Please excuse my rant from yesterday. I've found an awesome service to use for my custom online radio needs. It's slacker.com -yes, I know I complained about them yesterday, but as long as you create an account and LOG IN before creating your custom station, you should be fine.
I recreated my station yesterday and listened to it from 9am to 4pm with NO ADS, NO COMMERCIALS, and I can pause a song whenever I want. There are 2 downsides: 1, it doesn't introduce music from artists that are similar to those on your list. I kinda liked that about LAUNCHcast. I found some awesome new music that way. But, with the trade-offs, it's no contest. I'll stick with slacker.com -after all, there's a lot of music from the artists on my list that I've never heard, and I can always add new artists when I hear them on the radio. The only other issue is a limit of 6 "skips" per hour. Since they only play artists on your list, I don't see that as a big deal. I never ran into the limit on LAUNCHcast and they used to throw "featured artists" into my mix like "Super Gansta Daddy and his Gang of Pimps" WTF!?! Where did that come from?
So, if you're using LAUNCHcast, I suggest you give slacker.com a try!
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Why in the he!! is listening to music on the internet so hard!?!
I stumbled upon Yahoo's LAUNCHcast service a few months ago and I absolutely loved it. I spent a good hour searching for and adding artists that I liked to it so it'd play the music I like. Sometimes it'd choose off-the-wall artists to play like the Notorious MSG or this band that plays a song called "Are We Not Horses" that's really odd, but I loved it. So, I endured the ads and the limits on pausing and skipping because I loved how most of what it played was right-on in my book. Then, yesterday, I was rocking out to some Ani Difranco song or something and all of a sudden the music stopped. "Are you still there?" the player asked... I quickly clicked "Yes" so it'd continue the music and it did... but it started a new song. GRRR! That's happened to me before too. I don't want to be forced to rate or re-rate each song that's playing to avoid the player stopping in the middle of a song. And I refuse to pay for a radio service, personalized or not. After all, my entire CD collection is on my computer in mp3 format, so I can listen to my own music for free -I just like mixing it up a little with these online services.
So, I searched for a new customizable internet radio service and I found Slacker.com Awesome! It didn't even ask me to log in before creating my station which I saved as "dsmgirl". Again, it took me quite awhile to build up my preferred artists list -I searched for and added all the artists from my mp3 collection as well as from my LAUNCHcast list. When I was finally done, I played the station and listened to about a half hour of awesome music ad-free. It even tells you what artist they'll be playing next!
But, after about a half hour it told me that if I wanted to continue listening, I needed to create an account. Ok. No biggie. I created an account. I was thrilled with the service, so why not? Afterwards, though, I couldn't seem to find the station I had just created!?! I sent them "feedback" about it, including my email address like it said "so they could get back to me", but so far nothing. I'm music-less. I'm not creating the profile again.
Over dinner I ranted about this to Ed and he told me about Last FM -the service he uses. It's a social site that hooks into Mugshot and has a little program you can download that syncs your Winamp and Windows Media Player playlists with their service. Awesome! I went straight home and signed up, downloaded the program and found out that it doesn't just upload your playlists for you, it uploads them as you listen to the songs. Poop. Okay, well, I just let Winamp play through my music all night. By morning it was only at "F", but what at least it's automatic, right?
Well, I hadn't actually played any music on Last FM last night because I couldn't figure out how to do it. The interface blows. I could barely figure out how to add music to my profile! And even then, you add songs, not artists, so it's super tedious and slow. But, hey, there are no limits on skipping or ads (per Ed), the social aspect is nice, and the fact that it'll hook into my Mugshot page is pretty cool too, right? Wrong. The deal with Last FM is that you can play other people's stations, but not your own unless you pay. Great. I just wasted more time building a profile for a useless service. How hard is this you greedy f#ckers?
Come on. Give me a station I don't have to pay for. I guess I'm going back to Slacker and rebuilding my profile under my own account to see if that works. I think they are my best bet at this point.
Blah
So, I searched for a new customizable internet radio service and I found Slacker.com Awesome! It didn't even ask me to log in before creating my station which I saved as "dsmgirl". Again, it took me quite awhile to build up my preferred artists list -I searched for and added all the artists from my mp3 collection as well as from my LAUNCHcast list. When I was finally done, I played the station and listened to about a half hour of awesome music ad-free. It even tells you what artist they'll be playing next!
