Author: admin

Purchased this showerhead from Amazon based on its mostly-positive reviews. Pressure was decent. I liked that it was a water-saving head. But after 6 months, the ball joint started leaking water. This got steadily worse until I contacted the manufacturer about a warranty. No response. Tried several times … nothing. Guess it’s off to Home Depot for me!

Oh Comcast, I knew there was a reason I dropped you so many years ago and never looked back. Comcast reps are always knocking on our door. I give them 2 minutes, then thank them for their time because the deals are never worth switching for. Here’s what I want: no-frills basic cable + internet and nothing else for cheaper than the other guy.

One day a rep comes knocking with some deals. I tell him what I want. He tells me that there’s a new special out: $49.99/month for one year for basic cable + internet. I’m intrigued. I ask questions:

– “What’s the price after a year?”
– “It’s higher, but if you call me next year I’ll hook you up.”
– “What do you mean by basic cable? You’re not talking about broadcast cable. I want ‘real’ basic cable: USA, TNT, TBS…”
– “Yup, vanilla basic cable.”
– “Can I think about this and call you back later?”
– “No, you need to decide today. I’m an authorized salesperson, not a 3rd party, and these deals are only available through me.” (Yeah, right.)

Okay, for once I was sold. I signed up and scheduled an installation appointment.

The installer comes by, runs a new line down my house (argh, we’d just paid to get a bunch of old lines taken down last summer). He hooks up the cable and starts showing me the features of my plan.

– “Wait, why don’t I get TBS?”
– “Not included in your plan.”
– “What? I specifically asked about that. Is this a broadcast cable plan?”
– “Pretty much, plus a few other channels. But no USA, TNT, TBS…”

I was pissed. I called up the sales rep while the installer was still there. They chatted. He apologized, said he must’ve misread the plan description. Called his boss, called me back (after the installer had to leave), said there was NOTHING HE COULD DO.

Really? You sell me plan, run a line down my house, then can’t deliver? I call Comcast directly. They try to talk me out of cancelling, but why would I want to stay? Their own reps don’t even know what they’re selling. Here’s where it gets really ridiculous. They tell me that an installer can come by in a few days to disconnect their cable, but they’re not allowed to reattach my old cable. I’m going to have to call the other guys. What? The other cable is live and all they have to do is screw it back in. Nope, they refuse and even tell me that if my other cable company charges me for coming over, they won’t cover it. It’s their “policy” not to pay to connect you to another company, even if they goofed.

Luckily when the installer comes by, I tell him to reconnect my old cable. He shrugs and complies. Shortest Comcast contract ever: 24 hours. Now all I have to do is unsubscribe from all this Xfinity spam that’s flooding my inbox and uninstall all these bookmarks and homepage settings that got pushed to my browsers.

Should’ve trusted my gut on this one. Never again.

NOTE: I no longer condone using Straight Talk. Their customer service is horrible. I can’t stress this enough: They just don’t give a shit … about anything. I’ve since switched to T-Mobile and their service is much better for about the same price. Still want to use Straight Talk? Use these instructions at your own risk…

This is how I got MMS working on an unlocked (non-jailbroken) iPhone 4s running on Straight Talk.

1.) If you’ve already followed the instructions for changing the APN settings using unlockit.co.nz, that’s fine. But that will only give you cellular access, not MMS access. You do not need to delete the Unlockit profile to continue.

2.) Order a T-Mobile micro SIM from tmobile.com. It’s only 99 cents. Don’t ask for one at a T-Mobile store. They’ll want $20 for it.

3.) Take out the Straight Talk SIM card.

4.) Insert the T-Mobile SIM and let it connect to the network. You’ll get some voicemail notifications; cancel them.

5.) Go to Settings > General > Cellular. A new Cellular Data Network option now appears. Go into it.

6.) Go back to your home screen and open another application, like Notes. You must do this or else the next step won’t work! If you swap the SIM while on the settings screen, it will sneakily try to close itself.

