/dev/null/kevin

I blogged about this last week, and now there is a site devoted to destruction caused by the Nintendo Wii.  Who knew such damage was common place?  In spite of the dangers, I'll probably still get one.  Penny Arcade has also taken notice of the trend and Nintendo has released a warning.

Tags: wii, games, nintendo
 

Perhaps the title of this entry should have been "things that make me want to puke."  Cyber Monday is such a thing.

First of all: "cyber."  Eee-ick.  1998 called and wants that prefix back (and yes, 1997 called and wants that joke back).  Since when has the term "cyber-anything" been used by anyone who actually knew what they were talking about?  Never, that's when.  People who use the term "cyber" are the same people who didn't see the plot holes in Independence Day and Signs. 

Second: "Monday."  Why Monday?  According to the "experts" it's because people do all of their shopping at work using their work computer.  That's a pretty bad assumption.  Anyone who would actually buy something online probably already has a computer at home (or a smart phone or PDA), and if they do then why wait until Monday?  Why not shop on Saturday or Sunday?  I'm sure people will, and do, shop at work, but there shouldn't be a huge bump just on that Monday.

Third, why is the media just blindly parroting this story?  The term is only 1 year old and wasn't even correct last year.  While there was increased web traffic that day, it was not the busiest online shopping day.  I expect that trend to continue.

So, here is my prediction, and hope, for Cyber Monday:  It will die the horrible death that it deserves.  As more people get "wired" (to use another really old and obsolete term), people will not be waiting until Monday to shop and they will not do so from their work computers and more than they already do.  People who use the term "Cyber Monday" will also be mocked and ostracized.

Best Buy sucks.  I want to get that out right away so it appears in the synopsis of this entry.

I was sucked into getting up at the butt-crack of dawn so I could wait in line for Best Buy to open.  Their newspaper flyer advertised all kinds of amazing deals, only available from 5am to noon.  Vouchers for certain key items would be handed out starting at 4am!

I didn't expect to be first in line arriving at 3:45am, but I didn't expect to be 800th.  Yes, there were at least 700 people in the line already, and many had partners keeping warm in cars nearby.  You'd think they were selling Playstation 3s inside, but no.

Now, any rational person would have just left (and if had been able to see the line before I parked, I would have), but I decided to tough it out.  I put aside any expectations of getting the huge sales ($379 Centrino laptops, $189 Celeron desktop systems, $999 42" plasma TVs ), but I held out hope for the cheap DVDs, DVD players and SD cards.

The doors opened at 5:00am and I actually stepped in to the store around 5:15.  BTW, I was in the first third of the line by the time the store opened.  My patience was rewarded, as I did find a cheap compact-DVD player, lots of cheap ($2.99) DVDs and even the 2GB and 1GB CD cards for $29.99 and $14.99.  Now, just to pay and get out.

Ha.

Again, I didn't expect to just find an empty register and get out.  I expected to wait up to 30 minutes to check out.

Ha.  Again.

I got in line at 5:30am.  My receipt is stamped 7:22am!  That is why Best Buy sucks.  Let me say it again for the search engines: Best Buy Sucks!

Just a simple matter of huge crowds?  No.  This flaw is by design!   You see, if you want to buy an item, say a camera, you have to wait in the camera line.  Even if you are just buying a camera accessory (like an SD card) then you also have to wait in the same line.  Here's the good part: this line is also the checkout line.  And by "checkout line" I mean a single cashier with a single register.  Forget that huge bank of multi-tasking checkout stations they have at the front of the store!  We at Best Buy are going to create several long, snaking lines that are being processed by a single guy.

If I had wanted to buy a computer, I would have had to wait in the computer line.  And if I had wanted to buy both a computer and a camera, I would have had to wait in BOTH lines.  Yeah.

