Wow. That’s all I can say right now. I’ve been having an issue for months with my American Express card where about 40%-50% of my online orders with it just fail right out of the shoot. I haven’t been able to figure out why, and neither could they. I used the correct address, I used the correct phone number, and I was assured that leaving out the apostrophe in my last name when entering the cardholder name was not an issue. It was a huge giant mystery to everyone involved.

Thanks to crappy UI design by NewEgg.com, I was able to solve the mystery! See, unlike other stores who actually take the time to try to auth your credit card inline with the store flow, NewEgg does not. And to add to their crappiness, they also don’t email you when your credit card auth subsequently fails. You have to go to their site and wade through several screens to see an unexplained “Attention” link next to your order.  I was lucky enought to notice this, since I had ordered something I was pretty anxious to receive.

Oddly enough their crappy multi auth flow is what helped crack this nut.  Other sites I just switch cards upon failure chalking it up to the mystery.  They wouldn’t let me switch cards on the order, even after calling in…

They had also required that I create an account to order and apply a coupon code I received.  Somewhat fair if they want to limit the code, but I could just create another account, so that methoid is a really poor control.  Now, you all know me as Myk.  That’s how I spell my name.  My legal name is Michael, but when I create accounts, I use my common name, since that is how I prefer to be addressed.  That is what has been wreaking havoc.  I won’t go into details over the whole debacale about why I had to remove the apostrophe from my last name online due to even worse usability issues on major web sites (think SQL escaping folks…)
These stupid sites use my account information name (Myk OLeary) as the name they pass for the credit card authorization INSTEAD OF the specifically requested, and correctly filled out CARDHOLDER NAME (Michael OLeary) field I filled out in the order flow.  This abbreviated nickname is unfamiliar, and unused by more than about 6-10 people in the world.

So to all E-Commerce sites (especially large ones like NewEgg.com) - ask for and use the cardholder name provided during the order flow to get a credit card auth, not some randomly provided incorrect account name.  I mean, what if I was using my mom’s or my wife’s card to order???  Time to get your heads out of your butts and make your sites work FOR your customers instead of AGAINST them!!!

There’s a discussion in the Lockergnome/Gnomedex IRC channel about words spelled funnily with u’s in them (colour, honour, etc…) It reminded me of a theory I’ve always had that I call the “Persistence of Consonants”

Basically, all the ‘r’s from Bostonians going to drink at the ‘ba’ or go driving in their ‘ca’ flow south to Pittsburgh where they’re used to ‘warsh’ clothes.

No matter how much people make fun of you for the way you talk or spell words, it’s all for a reason. Those extra letters come from someone else that is getting just as much grief about their dialect.

You have got to be kidding me!  My frigging goodness!  It’s not like he was being charged at and had to do a quick draw.  The guy he shot was still in a tree, far from being in a position of imminently threatening anyone.  He had the time to look down and verify the weapon before firing.  Now, if the guy was on the ground or in a position to jump at the firing cop, there may be some leeway; however, that was not the case.
This cop needs to lose his job — Gross incompetence at best…

BREMERTON - The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office has placed a deputy on administrative leave after the deputy shot and wounded a man in a tree with his gun instead of a Taser, the sheriff’s office said.The deputy meant to fire the Taser and not his gun on Thursday, but grabbed the wrong weapon, sheriff’s office spokesman Scott Wilson told the Kitsap Sun.

The deputy has been with the sheriff’s office for five years.

Deputies carry both a Taser and a gun on their utility belts. The Taser used is similar in shape to the 40-caliber compact model gun the deputy used, Wilson said.

The shooting is under investigation by State Patrol detectives, Wilson said.

One deputy attempted to discharge a Taser at the man, but when it did not work asked another deputy to fire a Taser. Instead of grabbing the Taser, the deputy grabbed and fired the gun, Wilson said.

Blakeslee, an employee with nearby B&B Auto Repair, described the man’s reaction to getting shot.

“He said, ‘Ow, that hurt, I’m coming down, I’m coming down,”‘ Blakeslee said.

My stomach turns at officers who are just so ego tripping that they actually ahve time to pull this crap.  Both officers should be fired.  They’re paid to serve and protect, not to jerk people around.

WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said Joshua Kelly and Llara Brook, of Chantilly, Va., got lost leaving an Orioles game on Saturday. Collins reported a city officer arrested them for trespassing on a public street while they were asking for directions .

TheWBALChannel.com - News - Couple Arrested For Asking For Directions

On a separate note, this reminds me of the time I missed a late night call from a good freind and co-worker.  The VM he left sounded very pleading.  He and another co-worker had gotten lost in Washignton DC on a business trip.  having lived in the area, he hoped I could help them find their way home.  Turns out they got lost in SE DC at about 1AM in the morning.  After failing to get a hold of me, they were able to find an open gas station and got out to talk to the employees.  Their quick and succinct response scared the living hell out of them.  They told them (this is a direct quote) "Get back in your car.  Go straight down that road.  Don’t stop until you see people who look like you."

