Plaxo 3
Posted on June 25, 2007
Filed Under Internet & Technology | 1 Comment
Plaxo has finally opened their overhauled product to the world. I had been testing it for quite some time now, and while it has many quirks, it’s central to my work process now. Since I’m on Mac OS X but I use Thunderbird and Google Calendar instead of Mail and iCal, I had been getting data to/from my Blackberry in a very convoluted way before.
Now Plaxo has made things a little easier. I only sync contacts and notes (Yojimbo) to the Blackberry with Missing Sync. When I need to get calendar data on the phone, I used to go to Google Calendar’s mobile interface. Now I’ll probably just go to the Plaxo mobile page which has been redesigned to take advantage of all of Plaxo’s new features. One central sync point and I can work the data where and how I want to.
I wrote up an in-depth look at Plaxo’s 3 new sync features for Web Worker Daily. Check it out.
Wow, I was lucky
Posted on June 24, 2007
Filed Under Life | 3 Comments
I just read this story on Consumerist and realized how lucky I was when a similar incident happened to me a few months ago:
Cecilia Beaman is a 57-year-old grandmother, a middle school principal and part-time terrorist. She was busted by the TSA for attempting to sneak a 5 1/2 inch bread knife with a rounded tip and a serrated blade onto an airplane.
Original story here. Seems the screeners took down her personal information and otherwise scared the @#%^ out of her.
In my case, last February I took an overnight trip to Chicago to attend the funeral of a friend’s Mom. I grabbed a really small bag, since I only need one change of clothes for the return trip home the next morning. I dutifully packed my toiletries in a plastic bag and headed for the Philadelphia airport. When my bag was pulled from the TSA security belt for hand inspection, I didn’t think twice about it. It happens from time to time. I appreciate the attention to make us all safer. I waited on the side for a bit, and then a security agent came over and emptied out the bag.
It wasn’t until he pulled out the knife that I remembered the last time I used that bag. It was when C3 was doing a booth that I drove to and I used that bag for supplies. Scissors, tape, vecro, etc…and an X-Acto utility knife complete with a blade. This wasn’t a Leatherman or nail cutter like most folks (including my husband) accidentally get caught with. It was a nice size box cutter! Yikes!!!!! I had emptied the supplies from the bag a while ago, but missed removing the black knife at the bottom of the black bag. I was immediately truthful with the officer. I explained why it was there, and how I had absolutely no idea until that moment that I left it in there. I apologized profusely, but remained calm. He kept the knife (of course), gave me back my stuff and sent me on my way to the gate. That’s it. I’ve flown since, so I’m probably not on any list. Thank goodness.
It was really really really stupid of me, and I know I was lucky not to have gotten into much deeper trouble. I am now more careful to separate the bags that are suitable for carry-on from those that aren’t. For example, I never put anything in my laptop bag that isn’t airport-safe without leaving myself a big note somewhere to remind myself that I did it, so I remember to take it out before the next trip. Looking back, I think I was fortunate that I was flying from Philadelphia, which is a smaller and more “casual” airport, than Newark or Laguardia.
Getting garbage at a discount still stinks
Posted on June 23, 2007
Filed Under Internet & Technology, Life, Misc. | 2 Comments
Funny to read that Vonage is offering defecting customers a $3.99/month for a year deal to stick around. As one of those defecting customers, I find it hysterical. No, Vonage hasn’t pitched me this deal. Then again, I’ve been ignoring the junk mail from them so maybe they have. When I canceled the service last month after 2 years, they asked me why. I answered: “Because I work from home and Vonage call quality has been going steadily downhill and I have no confidence that the quality will improve. I need to have more reliable phone service, so I’ve switched to Verizon.” I never said that price had anything to do with it. I was clear that my top priorities right now were quality and reliability. If I’m switching from $24.99 with Vonage to $44.99 a month with Verizon, that has to say something about where I’m coming from, right? If you want to retain me as a customer, offer me what I said I want. Tell me how you’re investing in technology so folks won’t say over and over again, “Are you calling from your cell phone? You’re breaking up. I can’t understand you.”
Comcast has also been calling asking why I left. They’re not offering any special deals on the service I had before…on the contrary, would you believe they have the nerve to try and get me back by pitching their “Triple Play”??? Phone, Internet and Cable TV for $99 per month for a year (rather than the $200 or so it would normally cost with the premium channels we like). So let me get this straight. I had just 2 of your 3 services before. I left because the service quality was poor due to faulty underground cabling (which wasn’t helping my Vonage connections, I’m sure). I know I’m not the only one. Every other house in my development has a satellite dish in front or behind it. So how is offering me more crap for less a better deal? I don’t get it.