So what happened is that once people learned of these lines, the lines grew huge and long.  No one in line was shopping for anything else, so Best Buy was actually losing sales!  Smart!  The guy in front of me said that he never had a chance to buy any DVDs because he needed to get a camera before they ran out.  They also pissed off every single person in these "specialty" lines.  You can image people's agitation at taking half an hour just to move 10 feet (no exaggeration!) and then seeing that the line fed into a single cash register instead of the huge bank of registers at the front of the store.

About an hour into the checkout fiasco I asked one of the (actually helpful) floor staff (named Drew) if I could speak to a manager about the line situation.  He went up to his supervisor (Sherwin) and relayed my request.  I could hear Sherwin's response myself, "Well that's too bad!  This is the way it is!"  And then Sherwin stomped off in a huff.

I didn't expect to talk to a manager at that point, but Drew persisted and found someone willing to talk to me, but I had to go to him, he wouldn't come to me.  Since the risk of the line actually moving was nil, my line mates swore to save my place.  The new manager (Armando) pleasantly told me, "this is the way it is," and that "there was a reason for this."  He went on about how each department had to check out their own merchandise and other nonsense.  I told him he was an idiot and this plan obviously wasn't working, and that even a single cashier should be able to process the line faster than it was.  He then informed me that Brian Burke, the general manager, was the real idiot behind this "planning" and he would "relay my concerns" to him.

This went on for about five minutes, right up until I remember the old axiom "never argue with an idiot because you can't win."  I went back to my place in line (which, of course, hadn't moved).  On the way back, I figured out why the line was moving so slowly, even with only one cashier.  The reason was that  the cashier didn't just ring people up, he had to go and get all of the "behind the counter" items for people.  Good system.

About 10 minutes later, something amazing happened: we moved more than an inch at a time.  It was like three whole feet.  My legs almost cramped from the exertion.  What happened?  Our line started being directed to the bank of registers in the front.  Well, one of them anyway.  I guess each department doesn't have to checkout its own merchandise after all.  Just like every other day of the year.  :-|

Right before it was my turn to be "next," the guy in front of me asked for the camera that he had been promised when he entered the line.  Guess what?  Gone.  90 minutes for nothing.  Sherwin had taken his name to reserve the camera but had failed to actual hold the camera for him.  And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding (yes, that's a Seinfeld reference).  Once again, good system!

I sure hope my line mate got something for his troubles.  I still had troubles of my own.  Having been directed to "register #5" (the newly opened one that had here-to-before been unable to check me out), I though my ordeal was over.  Nope.  Seems that the cashier was now having to play salesman and explain the newspaper flyer to a couple buying a laptop for their son.  They couldn't figure out which one to buy, so they bought two (so they could return one).  That's two laptops that the cashier has to now leave the register to go fetch.  I'm not even sure whose fault this is, but it's not mine!

Time passed (slowly).  I saw my line mate still arguing about the camera.  Ah!  The cashier returned with two laptops.  But wait!  These laptops come with free printers, so it's back to the secret place for my cashier.  Longest.  Day.  Ever.  Again he returned.  "Can you ring these up separately?"  Of course you ask that.

At last it was my turn!  Time: 7:21.  I'm out by 7:22.  I felt like I should have taken more time to preserve the status quo.  Maybe cashier #5 can give my legs a massage after standing in 3 hours of lines.  Maybe not.

So, to sum things up:

• Best Buy, Store 190: Sucks
• Brian Burke, General Manager: Huge Idiot
• Armando, Floor Manager: Polite Idiot
• Sherwin, Floor Supervisor: Rude and Incompetent Idiot
• Drew, Floor Staff: Smart, polite, sympathetic  and helpful.  He must be new.

Happy Holidays!

Tags: blackfriday, shopping, bestbuy

I probably won't be blogging over the US Thanksgiving holiday, so an early jab at dumb people.  The first dumb person is ...

• Me - For not buying Google stock, even at the "ridiculous" price of $100.


