One of my frustrations with Twitter is that sometimes I don't check it but once a day. At that point, I have hundreds of tweets to wade through. But wait... that's not the frustration. The frustration is, they're in reverse order. It wears me out to scroll through several pages of tweets to find where I left off and then start going back the other way. I wonder how hard it is for blind people who have to read one and then backtrack to read the next, etc. Or maybe I'm just weird and everyone else is happy reading them backwards.
Today, John Larroquette did something that made me very happy. He tweeted a quote that was too long for one tweet. He tweeted it in reverse so it showed up in order:

Thank you, John Larroquette. The first Twitter client to solve the reverse order annoyance is my new favorite client.
]]>One of my frustrations with Twitter is that sometimes I don't check it but once a day. At that point, I have hundreds of tweets to wade through. But wait... that's not the frustration. The frustration is, they're in reverse order. It wears me out to scroll through several pages of tweets to find where I left off and then start going back the other way. I wonder how hard it is for blind people who have to read one and then backtrack to read the next, etc. Or maybe I'm just weird and everyone else is happy reading them backwards.
Today, John Larroquette did something that made me very happy. He tweeted a quote that was too long for one tweet. He tweeted it in reverse so it showed up in order:

Thank you, John Larroquette. The first Twitter client to solve the reverse order annoyance is my new favorite client.
]]>They must have hired some fancy animated graphics person who knows nothing about good Web design, though, because it's freaking annoying. I wanted one page where I can scan the entrees. What I got, is game-like. There are little bowls that move when you try to click them. Chasing them with the mouse gave me a headache.
I suppose the people who approved of this site don't actually need to USE the site. Screw Panda Express.
I'll still eat there because it's fast, and I like the food. But their Web site sucks a$$.
]]>They must have hired some fancy animated graphics person who knows nothing about good Web design, though, because it's freaking annoying. I wanted one page where I can scan the entrees. What I got, is game-like. There are little bowls that move when you try to click them. Chasing them with the mouse gave me a headache.
I suppose the people who approved of this site don't actually need to USE the site. Screw Panda Express.
I'll still eat there because it's fast, and I like the food. But their Web site sucks a$$.
]]>When it was happening, I could click "Get Mail" and it would add 10-20 e-mails to the list. A couple of seconds later, I'd click it again, and it would add another 10-20 e-mails. It was crazy. I ended up blocking the e-mails at the server after that, so I wouldn't have to deal with them in Mailwasher.
I had an aggravating exchange with tech support until someone who speaks English well finally took over my ticket. I'm not disparaging people who don't speak English well... I'm just saying it was a very frustrating conversation because I had no idea what the guy was saying. His responses didn't connect to my questions and concerns.
I also noticed a lot of referral spam in my Web stats. That's where a spammer makes it appear as if someone clicked on a link from their site to come to my site. That's supposed to make me say, "Oh look! Someone links to me!" and go to their site to see. Then they've got me on their site.
Sadly, most of the referrals in my stats now are spam, so the real referrals get lost in a long, long list.
The third kind of spam I've been aggravated with lately is Twitter spam. I said something about a RAV4 on Twitter yesterday, and shortly after, someone sent me a message to check out their site where I could watch video demos of RAV4 or something. So I blocked them. Not that they care. They already spammed me.
]]>When it was happening, I could click "Get Mail" and it would add 10-20 e-mails to the list. A couple of seconds later, I'd click it again, and it would add another 10-20 e-mails. It was crazy. I ended up blocking the e-mails at the server after that, so I wouldn't have to deal with them in Mailwasher.
I had an aggravating exchange with tech support until someone who speaks English well finally took over my ticket. I'm not disparaging people who don't speak English well... I'm just saying it was a very frustrating conversation because I had no idea what the guy was saying. His responses didn't connect to my questions and concerns.
I also noticed a lot of referral spam in my Web stats. That's where a spammer makes it appear as if someone clicked on a link from their site to come to my site. That's supposed to make me say, "Oh look! Someone links to me!" and go to their site to see. Then they've got me on their site.
Sadly, most of the referrals in my stats now are spam, so the real referrals get lost in a long, long list.
The third kind of spam I've been aggravated with lately is Twitter spam. I said something about a RAV4 on Twitter yesterday, and shortly after, someone sent me a message to check out their site where I could watch video demos of RAV4 or something. So I blocked them. Not that they care. They already spammed me.
]]>One thing I thought about is why people ask why, and why I get so defensive when they do. I think there are two reasons people ask why:
When someone asks me why I do something the way I do or why I'm telling them they need to change the way they do things, I tend to assume it's the second. A patient person would assume the first and go from there.
When people ask the second kind of why, I feel extremely disrespected. I'm not patient when I feel disrespected. They put me on the defensive instead of making me feel accepted.
