Aeroplan: “Our web site is pretty. It doesn’t work, but it’s pretty!”
This has been going on for more than a week now. You get right to the end of the booking process then it crashes. I’m on hold with their “web site assistance centre.”
What do YOU think they’ll say?
- “It’s because you’re using a Mac.”
- “We don’t support Firefox.”
- “I’m not sure. Did you try it again?”
I’ll have the results later.
Why I Have Stephen Harper’s Passport
Okay, I don’t really have Harper’s passport. But I did a pretty convincing mockup of it.
And why did I do this?
Check out spamtrapper.wordpress.com to see my latest project. 
Telus ordered to refund “network access fee”
The CRTC today decided that Telus has been improperly charging customers a network-access fee.
The Commission has ordered Telus to rebate customers who paid this monthly fee, but did not make any telephone calls on the company’s long-distance network during the month. (The company doesn’t have to refund the fee to customers who did make long-distance telephone calls during the same month.)
“When applied to customers who did not make any long-distance calls, the monthly fee was equivalent to an unauthorized increase to the residential local service rate,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Chairman of the CRTC.
In November 2007, Telus began charging close to half a million customers in Alberta and British Columbia a monthly network-access fee of $2.95. These customers had not signed up for a long-distance plan, either with Telus or another company, and the charge applied even if they did not make long-distance calls or if they made long-distance calls using only dial-around long-distance services.
Customers could have avoided paying the network-access fee by subscribing to TELUS’ toll-restriction service, also known as Call Guardian in certain areas, which permits only local or toll-free calls. While there is no initial charge associated with this service for residential customers, there is a $10.00 cancellation fee. The Commission has directed TELUS to waive this cancellation fee during the next three months if a residential customer subscribed to the toll-restriction service after October 2007 and now wishes to cancel it.
The CRTC no longer regulates long-distance rates. While local telephone companies can set their long-distance plans and rates according to market conditions, TELUS is required to provide its customers with access to the long-distance network as part of its local service rates.
Please welcome Geneva Bokowski
I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Geneva Bokowski as my Research Coordinator/Executive Assistant.
Until recently, Geneva had been the Communications Coordinator with Cross-Cultural Strategy. She also served as Assistant Art Director at Pacific Rim Magazine. Geneva is currently tackling communications and publishing at Simon Fraser University, with specific work in documentary research.
She’s reachable directly at +1.604.683.3725 or geneva@todmaffin.com
The Myth is Busted: Americans are taxed MORE than Canadians!
“Yeah, free health-care and far less crime is great, but don’t Canadians pay a lot more taxes than Americans?”
No, we don’t. Americans pay more in personal income taxes than Canadians. Here’s proof.
read more | digg story
Stupid-ass Web Error Message of the Week
Zero or more numerics? Doesn’t every password have zero or more numbers in it?!
From Cineplex Odeon Canada’s web site. When I called tech support, the guy told me to “wait about 10-15 minutes and maybe it’ll go away.” Yeah. ‘Cause that’s the way programming works.
Your Cell Phone Is Tracking You
Satellite tracking isn’t new… we’ve had G-P-S around for years. But you may be surprised at what they’re starting to do with the technology now. For one, you may be being tracked without your knowledge…. and no satellites are involved at all!
Oops.
In my attempt to prepare my database and server for Wordpress 2.5, it seems I wiped out a number of post categories. And, of course, the posts that went with them.
{sigh}
It’s okay, actually, I’m going to take one of my twice-annual breaks from the Interwebs for a bit while I deal with some other matters in my life.
See y’all on the other side.
(Y’all?! Oh, tell me that didn’t rub off on me in Austin this past weekend…)
Blu-Ray Wins: But Is It Good For Consumers? (Hint: No!)
It’s over. The battle is won.
There will be one format for high-definiton DVDs and it will be… Blu-Ray.
But, is good news for the industry good news for consumers?
The CBC’s national technology correspondent Tod Maffin thinks not.
Stoned:Surviving Business in an On-Demand World
© 2005 Tod Maffin Inc.
Feeling a little slow these days? You’re not alone, and it’s not just because you left the iron on this morning (sorry, but someone had to tell you).
Research at King’s College in London has discovered that the “on-demand” world of business is, frankly, making us dumb. Test subjects were asked to carry out problem-solving tasks while being bombarded with emails and phone calls. As a result, their IQ levels dropped an average of 10 points — even when they were instructed to ignore the interruptions. (Incidentally, smoking marijuana, on average, results in a smaller IQ drop.)
That’s right, you can perform more efficiently smoking a joint than sending an email (obsessive Doritos consumption aside.)
We’ve all felt it. Emails that pile into our inbox like a teletype machine that never stops. A voicemail line that keeps filling up. A cell phone we’re afraid to turn on. This on-demand world has gotten a bit out of hand.
Luckily, tools are beginning to emerge that can help us regain some control over our day.
One phone. No, really.
When you think about it, none of us actually call people. We call places. “I’ll call you in your office,” or “I’ll call you at home” or “I’ll try to get you on your cell.” It’s inefficient and makes everyone try to second-guess where you’ll be.
Solutions from companies like Mitel are starting to take advantage of IP-routed telephony so that now that important client only needs to have one phone number to reach you — and it will genuinely get to you, no matter where you are.
Here’s how it works: Your client calls your number. Since you don’t pick up at the office, it jumps to your cell phone. Turns out you’re just parking your car outside the office, but you take the call. Your client has no idea where you are. It’s irrelevant. You keep talking as you walk into your office. Then, with a single button-push on your office phone, it takes control of that call from your cell — passing the call through seamlessly, meaning you’re no longer paying for cellular airtime (and saving the old “I’m in my office now, can I call you back from a landline?” routine).
Shouldn’t business always be this easy?
One Dayplanner
My PalmPilot mysteriously died the other day. (Okay, I dropped it, but that’s not the point.) I tried to sync the empty Palm with the backed-up data on my computer and, instead, overwrote the backed-up data with the blank void from my handheld.
And so, I went retro. A single paper-based 8½x5½ dayplanner. And I’ve never looked back. No more categories, syncing, batteries, conflicts, or upgrades. The biggest upgrade I’ve had to do so far was to buy a new tab because I didn’t like the colour.
Again, shouldn’t it always be this easy?
One Network Partner
I’m always amazed at how many companies spread their advice and network help thin. They have one partner for network management, another that does their email, yet another that handles security and VPN issues, and more. At the least, this leads to missed opportunities in finding cost savings with hardware in your network. Find a single network partner that can bring all or most of the network services to bear that you need. Then, when things go weird (this is the Internet, after all; things always do) you’ve got a single person to call who can coordinate the right solutions for you and knows all the pieces of your network architecture.
The future of business isn’t always easy to forecast if you focus on the technology, because technology changes so fast and because creative geniuses keep inventing things that shouldn’t be capable of doing what they do.
But when you start thinking about how you can make your own day easier — from reducing the chaos of your day and endless phone calls to getting a quick answer from a real human being about your network — you realize the future of on-demand business is, ironically, simplification.
And if that always fails, there’s always a sale on Doritos at the corner store.
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