It has been widely reported in the media that both FedEx and UPS had problems delivering items due on Christmas Eve. Most of the reports I have seen are attributing this to weather or just unexpected demand. But in my case, the package I was expecting FedEx to deliver by 8pm on December 24th had been sitting in their Oakland facility since 7:41am on December 23rd. That is over 36 hours before the end of the estimated delivery time.
Author Archives: John
Comcast Resolution
Pretty much as expected, the telephone support at Comcast was useless. After a frustrating call which ended with a promise to have a supervisor call back, nothing happened. The Twitter support team at Comcast though did get in touch, and managed to resolve the issue without me needing to visit a Comcast store. Continue reading
Another Comcast Issue
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Comcast is one of my perpetual dilemmas. One one hand, the service is pretty solid (and certainly better than anything AT&T could manage), but on the other they are such a terrible company to do business with. Then there is their telephone support, which takes appalling customer service to record breaking lows, but is contrasted by their Twitter based support team which are among the best support people I’ve ever worked with.
Canon S120
Earlier this week I noticed that the Canon camera I had been thinking of getting, the S120, was on sale at Amazon so I ordered one. With their Prime service it arrived here quickly (actually quicker than I expected as OnTrac delivered on Saturday even though it was slated for delivery on Monday in the tracking info.
The features that drew me to this one were the Wi-Fi capability (so I can pull photos from the camera to my iPhone or Nexus 4 anywhere I am, even without a wifi based internet connection), the high speed lens (f/1.8) and the 1080p HD video. The only real negatives were the limited 5x zoom, and the relatively low pixel count compared to other similar offerings from other companies. But 12MP is still respectable, and the zoom is OK for most uses I will actually have for the camera.
On Demand TV
Our toddler has found a few episodes of programs that are available on Netflix that he really likes, and he keeps asking for those same episodes. As hard as we try to get him to watch different ones, he keeps asking for the same ones that he really likes. Now, granted he doesn’t get to see much TV, so not risking the limited time you are allowed TV watching a new episode that you might not like is a low risk option, but what struck me more was not that he did this as much as how his generation are growing up without the limitations of scheduled television.
Coin – A Smart Credit Card
A few years ago, when Square launched, I was pretty negative about the hype surrounding it mostly because the continued dependency on magnetic stripe bank cards in the US mystifies me. Now I am starting to see smart card and NFC touch payment terminals appear in more and more merchants. So, I was disappointed to see Coin launch what is essentially another solution dependent on the extremely dated magnetic stripe technology.
Admittedly, all the credit cards in my wallet are still using magnetic stripes, but that is something I am seriously hoping will change soon. When I left the UK, almost 16 years ago now, smart cards were already common (locally referred to as “chip & pin”). So why are all these technology companies, not to mention the banks, still focused on magnetic stripes with all of their inherent security problems.
Wearables
What’s all this fuss about wearable devices? Ranging from crazily expensive, and very nerdy Google Glass to the simple and relatively discreet Pebble (semi-)smart watch or pocketable Fitbit One, these are typically small, wireless devices that are designed to fade into the background of your life until you need them.
Engineering Log
Experimenting with a new service called 10 Centuries that allows me to create quick blog posts via an app.net client.
I have created a new engineering log for technical snippets hosted by this service. So, if you’re interested in more technical updates (things I am working on, as well as perhaps hints and tips related to Android, iOS or any other technology I am working with), feel free to bookmark that link.
I am also planning a refresh of this site; you’ll already see that I have moved the site from its old location to become the entire bluedonkey.org site. Don’t worry though, any links you have should still work – they will just redirect to the new location. There are more changes coming, and part of that will include having the engineering log link placed prominently on this site.
Wireless Point & Shoot
What started as being intrigued by the concept of Sony’s lens cameras, has evolved into a search for a decent quality, medium to high zoom but small camera I can throw in my laptop bag but at the same time connect to my phone to be able to share the photos online immediately.
Not Upgrading
There have been lots of cool new products released in the last month or so, some of which I have commented on here and others I looked at, then decided not to get. Here’s the round up of what I have decided against recently.