7.) While Notes is open, swap the T-Mobile SIM for your original Straight Talk SIM.

8.) AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN, double-click the home key, choose Settings, and click back into the Cellular Data Network options screen. If you don’t move quickly enough, swap the SIMs and try again.

9.) Wait for the Straight Talk SIM to connect to the network (you’ll see it cycle from “AT&T” to “HOME” in the notification bar).

10.) Enter the new APN/MMS settings below.

11.) Close the Settings. No restart was necessary. Try sending/receiving an MMS. Voila!

Settings:

data apn: att.mvno
user:
pass:

mms apn: att.mvno
user:
pass:
mmsc: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS proxy: 66.209.11.33:80
Max Size of Message: 1048576
UAProf: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf

I assume you’re here because you’ve heard of LACDA, the LA Center for Digital Art. Perhaps you’ve seen one of their open calls. I’ve entered a few of their competitions myself and I too was curious about their reputation. There are articles out there claiming that LACDA is a scam. These are followed by comments claiming that it’s not. These are followed by more comments implying that all open calls are scams. What to believe? Well, I’m here to say that I don’t think LACDA is a scam. I don’t throw that word around lightly. I think LACDA is a gallery that’s taken advantage of the fact that their medium – digital – has global reach and is easily transmittable. That’s something that I’m sure a few sculpture galleries are envious of.

I’ve never seen the actual gallery, so I can’t comment on its location, popularity, etc. But I was part of their featured artist program. The one thing that irked me is that this program was promoted as having a number of benefits and the #1 selling point for me was that it would drive more visitors to my art website. A little while after being listed on their website, I noticed that Google was not picking up my listing on their website. I won’t get too technical here, but Google ranks websites higher if they’re linked on other websites. The link on LACDA’s website was generated with JavaScript. That means that Google couldn’t read it and therefore drive more traffic to my website. I kindly contacted the owner of LACDA, asking if he could make this fix to his website, since it was the top reason for me joining the program. He said he would. I asked again a month later when I saw that it hadn’t been done. He said he would. A month later, I asked again. No response. I don’t understand why a 5-minute change would elicit such a blow-off.

So that’s my take on LACDA. Maybe I got some exposure from it, maybe not. But my main reason for being a part of it – more traffic to my art website – has not panned out. All over something that would’ve taken 5 minutes to fix.

I decided to check out an outfit called “RAW Artists”, a promotional organization for up-and-coming artists. They organize monthly art shows at chic venues like nightclubs for a group of 25-30 artists. Artists are required to sell tickets to the event and in return, get a show and a video interview. If the artist doesn’t sell the required 20 tickets, they must purchase the difference themselves.

First off, the coordinator told me 25-30 artists would be showing, but the final count was 41 because this was the one-year anniversary of RAW and they wanted to show off a lot of alumni. I was a little peeved about that because going from 25 to over 40 sort of turns it from a group show into an art fair. But whatever, that wasn’t a huge dealbreaker for me.

As for selling 20 tickets at $10 each, I found it tough. I think it’s a great deal (less than a movie ticket), but it’s hard to get people to fork over cash early and the timeline for ticket sales is totally in RAW’s favor. Basically, by a few days before the event, I had to have 20 tickets sold or buy the balance. That balance can be used for guest tickets. What that means is that on the day of, if a person comes to the door and says they know you, they write down their name as a guest and let them in for free, and then you are expected to hit them up for cash, spinning it as a deal for them since you just saved them $5 off the at-the-door price.

Another problem with the ticket sales timeline is that most people probably buy tickets last minute and if they buy between the ticket deadline and the event date, then it doesn’t count towards your quota because by that point you’ve already bought/sold your 20. So RAW gets those last-minute sales “for free”. I ended up writing an awkward email to all of my friends a few days before the event telling them to either NOT buy tickets online OR just show up at the door and MAYBE there’d be a guest ticket for them, otherwise it’d be $15. It’s all very awkward. Would be easier if they just collected the balance from you after the show, but I guess RAW has to cover their tail too.

