Suburban Exploration: Foreclosed House in Chandler, Arizona

We all know there is a housing crisis in U.S., but how exactly is a typical foreclosed house look like?

Today I visited a foreclosed property priced by the bank for US$136,000 near Jupiter & Rush in Chandler, Arizona.


Closet door took a heavy beating.


Bedrooms are covered with trash and there are smell of feces & urine.


More trash.


and more...


It is sad to say this bathroom door with only one fist hole is the least damaged of all doors.


ID tag of what I assume is the former owner.


Backyard with trash.










Busted window.

MS Outlook Hyperlink Annoyance

If you ever have to work with Microsoft Outlook, you would know how annoying some of its features are or lack of.

For a while, my Outlook would not open any hyperlinks sent through emails.



The error message popped up does not provide any specific information regarding the reason or how to rectify the situation. All it does is to add more frustration on the user.



"This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator."

It turns out there were no restrictions that prevented hyperlinks from opening, rather a registry issue.

After upgraded Internet Explorer 6 to IE7, one little registry setting is either corrupted or missing.

HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command

To fix this, IE must be set as the default web browser first,



Open IE>Tools>Internet Options>Programs tab>Default web browser>Make default button

I then quickly set Mozilla Firefox as my default web browser after that.

By the way, the link I was trying to open in China Success Stories was very interesting read. I would highly recommend it.

Canon Powershot S1 IS Recalled Due to Image Sensor Failure

Recently, a Canon Powershot S1 IS I have purchased three years ago started to have some image issues.

Instead of photos, purple streaks have appeared:





I first checked Canon's website for repair estimate,



Then I did a search for "Canon Powershot S1 IS recall", found it has been recalled by Canon regardless of warranty status.

From Canon's site:

Service Notice: CCD Image Sensor Advisory (Updated 10/31/2006)

PowerShot S1 IS

This Service Notice will update Canon U.S.A., Inc.'s previous CCD Image Sensor Advisory, dated October 6, 2005.

It has come to our attention that the vendor-supplied CCD image sensor used in certain Canon digital cameras and digital video camcorders may cause the following malfunction: When the product is used in recording or playback mode, the LCD screen and/or electronic viewfinder may exhibit either a distorted image or no image at all. While reports of this malfunction have been rare in the United States, we have determined that it may occur if the product is exposed to hot and humid environments.

Notice of Additional Affected Products:
As a result of our continuing investigation of this malfunction, we have determined that the 11 models listed below, in addition to the 16 models listed in our Service Notice concerning this malfunction, dated October 6, 2005, may be affected.

Affected products:
- Camcorders: ZR60, ZR65 MC, ZR70 MC, ZR80, ZR85, ZR90, ELURA 40 MC, ELURA 50
- Digital Cameras A60, A70, A75, A300, A310, S230, SD100, SD110, A40(*), A80(*), A85(*), A95(*), S1 IS(*), S60(*), S200(*), S330(*), S400(*), S410(*), S500(*)
*Models added as of Oct.31, 2006

Malfunction:
It has been confirmed that the connecting parts of the internal wiring of the CCD used in affected products may become disconnected, especially if the affected products are stored or used in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. If this occurs, the signal is not output from the CCD normally in Shooting Mode, which may cause a distorted image or the absence of an image. This malfunction can be confirmed on the LCD monitor screen during shooting. The same malfunction also appears on the recorded image.

Canon's Response:
Effective immediately, and regardless of warranty status, Canon will repair, free of charge, the products listed above exhibiting the above-mentioned malfunction if Canon determines that the malfunction is caused by the CCD image sensor. Canon will also cover the cost of shipping and handling in connection with this repair.

U.S. residents are kindly directed to contact the Canon Customer Support Center for further assistance at 1-800-828-4040. Support hours are Monday thru Friday - 8:00 AM to 12:00 midnight; and Saturday 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM (all times EST). Alternatively, if electronic support is preferred, please send your email to carecenter@cits.canon.com This information is for residents of the United States of America and Puerto Rico only.

If you do not reside in the USA or Puerto Rico, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by this issue, and appreciate your understanding in this matter. Thank you for your support and patronage of Canon products.

I called the number & my camera will be repaired free of charge, even shipping will be covered by Canon.


Update: Since Canon Powershot S1 IS has been discontinued, Canon sent me a Powershot S5 IS as replacement!

