Brilliant Signage

So, I want to know, did Hook #2 go up before or after the "Do not use the hook" Sign?

Amazon Shipping Managers Need To Look Outside the Window??

I ordered some books (note the irony on WHICH books).

While this is happening:

So where does Amazon ship them from? The middle of the storm, of course! 

This is not the best operations management, I think....

I know I live CLOSER to Laurel, MD than say, Coffeyville, KS (a favorite ship-from location for household goods), BUT, evidently Amazon is the only one who doesn't know that it's snowing in Laurel, MD and Richmond, VA. 

Speaking of, the UPS site says the stuff will still get delivered today, which would be really miraculous, seeing as how the stuff is currently under 3 feet of snow in Virginia.... Amazon sent out a "delayed" email, why isn't the UPS site showing delayed?
Now, admittedly, I don't need these books today, but I would be really irritated if the new wireless/usb antennae we just ordered had also been stuck in the snow.... our Tivo's can't talk! It's Tivomageddon!

Stupid Sneaky Sales People Ruin Your Image...

So,

I tend to riff on "marketing" all the time. I think this is from too many years of reading Dilbert.

I had the realization this week that a LOT of what I do day to day is essentially brand management. Which means I'm doing marketing... So, obviously, there's something I need to come to terms with...

Anyway, today I saw an example of exactly what you DON'T want from the marketing/sales/commission-seeking folks.

http://www.elliott.org/blog/like-it-or-not-airline-tacks-1095-travel-insurance-to-ticket/

So you don't click off and not explore the rest of MY site here's a summary:

• Woman buys airline tickets online
• Woman uses Frontier Airlines website to do so
• Frontier auto-checks a box which signs her up for $10.95 in travel insurance
• Frontier uses teeny tiny fonts to do so
• Frontier won't refund her the unwanted insurance
• Woman contacts well-known (front of msnbc, etc) travel trouble-shooter for help
• He can't get a refund either
• He publicly states disdain for Frontier's tactics
• Frontier (already in restructuring) gets stinky black eye, very publicly, but keeps kickback from travel insurance company (or whatever other deal they have in place)

So here's the (completely mythical conversation, I'm SURE) scene:

Marketing Dude, The Dark Side, Henceforth Called Darth Marketer: we aren't getting enough people signing up for this travel insurance. We aren't fulfilling our agreement with them.

Marketing Dude, The Light Side, Henceforth Called Obi Wan Marketer: Perhaps we need to tell people what the value of the insurance is, that it will keep them safe in these dark times. Remember, keep in mind our unique value propositions...

Darth Marketer: No! Remind them of the restructuring? What sort of naive fool are you! *stabs Obi Wan Marketer with sparkly laser pen from Web 2.0 Analytics conference* I've had enough of your pansy business tactics, die, die, die!

Obi Wan Marketer: Remember the force.... *fades away*

Darth Marketer: You! Web peon! Make this required, and make the font much, much smaller!

Storm HTML-er: Yes, my master.

US Border Agents Can Search Laptops, Phones, Cameras Without Cause

Federal agents at the border do not need any reason to search through travelers' laptops, cell phones or digital cameras for evidence of crimes, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, extending the government's power to look through belongings like suitcases at the border to electronics.

More: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/border-agents-c.html

Really, American Airlines, Really?

My husband had some more miles expire. I have no idea why these were different than the previous set.

However, maybe the AA people read posts like mine: http://yetanothersite.blogspot.com/2007/10/oh-thank-you-on-job-travel.html

Because this time, along side Horse Illustrated, Robb Report Motorcycling, American Legacy, and Diabetes Forecast we were offered Time and Newsweek.

So, yay, real magazines we might actually read.

Of course, the points didn't add up, so we will also be getting Budget Traveler and Martha Stewart Living (2 years!).

I added this up on Amazon -- this week's miles rewards sell for $117.92.

I still would have much, much rather been offered American Airlines gear "worth" $117.92. Sure, the bulk produced fleece American Airlines sweatshirt/jacket might actually cost AA $10.... did they not pay $10.00 in something for all these magazines?

For the total record, the varying miles expirations (plus one Amazon free with purchase) have resulted in us now recieving:

• RADAR (quality varies)
• The Atlantic Monthly (husband reads it)
• Wired (husband, again)
• The Economist (you think you will read it, but you don't)
• Backpacker (seems to be heavy on the product reviews)
• W (haven't even tried, arms aren't long enough for large format, also reeks of perfume)
• Forbes (yeah, right)
• Sports Illustrated (*sigh* swimsuit issue)
• The Advocate (interesting ads)
• Variety (much writer's strike angst here)
• The Wall Street Journal (daily! argh!)
• Working Mother (haven't bothered)
• Fortune (blah)
• Conde Nast Traveler (matter)
• Budget Traveler (anti-matter)
• Newsweek (yay!)
• Time (and it's not even a doctor's office)
• Martha Stewart Living (everyone else is doing it)
• Bon Appetite (I'm sure I will eventually look at one)

The reading backlog is now 3 feet high.