A week before the show, you do a walkthrough. That’s when it hits you that this space is NOT set up for an art show. You’re not allowed to nail anything to a wall. There’s no lighting (you have to bring your own clip lights/extension cords). There isn’t even a wall! Take a look at this pic I took from the walkthrough:

The club is two floors with the second floor being a 360-degree balcony around the first floor. So when I asked the coordinator how we were expected to display framed art in this “space”, her answer was: “be creative!” – build a “fake” wall out of a garden trellis, wrap steel cable across the poles and hang your pieces from them. It all seemed very precarious and I hope a framed piece has never fallen on anyone on the first floor! But once you’re at the walkthrough stage, you’re committed, so I worked out a plan to string steel cable and lean pieces against it. Sure, I could’ve built a wall, but I don’t even know how that meshes with the evening’s schedule! You basically have to show up at 2pm that day, set up your work, you’re not allowed to leave (so you have to bring a change of clothes), be ready for your interview/photo-shoot, then the event starts at 7, ends at 10, and you have to break down the entire show in 10 MINUTES! for the afterparty. Oh, and did I mention that there’s no parking? So this all has to be done double-parked (parking at a downtown garage $$$ in between), with a small elevator that jams often (happened when we were all leaving the walkthrough).

So as you can see, lots and lots of challenges. I was mentally committed to doing this, but I realize now that the the parameters of the show are far from ideal. You must mentally prepare yourself for all the challenges that they don’t tell you upfront.

So how did the show go? I wouldn’t know. The morning of the show, my wife went into labor 3 weeks early and had to undergo an emergency c-section. I shot an email to the coordinator on the way to the hospital about these circumstances that were obviously beyond my control. My absence had little effect on a showcase of 40+ artists. I was disappointed in the response to my request for either a reimbursement of my payment or a placement in an upcoming showcase. I do not feel that “sometime in 2013” was a fair and honest answer, especially when I saw how few artists were being showcased the next month. I just felt like they were blowing me off and actually had to open a formal request through PayPal to have my payment reimbursed. (I compensated my friends who bought tickets but didn’t end up going on my own.) Some might say “tough cookies”, but this was not a “Sorry dude, my ride bailed!” type of excuse. We’re talking serious medical emergency here.

I heard from others that the show was well attended, but the general sense was that most of the attendees were just guests of the artists. That’s okay, 20 artists x 20 guests = lots of customers. A few sales were made. The setup and breakdown were painful, but overall it was a fun social event.

Bottom line: Give it a try, it might be fun. But be prepared for some pain (and not a whole lot of slack).

I’ve just learned that eBay is the worst place to buy a new phone, emphasis on the word “new”. Even if you choose the “new items” filter, there are so many phone (re)sellers that list their items as new, but add tiny tiny print in their descriptions that the items might not come in their original packaging but, “trust us”, have only been taken out for inspection and unlocking.

This was the claim of one seller, Gizmotrader. I bought a $350 Galaxy Nexus phone after specifically filtering on new items only. The phone arrived in a shiny “Samsung” branded box. But it wasn’t the original box. (I know that now because when I returned the phone and ordered a new one from NewEgg.com, I saw what a real original box looks like.)

Inside was a phone that had been wiped down at best. It had a screen protector and all the accessories had been rebagged. But it wasn’t a new phone. Look at the pictures. There’s obviously wear and tear from regular use on this phone: paint chips, gunk in cracks, scratches on the backplate, chips around the headphone jack.

When I contacted them about this, they initially replied, “Keep the phone and we’ll give you $20!” What? There are tons of small-time sellers (a.k.a. individuals) selling similar phones for much less, AND they take the time to photograph and document all the dings on their phone. Why would I pay a new-phone price for a used phone?

