A Rubber Door

85 dogs convince me to not move into Philadelphia

Speener — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:03:26 +0000

This is one of the saddest stories I’ve read in a long time. How does a city allow something like this happen? 7 years of complaints, 87 dogs (including two dead), two cats, and a stench that caused even the most experienced PSPCA officers to leave the house for a break. How does this happen? One word: bureaucracy.

The story about 739 Earp St. on Philadelphia Weekly is pretty amazing. This one article convinced me that I should stay in the suburbs. The fact that these taxpayers complained to the city government, city council, the PSPCA, Licensing and Inspections – and were unable to get any of them to act until a false tip was called in, tells me all I need to know about my hometown.

One thing about living in my small town, just outside of Philly – if something is happening that I want to ask about, I can call or email my councilperson and expect a response. I don’t know how these people dealt with it for as long as they did. I would have gotten in trouble.

So for all of that, I’ll stay in the suburbs. Close enough to enjoy, but far enough away to comfortably ignore and remain blissful.

Apple Hates Social Media

Speener — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:34:05 +0000

I wasn’t a good Facebooker until I got an iPhone. I would forget about my accounts and not look at them for weeks. I think that part of the reason that Friendster and Myspace died is because you had to be chained to your computer to update them. Once you could effectively manage your online profiles on the run as you were being social and not after the fact, social networks became relevant to me. You could make an argument that the iPhone helped take social media to the next level. It brought elegant Internet surfing, faster connections, and a camera to everyone who would stomach AT&T. All of this was a boon to social networks.

So for their role in creating a space that made sites like Facebook and Twitter possible, how can Apple suck so bad at social media?

Customer Service – Your iPhone 4 is having problems. The signal strength and proximity sensor issues are all over Twitter, Facebook, an the blogosphere. Yet you say nothing. Of course you really don’t have a Facebook page of any value or your Twitter account is worth even less. You do have forums that you don’t answer. It’s like it’s 1998 at 1 Infinite Loop. In 2010, customers expect interaction online – not waiting in line at your stores or on the phone.
Social media integration – Why can’t I submit photos or videos directly to Facebook from outside of their app? As I mentioned before, the connected camera was one of the things that made these sites relevant.

As smart as Apple is about some things, they’re incredibly dumb about this. It’s not as if their employees don’t talk to customers millions of times every day. I was at an Apple store recently and saw customers hug their Apple rep on two separate occasions. Your employees are good at what they do, customers like them, and they seem to be able to communicate well, something it’s apparent that you can’t do.

I hate to say this, but one of the best companies at this is Apple’s ugly stepsister, AT&T. On AT&T’s Facebook page, they answer questions, post helpful videos and work to allay concerns before they go viral. You can also look at Verizon’s or Comcast’s Twitter accounts for other tech companies that get it.

Do you have any examples of good customer service online or companies that use social networks well? Share them in the comments section.

Top 10 Cars of Television and Movies

Spencer — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:00:49 +0000

With the A-Team coming out this week and the news that James Bond’s iconic Aston Martin is going to auction, I thought putting together a list of my favorite movie or TV cars.

Here’s my list:

Speed Racer – The Mach 5
James Bond – Aston Martin
Knight Rider – Kitt – Trans Am
Dukes of Hazzard – The General Lee*
The A-Team van
Bullit – The Mustang
Smokey and the Bandit – Trans Am
Batman – The Batmobile
Scooby Doo – The Mystery Machine
Spenser for Hire – Hawk’s Six series BMW

What are your suggestions? I struggled after 8.

*A co-worker questioned the General Lee because of the confederate flag on the front. I guess I never viewed this as a problem at the time. Of course I was 11 years old and the controversy of the flag didn’t hit me. So I think I have to adjust my list – not remove the General Lee, but it shouldn’t be #1 on the list.

Tracking Your Runs: Runkeeper vs. iMapMyRun — SlyMiser

Spencer — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:10:21 +0000

Tracking Your Runs: Runkeeper vs. iMapMyRun

Posted by: Spencer // May 13 2010

Ever since I got on a weight loss kick, I’ve been getting out to walk and ride my bike for exercise. Being a techo geek, I’ve been using my iPhone and one of two apps to track my distances, routes, and times. Keeping track of your exercises is a great way to measure your progress. Since the iPhone has an active Internet connection and GPS along with a built-in iPod, this makes it a perfect workout partner. So which app did I like? Here are a few of my thoughts.