• Google's Calendar Team - Great system, except for one huge flaw.  They've been "working on a fix" for months now.  Careful guys, that might cut into your $500 stock price.
  


• Dave "Mega Pixels Don't Matter" Pogue - OK, I'm being harsh calling him "dumb" but a tech reporter for the New York Times should know better.  This guy took a 13 mega-pixel image, down rezzed it twice to 8 and 5 MP, and then blew up all three images into 16 x 24 inch prints.  Then on the streets of New York, where photography experts constantly roam the streets, he tried to find people who could tell the difference.  Read the comments for lots of good explanations why he missed the point, but it was fairly obvious (to me) that resampling a 13 MP image down to 5 MP would produce a superior image than that taken by a 5MP camera to begin with.  Dave needs to look up the term anti-aliasing.

Dave is correct in that the average person does not need a 13 megapixel camera (or even 8 MP), but that's like saying the average person doesn't need to live in a castle.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Tags: google, calendar, photography

I've heard lots of great things about the Nintendo Wii, but this isn't one of them.  Oops!  Apparently, the "wiimote" wrist strap broke while this guy was playing bowling and it flew into the TV, breaking the glass on his 60" TV.  I'm sensing a word... it's "recall."

Tags: nintendo, wii, controller, wiimote

A while back I blogged about incompatibilities between iTunes and Yahoo's Musicmatch Jukebox.  That issue is still unresolved, but there were some comments about which interface is better.  In the spirit of fair play, I decided to give iTunes a try.  Note that I an not comparing the online music stores, just the players.

Summary: iTunes has more player options, but Musicmatch is a better ripper and organizer.  Musicmatch still wins, in my opinion.

Many features are available with both players and comparing those features is not really valuable, so I'll try to just focus on the differences.  I'm not claiming to be an expert with either program so if you know how to do something that I don't, let me know.

iTunes Pros:

• Lots of statistics.  iTunes keeps track of how often songs are played and can use that information to generate a playlist.  It's also easier to add your own personal ratings with iTunes since you can also do so via your iPod.


• Better "between song" features.  iTunes realizes that some songs need to be played right after other songs with no gaps.  It also has the cross fader feature that blends songs together like a DJ.
  


• "Endless" random play.  iTunes' "Party Shuffle" is slightly better the MM's "auto DJ" since it's open ended.  MM requires that you enter a total time and then generates a fixed playlist.
  


• iTunes' search is better and faster.  MM is a little clunky.

iTunes Cons:

• Doesn't play all mp3 files well!  This surprised me.  I have some older mp3s, ripped in the old days, and when iTunes plays them there is digital static for the first few seconds.  It's very annoying.
  

Musicmatch Pros:

• Tagging and super tagging.  Musicmatch absolutely blows away iTunes in this area.  iTunes only allows you to edit one song at a time.  iTunes can edit more than file at a time, but in a very limited fashion [see comments].  Musicmatch can edit multiple songs at one time, use one song to tag other songs, tag files based on the filename, and even rename the files based on the tags.  But the best feature is access to the online database of tags, and album art, that allow you to tag an entire album based on some search criteria.
  


• Mini player is better.  It's more mini.


• Fast ripping.  Very fast.

Musicmatch Cons:

• Can't update my iPod.  'nuff said.

It seems to me that iTunes is really geared towards Apple's iTunes store and playing music that has already been tagged and downloaded.  Musicmatch, while it also has a large online music store (Yahoo Music now), was written for the old school crowd (like me), who rip their own CDs and like to manage the meta data themselves.

For me, may of iTunes' "pros" aren't as important to me, so I'd like to stick with Musicmatch.  Now only if someone would fix this incompatibility problem.

Tags: itunes, music, musicmatch, apple, yahoo

 Here are more things that make me wonder why intelligence tests at voting booths is a bad idea.

• Drivers who have never seen a goat before.   - These goats have been around for years.  Years!  Why has no one ever noticed them before? 