Ghetto Siphon Coffee

Several months ago I read an article in New York Times about a $20,000 Japanese siphon bar at Blue Bottle Cafe in San Francisco.

A siphon bar or vacuum coffee maker uses vapor pressure & vacuum force to brew coffee. Many believes this would give coffee a cleaner, crisp, rich & smooth taste.

As a coffee aficionado myself, I believe the attraction to siphoned coffee is purely based on placebo effect.

To prove my point, I have built my own vacuum coffee maker for using only a moka pot & a glass salt shaker. Of course, you can also purchase a Bodum Santos for less than $100, but where is the fun in that?



My total cost was much lower than $20,000. Granted, I did not have fancy glass globe as the water reservoir.



After filling moka pot's boiler with water, I placed empty salt shaker over the top & coffee ground around it.



Heat.



Similar to regular siphon coffee maker, water has expanded after heating & traveled upward into the upper chamber.



After removing the moka pot away from heat source, brewed coffee siphons back into lower chamber as it cools.



Voila! Now you can also enjoy the same kaleidoscopic beverage all the pretentious hipsters are raging about.

Would You Pay to Watch an Infomercial?

Five fellow colleagues and I attended a what supposedly to be time management seminar today, however it turned out to be a seven hours long infomerical.

It was presented by National Seminars Group, a division of Rockhurst University Continuing Education Center, Inc.



For the entire day (9am to 3:30pm), the speaker has spent a maximum of two hours going through the topics in the workbook. Even with that, very little time was spend on covering time management. Rest of the time, he strongly suggested audience to purchase supplemental material, such as books & CDs. I actually felt like I was attending a pyramid scheme meeting.



Here are somethings that bothered me the most from my seminar experience:

1. Random "facts from studies" & " studies have shown" without clarifying the context. These so-called "facts from studies" only benefited his sales of supplemental material. He never explained why findings from other studies were wrong or incorrect.

2. Chitty & chatty, lack of clear objective, talking in circles. It is good to use scenarios to engage audience. When the seminar speaker start to pull out social & culture cliche to fill the time, he is wasting my valuable time.

3. Lost of Creditability. At one point while trying to hype up his sales pitch, he actually said: "these materials are only available through us, you can't get them from Amazon.com..." Which is a complete LIE! As a test, I found not only the books are available & one of the books, Lifescripts, was actually 35% cheaper at Amazon.com.

HOWTO: Samsung Gleam (SCH-u700) Ringtone Unlock

Since the current version of BitPim (1.0.5) does not yet support Samsung Gleam SCH-u700, the easiest way of uploading ringtones is via QPST version 2.7 build 215, an USB cable & corresponding software driver.

After USB driver has been successfully installed, the PC's Device Manager will display Samsung related additions under Modems, Ports, & Universal Bus Controllers.

In this case, COM4 is used for connecting SCH-u700 with PC.




First step is to open QPST's Configuration:




Under Ports tab, use Add New Port button to select the communication port assigned to the mobile phone. Otherwise, it should automatically show the port enabled & associated with phone (SURF6550-ZRF6500 NAND16) via USB.




Under Active Phones tab, it will also display similar information as in Ports tab. However, the Phone Number displayed here is not the mobile's number to receive phone calls (aka. Mobile Device Number), rather its Mobile Identification Number. ESN is the phone's Electronic Serial Number, similar to the Media Access Control address (aka. MAC) of a PC's Network Interface Card.




After selecting EFS Explorer, which is QPST's Graphic User Interface (GUI) used to transfer files between PC & mobile phone,




it will once again confirm Phone Selection:




To add ringtones to Samsung Gleam SCH-u700, simply drag & drop the desired audio files into

/brew/mod/19920/ringtones/

In this case, theme songs from Stargate SG1 (SG1.mp3) & Atlantis (SGA.mp3) were used.




Restart the phone when prompted.

My Busted Tee from Bustedtees.com

The following is my personal experience with Bustedtees.com as a first time customer.

On Nov. 29th, 2007, I placed an order with Bustedtees.com. It was a "You have died of dysentery" tee, in reference to an old computer game called Oregon Trail. I wanted to give this tee as a Christmas present to someone, who is addicted to this game when she was a child.

A week later, the shirt arrived with an unnecessary vent hole under the shirt's left arm.



I promptly contacted the company via email to inform them of my damaged shirt and request for exchange. An email from JenW states that someone will contact me within one business day.

