Hunt and Pecker

After almost 2 decades of using computers, I still have problems typing without looking at the keyboard.

Though my typing speed is reasonable, it is cluttered with accidentally placed V's and Y's due to my lack of discipline and the odd arrangement of letters on our standard keyboard.

So, why QWERTY? Find out.

Editor of Choice

I joined the Beta team for the forthcoming HomeSite 5 a few weeks ago and have been testing it in my daily production environment. So far, this release has acquitted itself admirably.

Although the current release candidate (RC1) contains some impressive additions (XHTML support, new spell checker, editing include files directly), most of the updates are under the hood. The UI is almost identical to HomeSite 4.x with a few minor changes here and there.

Announced in HomeSite 4.0, and improved in 4.5, VTML support has been enhanced in HomeSite 5, making for an eminently customizable interface.

While looking around at different customizations, I found a site with scripts for HomeSite 4.x. Some pretty handy stuff.

Lost: Customer Service

When Chapters started taking over the bookselling market in Canada a few years ago, I was one of very few people who thought it was great. Ordering books online with delivery to your door at a decent discount was fine with me. Others complained that it was putting the little booksellers out of business, that the market was being undercut in favor of a Chapters monopoly. I guess I wasn't close enough to the industry to have an opinion and there were no small, helpful bookstores near me worth visiting. I was happy that I had the books delivered to my door with a few extra dollars in the bank.

Well, when Indigo.ca took over Chapters a few months ago, the honeymoon ended. Abruptly.

Customer service, which, in my experience, was excellent with Chapters, has completely evaporated.

After doing some research, I had decided to purchase a specific PHP book, but when I compared the description of the book on the new Chapters.Indigo.ca site with the description of the book found at the publishers site, they were quite different.

As the book has only ever had one edition, I was suspicious. More comparisons revealed a lot of differences between the two books:

The number of pages is off by almost 400 (Chapters: 500, Sams: 896)

The published date is incorrect (Chapters: Jan 2001, Sams: March 2001)

The authors stated are different (Chapters mentions that William J. Gilmore is the author of the book, Sams has no mention of him anywhere on their site)

The book descriptions mention different versions of PHP (Chapters: PHP3, Sams: PHP4)

Having received no response from an email I sent 4 days ago (not even an auto-respond "Thank You"), I decided to call their Customer Service. In the past, my experience with Chapters customer service was quite good. They were always willing to accomodate and any errors on their part were met with swift 'make-good' gestures. No so on this call.

First, the woman who answered could not have been less interested in my problem. After detailing all of the discrepancies, she paused a moment and said "So, what is the problem you are having exactly?".

This time I went slower, emphasizing the 400-page difference between the two books. Her response was that the book listed on the Chapters.Indigo site was what they were selling.

When I tried to explain that, according to the publisher, the book was never published with the information listed on the Chapters.Indigo site, she made a frustrated sound, interrupting me.

"Look, if it's such a big problem, I can tell the people that take care of that kind of thing about the problem. Thanks for calling."

She was clearly milliseconds away from the release button on her phone, but I managed to jump in.

"Wait a second....how does that help me?"

Again, another pause.

"I mean, I want to buy this book from your company. Can't I get some kind of feedback here?"

She clicked around for a second, not acknowledging my question, and then:

"Do you have a name and number?"

I gave it to her.

"Okay, I'll call you when I know. Thanks for calling." <click>

This time she got to that release button faster than I could say anything.

Uninterested in my problem. Unwilling to try to understand the problem. Unwilling to help. Unfriendly.

If this is what I can expect from the new Heather Reisman-run Chapters Online, I'll go find a small bookstore worth visiting.

Must Have

I thought I had it solved.

After months of looking at a huge collection of cameras, comparing CCDs, Focal Lengths, Metering, Sensitivities and Options, I had it narrowed down to the Nikon 995 or the Canon G2.

Then Nikon came out with this beauty. (More information from Nikon)

While the production models won't be available until November, this is certainly a new standard to live up to.