But, after about a half hour it told me that if I wanted to continue listening, I needed to create an account. Ok. No biggie. I created an account. I was thrilled with the service, so why not? Afterwards, though, I couldn't seem to find the station I had just created!?! I sent them "feedback" about it, including my email address like it said "so they could get back to me", but so far nothing. I'm music-less. I'm not creating the profile again.
Over dinner I ranted about this to Ed and he told me about Last FM -the service he uses. It's a social site that hooks into Mugshot and has a little program you can download that syncs your Winamp and Windows Media Player playlists with their service. Awesome! I went straight home and signed up, downloaded the program and found out that it doesn't just upload your playlists for you, it uploads them as you listen to the songs. Poop. Okay, well, I just let Winamp play through my music all night. By morning it was only at "F", but what at least it's automatic, right?
Well, I hadn't actually played any music on Last FM last night because I couldn't figure out how to do it. The interface blows. I could barely figure out how to add music to my profile! And even then, you add songs, not artists, so it's super tedious and slow. But, hey, there are no limits on skipping or ads (per Ed), the social aspect is nice, and the fact that it'll hook into my Mugshot page is pretty cool too, right? Wrong. The deal with Last FM is that you can play other people's stations, but not your own unless you pay. Great. I just wasted more time building a profile for a useless service. How hard is this you greedy f#ckers?
Come on. Give me a station I don't have to pay for. I guess I'm going back to Slacker and rebuilding my profile under my own account to see if that works. I think they are my best bet at this point.
Blah
Friday, July 13, 2007
Amazon's "Customer Service"
Okay, I think this has some humor value, so I'm gunna share:
On Wednesday I got an email advertisement from Amazon about some sale on a DVD or something that I wasn't interested in. I followed the link at the bottom of the email to change my email preferences. When the page loaded, I checked the box that said I still wanted to be notified of legalese changes as well as the box that said I wanted to be notified when my magazine subscriptions were due to expire, but the rest I UNchecked. Then I clicked "Save" and when the page loaded again, while it said that my changes had been saved, the boxes all came up checked again!?!
So, I went back to check the confirmation email in order to see if my preferences were saved correctly or not. The email said I was UNsubscribed from ALL communication from Amazon! That's definitely not what I wanted!
At this point, I'm thinking maybe it's just a Firefox thing, so I opened my email preferences page on Amazon on my other workstation, in IE6 and the same exact thing happened.
So, I went back to Amazon and found their customer service form, filled it out as specifically as I could, including the information about the 2 different browsers, etc and I hit "Send".
The next day I receive this response:
Ok, so I click on the Help page link, but all the info on that page is about ordering. There's nothing about changing preferences of any sort. So, all they really gave me was a link to the unsubscribe page that STILL DOESN'T WORK FOR ME!!! (I tried it again to be sure.) So, I click on the link that says that the email did not resolve my question, which takes me to another customer service form. Ok, I'll bite. -I wrote them back pointing out the fact that I wrote them about a problem with their unsubscribe page and I got back a link to the unsubscribe page.
Today I received this:
...a second link to the unsubscribe page. I clicked on the "didn't help" link again. I'm not calling customer service about this issue, it's really their problem more than mine. I just wonder if their email is being answered by bots or just people who can't read... Should I keep trying? Nah, I have a "3 strikes and you're out" policy. If I get another link, then I'll finally take the hint and start ordering from smaller stores that actually answer their emails properly. :-P
**UPDATE** A few hours after I posted this I got 8 UNPROMPTED confirmation emails from Amazon saying that I was unsubscribed from the 3 email types I actually WANTED, and subscribed to the other 3 that I didn't(?). The upside, though, is that I was able to change it this time -after hitting "Save" the correct boxes stayed checked and my latest confirmation email is correct. Finally.
On Wednesday I got an email advertisement from Amazon about some sale on a DVD or something that I wasn't interested in. I followed the link at the bottom of the email to change my email preferences. When the page loaded, I checked the box that said I still wanted to be notified of legalese changes as well as the box that said I wanted to be notified when my magazine subscriptions were due to expire, but the rest I UNchecked. Then I clicked "Save" and when the page loaded again, while it said that my changes had been saved, the boxes all came up checked again!?!