I said no and returned the item. They were courteous enough to refund quickly, and after I insisted, they refunded me for the return shipping. But it all sounds like a nice little scheme: sell a used phone at a new-phone price. If someone notices, chip off $20. They’ll still be making out like bandits! As they say in Boston, wicked smaht!

Are you having trouble with your Graco Pack and Play changing table leaning? It’s only attached to the Pack and Play at two points, so when we put our baby in it, it leaned and he ended up rolling into the side. Not fun having your head smooshed against the edge every time you’re having your diaper changed. Here’s what we did to fix it. Just a 2×4 scrap and some clamps.

Copy at your own risk!

I came across OvernightPrints when I was searching for a press to print some greeting cards I was producing. The prices looked good, so I decided to print a small batch. The quality was decent, so I decided to put in a larger order. Lesson #1: The first order is always going to be your best order.

The next order arrived and I was disappointed to see that they’d done such a shoddy job packaging the prints. It got a little wet sitting under my porch and they hadn’t even sealed the box correctly, so I was afraid that the rain had seeped in.

That turned out to be the least of my worries when I opened the box. Do you see anything wrong with these cards (below)?

They’re the wrong cards! They were for some dentist office in Wisconsin. Wow, who fulfills an order with the wrong contents? I called OvernightPrints and was confronted with the rudest rep. I asked if they wanted me to describe the cards sent to me so they could inform their other customer of the mismatch. “They’ll figure it out.” I also told them about their packaging issues. A simple strip of tape around the edges (DUH, who doesn’t seal the edges of a box?) would go a long way in protecting contents. At this point, I don’t think the rep was even listening to me.

Next order came, same problem. The box hadn’t been sealed and the contents were literally spilling out. Luckily, it was not raining this time so only the top cards were a little dusty.

I opened the box and what surprise awaited? The cards were of such substandard quality that I couldn’t use them. There was dirt smudges on them as if it’d been run through dirty rollers.

And the cards looked like they’d been cut with a bread-knife.

I complained again. The cards were unusable and I did not want them. They were holiday cards and it was already too late to order more. I asked for a credit. “Sorry, we’ll only reprint the same order.” I explained that they were holiday cards and it was too late to use them. I’d like a credit on my NEXT order. “No, you’ll have to ship them back to us.” Well, the pictures speak for themselves and I do not have the time to run to the post office and waste more $ to correct OvernightPrints’ repeated mistakes. It’s not worth my time and besides, the quality of their printing was laughable.

I moved on and have had way better results with a company called Uprinting. Lesson learned!

I recently worked with an independent broker to refinance my condo’s mortgage. The broker had locked me in to a good rate with MetLife.

During the refi process, I was notified that I would have to increase the insurance on my condo to 20% of its appraised value. This was due to one line of wording in our condo association’s documents that stated that the master insurance policy was “all-in, minus betterments and improvements.” I was told that because the policy wasn’t “all-in [period],” I’d have to take out this extra insurance.

This didn’t make any sense because, barring some wood floors that were refinished by a previous owner, there had been absolutely no betterments and improvements on my condo since construction. So what exactly was I being asked to insure? Nothing, but I was told that this was non-negotiable, even after getting a letter from my condo policy insurer that there was absolutely no question of coverage of my personal belongings and the aforementioned floors.

I talked to a lawyer who informed me that MetLife’s practice is actually illegal. You cannot ask someone to insure something that does not exist or double-insure the same property. If you do, then this is an incentive to – as crazy as it sounds – burn down your house for insurance. Still, MetLife would not budge. With the prospect of having to pay hundreds in unnecessary insurance indefinitely, I had to stop the refi process, losing out on hundreds in fees.

This ended up being a blessing in disguise because I immediately started the process over again with a local bank. For them, there was no question: “There are no uninsured betterments and improvements? Then your insurance is perfectly adequate.” After my experience with MetLife, it was a relief to work with someone who was logical and reasonable!