I think if they said it differently... if they said, "Really? That's interesting. Why should it be done that way?" And then finish it with a reaction of appreciation for the new knowledge. But I can't control people, so that's just a nice dream. I just have to try to learn to not get defensive when I feel disrespected. Or get away from the people.
I'm tired.
]]>One thing I thought about is why people ask why, and why I get so defensive when they do. I think there are two reasons people ask why:
When someone asks me why I do something the way I do or why I'm telling them they need to change the way they do things, I tend to assume it's the second. A patient person would assume the first and go from there.
When people ask the second kind of why, I feel extremely disrespected. I'm not patient when I feel disrespected. They put me on the defensive instead of making me feel accepted.
I think if they said it differently... if they said, "Really? That's interesting. Why should it be done that way?" And then finish it with a reaction of appreciation for the new knowledge. But I can't control people, so that's just a nice dream. I just have to try to learn to not get defensive when I feel disrespected. Or get away from the people.
I'm tired.
]]>I really hate reading articles and blog posts about how to use social media, though. I especially hate reading articles about how companies can use social media to get more customers. As a consumer, I would rather they keep their marketing scheming behind closed doors.
I think in the public eye, they could talk about how to use social media as a customer relations tool... to get feedback... to help solve problems customers are having. That tells the customer that they have their interests at heart. That's what I want to believe. What I don't want is to be spammed.
I was spammed by the Director of Public Relations at Frito Lay the other day on Twitter. His profile said he is a fan of social media. He doesn't get it. Here's what happened.
A friend of mine posted a picture of some Giant Cheetos. I responded, saying I'd never heard of them. He said he was kinda scared to open them. I laughed.
Two days later, I got a message from the Director of Public Relations at Frito Lay telling me I can get a big 7.75 oz bag or a single serve sleeve. I hadn't asked that, and it ticked me off that he butted into the conversation.
I thought about it a minute and decided if he was going to spam me, that I would ask for something in return. I asked if I could have a free sample. The response? Crickets. No response at all. He doesn't get it.
On another note: Dear ABC, Please don't cancel The Unusuals.
]]>I really hate reading articles and blog posts about how to use social media, though. I especially hate reading articles about how companies can use social media to get more customers. As a consumer, I would rather they keep their marketing scheming behind closed doors.
I think in the public eye, they could talk about how to use social media as a customer relations tool... to get feedback... to help solve problems customers are having. That tells the customer that they have their interests at heart. That's what I want to believe. What I don't want is to be spammed.
I was spammed by the Director of Public Relations at Frito Lay the other day on Twitter. His profile said he is a fan of social media. He doesn't get it. Here's what happened.
A friend of mine posted a picture of some Giant Cheetos. I responded, saying I'd never heard of them. He said he was kinda scared to open them. I laughed.
Two days later, I got a message from the Director of Public Relations at Frito Lay telling me I can get a big 7.75 oz bag or a single serve sleeve. I hadn't asked that, and it ticked me off that he butted into the conversation.
I thought about it a minute and decided if he was going to spam me, that I would ask for something in return. I asked if I could have a free sample. The response? Crickets. No response at all. He doesn't get it.
On another note: Dear ABC, Please don't cancel The Unusuals.
]]>The idea behind this event is to promote Web Standards. Plain and simple. This includes proper use of (x)html, semantic markup, a good hierarchy structure, and of course, a good 'ol play on words. It's time to show off your .
For more information, see CSS Naked Day.
]]>The idea behind this event is to promote Web Standards. Plain and simple. This includes proper use of (x)html, semantic markup, a good hierarchy structure, and of course, a good 'ol play on words. It's time to show off your .
For more information, see CSS Naked Day.
]]>We're in winter veggie season, so this week's haul was:
There were also turnips and some other kind of greens, but I traded those for two of the grapefruits.
I'm really enjoying the program. It's making me cook more and learn to cook different things. For example, I used some of the green onions in a bacon and cheese frittata last night. The night before, I made sweet and sour red cabbage.

The most interesting thing to me, though, is that when I start to plan a meal, I think of the veggies first. I used to always think of the main dish first, and then get stumped on what veggies I want to go with it. Sometimes, I would just skip the veggies. No more skipping the veggies. Veggies first!
]]>We're in winter veggie season, so this week's haul was:
There were also turnips and some other kind of greens, but I traded those for two of the grapefruits.
I'm really enjoying the program. It's making me cook more and learn to cook different things. For example, I used some of the green onions in a bacon and cheese frittata last night. The night before, I made sweet and sour red cabbage.

The most interesting thing to me, though, is that when I start to plan a meal, I think of the veggies first. I used to always think of the main dish first, and then get stumped on what veggies I want to go with it. Sometimes, I would just skip the veggies. No more skipping the veggies. Veggies first!
]]>