So, I went back to check the confirmation email in order to see if my preferences were saved correctly or not. The email said I was UNsubscribed from ALL communication from Amazon! That's definitely not what I wanted!
At this point, I'm thinking maybe it's just a Firefox thing, so I opened my email preferences page on Amazon on my other workstation, in IE6 and the same exact thing happened.
So, I went back to Amazon and found their customer service form, filled it out as specifically as I could, including the information about the 2 different browsers, etc and I hit "Send".
The next day I receive this response:
Hello from Amazon.com.
I'm sorry you encountered problems while using our web site to
unsusbscribe from the sales emails.
As a customer, you'll occasionally receive e-mail updates about
important functionality changes to the web site, new Amazon.com
services, and special offers we believe would be beneficial to you.
We hope you'll find these updates interesting and informative.
However, if you'd rather not receive these mailings, please let us
know by visiting this URL:
http://www.amazon.com/unsubscribe/
Click "Customer Communications Preferences." On the next page you
will be able to choose which communications you want to receive from
us, and which ones you don't want to receive.
Please note that it may take several business days to process such
requests, and you may receive one or two additional e-mails before
the unsubscribe process has been completed. We apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Kindly note that, many common problems can be solved by adjusting
your browser settings. We've posted some easy troubleshooting tips
in our Help pages:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=3528941
If these suggestions fail to solve the problem, please call us when
it's convenient for you. You may either use the "contact us by
phone" button in our Help pages, or call one of the numbers below.
We're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at:
US and Canada: 1-800-201-7575
International: 1-206-266-2992
I appreciate your patience in this matter.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=ayubfrdu3401517411
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=ayubfrdu3401517411
Ok, so I click on the Help page link, but all the info on that page is about ordering. There's nothing about changing preferences of any sort. So, all they really gave me was a link to the unsubscribe page that STILL DOESN'T WORK FOR ME!!! (I tried it again to be sure.) So, I click on the link that says that the email did not resolve my question, which takes me to another customer service form. Ok, I'll bite. -I wrote them back pointing out the fact that I wrote them about a problem with their unsubscribe page and I got back a link to the unsubscribe page.
Today I received this:
Hello from Amazon.com.
I am sorry for any inconvenience caused with this situation. This
may be happen due to technical error.
I will be sure to pass your message on to the appropriate department
in our company for consideration. Customer feedback like yours is
very important in helping us continue to improve the selection and
service we provide.
However, if you'd rather not receive these mailings, please let us
know by visiting this URL:
http://www.amazon.com/unsubscribe/
Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=bydbehdu3405384090
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=bydbehdu3405384090
...a second link to the unsubscribe page. I clicked on the "didn't help" link again. I'm not calling customer service about this issue, it's really their problem more than mine. I just wonder if their email is being answered by bots or just people who can't read... Should I keep trying? Nah, I have a "3 strikes and you're out" policy. If I get another link, then I'll finally take the hint and start ordering from smaller stores that actually answer their emails properly. :-P
**UPDATE** A few hours after I posted this I got 8 UNPROMPTED confirmation emails from Amazon saying that I was unsubscribed from the 3 email types I actually WANTED, and subscribed to the other 3 that I didn't(?). The upside, though, is that I was able to change it this time -after hitting "Save" the correct boxes stayed checked and my latest confirmation email is correct. Finally.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Wedding bands turned out nice!
We got our wedding bands from Bruce Boone last week (http://www.boonerings.com). They are beautiful. I got a good picture of them too:
Mine fits inside of Ed's, which is oddly amusing. Anyway, to see the full size, click here.
Mine fits inside of Ed's, which is oddly amusing. Anyway, to see the full size, click here.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Avoid using USPS
I've had afew bad experiences with USPS in the last couple months, and I thought I'd share...