A couple of months ago I called eFax to turn off a C3 fax number that we never actually used. We have another eFax number that’s used for everything. We were paying $16.95 a month for it for nothing. So the lady on the phone kept trying to give it to us for 3 more months absolutely free! Look, I said, just cancel it. If I don’t use the number, what difference does it make if I keep it for another 3 months? I know you’re hoping that I’ll forget to call in 3 months to cancel and you’ll get another $16.95 out of us, and then you make it free again, and so on and so on. But it’s not going to happen. So just CANCEL IT NOW. She did.
Note to vendors: When you ask me why I’m canceling my service, and you want to entice me to stay or come back, listen to the reason I’m giving you and respond to that. Don’t assume that customers only care about financial incentives. Sometimes, quality and reliability are worth paying for. Apple figured that out a long time ago.
How will AT&T pull it off?
Posted on June 23, 2007
Filed Under Macintosh, Uncategorized, mobility | 2 Comments
If you read tech press, and goodness knows I do, you would think that the cell phone was being invented for the first time. I’m finding myself entertained by the iPhone coverage the past few weeks, and this week it will likely hit mania levels.
Honestly, I want the iPhone to be as good and as revolutionary as some folks are making it out to be. The realist in me can’t help but think that expectations are set so high, not even Apple can reach them. Why? They’re not in this game alone. What will pull the iPhone down won’t be what’s in Apple’s control…it will be Cingular, er the New AT&T, AT&T. The success of the iPhone will depend on AT&T pulling its s**t together 5 minutes after a massive, rushed changeover of branding from Cingular. Can they pull it off? What experience does AT&T have in putting so much attention and support into a single product? The weak link will be in customer support. The experience of calling Apple Support is very different than calling AT&T. The experience of walking into an AT&T Store and asking for help on an issue is very different than walking into an Apple Store. Apple Stores are consistent, even if the size of the locations vary slightly. The quality of AT&T locations vary widely. From clueless mall kiosks (yes, company-owned ones…I’m not even talking about the resellers) to the stores with friendly, knowledgeable employees and stocked shelves. iPhone owners will have to deal with both Apple and AT&T, and when they have a bad experience with AT&T it will reflect negatively on the iPhone no matter how much the Mac press will try and spin it otherwise.
I’m also thinking of the process of activating a new phone with AT&T. I switched from the Cingular 8525 to Blackberry 8800 in March and started a new contract. I figure that in 2 years, Apple will be on revision 3 or so of the iPhone and I’ll be ready to jump in. I’m not a new customer, and I must have been standing at that counter for 20 minutes while the employee did what he had to do to set up my next contract. Happens that way every time. When the line of folks waiting to buy and set up their new iPhones is literally around the block, how will they manage that? That leads me to suspect that when one walks into an Apple or AT&T store, you’ll buy the iPhone with a blank SIM card inside and go home to set it up through iTunes. If that’s the case, how will you port your existing phone number to the new phone? I’m sure Apple/AT&T have thought of this already and have an easy mechanism.
I’m also hoping that there’s a dedicated phone line for iPhone-related issues at AT&T, with separate staff. I know I read that AT&T hired thousands of new employees for this launch. I hope they’re going to have an iPhone store-within-a-store at their locations. I won’t own an iPhone for a couple of years, but when I call AT&T with an issue now I don’t want my experience to suffer because the staff’s attention is entirely focused on the iPhone.
My friend self-published a children’s story!
Posted on June 18, 2007
Filed Under Kids, Life | Leave a Comment
One of our dearest friends from Stamford let me know this morning that his children’s book is now available at Amazon. We’ve known the Alter family since their daughter was in preschool with Emily (the girls are now finishing 3rd grade). Jason made up the adventures of John Fastramp while telling bedtime stories to his kids.
John Fastramp and the Dakota 3000 Challenge is adventure fiction for young boys and girls (~grades 3-6). John is a superb driver and his car is very special - the Blue Spider has lasers, special tires, protective armor and many more dazzling inventions - but will it be enough to overcome the obstacles ahead? Will John and his friends be able to overcome the highly unusual dangers of the Dakota 3000 Challenge?
Jason has spent a lot of time developing this book, from focus groups at the kids’ school to hiring an illustrator and self-publishing. I’m thrilled to see it finally available for sale.
My copy is on its way to me now. I can’t wait to see the finished product and share it with my girls, who haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
