the law of averages » aside http://yergler.net/blog ...because eventually i'll be right... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:37:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/ Co-working In the Chronicle http://yergler.net/blog/2008/02/19/co-working-in-the-chronicle/ http://yergler.net/blog/2008/02/19/co-working-in-the-chronicle/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:50:33 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2008/02/19/co-working-in-the-chronicle/ Two and a half years after I mentioned it, six months after we almost made a go of it at the coffee shop in Fort Wayne, co-working is in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.

]]> http://yergler.net/blog/2008/02/19/co-working-in-the-chronicle/feed/ Modern Wilde http://yergler.net/blog/2007/07/20/modern-wilde/ http://yergler.net/blog/2007/07/20/modern-wilde/#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:02:47 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2007/07/20/modern-wilde/ Cat and Girl is always good, but this one is absolutely amazing. I’m always amazed at how adaptable Oscar is.

]]> http://yergler.net/blog/2007/07/20/modern-wilde/feed/ Would you hire a spammer? http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/23/would-you-hire-a-spammer/ http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/23/would-you-hire-a-spammer/#comments Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:41:26 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/23/would-you-hire-a-spammer/ I attended Purdue University, both at the main West Lafayette campus and the Fort Wayne branch campus, IPFW. IPFW has grown in a lot of exciting and promising ways over the past few years. When I started, I didn’t usually claim that I attended the Fort Wayne campus. Now I feel like that’s an important part of my educational background.

But one area that IPFW apparently hasn’t progressed in is faculty screening. In particular, Robert Palevich (aka Professor Spam) in the School of Business is an unrepentant spammer. For a while he would just periodically send out PDFs flogging his various “next growth business” seminars at the University. I’ve asked a few times to be removed from his mailings. Once I actually received a reply saying I’d been removed. Apparently he was just taunting me: I still receive the mailings.

In December or January, Professor Spam sent yet another email, and I decided to try another approach to quelling unsolicited email. So I emailed the Dean of the School of Business, John Wellington and the Chancellor of the University, Michael Wartell. I encouraged them both to set policy for unsolicited email, pointing out that it reflects poorly on the University, and given the forged headers and lack of clear removal instructions, violates the CAN-SPAM act. I didn’t receive any reply, but hoped the message had been received.

Today I received another unsolicited email from Professor Spam, this time encouraging me to hire a student. I can only assume that Priyanka Dhaka isn’t aware that Professor Spam is sending unsolicited email in an attempt to find her a job. If you interview her, you should ask her about that. And if you work with Robert Palevich, Michael Wartell or John Wellington, maybe you can ask them as well.

Or maybe you can just email or call them. You can reach John Wellington at 260-481-6061, or via email to wellingj@ipfw.edu. You can reach Professor Spam at 260-481-6945, or via email to palevicr@ipfw.edu. And finally, I encourage you to call Chancellor Wartell and ask him why his University supports spammers. You can call him at 260-481-6103 or email wartell@ipfw.edu.

You might wonder why I care if the level of spam is, by my own admission, around one per month. But that’s one too many each month; sending spam is not a socially reponsible or acceptable behavior.

UPDATE: Prof. Palevich emailed me moments ago to assure me I’d been removed from the list. Of course, I’ve heard that before, but it is a positive sign.

]]> http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/23/would-you-hire-a-spammer/feed/ Passing the buck http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/08/passing-the-buck/ http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/08/passing-the-buck/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2007 03:52:54 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/08/passing-the-buck/ Let’s say, just hypothetically, of course, that one day your laptop, which is less than six months old, suddenly has multiple failures: the backlight, optical drive and touch pad all die. So you call the unnamed manufacturer1 and arrange for service. They assure you that it will be repaired in 3-5 business days and overnight you a package.

Of course, when you look at the status on the web, the estimated return date is actually something like 7 business days, but no matter. And then the estimated return date comes and goes, and no laptop appears. So you call “Max” in lovely Bangalore, and he assures you that the backlight is being repaired and it will ship in 2-3 days, “maximum, sir2”.

Four days later you call. Two days after that. And finally you’re told that they’re waiting on a backlight, and that no, they don’t have one in, and that it won’t be in until the end of the month. This, of course, stretches your repair window from “3-5 days” to 30-40 days. And of course, they understand how frustrating it is, but really, what are they supposed to do? But miracle of miracles, you receive an email two weeks early saying “your laptop has shipped.”

