HTTP Status Code
http://status-code.com/
Here is a list of status codes , now if some one made a site a like this and linked to an explaination of each code it would almost be a resouce.
Are we seeing the end of newspapers
It wasnt that long ago that our local newpaper was printed twice a day, ( i can only assume this was to keep up with the fast paced news) now its down to once a day and they are even giving them away to us for a month to get us to subscribe. Now with the internet we can see updates within minutes of the events happening and also watch rich media streams of it and best of all , its usally free.
How much longer will we see newspapers ..
I lost a domain :(
So the last few weeks I re ignited my idea for a website , several years ago I brought pricewse.co.nz, but was knoced back with finda and ferrit , suddenly i got a freash idea I could have macked it with this domain but some how orcn dropped the billing on the domain and i never kept the email address up to date. So I guess this teaches me but it wont stop me. Time to start learning php.
Good luck to the new owner looks like you already have a few domains there 
, and if any one has any ideas for a domain name please let me know
What ever happened to communities?
When I left the mighty wairoa I thought every thing would be for the better. While I was growing up there I kept asking myself why on earth would any one want to live there.
As I grow older I start to notice what I left behind and why people shifted to places like wairoa. For starters there’s the obvious, cheap housing and land. It has a nice river and there is a lighthouse practically in the middle of the town , far from any sea. Its also central to areas great for outdoors people like hunting, fishing and growing weed.
But the biggest thing I miss is community, I remember countless town activates like fundraising for a set of jaws of life, fund raising to help MR Shaw get another helicopter and all the coming together when cyclone bola wiped out our bridge.
I cant help but start to feel lonely in this dog eat dog world I now live in.
Should Telecom put down ferrit?
For the last few years I have watched Telecom pump thousands of dollars into marketing for ferrit.co.nz as the online shopping hub in new Zealand. The problem I see with ferrit is
1. Character they have for it comes across as some creepy, paedophile, lazy jerk so no one really wants to relate to him.
2. The site layout is an explosion of images and links, lacks colour and focus points.
3. A lot of the site content resides under the break and the site's banners and header consume the first half of the page.
4. The retailer fees and commission terms are complex and expensive.
These are just a few of the problems I see with the site. I also find the business model confusing are they a gateway to the brick and mortar shops ? no..
Are they a online mall ? yes kind of but they don’t seem to give retailers a virtual shop.
Do they really offer a good product comparison feature ? not really.
Does their search work ? not very well. The refine search option is nice but easy to miss, a spell checker would be good too.
I guess ferrit is shaping up to be a site to go when you don’t know what to buy, probably a good option for finding gifts but that’s about it.
My guess is they will try again this x-mas season try a change in direction yet again . or they can give me a call to help fix it up
Dear HP, Your service sucks
A few years ago I decided to treat myself to a new laptop. Given that I usually work with HP gear (servers , desktops and laptops) I decided to get a HP laptop.
This is where I learnt that HP has two ranges , one for business customers and one for consumers. Generally speaking its a lot harder to purchase the business range gear and generally speaking you also pay a higher premium for it. HP don’t seen to encourage online shopping so for joe blogs you need to get into your local dse. working in IT I have had my fair share of dealing with the customer support team of the business machines, most cases get resolved within a few days.
Enter my DV100, now this was my pride and joy. My first new laptop, now this machine was pride and joy for a while but little did I know... it had laptop cancer.
this machine was great , pretty quick small. after about a year it started to get hot and crash, no blue screen just bang and power off. So off to the shop it goes to get fixed, about a month later I get it back and everything seemed fine until about 9 months later pop. Again back to the shop to get fixed for another 6 weeks.
OK so two motherboards later you would hope it would be fine but 2 weeks after my extended warranty ended it again dies. I took the machine back to noel leeming and first of all they tried to flog me off since the warranty was finished. A quick email to HO saying how i had spent close to 5 grand there a few weeks ago and their mind changes. This is where i start to get pissed off from here it took about 6 weeks or it to get to HP's repair centre, another two weeks and they say yep its broken.. a few more weeks after that i get a phone call telling me that they will again repair it to show good faith.
Now being fair the machine at this stage is 3 years old, its also been repaired a few times but I could be certain that a repair is only going to stall the inevitable. I then proceeded to tell their rep that HP should realise there is a problem with the machine but they refuse. about two weeks later they say that there is another problem and they would replace it with the exact same model. Again not too happy with this idea either but it was better than nothing.
Another few weeks goes by so I email the ceo of HP. The very next day I get a call saying they will give me a brand new one and i will have it in a few days , a few days later i email them again to see where it is and they say its coming , another few days pass and still no laptop, So a Monday morning pissed off email to HP now they are telling me eta is December the 9th.
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0cm; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> I am sorry HP but you have a lot to learn, for starters
- when a customer has a problem , its not a problem for you, its an opportunity to make a good impression and put things right.
- When a customer is left without service you have about 3 days to restore, repair or replace before the customer starts to get really annoyed.
- Where there is a trend in symptoms , change the treatment
- And finally when you set expectations, live up to them. Its better to under promise and over deliver.
Things I learnt today
well , the last few weeks (months) we have been pretty tied up ending our tenancy with our last jippo landlords. on the upside after all the BS I learned a few life lessons.
Always get a receipt.
You should always respect people who are older than you, but they can lose that respect if they don't respect you.
Just because they are older, dosnt equal wiser
You will always be amazed at the lies people will come up with when they think they are right.
On another compleaty unrelated note i would like to thank A nd L norris for the years we stayed at their property.
Wish list for trade me
One of the things I wish trademe would do is set up rss feeds for category's. That would be Ace.
How to deal with debt collectors
There are two things that I have learned about debt collection that I think are pretty universal.
When debt reaches the stages that collectors are calling you or popping around for a cup of tea, its not unusual to get depressed and avoid them. The reality is they wont go away and usually the more you put them through the more they end up charging. Another thing is people get into this line of work thrive on confrontation others are there just to earn a buck. Get them on side, explain the situation and be honest.
2. Make a payment plan and stick to it.
Even if you can only pay $5, $10 , $20 a week decide what you can afford ( be sure you can really afford it ) then make those payments on a regular basis. Don’t miss a payment so you can go to the movies or some party. If you however find you cant make the payment call the collectors and advise of the situation. If you come into any extra money really think about putting that down on the debt.
First iphone buyer in NZ paid by marketing company
Well, really should have seen this coming I mean what student could afford vodafones plans for an iphone. Also when you think about it his story didn't really sum too well. And before you jump down my throat that his mates were going to pay for it as part of his dare, think about it. What mates could afford to buy you a iphone? drug dealer mates?
Well as it turns out he has opened his mouth and spilt the beans.
Despite what spin you put on this, I feel pretty ripped that vodafone or whoever needed to go to the extent to pay some one to start queuing up for its products. To top it off he couldnt even keep it but on the upside you can win it here.
Looking at this again the campagin may be for yellowpages but this still looks poor for the iphone.
