Category Archives: Ramblings

Bad customer service is bad for business

Shortly after I went after Sprint for horrendously bad customer service, their CEO stepped down as the company was about to announce yet another bad quarter. Shortly after I went after Motorola for horrendously bad customer service and deceptive marketing, their CEO was replaced after the company announced another bad quarter. This is not coincidence.

Why I was almost late to work this morning

Continuing the theme of the day… I coded and submitted an enhancement to INN’s “makehistory” program to support throttling by load average, so that my computer at home won’t be completely hosed for a half hour after every unclean shutdown and restart while makehistory rebuilds my news history file.

Would you buy from these people?

Seen this morning on a truck which claimed to be from a company called “Assorted Stone & Cabinet”:  “COVER CONNETICUT & MASSECHUSETTE” There was also a lot of Chinese writing on the truck, so one might reasonably assume that the company is owned by people who are not native English speakers.  Nevertheless, maybe they could… Read More »

Computers that feel pleasure

Apparently, the United States Postal Service has made a remarkable breakthrough in artificial intelligence. This evening, I bought stamps from an USPS Automated Postal Center (APC) kiosk. As I was leaving after completing my purchase, the kiosk bid me farewell with the following message: “It was my pleasure to serve you.” Remarkable!

“The No Asshole Rule”

I recently won a contest at www.trenchmice.com, and one of the prizes I received was the recently released book by Robert I. Sutton, Ph.D., The No Asshole Rule — Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn’t. It’s a fabulous book, and one I heartily recommend.

Elly Kulesza: Parenting skills aren’t the problem

The news media and the net are awash in opinions about Gerry and Julie Kulesza, the couple whose 3-year-old daughter Elly threw such a tantrum before take-off on an AirTran flight that the airline removed them from the flight.

Lost and Found

Remember back on the playground, when you lost a favorite knickknack and later saw another kid playing with it? “Finders keepers, losers weepers!” the finder chanted, and that was the end of it, for how could you challenge such a time-honored saying? It is not surprising that children would resort to this defense, but how… Read More »