Comments

• April 8, 2008, Steve: Okay.... after spending the last hour morphing Jessica Alba & Keira Knightley (whoa!), Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt (aha!), Britney Spears & Arnold Schwarzenegger (eww!), Chewbacca & Harry Potter (eh... never mind...) and even more politically incorrect targets, I must say, this is definitely the most useful new service on the net since the invention of e-mail! Thanks for the link!
• April 10, 2008, Fahrt: The funny thing is that morphing Mr. Yoke with Yoda Sensei actually makes Yoda look WORSE. Ouch!
• July 9, 2008, rfgr: you're stupid

http://checkout.google.com/seller/gsc/beta/demo/index.html

On first glance it all looks pretty nice and appears to work simply as expected. However I quickly noticed a couple of problems that render it unusable in its current state… Anyway, here’s what’s wrong:

- Add an item
- Go to checkout
- Hit back on the browser
- Add another item

Problem: cart widget removes the first item (and any previously added items), and shows newly added item(s) only

- Go to checkout

Problem: error!

Oops!
Google Shopping Cart Demo has sent Google a shopping cart with errors in it. We’ll contact them to ask that they fix this problem. As this could be a temporary issue, you can go back in your browser to try checking out again.

Hmm… looks like QA missed something…

Update!

I posted this issue in their forums and they’ve acknowledged it:

Good catch, thanks

Will be fixed.

So it should be fixed soon. Whee…

Still… it’s such an embarrassingly simple mistake for Google!

Comments

• March 24, 2008, bierce: does Google have QA? if they call everything a beta, maybe they think they don't need it.
• March 24, 2008, Ann: Ha! Well either way they are apparently lacking in that particular department... I mean this is not just any small startup with no budget, it's GOOGLE! This kind of simple mistake -- so plainly obvious right upon launch -- is just embarrassing, really.
• March 24, 2008, Deja Cart » Google Checkout shopping cart beta: [...] Original post by Ann [...]
• March 25, 2008, gun slinger six: Hey Ann, I know you couldn't find anything on that one story about that woman sitting on the toilet. But I think I got one better for you! http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/taiwan.missiles/index.html Any one think that some one might lose there job over this?
• March 29, 2008, Seth: Hmm, maybe that's just the pure genius of Google and why things are "beta". Everyone using the service becomes a beta tester and they don't have a need to hire a QA team. Just roll it on out and wait for people to complain.

I’ve been complaining for years about the lack of a decent browser for OS X… that is, one that doesn’t crash every hour… or make that every few seconds when browsing ugly hacks like customized myspace profiles. FF3 has crashed only a couple of times somewhat randomly in the past few days which already makes it pretty awesome in my book, especially since it’s still in beta.

Anyway no matter what you’re running you should definitely check it out:
Firefox 3 beta 4 now available for download

By the way, I’d just like to say that Safari is absolute GARBAGE! Shame on Apple!

In other completely unrelated news… how is this possible?!
Woman Pried From Boyfriend’s Toilet After Sitting on It for 2 Years

Comments

• March 15, 2008, Pooh Boy McButt: Safari is like a fat woman stuck on a toilet: you can't flush it down, and you can't pull it out. Or something.
• March 16, 2008, PT: Ann said: "By the way, I’d just like to say that Safari is absolute GARBAGE! Shame on Apple!" What do you hate about Safari?
• March 16, 2008, Ann:

  What do you hate about Safari?

  It crashes on me VERY frequently.
• March 18, 2008, Steve: Wow, fascinating news! Puzzles me as well! I mean, how on earth, can toilet paper last that long???
• March 19, 2008, PT: "Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled." My vote is for mentally disabled.
• March 24, 2008, gun slinger six: Hey is any one having problems with video in Firefox 3 beta? For me it's not loading right and then crashes.
• March 24, 2008, Ann:

  I mean, how on earth, can toilet paper last that long???

  I think the real question here is, so what toilet was the boyfriend using? I've scoured the web for followup news (or better yet pictures) but was only able to find this article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-woman-in-bathroom,1,6748357.story

  “Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled.”

  Apparently she is now both...

  Hey is any one having problems with video in Firefox 3 beta? For me it’s not loading right and then crashes.