• Slow carpool lane drivers.  - I'm all for safe driving, but do not drive in the carpool lane if you're going to go slower than the other lanes.  Okay?  I don't know if it's the solo hybrid drivers or just clueless carpools, but I would rather have car pool cheaters than these road boulders.  At least the cheaters keep up with the flow of traffic.


• This guy, who can't even answer the first question on Millionaire.  I'll take "Morons" for $100, Alex.


• I didn't post last Friday, but getting dumped by text message is so stupid it's awesome.  Especially when it's K-Fed.
  

Those of you who have the new Playstation 3 and want to use it with your HDTV and the HDMI interface, take note.

First, if you have an older HDTV, i.e. one that doesn't support 720p resolution, prepare to be disappointed.  The PS3 will down-rev your revolution to 480p, not up-rev it to 1080i.  Sad.

Next, it's being reported that there are small, non-fatal, glitches when using the HDMI interface.  You can see the report from the CheapAssGamer.com of view the YouTube video from CheapyD.

What you may not notice is that buried in the comments are a fix from CheapyD himself:

Sadly, this "fix" uncovers a new problem. Stay tuned for if there is another fix.

I don't have a PS3 yet and I may hold off on buying one. 

Update [01/18/2007]: This may be a general problem with HDMI and HDCP.  

Tags: ps3, hdmi, playstation3, hdcp

Apparently, I missed the original announcement and press coverage, but Wells Fargo's new "envelope-less" ATMs are really cool.

I went to the ATM to deposit a check and couldn't find any envelopes, or even empty envelope bins.  I then noticed a whole bunch of signs saying "no envelopes needed!"  OK, so I started the process: PIN, deposit, to-checking... INSERT CHECKS.  Really?  Now?  I hadn't even entered how much I was depositing yet.  Guess what?  I don't need to!  It scans the check and gets the amount.  Nice.  It then displays the scanned check and lets me confirm that it got the amount correct.

 However, the coolest part was at the end of the transaction.  My deposit receipt included a small image of the scanned check that I just deposited!

Tags: ATM, wellsfargo, deposit, envelope, scanning

If you are a hard core Trekkie (or Trekker), then this is for you. This scale model U.S.S. Enterprise measures approximately 32.7" x 16" and comes with stand. Cost?  Only US$1200.  Maybe I should have said, "hard core, rich Trekker."

Not a Star Trek fan?  How about Star Wars?  You can also buy the Millennium Falcon Studio Scale replica  for only US$2200.  Use the force, and your Visa card, Luke!

Tags: scifi, enterprise, millenium falcon, star wars, star trek

Yup, gas prices are back up again.  You'd think they would at least try to make it not so obvious.  My local gas station went up 5 cents on Tuesday.

 Tags: election, gas

Let's all predict which will be the bigger news story tonight:  The US elections, or Britney Spears divorcing Kevin Federline.  I think the odds makers are putting this at even money right now.

Update [08 Nov 2006]:  To the TV news' credit, I didn't see a single story about Britney, but this morning's radio shows were all about Britney and had little to say about the election results.

Tags: election, britney spears 

Not much time today, so this will be quick.

• Already mentioned him, but Kanye West definitely qualifies.  Get over yourself already.
  


•  I couldn't be Stupid Friday without this guy.  I've got nothing against gays or evangelical Christians, but I do hate me the hypocrites.  I also hate the really bad liars because it's just insulting.  Maybe Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggart can form a musical trio called "Thanks for Buying my Yacht, Suckers!"


• John Kerry.  Just shut up, man!  You botched the joke and the explanation.  Is Karl Rove paying you?
  

Tags: hypocrites, Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, religion

Yes, I was right the first time.  Kanye West is a moron.

 Tags: morons, kanye west
 

Here's a picture of my three year old daughter at Pump It Up in Sunnyvale, CA.  The best part of this place is that Dad can play, too!

Tags: slides, kids, fun