Sometimes it pays to get directions, sometimes, it doesn’t.  Ladies, if you arent sure which time it is, YOU can get out of the car and ask.  Us guys, we’ll be in the car pretending we know where we are and wanting very badly just to get going again; just in case.

technorati tags: odd-news, cops, injustice, directions

Thief Steals Calif. Homeowner’s Front Yard
(AP): AP - It was a sod story for a Mojave Desert homeowner whose entire front yard — grass, bushes and sprinklers — was hauled away by a thief.

(Via Yahoo! News: Odd News.)

This _IS_ a sad story. Aileen and I have been spending buckets of time improving the yard at our new house. The previous owners weren’t the green thumb types, so there is still (even now, a year later…) quite a bit to do to get the lawn in shape.

The back yard now has a new raised 64 sqft vegetable garden. We decided to raise it since our soil here is very clay like and full of rocks. Not our garden!

The front yard has tons of new plants, a nicely dug rockery along the street, and buried soaker hoses. They complement last summer’s addition of solar lights well. We’ll take pictures in a couple weeks after at least a couple plants are blooming.

Add to that the new sand box, water table, playhouse, slide, and picninc table for kelsey and we’re gettign close to full use of the back yard. No more six foot weeds. Now, we just need to fix the hot tub, deck, and patio… whew. Oh yeah, and the wifi enabled webcam to take video to make sure this doesn’t happen to us too…

I was just checking through my email and found this in a spam:

Goodday Sir/Madam,

I am pleased to introduce a business opportunity that will be beneficial to
both you and me. It involves transferring to your overseas account the sum of
($7.5;US Dollars)

WOW!  I can get almost $8 bucks by replying?  It’ll cost me more than that just to open the overseas account!  Come on guys, pony up some real cash if you expect to pull in folks with your scams.

I’m scheduled for an MRI next week, and so this post I found on Reddit hit home.  Very scientific study and some decent explanations of the how and why.  Actually intersteing in a non smutty way if you’re into science. 

Pharyngula: Sex in the MRI

Now I do have to wonder, why did it take so long for this to happen?  Read the 2nd paragraph about other methods of research and ask yourself how the heck they could be more accurate than this study… 

technorati tags: sex, mri, science, research

I was waiting in the lobby of the DR this morning waiting for the ultrasound technician to come out, and was reading an old issue of Audubon. I found an interesting tidbit about squirrels. They apparently have massively flexible ankles. From the article:

See for yourself. When you next spot a squirrel making its trunk-borne descent, observe its hind feet. They actually point backward! This unlikely placement is made possible by super-flexible subtalar joints between the anklebone and the heel bone, which allow the back paws to rotate nearly 180 degrees.

( via Boing Boing )

An (authentic?) Enigma machine has been seen on eBay. It is currently at a bid of €9.998,00 with 5 days & 11 hours to go. This is a piece fit for any collector of historical instruments. From the auction:

Fine example of a WW II Enigma cipher machine in a very good condition and a great history; full functional. Year of construction 1941 by Manufacturer Chiffriermaschinen Gesellschaft Heimsoeth and Rinke, Berlin. The Enigma machine is placed in an oak woodwork case. Three high-quality, all-metal, matched rotors and an Umkehrwalze “B”. The rotors are continuous numbered; serial numbers has been removed. There are two spare rotors in an additional small wooden box. Plug board is lettered QWERTZU…, wheels numbered 1-26. 100% Original!!! No Copy!!

I’m glad the toddler in this story wasn’t hurt, or I couldn’t have spent the last 10 minutes laughing my ass off. Yes, that kid is INSIDE the toy machine! I’ve always wanted to win one of these things. Now I know the way to do that is to get my daughter to just climb on in and grab the toys for me!

Seriously though, this shows us how damn fast young kids are. You could argue lackluster parenting since the kid was unsupervised long enough to get in there, but I wouldn’t place that much blame on the parents. Even at the dinner table in her high chair, Kaela can pull the magician’s trick of drop the spoon; only to go for the object we’ve been keeping out of her reach. Kids are talented I tell ya…

wcco.com - Boy Gets Stuck Inside Toy Vending Machine

When the 3-year-old Austin, Minn. boy crawled through the discharge chute of a Toy Chest claw machine at a Godfather’s Pizza here, he ended up on the other side of the glass surrounded by stuffed animals.

Rescuers had to pry the door open to get Devin out, though the boy was in no hurry to leave.

“When we got it open, he didn’t want to come out,” Fire Chief Dan Wilson said Tuesday. “One of my firefighters had to reach inside and get him. He was happy in there.”