  Works fine for me. Are you talking about flash videos? (Reinstall/upgrade flash?) Do you have any video plugins installed?
• March 25, 2008, gun slinger six: Yeah, I am having problems with CNN MSNBC and the BCC videos. "yeah news junkie". I am think it something that I did on my end with the config setting. I'm not having any problem youtube? I don't have any plugins... :(

I even pointed to MANY confirmed cases of others experiencing the exact same problem, all on Comcast:

A Letter To Comcast- You Blocked My Site!

WoW Forums -> WoW Website and Comcast Problem

But it was all to no avail. When I realized that she would not put in any sort of inquiry or request to try to get someone smarter to look into the situation (surely someone in their company with some knowledge must exist), and in fact wouldn’t provide any support other than to tell me to empty my browser cache (but “only on Internet Explorer as we do not support any other browser”) I angrily typed:

Me > This is worthless
Me > where can I file a complaint?
Me > I would like to file a complaint for your service

To which the response was:

Dawn > Analyst has closed chat and left the room
analyst Dawn has left room

It’s almost funny, really…

Comments

• February 29, 2008, ComcastCares: On behalf of Comcast I want to apologize for your chat experience. The issue you are describing is usually due to a router on a home network, but I will have someone reach out to you to see if we can help. Thank you for being a Comcast Customer! Frank Eliason Comcast Executive Office We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
• February 29, 2008, Ann: Thank you Frank. Though your more or less immediate response to my random blog post scares me. I've replied to Mr. Frank by email letting him know the details of my particular connection and the host I am having issues reaching. I have already confirmed that it is NOT my home router as I have removed the router from the equation and indeed, traceroute still fails to route to my destination. Now let's see if anyone does actually reach out...
• February 29, 2008, Comcast News » Blog Archive » Comcast blocking access to website: [...] jstearns [...]
• February 29, 2008, gun slinger six: I know this might sound dumb but, maybe you should try the FCC or Public Utility Commission. It could help I know the Comcast is on the FCC SH∞§ list. Also I think if the site in question his a store to it then that could bump it up a bit in the FCC eyes! I don't know but I thought that there was some kind of law that side an ISP can bock it. But I don't remember... Sorry I hope it help it's late here and I have the flu!
• March 1, 2008, Jern Serton: I believe that comcast is also blocking Yahoo e-mail. I can't send to any Comcast subscriber, including my own account, from Yahoo. I got on the phone with one of their technicians (Erica). She tried very hard to help including sending from her Yahoo account to my Comcast e-mail. When it didn't work she went to a "supervisor" who said the problem is Yahoo and left me with no solution.
• March 1, 2008, Seth: Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot Comcast or any other ISP is obliged to do. I've worked for a few web hosting providers and Comcast blocks SMTP traffic A LOT. I don't know what their criteria is for blocking but I've seen un-compromised SMTP servers that have only been up for a few days getting blocked by these guys. The problem is outdated rules and regulations. The Internet is still considered a luxury and not a public utility. Because of this it's not possible for ATT to block your phone calls but they can block your internet traffic or dump you altogether. I believe the reason we don't have net neutrality is that the people making the rules are all old white dudes who can't figure out email. Their only concern is the organizations that contribute to their campaign. It will probably work itself out as a new generation of politician takes over who are more internet savvy. Heck even Obama is pro net neutrality.
• March 1, 2008, Ann: The live chat agent did admit that Comcast blocks emails from some servers, but blocking all email from Yahoo is pretty extreme! Terrible that they haven't done anything about it since it's already been confirmed by their agents. Another Comcast routing issue report: SiriusAddict.com » Comcast Issues
• March 1, 2008, gun slinger six: I been think about this issue that you guys are having with Comcast. Comcast has lost a lot of money and there stock price is going down hill fast then there service. There stock has always been selling at the same price at 20 - 16 between 2000 - 2006 now comes 2007 and the stock goes to a high of 27.08. Then people start saying that they can't get there web mail from yahoo and site are being block a long with other things that Comcast has done! So here my question for you Ann. Is it possble for a ISP to rise the stock price by filtering there network! My think for this is when Enron did it with power in Cal right before they want down! Now I know make power and running a ISP are to different things but, same kind of idea. By keeping traffic low on there network couldn't they say to invester "look at are networks they are so fast because we put so much money in them?" When in reality all they are doing is pack filtering? I don't know if it possible but here the google page that kind of give me this idea! http://finance.google.com/finance?q=comcast+&hl=en&meta=hl%3Den Anyway just a thought and I have the flu! But I am still going out to meet Obama today!
• March 1, 2008, Ann: After some internet research I concluded that my problem was likely an isolated case relating to some kind of problem with routing between my current Comcast-assigned IP address and my client's server (definitely EXTERNAL to my home network and pretty certainly within Comcast). I requested a new IP address and voila! Problem solved! Thanks to Frank for looking into the problem for me. I also submitted a request to Comcast via Mr. Frank letting him know what my offending IP address was as well as my client's server address so they can hopefully look into the situation to prevent it from happening again. Let's hope I don't get another problem IP address when the lease expires again...
• March 5, 2008, anonymous: i go to a website that worked fine. then one day it stopped working. BUT! only for my internet. and other computers. and all comcast connections. another similiar site was blocked too. I have nothing to live for without them and I am now going to walk into comcasts offices and kill them all.
• March 5, 2008, vt: I don't think yours is an isolated problem. I had the exact same problem happen to me recently on a client's website. For years I had no problems accessing the site, then all of a sudden a few weeks ago I got a server not found error message. I thought the problem was with the hosting provider, but I noticed I could access the website when I was at work. The true test came when I used my home connection with a VPN token from work. Using my VPN token I could access the website. When I disconnected from my VPN, the website URL returned a server not found error. I also had problems logging into the control panel for the ISP (LunarPages.com) for this site through my Comcast connection, so Comcast is blocking access to some LunarPages hosted websites...why I have no idea.
• March 5, 2008, Ann: Frank did write back to let me know that they were able to replicate the problem I was having on their end and it was indeed a routing issue. If this is happening to you then I suggest you do the following: - Note your current IP address and the server you are having problems accessing. Report this info to Comcast (We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com) stating your problem as a suspected routing issue. - Request a new IP address from Comcast OR force an IP address change yourself by changing your MAC address and resetting the cable modem. Doing a DHCP release/renew should then get you a new IP that hopefully won't exhibit the same problems.
• March 16, 2008, Bernd: A new IP address didn't help me. What did the trick was specifying the Domain Name Servers (DNS) manually. Since I started using my alma mater's DNS I have not experienced the dreadful "Server not found" message anymore. You may have been lucky in that you received a set of DNS from Comcast's DHCP server that are not in overload, corrupted, etc.
• March 17, 2008, Ann: I'm sure the Comcast DNS servers frequently have problems as Comcast support did suggest I try setting mine explicitly using servers other than the DHCP provided ones as an initial troubleshooting step. However in my case this didn't help as the issue was actually the routing between my Comcast-provided IP address and my destination IP. Still as Bernd suggests it's definitely worth trying alternate DNS servers in the troubleshooting process or even as a permanent option, especially if you notice frequent problems resolving domains with the Comcast provided servers and have access to more reliable alternatives. (There's always OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220, though I don't really have any stats on their reliability.)