First off, here are a few standard features that each apps share:

Read the rest of the article Tracking Your Runs: Runkeeper vs. iMapMyRun on Slymiser.com

Posted via web from iamspencer’s posterous

Lost Across the Sea Recap – An episode that challenges the faithful and the patient

Spencer — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:19:43 +0000

via nydailynews.com

After all these years of Lost, I’m annoyed at my fellow fans. Obviously last night’s episode Across the Sea was important to the overall story and covered facts that needed to be told. As such it was an transitional episode – an episode that sets up the next few episodes.

I think after all this time the producers of Lost deserve our loyalty, our faith. I’m reserving judgement until the story is told and not until then.

As for the episode. It is very apparent to me that Locke and Jack are Jacob and his brother. The scene where MIB tells Jacob that he has found a way off he island and Jacob responds that he doesn’t want to leave the island – that the island was his home – that’s a scene that Jack and Locke did earlier in the series. Man of Faith, Man of Science.

Also, I found it interesting that the two brothers were conceived off the island and born there. The protector can’t be conceived on the island – this is the reason for the fertility experiments (led by Ben who is aligned with Jacob) and ultimately why Jacob goes to find his replacement off the island.

Also – did you notice that CJ (Alison Janey) was killed by MIB without her saying a word?

One thing I didn’t like was the end, after the death of CJ and MIB, when Jacob arranges them in the cave, where the directors showed Jack and Kate finding their bodies years later. Lost is generally good at not making such overt hints – they reward their most attentive, faithful watchers and give them much more credit than this. That was the sort of thing that we would have figured out, but obviously it was so important we couldn’t be trusted not to catch it.

What were your thoughts?

Posted via web from iamspencer’s posterous

Philly taking the place of Manhattan for The Dark Fields

Spencer — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:40:21 +0000

The Dark Fields starring Bradley Cooper, Robert Dinero, & Elizabeth
Banks is filming across the street from my office. Philly is taking
the place of Manhattan. Funny to see all the NYC cabs, police cars,
and street signs (apparently 21st & Market is a dead ringer for 7th
ave & 54th st)

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from iamspencer’s posterous

Phillies opening day

Spencer — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:59:50 +0000

Great day for a game. Have to endure the asshole behind me, but otherwise great.

Posted via web from iamspencer’s posterous

Phillies stadium ass

Spencer — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:20:18 +0000

The Phillies are selling chunks of the grass from citizens bank park and I bought a cube – but I’m not sure from the label what’s really in the box.

Posted via web from iamspencer’s posterous

Dodge Charger Commercial Doesn’t Speak to Women – So?

Spencer — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:09:33 +0000

During the Super Bowl, Chrysler ran a commercial for their mid-age crisis auto, the Dodge Charger. Now I’m not a man that has ever needed a car to express my maleness, but some men do – this commercial was targeted towards them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbiPlIWRAw

This commercial was designed to not be ignored. It’s creative execution is done in a way that makes it stand out. It cuts through the clutter and targets the one type of guy – we’ll call him PW for short. This commercial was destined to offend – and it has. Some women have gone online to express their dissatisfaction with and ad that doesn’t address them. On one blog posting a about the Dodge commercial, I saw the following comment:

I don’t care what car you’re selling, you’re still selling to women.

And then there’s this parody ad:

I think that for too long there’s been the assumption that men abdicate all decision to the women in their life. I’m sure some men do. But what about men that have backbones; or men that don’t like women in that way; or men that have a relationship where they consult on decisions with their partner? Why does every product need to be sold to women?

Women have earned the right to vent at this male dominated society – and I understand where the parody is coming from, but not every message is meant for every person. As a black person, I tend to skip over ads for tanning salons – I assume they’re not meant for me.

Advertising has swung to target women so decidedly, that advertisers don’t know how to speak to men. The only way they know how to is to insult women, show T&A, or feature scatological humor.

All this commercial does is target men in one of the few ways the advertiser knows how to. If the ad doesn’t ad doesn’t speak to you, I say you ignore it.

What do you think?

Zoning Hearing on Proposed Bank in Conshohocken

Spencer — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:16:42 +0000

A few days ago I wrote about a historic building here in Conshohocken that a developer wants to tear down to make way for a bank. To follow-up there will be a zoning board hearing in a couple of weeks regarding the building at 528 Fayette St. The following is from Councilman Jason Salus’ website:

The Conshohocken Zoning Hearing Board will consider the applicant’s zoning requests at their meeting on Monday, February 15 at 7:00 PM at Conshohocken Borough Hall (720 Fayette Street). This is a continuation of a prior hearing and the record for the hearing is closed. The Chair of the Zoning Board will have the discretion to take public comment. I encourage all interested residents to attend.

I encourage you to attend and to forward this post to any Conshohocken resident or business owner.