First, Ed's Mom sent me an Xmas present in December. I was at home the first day delivery was supposedly attempted. No one came to the door. Believe me, I would have known because the dog goes crazy when someone sets foot on our property. But, when Ed came home and got the mail there was a "delivery attempted" note in our mailbox. The second delivery attempt was made the next day, but (like most people) Ed and I were at work when the mailman came. So, our only option was to pick it up at the post office. Well, the post office closes at 5pm on weekdays, you know, when most people are just getting off of work... Yeah, we don't get home until 5:15pm so there was nothing we could do there. Option C is to pick it up on Saturday before 1pm, but it was the last remaining week before Xmas and we had shopping, wrapping, doctors appointments, dental appointments... Our weekends are always busy. So, I called them and asked if it could be delivered to my work. Nope. No can do, for security reasons it must be delievered to the address it was sent to. To top it off, it'd be returned to sender if I didn't pick it up within 10 days. So, in a mad rush before my doctor's appointment and Ed's dental appointment we ran over to pick up the gift. They didn't even ask for ID when we picked it up. All you need is the little slip they leave in your mailbox. Right... Real security there...
Second story is pretty general. Ed and I have both recently had online purchases delivered via USPS. The stores we bought from sent us a USPS tracking number, but all it said was "billing information received" until we actually took delivery of the item -then it finally updated as "delivered". Useless. You can almost tell what intersection your package is at with UPS, FedEX, or DHL. I'd pick them over USPS any day.
Last, is a story about my engagement ring and I could kill the USPS over this one. It wasn't lost or anything, but their lack of tracking information available to the receiver OR to their own customer service people... Grr.... I was hoping to get the ring on Friday so I could show it to my parents and my Grandma when I went over there on Sunday. It didn't arrive at work on Friday, so I kept watch on the tracking info to see if it'd be delivered on Saturday. If it looked like it might be delivered, I figured I'd go into work so I could receive it (there's usually no one in the office over the weekends). On Saturday morning the tracking information finally showed that the ring left Georgia on Thursday (so the tracking info is about 2 days behind!). I had no idea where the ring was currently, so I called their customer service number at 9:30am. I told the man on the phone about the situation, he pulled up the tracking info and confirmed that the package left Georgia on Thursday. He had no more information than I did about where the package was currently. So, I asked him, in his opinion, if the package left Georgia on Thursday via Express mail, could it be delivered today? He said "it looks like it's scheduled to be delivered on Monday or Tuesday". I hung up a bit disappointed, but figured that there wasn't much anyone could do. The rest of Saturday we spent out shopping for my brother's present (a little last minute, but I pretty much knew what I was going to get him), then we took the Laser for a run to Schaumburg to put some miles on the tranny to be sure it was working okay. Saturday night we got home at about 11pm and I pulled up the tracking info for my ring one more time. When the screen came up I almost had a fit! "Delivery attempted 11:35am". IT was delivered 2 freaking hours after their customer service told me it'd be delivered Monday or Tuesday. -That means that while I was talking to the USPS guy on the phone, the ring was on the truck for delivery. Proving that the USPS has NO CLUE where your item is at any given time. Nope. I'm doing my best to avoid EVER doing business with the USPS again.
Did I mention GRR?
Grr....
EDIT: As an update I thought I'd share the fact that I complained to USPS through their online questions form about the engagement ring thing. I got a response saying that they'd refund the shipping costs if I bring in the label. I thought that was nice of them...
First, Ed's Mom sent me an Xmas present in December. I was at home the first day delivery was supposedly attempted. No one came to the door. Believe me, I would have known because the dog goes crazy when someone sets foot on our property. But, when Ed came home and got the mail there was a "delivery attempted" note in our mailbox. The second delivery attempt was made the next day, but (like most people) Ed and I were at work when the mailman came. So, our only option was to pick it up at the post office. Well, the post office closes at 5pm on weekdays, you know, when most people are just getting off of work... Yeah, we don't get home until 5:15pm so there was nothing we could do there. Option C is to pick it up on Saturday before 1pm, but it was the last remaining week before Xmas and we had shopping, wrapping, doctors appointments, dental appointments... Our weekends are always busy. So, I called them and asked if it could be delivered to my work. Nope. No can do, for security reasons it must be delievered to the address it was sent to. To top it off, it'd be returned to sender if I didn't pick it up within 10 days. So, in a mad rush before my doctor's appointment and Ed's dental appointment we ran over to pick up the gift. They didn't even ask for ID when we picked it up. All you need is the little slip they leave in your mailbox. Right... Real security there...
