4/28/2008

Philips Customer "Care"

I recently sent a message to Philips customer support, asking about a specific feature of a gadget of mine.

The first reaction I got was - nothing. They mention that they would reply within four business days, so I sent them a reminder a week later.

This time I got a response, saying
  1. due to maintenance they only received my email today
  2. they could not help me with my question until I provide the serial number, purchase date, etc., etc. of my gadget.

Well, Philips, this is for you:
  1. Do you seriously ask me to believe this?
  2. Why? What harm could it possibly cause to provide instructions for my device, even if I did not own the thingy?
  3. and here's my bottom line: this was the first and last Philips gadget I ever bought/will buy from Philips.

4/18/2008

Privacy, Cell Phones, and Working on the Train

These days you hear everyone complaining about privacy concerns. At the same time people openly (and loudly) speak on their cell phones about private lives, finances, work, etc. Some even work during their train rides on confidential material. Just recently I was able to fully read the documents of a law suit while a lawyer worked on them - I don't want to be his client!

While I can't blame people to make the best use of their time, I feel that they are somewhat schizophrenic when they complain about privacy at the same time. They seem to be willing to openly discuss things when everyone can listen in, which they would probably not even tell their closest friends.

P.S.: A nice interlude on a train ride was this: I was working on my laptop computer (I do have a shield, so nobody can read my materials) when a young lady started discussing a crisis with her future-ex-boyfriend. I was finished with my work and stowed away my laptop, so the person opposite me asked me whether I stopped working because of the loud phone call (note that so far this did not evict the slightes reaction from the lady). I replied "No, but listening to this is much more fun!" in a low voice. Apparently she did hear this and immediately stopped the phone call, so it was quiet for the rest of the ride.

4/09/2008

My Favourite Firefox Add-Ins

AdBlock + Adblock Filterset.G
to get rid of annoying ads on web pages (yes, I know they finance themselves through ads, and I do allow those that I want to support)

del.icio.us Bookmarks

not only are my bookmarks available from everywhere - this toll also organizes them by tags and allows for searching

Firebug

essential for developers

FlashGot + Free Download Manager plugin (FDM)

a must-have for downloading stuff

FoxyProxy

allows you to use multiple proxies dependant on the URL

IE Tab
sadly, this is necessary because there are still web sites out there that render only in IE

NoScript

protection against malware

Redirect Remover
for better privacy - I hate it when search results tell the search engine, which links I followed

Session Manager
Saves your browsing sessions, in particular when FF crashes, but also whenever you wish to save so you can return later, and of course when you close FF, so you do not need to fear loosing information by closing FF any longer.

Temporary Inbox
you have to enter your email address every so often. This allows you to use a temporary email address and receive emails for verification too

Tree Style Tab
shows tabs as a tree, opens new windows from one tab as a sub-tab, and allows you to close a whole branch

Web Developer

essential for developers

YSlow

nice-to-have for developers

I also use these from time to time (nice to have): Download Statusbar, Forecastfox, Map+, Media Pirate, PDF Download, Usewr Agent Switcher

4/01/2008

Firefox — Display Search Results in New Tab

I have seen so many posts on how to tweak the configuration of Firefox to make sure that when searching from the search bar the results will always open in a new tab. I don't really get why you would want to do this, and here is why.

I like the following option much better: use the search bar and press Alt+Enter to have the search results appear in a new tab. This gives you the option to use Enter for subsequent searches and not open a new tab for each.

If you still want to change your FF configuration, you can find instructions here. Never minid that it mentions FF3, it also works for FF2.
adaxas Web Directory