Somehow I got over 400 visitors on Friday which I can only attribute to my Tekzilla segment which was just released that afternoon. Wow, thanks for checking out my site everyone! Sorry there isn’t much here. I started working on this site a couple of years ago when I was just getting back into programming websites and I wanted to teach myself PHP and CSS and also try out WordPress. Now years later it’s still a woefully out-of-date work in progress, and I really have no excuse except that it never really seemed to matter much. It sort of does reflect quite poorly on a freelance web programmer though, doesn’t it… Shameful!

But yeah… so if you’re looking to hire someone with a bunch of random skills… maybe you’ll want to check out my resume instead? Lalala…

This website also doesn’t reflect it at all but I’m also just getting into the audio/music production business. I’ve partnered up with Colin Fairbairn, mixer extraordinaire, whose website you can check out at sfrecording.com (half that studio gear is mine!). We freelance at local studios for recording projects and are otherwise taking on mostly mixing projects as we look for a space to set up shop. Look out for some “how to” home recording videos from us in the future!

Anyway thanks to everyone who wrote in to tell me that I did not in fact make a complete fool of myself in my first video on the interweb (or on anywhere, really). You are all very VERY kind people and I really appreciate the support! Having now watched it myself I guess it was more or less okay, though I definitely need to work on being WAY less nervous so I can speak naturally instead of being all rambling and halting and wooden. Maybe you’ll see me again on the show. Maybe.

But that is all boring stuff. What’s interesting is this funny sign from the Golden Gate Park.

