Sephy’s Platzish

The nice thing about having wordpress on my touchy is that I can write a post anywhere, including from the local service centre. Of course, if I am writing from there, and with a title like the one above, that can only mean nothing good…in this case, that means I’m sitting here waiting for a diagnosis on something.

Today when I started the car, I heard a wierd noise and the car immediately became difficult to steer, meaning a power steering problem, though I did think it may have been a tyre issue too. That is, until I got a little further along and the battery light came on. The manual indicated that it was something to check out right away, hence my sitting here waiting.

The problem turns out that there was a belt that came off and, as luck would have it, the belt is in good shape, which means that I can just have it reseated and I should be good to go…i’ll just be a bit late to work, and that isn’t an issue since I’ve called ahead and let them know
I’ll update later and let y’all know how much it cost

Seeing that I am about one of about 10 people in the world left without a Facebook account, I’ve done a bit of investigation into the site and found out that there are some major faults with the site, and they have to do with their "recommendations" on how to keep safe.

If you want to play along, their page on safety is here - http://www.facebook.com/safety/

Anyway, they give you these "important safety tips" when using the site, 4 of them make sense, but the fifth one, in bold, makes absolutely no sense if you think about it:

• Never share your password with anyone
• Adjust your privacy settings to match your level of comfort, and review them often
• Be cautious about posting and sharing personal information, especially information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline, such as your address or telephone number
• Report users and content that violate our Terms of Use
• Block and report anyone that sends you unwanted or inappropriate communications

Yep, I can totally understand not posting your address and telephone number on the public web, but they say to be cautious about posting information that could locate you offline…so, doesn’t that include one thing that would automatically identify you offline: YOUR NAME?!?!?!?!

Seriously, I can’t think of anything that can’t identify you faster offline than your own bloody name. So, wouldn’t the logical step be to sign up using an alias. Yep, that would be a smart move, but they’ve also put a major FAIL sign on that:

Remember that…using fake names is a violation of the Facebook Terms of Use

So, you can’t use an alias then, can you? However, I guess it keeps someone busy, having to report all of those fake names out there, and deleting their accounts.

Maybe I should stick to just watching random videos of soccer fans singing:

While the computer is busy working on burning a couple more DVDs, I figured that I would take a moment and try out a new app that I had downloaded for my iPod, WordPress for iPhone/iPod touch. There are a few cool things about this app - the fact that I can easily post anywhere I can find a wifi connection among them, but there is only one minor flaw:

It lets you put the device upside down (ie with the home button at the top and the (on the phone) speaker at the bottom) this is something unique and odd. Safari lets you do this but the screen will be upside-down.

Another flaw that I have now found is that there is no save feature included in the software. Let’s hope that I can publish!
Edit to add - I found the save button, yay!

Well, it has been 10 days now since I put in my order for the iPod touch from Walmart, and while I received my accessory kit literally the next day, I still have not received the iPod itself.

Why is that?

Well, simply put, I don’t know. Why don’t I know? Well, let me set out the scenario for you…

Before starting, though, check out this image first - it somewhat explains the process.

April 8th - I place the order for the iPod to be delivered to the store (as it was the only way for me to get the bundle kit - plus shipping to home would have incurred additional charges, such as shipping and an additional $2 in taxes payable to our local stadium and my county).

April 9th - Receive email stating that the accessory kit is available for pickup. I pick up the accessory kit, with the anticipation that if this portion of the order was delivered that quickly, I’d receive the iPod itself within a couple of days, or even that same day.

April 10th, 11th - No emails from Walmart, and the “Track your shipment” page showed nothing at all in the way of movement.

April 12th, Easter Sunday - In checking the tracking page, a new item shows up - Arrived at Sorting Facility; Greencastle, IN. I look at a map, and find out that it’s only 300 miles away (of course, I’ve had prior experiences with things about that far away taking their leisurely time to get where they’re supposed to be), and think, this shoudn’t take too long to get here.

April 13th - Nothing. At all.

April 14th - Movement! It’s In Transit to the Delivery Facility. Of course, they don’t actually tell you where the facility is, so you’re left to guess. I had some kind of inkling it would be somewhere in Minnesota or Michigan, but we would have to wait to find out!

April 15th - Nothing. Again. Apparently, everything in Walmart world takes 2 days to process.

April 16th - We have a location! Time for the iPod to sit at the Delivery Facility for another 2 days - this time a mere 30 miles away from the store! Surely, that can’t take too long to get there.

April 17th - Wait; what is this? They can actually process something in a facility in less than 2 days? I didn’t think it was possible, but they managed to get it In Transit to the Store at 10 am. I find this out at my break in the afternoon and decide to call the store to find out what was going on.

As it turns out, even a simple 30 mile trip isn’t so simple for Walmart. The person that I spoke to told me that they “might” have had it the same day, but likely tomorrow (i.e. today), and worst case scenario Monday. I didn’t go into it with the gal, mostly because she was cool about my questions, and did take the time to check in and see if it had arrived already, but it makes you wonder: what’s the motivation for Walmart to offer a shipping method which, one would think, since it involves their own delivery facilities and methods of transport, should be pretty straightforward and efficient, only to find out that it is anything but?

Now, I don’t necessarily agree with all of Walmart’s business practices (though, unlike a lot of other people, I don’t think they’re solely responsible for the demise of the mom-and-pop business - there are lots of factors which have led to this problem happening, mostly among them the fact that our society has become one of standardization and similarity that it makes someone who is unique in their field stand out when you have a lot of people who just go to a store - say Home Depot - simply because of the fact that they’re familiar with that store in their hometown), but I do like their stores, even if they’re too darn concentrated in our area. However, will I use the site-to-store again? Not unless it’s some kind of amazing deal that I can’t get anywhere else, especially in the brick & mortar store (and electronics, I think I’ll stick with Amazon - free shipping and no sales tax, yo! )

What in the world is he talking about, you’re probably thinking, right?

Well, I actually spent money and purchased a bit of leisure equipment to enable me to actually get online without any wires again. Plus, it allows me to download my favorite podcasts (Roy & HG, presented by CGU, we put the “U” in CGU - I’m looking your way) without having to putz around with iTunes.

Yes, I’m getting an iPhone iPod Touch!

How’d it all start, you ask? Well, I lost my iPod for  a couple of days, and in that time I was determined to get a new one to replace the one that I thought I had lost - I was looking at eBay to find out what kind of deals they had (and don’t get me wrong, they do have some good deals on there), until I was gently reminded that, yes, I will not get that great of a deal on eBay - plus, it’s kind of not 100% risky free, especially when you’re talking about $200 of purchases on there…

So, I finally bit the bullet (and the credit card) and purchased a bundle - yes, they did call it a bundle, and I’m not just talking about something that I would have picked up in my job - including the iPod itself and an accessory kit which includes a set of covers, including one in pink…which I did offer to fob off, but it wasn’t accepted…ah well

Oh, and the other iPod? Well, it was found once more - it had fallen behind the trash can in the kitchen of all places; I suspect that the Touchy will be a bit harder to lose though.