipedia]
Posted in on November 14, 2005, 05:59 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
LinkedIn Contractdicts Itself
(Click thumbnail for a larger image.)
I'm a fan of LinkedIn.
So I was surprised to log in tonight and see one of the stupidest promotional blurbs I've seen in a while. I'm told that:
You have no new opportunities — users with at least 10 connections and complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities.
An impressive statistic and compelling reason to get more connections and complete my profile. But less than an inch to the right of this, I'm told I have 16 connections. And my profile is pretty complete.
I appreciated the tip, but how hard would it be to only show that message to relevant users?
Posted in on October 09, 2005, 07:12 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Italians Love Receipts
I'm just back from Rome, where I had an incredible time and will post more on it soon. But in the interim, I feel the need to tell you: Italians love receipts.
Italians give you receipts for everything, and when I try to refuse them, they are suprised. When I was on the train and ordered a three Euro sandwich, they gave me a receipt. When I went to the 99 cent store to get a bottle of water, they gave me a receipt. What's even sillier is the receipts are often void of the important information... such as what you bought. They just give the name of the establishment, its address, and how much money you spent.
As if I need a reminder of how much money I'm spending.
Posted in on October 02, 2005, 07:04 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Gothamist Music Interviews... Ashlee Simpson?
Is this for real? Is the most recent "Gothamist Band Interview" really with lip-syncing pop sensation Ashlee Simpson?
Did she really answer a question like this?
Q: "You know you've made it when..." you feel proud of yourself for working hard and doing the best you could do
Come on, Dobkin!
(Though, in other Gothamist news, Gothamist LLC seems to have launched a corporate site.)
Posted in on September 27, 2005, 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Cry Me a River
This message arrived to my delight yesterday. Can't say I'm very upset.
I signed up for Columbia House years and years ago and despite my best efforts, I could never get off their mailing list.
I'm hardly the only one. Apparently, I had to send them a "send a certified, return-receipt-requested letter."
· Consumer Complaints about Columbia House [Consumeraffairs.com]
· Columbiahouse.com
Posted in on August 08, 2005, 07:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