Comments

• February 24, 2008, Mike: I did check out your site after I saw you on Tekzilla. I hope they have you back on! After reading your resume I can understand why you precede your name with the word super. Wow
• February 24, 2008, Sukumar: Yup, another person checking out your site after the Tekzilla episode! I was wondering if you could illuminate on whether there is a similar imap type service? I don't want to delete the mails from the webmail addresses, just read them more conveniently on my mail apps. Thanks and hope to see you on Tekzilla again soon!
• February 24, 2008, Ann: Hi Sukumar, thanks for checking out my site! I unfortunately don't know of a similar application that provides an IMAP interface, but if it's just a matter of not wanting the emails to be deleted from your webmail account you can do that by configuring your email client to leave the messages on the server.
• February 24, 2008, Seth: Sukumar, if you're running a Mac or Linux you can install dovecot which is a popular open source IMAP server then use fetchmail to pull down the mail from other providers. Probably a silly idea to run your own IMAP server unless you're a super nerd. I'd suggest just using a free service like Gmail that already has IMAP support and forward all mail to it. It's free, reliable, and easy.
• March 1, 2008, Ann: Actually pulling mail from your webmail accounts via fetchmail (through POP3 via FreePOPs) to your own computer and then running an IMAP server will only give you the IMAP interface to the mail on your computer, but won't do anything in the way of syncing your webmail accounts to your local mail. Configuring your POP client to leave mail on the server won't sync your email up the way IMAP does but it at least will still let you access your email from your old original webmail interface AND your email client. (I'm personally all for consolidation though and pretty much do what Seth advocates. Then again I don't care to support any proprietary webmail client where the email isn't freely accessible through normal means without a hack.)

While I have only a vague recollection of the whole ordeal, I do know with absolute certainty that I embarrassed myself quite thoroughly and no doubt came off as some kind of blithering idiot. It’s amazing how the simple presence of a video camera (actually, make that three very large video cameras plus a shocking number of super bright lights) somehow has the effect of wiping my brain completely clean. Ah well… at least there would be ample room for improvement. The show “airs” on Friday and my segment is pretty short, so maybe nobody will really notice it!

My sincere apologies to FreePOPs. I was sadly unable to properly convey how and why I consider the FreePOPs project to be the best of its kind, due to an appreciation for the application itself with its flexible configuration options and the extensive number of webmail plugins already included (that load on the fly via another plugin for easy updates!), and also for the great community of users and developers that respond QUICKLY to webmail interface changes by contributing their feedback and fixes (hooray for open source!). Hopefully I at least got across the message that it is extremely useful free cross-platform software and easy to configure, thus people will be inclined to check out the project anyway.

My setup (since no one asked): cron periodically calls fetchmail to forward (via postfix) all my fetched webmail to my usual POP/IMAP accessible email account. YAY! I set it up once and promptly forgot it was even there.