Second story is pretty general. Ed and I have both recently had online purchases delivered via USPS. The stores we bought from sent us a USPS tracking number, but all it said was "billing information received" until we actually took delivery of the item -then it finally updated as "delivered". Useless. You can almost tell what intersection your package is at with UPS, FedEX, or DHL. I'd pick them over USPS any day.
Last, is a story about my engagement ring and I could kill the USPS over this one. It wasn't lost or anything, but their lack of tracking information available to the receiver OR to their own customer service people... Grr.... I was hoping to get the ring on Friday so I could show it to my parents and my Grandma when I went over there on Sunday. It didn't arrive at work on Friday, so I kept watch on the tracking info to see if it'd be delivered on Saturday. If it looked like it might be delivered, I figured I'd go into work so I could receive it (there's usually no one in the office over the weekends). On Saturday morning the tracking information finally showed that the ring left Georgia on Thursday (so the tracking info is about 2 days behind!). I had no idea where the ring was currently, so I called their customer service number at 9:30am. I told the man on the phone about the situation, he pulled up the tracking info and confirmed that the package left Georgia on Thursday. He had no more information than I did about where the package was currently. So, I asked him, in his opinion, if the package left Georgia on Thursday via Express mail, could it be delivered today? He said "it looks like it's scheduled to be delivered on Monday or Tuesday". I hung up a bit disappointed, but figured that there wasn't much anyone could do. The rest of Saturday we spent out shopping for my brother's present (a little last minute, but I pretty much knew what I was going to get him), then we took the Laser for a run to Schaumburg to put some miles on the tranny to be sure it was working okay. Saturday night we got home at about 11pm and I pulled up the tracking info for my ring one more time. When the screen came up I almost had a fit! "Delivery attempted 11:35am". IT was delivered 2 freaking hours after their customer service told me it'd be delivered Monday or Tuesday. -That means that while I was talking to the USPS guy on the phone, the ring was on the truck for delivery. Proving that the USPS has NO CLUE where your item is at any given time. Nope. I'm doing my best to avoid EVER doing business with the USPS again.
Did I mention GRR?
Grr....
EDIT: As an update I thought I'd share the fact that I complained to USPS through their online questions form about the engagement ring thing. I got a response saying that they'd refund the shipping costs if I bring in the label. I thought that was nice of them...
I got my ring, and Gram's coming on the cruise!
Well, for all the worrying about Gram's reaction to the whole cruise thing, it ended up being no big deal. I told her we were getting married and the 80+ year old lady JUMPED UP AND DOWN WITH JOY! It was so cool. I told her about the cruise, and asked her if she'd come with and she just said "yes". I couldn't believe it! She said she'd go anywhere, she just wants to be there. After Aunt Dolores got over a bit of shock over the fact that we were going to pay their way, they got all giggly and looked over all the information we had. They're both really excited. It turned out better than I could have ever expected.
The other good news is that I got my ring today. I overnighted the diamond to Boone of www.boonerings.com last Tuesday, and it got here (to Hinsdale, IL) on Saturday via Express Mail (USPS, not the fastest option). It looks great, some quick shots of it can be found here for now. Better pics will be posted when I have time. I gotta get the invitations sent out tonight! The only problem with the ring is that it's about a half size too big I think. I'll wear it for 24 hours or so to be sure, but I think I might have to get it remade in a smaller size.
The other good news is that I got my ring today. I overnighted the diamond to Boone of www.boonerings.com last Tuesday, and it got here (to Hinsdale, IL) on Saturday via Express Mail (USPS, not the fastest option). It looks great, some quick shots of it can be found here for now. Better pics will be posted when I have time. I gotta get the invitations sent out tonight! The only problem with the ring is that it's about a half size too big I think. I'll wear it for 24 hours or so to be sure, but I think I might have to get it remade in a smaller size.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Apparently Osco hasn't quite caught up to the computer age yet.
I got a prescription filled a month ago at the Osco near my work. It was the most convenient place to go at the time because I was in a lot of pain and needed to start the medication ASAP. It never occurred to me that this would be a problem, but today I went to the Osco near my house to get a refill and they were unable to do it. To be fair, they could have filled the prescription if I remembered the city that the Osco I originally went to was, and the woman at the counter was nice enough to call a few to see if she could find the one, but in the end she was unable to find it and I had to drive almost an hour away to pick it up. What a pain. I think I'll go to Walgreens next time.
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