Oh No

Everything was starting to go well until this arrived in the mail today.

My limited efficiency will be reduced to record lows as I immerse myself in the third installment of the brilliant Myst series.

Cancelled

Due to the current state of affairs, my trip to Salt Lake City has been cancelled.

I have been re-scheduled for sometime in October.

Some Words

Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war;
That his foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial

- Shakespeare: Julius Ceaser

Who Built Them?

Back in 1960, The New York and New Jersey Port Authority decided to use the 16 acre plot to build a commerce centre for the NYC/Northern New Jersey area. They contacted a number of architecture firms and tendered designs.

Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986), born in Seattle to Japanese parents, was chosen to create the multi-building World Trade Center.

It stood for 31 years.

A biography of Minoru Yamasaki.
His company.
Search Google for Minoru Yamasaki.

911

I guess that number will be remembered for two reasons now:

911 - Emergency Services.

9-11 - Co-ordinated Terrorist Attack on USA.

Oh My God

My alarm went off at 7:30, as it does each morning. I thought it was a bad dream, the radio was on and they said...what?

The shock set in when I realized I was awake.

Oh My God.

How Do They Sleep?

I had some plans for a weekend in Whistler which got cancelled today due to some crooked dealings. Until a few days ago, a friend of mine worked for a shady character who screwed her out of a large sum of money, for which she has been forced to pursue legal action. In doing some investigation, she found that he has raised the ire of a number of clients and customers.

It reminds me of my car woes from last year. I had my car "repaired" by a severely crooked mechanic who actively sabotaged my car, causing it to mysteriously break down, sending me back for more "repairs".

Knowing as little as I do about cars, it took me 3 visits to figure out that something wasn't quite right. I took it to another mechanic who stared under the hood somewhat shocked that the engine heat sensor had been forcibly removed, a cap from the transmission had been pried off, the hose to the air filter had been loosened and wires to the starter had been cut and taped in place.

I was insane with anger, but because it had been 6 months since I had taken it to the mechanic, proving anything in court would be virtually impossible.

If the amount is small enough, you can pursue them in Small Claims Court, but good luck actually getting your settlement out of them. If you take them to Civil Court, it'll cost you thousands of dollars to get financial relief. Most of the time it isn't economically feasible.

What possesses people to do things like this? I simply don't understand people that actively inflict economic damage on people. I'm constantly amazed at assholes who will intentionally mislead you, for what ends up being a small gain.

I want there to be a database of cheaters. A place where I can go to look up that mechanic, or car salesman, or Future Shop employee. I want their crooked, cheating, no-good face posted on some website that warns everyone with messages like: Stay Away - your money is at risk.

Tricky Links

I spent 45 minutes of hair-pulling trying to figure out how to get my blog links working. A switch of servers at my ISP was the root of the problem, as I was sending files to a directory that no longer exists.

Canada's Prime Minister also had problems with his links yesterday.

Back Again

After almost a year away from the web, the venerable Ratbastard has returned.

Never ask him to babysit your dog.

Photoshop Tennis

As seen at Textism yesterday: Photoshop Tennis.

The premise: One player emails a photoshop document to the other containing a single layer. Each player progressively adds a layer until the match is over, either by time, withdrawal or mutual consent. A guest adds comments in real time and the people watching vote for a winner.

An impressive lineup of past and future competitors:

Josh Davis
Jeffrey Zeldman
Michael Schmidt
Heather Champ
Bill Keaggy

Including the recently departed* Dean Allen providing colour for an upcoming match.

(* for France, not the afterlife)

End of Summer

I can remember, as a child, living out Labour Day Weekend with great sadness as my friend Summer lay down for the last time, powerless to stop his nemesis School Year from taking over.

Well here it is 2001 and the battle has played itself out again. Predictably, Summer lost a valiant struggle against his powerful foe.

But come June, Summer will rise again to vanquish the evil School Year and set all the students and teachers free.