A formal e-apology

I didn’t know that the video on the ColumnBreak home page was not in service until I started using Mozilla Firefox regularly… and that kind of irks me. Sorry for not finding it out earlier. Hopefully it hasn’t deterred the steadily growing 20 percent of Firefox users.

Because of that, I’ve now got a new project where I have to convert the Microsoft Silverlight Web component to Adobe Flash, which requires me to learn Flash. Maybe it’s my calling… I started working with Flash, but then I found Silverlight, which seemed to be a more interactive, rich Web experience. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really caught on as much as I thought it would.

Flash and Flash Lite truly provide a lot more opportunities across multiple platforms and browsers, so for marketing purposes, that would be the way to go.

And since I didn’t make this Web site to sell oatmeal cookies, it looks like I might be busy learning more Web technologies for awhile…

Text messaging: urgency and occasionally unnecessary. A rant.

Up until mid-2006, I never was a fan of text messaging. I had enough minutes to call somebody, so why bother with spending two minutes to type a message on a crammed keypad? Then, I went to Japan, the land of text messaging. Making phone calls is still ridiculously expensive in Japan, so most people send e-mails through their phones to their contacts. The plus is that text messaging/e-mailing from a cell phone is fairly cheap; I remember when I was on my SoftBank plan, I had unlimited text messages/e-mail and unlimited Internet for about $9 a month. That’s about three times cheaper than AT&T’s plan in the United States.

With an unlimited text messaging plan, I didn’t mind getting pointless e-mails because they wouldn’t count towards a limit. But, after I returned to the United States, I knew that I wouldn’t use anywhere near 500+ text messages, so why bother paying $10+ alone for text messaging? I’m on a 200 text messages plan, and I use those for sending people casual notes. I don’t start conversations because if I wanted to talk to someone, I would just call them. I don’t see the point in engaging in a one-hour conversation through text messages that I could have in five minutes through voice calling.

And, seriously people, chain text messages? You don’t need to validate our relationship—as family or friends—with a pointless message that says “Little Sandy is sad. Text this to all your friends, and with the tracking number at the bottom, Sandy will see how many people made her day happier.” Hello~?! “Little Sandy” was probably just a bored intern who thought up “little Sandy” as a marketing technique… 15 years ago. Also, didn’t chain e-mails go out of style, oh, I don’t know, around the same time AOL did back in 2001?

Along the same lines, take advantage of the 160-character count in text messages. Texting back “ok” is fine if you know the person has unlimited text messaging, but when you know the person has a limited amount and gets charged for going over, be considerate. “ok” is not worth 15¢. And, jeez, combine messages if you have to. If someone asks “How’s it going? Did you make it home last night without getting lost?” Don’t reply with “I’m doing fine” and follow it up with a new message that says “yeah, I made it home.”

I’m laying down the law for those who text message me, even if it’s inadvertently. Beware, I will use the blacklist function on my phone.

Limited consumer relief for the holidays

I went in to Macy's to buy a particular item for a particular someone, only to find out that it wasn't on sale. Ok, ok, whatever, I guess it doesn't HAVE to be on sale for me to buy it, I thought. But then, I thought, what other stores might have it? I checked online, using Google's Product Search Mobile, and found out that online retailers price the item anywhere from 5 percent to 50 percent off--and yes, for the exact style and gender. What makes it even more disappointing is that, after looking on the Product Search Mobilee site, I found out that the item is roughly nine months old.

How can Macy's charge full price for an item that's almost a year old? It makes me wonder if they even care about the economy's current state and its affect on consumers--y'know, the people that buy Macy's MSRP-priced goods. I guess all those Macy's Day Parades during this holiday season really tapped them dry. My only hope is that the company lives up to its promise to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

As for me, this, along with the crowded malls, has reaffirmed my intentions to shop online rather than in stores. I'll continue to shop at the Rosses, Marshall'ses, and Targets out there, but, I'm telling you, the Internet is where it's at for the best deals. Who knows... you might be able to find something for 95 percent to 50 percent of the price compared to what's at the mall... or at Macy's.