Of course, in HP Mind-Fuck-Your-Customer Land, “shipped” doesn’t mean “shipped” exactly. It means “we told FedEx to pick it up but they didn’t. So it’ll be there in a few days. Hopefully.” This is essentially what I was told tonite when I called again. Let’s think about the logic:

  • First, we told FedEx to pick it up.
  • But they didn’t.
  • So we told them again.
  • And we assume they’ll pick it up now.

    And when I had the temerity to suggest to my helpful customer service rep that FedEx not picking up something was actually HP’s problem3, he said “No, sir, we told FedEx to pick it up. You should call them to complain.” Seriously?

    Hey Carly, wasn’t that merger supposed to make the company better at serving customers?

    1 What the hell, it’s HP.

    2 I should note that this is why I don’t worry about my job when I hear tales of outsourcing; I’ve yet to have a customer support interaction with one of the many “Max”, “Bob”, “Sam”, or “Andy”s that seem to populate the Indian sub-continent that actually left me feeling like that company cared to keep my business. That’s no way to treat a customer, let alone run a business.

    3 Since, well, I’m not FedEx’s customer, I’m HP’s, and seeing as this is my second HP notebook, I’m the most valuable kind: repeat. Well, I was the most valuable kind.

    ]]> http://yergler.net/blog/2007/02/08/passing-the-buck/feed/ Get Out! http://yergler.net/blog/2006/10/11/get-out/ http://yergler.net/blog/2006/10/11/get-out/#comments Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:59:30 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2006/10/11/get-out/ Today is National Coming Out Day. If you’re in the closet, I hope you’re trying on your mother’s shoes and lipstick. Since I’m already out (and have been for nearly 10 years now), I’ll celebrate by mentioning how amusing I find it that Wonkette is referring to the Foley-scandal-du-jour as the Cocktober Suprise Tee-hee.

    ]]>     http://yergler.net/blog/2006/10/11/get-out/feed/     Web 2.0… http://yergler.net/blog/2006/09/24/web-20/ http://yergler.net/blog/2006/09/24/web-20/#comments Sun, 24 Sep 2006 23:09:59 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2006/09/24/web-20/ Struggle as you may to define Web 2.0, the folks over at Tagly have figured it out.

    Tagly Screenshot

    It’s all about ripping off Flickr’s visual identity.

    ]]>     http://yergler.net/blog/2006/09/24/web-20/feed/     Geeks + Booze http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/28/geeks-booze/ http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/28/geeks-booze/#comments Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:01:11 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/28/geeks-booze/ If you’re a geek in the Fort Wayne area, join us on Monday, October 2, 2006, for the first booze-enabled Geek Dinner. The more we drink, the more we’ll incentive long-tail tag clouds™.

    ]]>     http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/28/geeks-booze/feed/     Hometown Pride http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/04/hometown-pride/ http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/04/hometown-pride/#comments Fri, 04 Aug 2006 22:12:36 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/04/hometown-pride/ My hometown, Bluffton, Indiana, is featured in today’s USA Today.  Apparently Bluffton is one of the first communities to implement a National League of Cities program on diversity and inclusion.  They’ll be placing signs stating “Welcome.  We are building an inclusive community.”  I don’t dislike Bluffton in general, but have chosen not to live there for a reason.  But I definitely like it when I can feel proud about something going on there.

    ]]>     http://yergler.net/blog/2006/08/04/hometown-pride/feed/     Overheard http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/31/overheard/ http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/31/overheard/#comments Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:42:39 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/31/overheard/ After OSCON last week I’m in San Francisco, getting some face time with the rest of the Creative Commons staff. Yesterday I went to the Up Your Alley fair, part of the Folsom Street Fair family. Billed as a “smaller, more local” event that only attracts 12,000 people, I think it’s an understatement to say we have nothing like this in Indiana. But the best part wasn’t the assless chaps, jock straps, harnesses or hot guys. It was what you heard.
    Guy 1: I’m gonna piss on you right here!
    Guy 2: Fuck yeah! But not here! These are designer jeans!

    ]]>     http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/31/overheard/feed/     And this suprises whom? http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/27/and-this-suprises-whom/ http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/27/and-this-suprises-whom/#comments Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:00:54 +0000 Nathan Y. http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/27/and-this-suprises-whom/ Since I’m traveling for two weeks and won’t get my hair did while on the road, I also won’t get my fix of People Magazine (and Teen People, natch). So I’m glad Ted is there to keep me up to date on breaking news: Lance is Gay. Must have been a slow news cycle if this is a cover story (even for People)—didn’t we see someone (anyone) paying a hooker this week?

    And yes, the first time I saw NSync on MTV, I thought, “wow, that guy takes it up the ass.”

    ]]>     http://yergler.net/blog/2006/07/27/and-this-suprises-whom/feed/