The following Tuesday, Dec. 11th, I received an email from Valerie Palmer showing my replacement shirt had been ordered and would be shipped to me via U.S. Postal Service.

Another week went by, after which I called Bustedtees via the number posted on their website (877-287-8333) asking about the shirt's status. The young lady I spoke to told me it should be here on Friday Dec. 21st. I thought to myself, "great, it will still be here before Christmas."

But, it did not arrive.

Christmas came and went.

I called again yesterday and was told "we don't know what happened to the order. I see the original order from Nov. 29th, but as for the replacement one, it seems no one has done anything with it. When the customer service department people are back from their holidays, someone will contact you either via email or phone."

In the meantime, the young man I was speaking with, "Jason", offered to place another order & over-night the shirt to me via UPS.

Once again, the shirt did not show up as promised.

Using their live chat option, I was surprised to receive confirmation by "Jorge M" that none of my orders were found even though the order had supposedly been placed just the previous day.

After I sent them an email complaining about the terrible experience I had, I got a reply that is nothing more than some customer service lip service.

I understand perhaps my order was neglected among other holiday shopping orders. However, waiting two weeks for a replacement order while being misled with false promises is unacceptable.

As a first time customer of Bustedtees, my recent purchasing experience is giving me doubts regarding my personal as well as my friends' future business with their service.

Perhaps for next year, I should switch my holiday celebration to Kwanzaa. At least I will know my local grocery store will not have a problem of replacing ears of corn for me.


Update: Dec. 28, 2007 - Bustedtees has a store front in Amazon.com and selling the exact same shirt for $1 less. Although the shipping charge is $1 more, so there is no saving. What is good about purchasing via Amazon.com is its customer reviews, which Bustedtees' website is lacking. Instead of getting pointless response like "I do apologize for the inconvenience. I have forwarded your concerns to our corporate office and you should be contacted back as soon as possible", customers can leave comments about their experience on the same page in Amazon.com and forewarn others of any potential problem.

I wish I have read Sarah in Tampa's post "Busted Tees Stole My Money" on Nov. 29 before I placed my order.

I called Chase Bank this morning to retract my original credit card payment for that damaged shirt. In the meantime, I have found Zach Klein & Jakob Lodwick in Flickr. Klein & Lodwick are two of several partners in Connected Ventures, which owns Bustedtees. In a short email, I pointed them to this entry regarding my recent experience with Bustedtees. Hopefully their underlings would get the hint of stop ignoring customers with legitimate issues.

Update: Dec. 29, 2007 - This is the latest reply I have received from Bustedtees. "Brandy G" has once again assured me that my issue will be forwarded to the appropriate department & they will contact me back as soon as possible.

Valerie P. has left some comments yesterday. According to her, the particular shirt I wanted is on backorder. However, no one from Bustedtees or SureShip, its fulfillment company, has ever contacted me directly, especially when I have been calling & emailing them every week.

Update: Jan. 2, 2008 - Josh Mohrer (josh@bustedtees.com) has emailed me as well as leaving a comment here to inform those who had the similar experience as I did to contact him directly. Plus, he is going to send me a replacement shirt free of charge once it is available.

Update: Jan. 4, 2008 - Some parts of Josh’s email have raised more concerns & needed clarification.

1. "I unfortunately am only learning of this situation today [Jan. 2, 2008]." In the email sent out by Valerie Palmer on Dec. 11th, it clearly showed Josh was copied on the matter.

2. "I see that a new order was put through for you with Next Day Air. When you purchased the shirt, the site should have said the item was back ordered." Actually I was on the phone with Jason in person when the order was placed. If it was back ordered, shouldn't Jason see that on his computer & inform me then?

3. "We served about 25,000 customers this holiday season, and I imagine several hundred has a similar experience as you." Several hundred could be three or nine hundred. Out of 25,000 customers, that is a dissatisfaction rate of 1.2 to 3.6%. Does that seem a bit high comparing to other apparel retailers?

Recently I told my experience to my friend Steve Hall, who manages a website called Adrants.com that focuses on business management & advertisement. We don’t know if Bustedtees has genuinely learned a lesson about customer service & supply chain management. Or, giving away a free t-shirt is just PR damage control.

Update: Jan. 15, 2008 - I received a replacement shirt from Bustedtees yesterday. Based on my experience with Bustedtees as a first time customer, I have decided not to purchase from them ever again.