Thank G-d for CatalogChoice.org, b/c we were also recieving about 2 catalogs we had never heard of per magazine...

It's All in the Eyes of the Beholder...

Consumerist has a couple of threads about the horrors of Japanese snack foods.

The (hello, Web 2.0) comments often seem to be along the lines of, "I never had that, I never will, it is so gross, the Japanese are so weird."

I have traveled in Asia a lot. Not as much as someone stationed over there, but more than your average non-military 30-something.

I have come back from my various trips absolutely addicted to Pretz. Pretz are an off-shoot of Pocky. Pocky are quite yummy on their own-- little cracker chocolate sticks. Pretz are the non-sweet version.

I've had every flavor of Pretz I could get my hands on; heck, I've even updated Wikipedia's entry.

Pringles must employ some people like me. They've recently come out with what I can only call the Pringles version of Pizza Pretz (my favorite Pretz).

I like them. In fact, I love them. 90 calories a packet, too, so not as horrible for the hip. My only beef is that only one of our grocery stores has them and I can't figure out which one, or where they shelve them.

Now, if Pringles was run by the folks commenting on Consumerist, this product would not exist. "Pizza flavored wheat toothpick cracker things? Ewwww."

What does a Pizza Pringle Wheat Stick Thing have to do with web design, usability, computers, or, as the title says, spell checking?

Who are you listening to when you design? Are you listening to the loudest negative voices? Or are you looking at the numbers below the voices?

I'm sure Pringles knew exactly where in the market place Pretz fall in Asia, as well as how many dollars are spent annually importing them to America. Those numbers won out over the loud voices of "ick. Asian food."

Are one or two people raining on your parade, or are you exploring options anyway?

Is It Wrong To Laugh Evilly?

I just received an email survey about our stay at http://yetanothersite.blogspot.com/2007/12/customer-service-101-5-things-you.html the unnamed hotel this weekend.

Mixed Feelings About This Sign

It's cute. You notice it.

But it's also too long, plain-language opposed, and would make Strunk and White throw a fit.

Seen in NC Aquariums

Customer Service 101: 5 Things You Shouldn't Find in Your Hotel Room....

I do not have pictures for all 5. This is because I didn't realize on items 1 and 2 that there would be items 3-5.

My husband and I went out for a three day weekend at the (cold) beach. Got home yesterday. Had to post these images. I've traveled a lot. I've stayed in a Buddhist monastery in Japan, a former secret police prison in Prague, a tiny box like room in Kyoto with a credit card machine for a front desk, the Ritz in San Juan, a house in the middle of the Puerto Rican jungle, a cabin in the Alaska woods, a hotel and gay disco/sauna in Vienna, the Days Inn in Davenport, Iowa and some really crappy b and b's everywhere... the items in our room were a collection that surpassed anything I could have imagined in those trips. Well, ok, the "hotel" in London where the floor was so rotten around the communal toilet that you worried it was going to fall through to the other floor was worse. But that was supposed to be budget accommodations...

First Thing You Shouldn't Find In Your Hotel Room (Check-in): All the glasses have spots, some of them spots you can feel with your fingers. The coffee mugs you go to in hopes of finding something clean... well, someone used them to brush their teeth and the maid never noticed. Eww. (Took nasty mug down to front desk; clean glasses delivered while we were at dinner. Other dirty glasses? Never removed.)

One Thing We Didn't Find In Our Hotel Room, But My Husband Checked For After Number One: Bedbugs

Second Thing You Shouldn't Find In Your Hotel Room (Looking for a Blanket): Someone else's used up cologne bottle. (Threw it in the trash)

Third Thing You Shouldn't Find in Your Hotel Room (Checking Along Bed for Shoes When Packing on Your Second Night): Empty package for one "waterproof Jack Rabbit" from California Exotic Novelties. Blogger has pixelated the image, but it promises "multi-level rotating metal beads" "Independent rotation and vibration" and "Use in or out of the water." I guess the empty package is better than finding the used contents... of course, we never looked between the bed and wall or dresser and wall...

Fourth Thing You Shouldn't Find In Your Hotel Room (After Noticing Number Three): Blood Stains on the Sheets. The gross thing about this? Because I didn't put the "change our bedding" card on the bed, we slept on those stains for one night without seeing them.

Fifth Thing You Shouldn't Find On Your Hotel Room Balcony (There At Check-In, Maid Never Picked Up): 2 Glass Beringer White Zinfandel (empty).

They comped one of our nights and put us in a suite for a clean room, so I'm leaving the hotel specifics off...

What I said to the manager, "Someone partied hard in this room and it wasn't us."

What my husband said to the manager, "Finding these things on the second night means housekeeping missed them at least twice."

Just, ick.

Other details, for the record -no shampoo in suite upgraded to (conditioner, lotion, etc. but no shampoo) -someone else's hair in the suite tub -towels left on the floor (international for "give me a clean towel") left on the floor (although new towels provided). There's a point you give up on telling the staff things are wrong.

Note for Future DC Travel....

The taxi line at National Airport in DC will be approximately 100-150 people long at 5 PM on a weekday. And there will be no taxis in site for those people as they are all taking rush-hour people home.

