Paul Jacobson

I just watched this amazing video showcasing a robotic arm Dean Kamen produced:

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dean kamen, robotic arm, d6, inventor

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Man, I am not so fanatical about Exclusive Books’ Fanatics at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I use it every time I buy something from Exclusive Books and I think it is great that I have it. It incentivises me to buy stuff almost exclusively (excuse the pun) from Exclusive Books.

What bugs me is that I have to call the call centre to retrieve my PIN which I use to print my vouchers which I receive depending on how much I spend in the stores (you basically earn loyalty points for every specified amount you spend - can’t remember if it is R5 or R7.50 or some other amount - and those points translate into vouchers). I don’t go to the site very often because vouchers are only issued quarterly and that is the only use for the site so I tend to forget my PIN. For some reason no-one has expressed to me, there is no way to request a PIN online like you can do with countless other websites, you have to phone the call centre which is only open certain hours a day and an operator will give you your PIN over the phone (imagine a bank worked like this?).

I called the call centre to get my PIN this morning (I had 2 vouchers waiting) and was given my PIN over the phone. I suggested to the operator that it makes a lot of sense to have a self-service option so I can get my PIN by email whenever I want. Her response was firstly that she doesn’t think that is possible and second that if I don’t want to lose my PIN I should perhaps write it down.

Sure that makes a lot of sense if I am firmly rooted in a paper system, but I am not. The thought of writing my PIN down is just plain nuts for reasons ranging from me having to maintain a paper based system which I have to use to find the PIN (and presumably all my other PINs) to a security risk because I have my PIN written down somewhere and a voucher thief could use that together with my card number to presumably steal my vouchers. To add to this, what kind of answer is that?! I mean, sheesh, is this company aware of the Web beyond an online voucher printing interface?

Allan Kent speaks about how mobile phones can be used for vouchers and all sorts of things we do on paper the old analogue way. What about an mms with a voucher code we can just have scanned at Exclusive Books or even an option to have a pdf voucher emailed (the print interface wreaks havoc with Safari). Heck, an option to retrieve my PIN myself via email would be dandy too.

Mostly I’d like to see Exclusive Books get with the digital age and perhaps spend a little money on a decent web front for its customers who don’t want to be told to go write the PIN down or for Fanatics’ office hours to even have that experience.

“… write it down … ” !!

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exclusive books, fanatics, pin, write it down, online, self-service

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I just got back from Cape Town where I spoke at Quirk’s breakfast seminar at the Metropole hotel on Long Street. To get there I was booked on a Kulula (I just noticed that the Kulula site seems to be using Extended Validation certificates to combat phishing - good to see this stuff being used more often) flight out of Lanseria International Airport. The whole thing was a mixed experience for me. This was the first time I flew on Kulula and the first time I used the Lanseria Airport.

Pros:

• Lanseria Airport is much more comfortable and efficient;
• Kulula personnel are a lot of fun (well, the evening crew was, the morning crew was still defrosting)

Cons:

• Like other low cost airlines there is standing room only and it is impossible to work on the plane, never mind sit comfortably if you are taller than 4 and a half feet;
• The road to Lanseria is dark and not terribly well sign posted, especially on the way back (relevant because both trips were in darkness)

On the whole I am not a fan of standing room only airlines because I want to be able to do some work on the planes or at least not have to sit with my knees under my chin.

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lanseria, kulula.com, low cost airlines, quirk

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I am a bigger fan of OmniGroup software the more I use it. I have OmniFocus for my tasks and workflows (my whole workflow now centers on OmniFocus); OmniOutliner Pro for my outlines and note-taking and OmniGraffle for brainstorming all sorts of things from projects to agreements (which are basically projects anyway). The problem is that I want more of their stuff now.

I am eyeing out OmniPlan now but at $150 I really don’t have a need for it, particularly considering I am not managing projects with other people, just my own (and OmniFocus takes care of that). I think I just want it because it looks like really cool software and it would look really nice on my dock alongside my other Omni-apps.

Man, OmniGroup has really done me in. With such awesome software, the urge to buy more of their software is worse than my compulsion to buy new Apple gear. Good thing I don’t have the budget for the Apple gear but there is always a way to find $150 somewhere … damn you OmniGroup!!

(maybe I’ll download OmniPlan and use a trial license … just to see … I can look, can’t I? I just won’t touch …)

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omnifocus, omnigroup, omnioutliner, omnigraffle, omniplan

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I just read a scary article in IOL about the possible consequences of helping the migrant refugees from murderous township mobs:

A mob of angry South Africans attacked a mother and daughter who were handing out clothes to Zimbabwean asylum-seekers at the makeshift refugee camp on Cape Town’s Foreshore.

The attackers beat Alison Goldberg of Green Point to the ground before smashing the window of their 4×4 with a hammer and trying to drag her 16-year-old daughter Lili out of the car.

Lili, a Grade 10 pupil at St Cyprian’s, had been sitting in the back of the car passing clothes and blankets through an open window to her mother who was distributing them to the refugees.

During the frightening attack two weeks ago, Goldberg said all she could hear was her daughter screaming.

At the risk of being labelled a pessimist I have been waiting for reports like this. There are a number of wonderful initiatives on the go to assist these refugees and many many people who are working hard and risking themselves to help out. The problem is that by doing so these people are potentially becoming targets themselves just by helping out.

Obviously the intention is to stop all help to the refugees and force them out of the country (I am having a vague recollection of some threat to push all the whites/blacks in the country into the ocean many years ago during the darker days this country experience pre-1994) and these mobs are determined enough to sacrifice their fellow citizens for their “cause”. This isn’t a reason to stop helping out but it is a good reason for these volunteer angels to thing carefully about their personal security while helping out.

The same thing goes for people who are embarking on these protest marches. It is naive to think they won’t be attacked just as the refugees were. The line between refugees and their “conspirators” (aka compassionate South Africans) is a pretty thin line to a violent, murderous mob.

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vengeful, violence, xenophobia, refugees, volunteers

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