Comments

• February 22, 2008, anon: you did a good job with the tekzilla segment
• February 22, 2008, asunder: I think you did a fantastic job. However, I was left wondering... "who is this girl screaming about open source?" So, here I am. I enjoyed your enthusiasm! ~ All the best.
• February 22, 2008, jbennett: Don't be so hard on yourself. You did great. I watch a lot of rev3 shows and other web TV stuff, and you were better than most. You took a complicated concept (open source? my own POP server?) and made it accessible and human, which is the hardest thing to do when it comes to complicated tech stuff. Aloha from Hawaii!
• February 22, 2008, gun slinger six: Hey Ann, Thought you where grate! Look forward to see you on Teakzilla or any other tech podcast.
• February 22, 2008, Brian J. Marshall: Not sure if you were looking for it, but after I saw you on Tekzilla, I wrote Rev3 and asked for them to keep you as the co-host. You were great!
• February 23, 2008, Hagge: Wasn't that bad, it showed that you have no on-screen experience but other than that you did better than most people would. You could easily become a good co-host so I hope that was what they were trying you out for and they liked what they saw!
• February 23, 2008, Seth: I agree with the others that it really wasn't bad at all. You got a little muffled when you were trying to demo setting things up but I didn't notice the hand shaking you mentioned. The fact that you did it was cool though. I'd probably be too nervous. I have a hard time typing when someone is watching. I drop from 60 WPM to 6.
• February 23, 2008, Ruben: It's pretty funny, I would be sweating a lot ;-)
• February 23, 2008, Mal: It didn't look that bad! The segment got me to check out both FreePOPs and this website, so seems to have worked in my case. At least I now know about FreePOPs and will be able to recommend it to anyone who needs it - so cheers for that.
• February 24, 2008, Iain: Hi, Never noticed that you were nervous. You promoted the product well enough to get me interested in it. You obviously came across as someone worth finding out about, got me here didn't it! Take care Iain
• February 24, 2008, Zuke: Ann, I just watched the tekzilla ep you were on and I thought you were fine! You didn't come off as a webvideo pro which just added to your charm on-screen. You came off as a real person talking about a great app. Good job! :) -Zuke
• February 24, 2008, fritze: Just watched the TZ episode and you were great, came here to read more about you. I for one would love to see more of you on TZ. Did you know that Patrick is looking for a new female co-host, I think you would be a fantastic candidate. A super smart tech like you would be a perfect choice. Thanks again.
• February 24, 2008, Bryan: Just checking out your website after seeing you on Tekzilla on Revision 3. Like most have stated, I think you did a good job on your presentation. With a little more camera time, you'd be an awesome co-host for the show if that is your goal. Best of Luck!
• February 24, 2008, Greg: Like the others here I just saw you on Techzilla and wondered what else you do. Despite all your self abuse in the blog entry I thought you did a great job, but I'm not good at viewing things from the perspective of "my mom" (my term for people that need to take notes on how to open outlook). I really liked that you pushed open source forward and explained fairly plainly what freepops was, and even how to install it - though that may have gone to quickly for "mom" to figure out, if she had a mac :)
• February 24, 2008, Prince: Tekzilla would be lucky to get someone with your qualifications to co- host the show (read you resume superann). Patrick is hands on self taught and you are school trained. Great combination for a show. Now you know what to expect If invited to co-host again. Good job.
• February 26, 2008, Len Moore: You have to start somewhere.. It would be good to have someone with your background on the show.

Sadly, this is not my car.

And so we come to the exotic European noodle dish known as spaghetti. I am saddened to report that after extensive research, I have come to the conclusion that all instant spaghetti dinners taste exactly like tomato soup. Frozen, canned, and even the promising somewhat gourmet (ie. slightly more expensive) “NEVER FROZEN! STOVETOP COOKED!” microwavable spaghetti dishes… with or without “meatballs” (pieces of edible paper sponge)… all are simple tomato soup substitutions! How are companies getting away with this?!

Anyway in other more positive news I’ve recently discovered that caffeine free Coca-Cola tastes exactly the same as regular caffeinated Coca-Cola! HOORAY!

Comments

• December 15, 2007, Jim: You're a meatball and a noodle.
• December 23, 2007, Steve: Yup, same here. I gave up on canned spaghetti a long time ago. Luckily cooking some real spagetthi and warming up your favourite pasta sauce takes only 10% more time and results in - at least - a 100% better taste. A great ROI if you ask me!

One of my recent obsessions has been with tabbed content. In my opinion, every page offering tabbed content simply MUST degrade gracefully without Javascript; there’s absolutely nothing worse than completely inaccessible content! For smaller, less complicated content panes, I’ve found this tabber script to be the best as the markup is very clean and minimal. In the absence of Javascript support, this method will simply show all content panes on the same page.

However, what I wanted was to have a dynamically loaded tabbed content page degrade to static tabbed content pages that still looked and functioned the same way. A web search led me to the Ajax Tabs Content script from Dynamic Drive. Without Javascript, it simply loads the content pane by itself in the browser window. I wanted it to load the pane from within the template of the original page, so I devised a method to accomplish this by using some PHP code.

All of the original features of the script are intact, including external css and javascript file support… but as with the original script, once loaded they’re there to stay through subsequent tab switches. I’ll have to see what I can do later about unloading those styles.

I also added cookies to the original script so that it now restores current tab content upon reload.

How it works should be pretty clear from looking at the demo source, and the PHP code is used in the same way that you would to handle any static menu and page templates: designate the currently selected item on the tabbed menu list, include the selected external source file in the content section, and add any associated stylesheets/javascript files to the header. To get the Javascript bit working, the link rel attributes should contain the content container id, and the rev attribute should contain a comma-separated list of the external files, source page first.

I suggest using mod_rewrite to rewrite the urls so that the links look pretty and ensure that all pages will get indexed by search engines.

Demo
Download demo source