You are better off finding dinner in the airport and relaxing for two hours, as if you take the shuttle because it has no line, it will just get stuck in traffic.

Confusing....

When trying to delete files off my laptop so it can actually defrag (damn you, world of warcraft! 25% of the HD!), I found this image from a vacation in 2005.

It's not enough that the exit signs point in opposite direction, but why does one side have a footnote in Japanese? I think we hit this and decided to go to the left... mostly because it was downhill and we had come from the castle uphill...

Lame Airline Mile Awards: Is This Really the Best You Can Do?

We had miles expiring on several different airlines.

Small amounts of miles worth only the free magazine subscriptions. And to a nasty little selection of magazines at that.

So we now have subscriptions to:

• RADAR
• The Atlantic Monthly
• Wired
• The Economist
• Backpacker
• W
• Forbes
• Sports Illustrated
• The Advocate
• Variety
• The Wall Street Journal
• Working Mother
• Fortune
• Conde Nast Traveler

Magazines we would read, but couldn't get: Newsweek; Consumer Reports; The New Yorker; and Mother Jones.

Do we have any cash to travel right now? No.

Do we have kids? No.

Are we gay? No.

Do we care about Hollywood? No.

Do we have any investments? Not really.

Do we watch sports? Only the Olympics.

Do I buy designer clothes? No.

We don't really want most of these. I would rather have a free sweatshirt, or a travel mug, or even a dog pillow (airline logo ok). But I can't get any of those things.

So instead we've just tripled the load to the recycling bin each week...

Think about how much more of a win-win it would be for the airline to let me burn these off in the "your airline logo on stuff" section of the SkyMall. They will (I have the logo in my house, after all, for a lot longer than a copy of the WSJ will be kept), I win, the enviornment wins, we all win.

Well, everyone wins except for the department of the magazine that calculates distribution for the ad sales, they would loose. But I really don't care about those guys. They should get with the times and get a job in web analytics instead.

Not Really Being Very Helpful...

I need to know about epi-pens and carry on restrictions.

So I brought up http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm.

Problems:

1)Clicking on "Medication & Special Needs Devices" brings up the same list as clicking on "Makeup & Personal Items " (Feels like a CMS gone wrong.) I don't know about TSA, but I don't normally class my mascara in the same category as a syringe of insulin.

2)Nowhere does the page address issues such as casts, braces, implants, diabetes drugs, epi-pens, inhalers, or other possible questions -- which if they aren't here, should be linked from here.

3)Um, just for the record, TSA people, "Personal Lubricant" does not mean eyedrops. You've evidently missed the last 20 years of AIDS education, but "Personal Lubricant" is the super polite way of saying, "KY, Astroglide, Surgilube, Cornhuskers, or whatever it is that you use when getting it on."

#3 I screen captured.

Visually Appealing Post

Recently, it's all been text.

Here's a pretty picture.

Himeji Castle, November, 2005, all rights reserved.

I've seen too many episodes of the West Wing. And replays of An American President. And Dave.

I'm going to DC on some travel in September.

The event I'm going to is literally across the street from the reflecting pool. (Jen-nay! Forest! Jen-nay! Forest!).

The hotel is like .5 from the White House.

I have nothing to do w/ anyone in the White House or Capitol. But it excites me to be so close.... for work!

A Different Kind of Experience Design

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/03/emotional.mapping.ap/index.html

Emotional maps of cities?

Customer Service Comes in Many Forms

"KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia unveiled high-tech public toilets Tuesday as part of a campaign to wash away bad toilet habits ahead of a major tourism drive next year."

As a frequent traveler, I have to say that innovative thinking about public toilets is something many, many communities could use. Including Japan, who was referenced by Reuters in this article, as they do not put SOAP in the public restrooms (or toilet paper in many of them). (I think you're supposed to bring your own.)

Now if London could figure out a way for the tourist areas to not become a sea of discarded fast food wrappers.... (don't blame the dirty Americans, there's no public waste bins.)

special!

1 baht for minute internet access!
5 minute minimum!

Lonely Planet - Thai

Some of the things I found on pages 127-132 of this:



Most of my phrasebooks are Berlitz, so I don't know if this is a LP
thing or a "going to Thailand, huh?" thing.


"What a babe!"
"Would you like a drink?"
"Can I take you home?"
"I'ld rather not"
"Piss off"
"Do you want a massage?"
"Lets us a condom"
"Touch me here"
"I think we should stop now"
"Oh, my God!"
"Easy, tiger"
"Don't worry, I'll do it myself"
"That was wild"
"I love you"
"Will you marry me?"
"She is just a friend"
"You're just using me for sex"
"I never want to see you again"
"I miss you"

Asking for Advice

Apologies to anyone on dial-up. I did tell Photoshop to shrink them, though.

I simply do not have wall space in the house to get these all blown up.

I have a few favorites.

I'm asking for advice from the artists/photographers/those who just have opinions on everything as to which to get copies of.

I got 4x5's, and these are the ones that still looked good enough to blow up. I've cropped them to proportion of 8 x 10, then "framed" them.