::.. Timing ..::

:: 2003/11/20 ::

Verizon Wireless: Part II

My complaints about Verizon Wireless cell pix led to the following clueless response:

Hello Stowe,

Thank you for taking the time to send us your feedback. Verizon Wireless takes great pride in the products and services that we offer our customers. We strive to offer our customers the best value in both cost and functionality. Customer feedback, such as yours, enables Verizon Wireless to continually improve the products available to our customers to better meet your needs. We will ensure
that your feedback is sent to the correct department to allow us to make future improvements and enhancements to the products and services that we offer. We look forward to meeting your needs now and in the future.

If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us anytime through e-mail using the address of wirelessdata@verizonwireless.com. We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing
Verizon Wireless.

{name deleted}
Verizon Wireless
Wireless Data Technical Support

"We never stop working for you!"

I love the fact that they take great pride in their services, but completely avoid dealing with the issue. I just want them to take the ads (and other unwanted junk) out of the cell pix emails I am sending from my phone. It is not some free service, where I might be willing to accept the ads. I am paying for this service, and they provide no means to turn off the ads. Saying "Sorry, there is no way to disable the ads," is not adequate.

I look forward to seeing the president of Verizon Wireless's response, which is promised within two days.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/20/2003 09:41:50 AM [link] ::
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Verizon Wireless Idiocy

I bought a new cell phone from Verizon Wireless, an LG VX6000, and its a lot of fun. Here's a photo of my son, Conrad:

But Verizon Wireless is clueless.

I complained to the customer service folks that their service is adding a bunch of unwanted text and HTML to the email messages I am sending from the phone to various pixblogs. Most annoying is the advertising stuck into each message: "This message was sent using Picture Messaging from Verizon Wireless! To learn how you can snap and send pictures with your wireless phone visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/pixmessaging"

I received the following reply from customer support:

"Hello Stowe,

Thank you for contacting the Verizon Wireless website. As part of our Worry Free Guarantee, your concern becomes our concern the first time you contact us. We are happy to assist you with your
Picture Messaging question.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately the text cannot be disabled. If you send the picture to an email address, you can save it as a .bmp, then either forward it to the site or change
the file format, then send it to the web site.

If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us anytime through e-mail using the address of wirelessdata@verizonwireless.com. We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing
Verizon Wireless.

Sincerely,


Verizon Wireless
Wireless Data Technical Support

"We never stop working for you!"

My response:

"That's a real bad policy. There are a wide variety of web picture services that are going to have trouble with the format you are creating (such as Typepad, one of the leading blogging services).

I especially dislike the advertisement you stick in the email text without providing me a means to disable it. Since I am paying for the service, your ad should be removed. Merely telling me that it can't be is totally unacceptable.

Your swarmy "worry free" guarantee aside, you should quickly move to disable the current format, and should inform me (and others) when that will be accomplished.

I intend to publicize this ridiculous policy, and will send you a link to the article.

- Stowe"

So as a result of this stupidity, my Typepad photo blog won't work. Take a look at the last few pix -- every picture sent directly from my phone winds up as three supposed "pix", and the text associated with each includes Verison Wireless ads. The nice folks at Typepad are trying to work out a way to strip off the junk, but Verizon is just unhelpful.

It turns out that other services (like Textamerica) seem to strip off all the Verizon crap, but I really want to use the more sophistiacted blogging capabilities of Typepad. Until Typepad or Verizon sort this thing out, I am hosed.


:: Stowe Boyd 11/19/2003 05:17:29 PM [link] ::
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5th Kyu

Last night, I was awarded the 5th Kyu in Shito Ryu style Karate. A Green Belt at last.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/19/2003 04:58:31 PM [link] ::
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New Social Commentary column at Darwin: "The Promise and Pitfalls of Social Networking"

"In an editorially schizophrenic show of ambivalence, Business 2.0's November issue lauds social networking — with mentions of offerings from companies like Linkin, Ryze, Friendster, Spoke and VisiblePath — as the best technology of 2003, while the magazine's lead article warns that the tech bubble is about to blow again. This juxtaposition of tech rise and fall has sparked a strange turn in the media discussion regarding social networking, specifically: Is the bubble around social networking about to burst?"

A must read.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/19/2003 01:42:36 PM [link] ::
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Another Proof that I am Old

As if blowing a blood vessel in my head wasn't enough, I only today learned that rocker Robert Palmer, an icon of my bar-hopping days, died of a heart attack while I was recuperating (and not reading the papers) in late September. He was 54.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/17/2003 09:46:32 AM [link] ::
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Haiku on my Aneurysm

Courtesy of Judith Meskill

aneurysmal annulment...
stowe boyd's survival
september birth month memoirs
timing is crucial...

haitech haiku™
©2003 judith meskill

inspired by stowe's surgical success - stowe is a strong presence in real-time, collaborative and social technology spaces


:: Stowe Boyd 11/14/2003 12:04:19 PM [link] ::
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Collaboration in Context

I advance an argument about the value of collaboration in context over at November's The Message is the Medium:

"I have long advanced the view that real-time technology will be the motive force behind the next wave of collaboration, replacing the first generation of real-time communication tools -- principally instant messaging and web conferencing -- that have been structured as standalone applications. This structure has forced an out-of-context form of collaboration which has limited the productivity benefits that real-time collaboration offers.

Go read it!

:: Stowe Boyd 11/11/2003 08:41:56 AM [link] ::
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Political Compass

Just determined my Political Compass (courtesy of PoliticalCompass.org), and I am down with the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. My score is Economic Left/Right: -2.12, Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.10, which will be meaningful if you go through the exercise.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/5/2003 04:14:14 PM [link] ::
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What's your Google number?

An interesting piece by Valdis Krebs on the use of Google as an indicator of how widely known someone is. The Google number is the number of hits that a person's name yeilds on Google.

Being somewhat vain on this topic, I discover that i have a Google number of 5910, which -- according to Krebs -- makes me a thought leader in my field. Geez... I hope so.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/5/2003 12:16:11 PM [link] ::
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Monster.com to incorporate Social Networking

Seeking to monetize its business model, Monster is reportedly planning to launch new social networking features. Sounds like a plan to roll out Spoke or LinkedIn forms of social relationships. (Thanks to a mention by Patti Anklam).

:: Stowe Boyd 11/5/2003 12:10:21 PM [link] ::
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Marc Canter on the Social Software VC Frenzy

Marc Canter's AO piece jumps in on the VC's feeding frenzy in the social software market niche.

Just because they don't know what it is, doesn't mean its not worth investing in. Someone could decide to invest just because so many ur-gurus (like Marc) are interested in it.

Its early days. Does anyone believe that we need to have the entire ecosystem worked out -- including how people will pay to be socially softened -- before early stage money should stream in? Is it too bubblicious? We are theatening the collapse of the stock market by trying to help people communicate more effectively via the net, are we?

I'm not sure anyone knows where social software is headed. I coined the term 'software tools' in 1999, and have been researching it ever since, and I don't know where it is all headed. But I do know that before it revolutionizes the world, large investments will be made. That doesn't mean that those who are getting the first dollops of money will become the next Microsoft, and it also doesn't mean that those with the most obnoxious and unfounded hockey-stick charts in their powerpoints are closer to cracking the code on social software. But money is going to be made, and VCs are circling.

:: Stowe Boyd 11/4/2003 08:25:30 AM [link] ::
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