*This entry was posted from my Windows Mobile device.

Making the gradual transition back to Firefox

As you may have read on one of my recent Twitter updates, I’m having difficulty with Windows Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Beta 2. When I open a new tab, it loads slowly even when I’m just opening a new tab for the heck of it. Also, IE8 Beta 2 crashes regardless of how many tabs I have open or how intensive the page loading is. Below is a picture of when I tried to open a single tab for Facebook and then tried to close it. It’s difficult to tell, but the popup menu window at the bottom is frozen on the screen. Bummer…

Lately, I found out that my friends and family are having the same issues with IE8 Beta 2. Quite frustrating, especially for those who aren’t computer savvy and don’t know that there are other Internet-browsing options such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

I hope the IE team at Microsoft has gotten word of this issue. I’d really rather use IE8 than Firefox 3, but if Firefox consistently gives me a better experience, I might end up sticking with it. In turn, that might make me abandon the Microsoft Silverlight components of my Web site, since Firefox 3 and Silverlight aren’t playing nicely. Oh, if only I could get those development hours back… I suppose learning Adobe Flash a little more in depth wouldn’t be so bad, seeing as how probably 90 percent of Web sites choose that as the platform for delivering an interactive Web experience.

Anybody else out there having trouble with IE8 Beta 2? Is moving to Firefox 3 a bad idea? Comments welcome!

A mobile application for you and even you over there

I'm building a mobile application in Flash Lite that is aimed at Windows Mobile devices, but it will also work on Symbian phones and, eventually, the iPhone and Android—once those two platforms get Flash Lite support.

Flash Lite is an interesting alternative to mobile development, especially for those who just can't figure out conventional application development methods... *cough* me! *cough*

(To give myself at least a little credit on behalf of my efforts, I do know enough coding to give a user the ability to close a program.)

The application, which will also work on Windows and Mac PCs, is a short, but detailed, guide on Japan and covers topics from sightseeing, restaurants, accommodations, and even music and videos.

I'm hoping for a mid-February release, but it all depends on if Adobe releases the Adobe Mobile Packager in mid-January as planned.

I think having it available before May—the cherry blossom season in Japan—would be really neat and produce some decent downloads. Hm, maybe I should come up with a mini marketing scheme for it...

Stay tuned!

Precursor to the Iraq-Bush shoe incident

Here's how I think the whole situation leading up to the shoe-throwing incident went down.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi (shoe hurler): I'm sitting in on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Bush's speech on Iraq.
Friend: I dare you to throw your shoes at him.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi: No way. I'll have no shoes.
Friend: How about for the freshest pair of Nikes?
Muntadhar al-Zeidi: Jordans?
Friend: Sure.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi: Deal.

*This entry was posted from my Windows Mobile device.

The day after :D

As many of you know (or maybe just 3 out of 5 of you), Yang and I got married yesterday.

Many thanks to everyone who made it out! I know that Sunday evening probably isn't the most ideal time to be out and about, but I think the turnout was pretty awesome, especially on only a few weeks' notice. Also, thanks to those who wish us well; just because you weren't there doesn't mean that your kind words didn't go unnoticed. :)

*This entry was posted from my Windows Mobile device.

Let's make sure that the Make-A-Wish Foundation gets $1 million this holiday season

This holiday season, Macy's will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for each "Dear Santa" letter that is deposited in the Santa mailbox at its stores. The cap set on the cumulative donation is $1 million. Everyone should take a couple minutes to write out their own "Dear Santa" letter.

No matter how old you are, there's gotta be something you want. Maybe an iPod? Financial relief? A vintage electric train set? World peace? Be creative!

It'd better to have 10 million "Dear Santa" letters and have $1 million donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation than 500,000 "Dear Santa" letters and only have a donation of $500,000. So grab a few friends, buy a book of stamps, and get to it! Be creative!