Told or Known - The Blog

Surfing the Tumblr Wide Web [2]

Rod Knowlton — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:51:29 GMT

update 12/01/07: Tumblr v3 Follower Mode is finally ready. The write-up’s available on my tumblelog.

In which I create a Greasemonkey script to allow tumblrs to follow their “Friends” by moving from one tumble with fresh posts’s actual site to the next…

Internet + 24 Hour News Cycle = Vector for Misinformation?

Rod Knowlton — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:39:19 GMT

I hope that all of you realize what a large grain of salt most Internet information should be taken with, but this morning I’ve spotted a rapidly spreading piece of misinformation at a point very close to its origin and thought I’d share it with you.

Having Your Automated System Play "Eliza" With Me Is NOT "Chat Live With Us"

Rod Knowlton — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 02:31:32 GMT

I’m looking at you, Cox, but you’re not the only ones.

This is the evil that tries customer’s souls. Thanks for not re-branding it. Made it much easier to find.

“Seamlessly transitioning end-users between self-service and assisted service to deflect unnecessary contacts”

Right.

You use the exact same copy for the “analyst” I chatted with as you do for the voice response system I get if I call, for Pete’s sake.

Do us ~~revenue streams~~ customers a favor, will you? Having insufficiently staffed support lines is bad enough. Do not compound the error by insulting our intelligence with crap like this.

Just ask us nicely to provide initial information to your automated system, don’t pretend it’s something it’s not.

Treat us as though we’re intelligent, capable human beings upon which your continued existence is dependent.

Because we are.[1]

¹ Eliza @ Wikipedia in case you’re wondering about the title reference.

YouTube Advice for All Candidates: Get Off The Stump

Rod Knowlton — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:24:55 GMT

Instead of paying lip service to a question and then finding your way (smoothly or otherwise) to your own talking point, how about posting your own long form answers as video replies on YouTube?

Even if you cherry-pick the questions, it would be refreshing to see a nicely reasoned non-spin answer to the actual questions.

AA Flight Panic "Ought to be commended and encouraged"?

Rod Knowlton — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:02:03 GMT

From Bloomberg (all emphasis mine):

Crew members informed the pilot of Flight 136, a Boeing Co. 777 en route to London’s Heathrow Airport, about a male passenger who had been seen on a shuttle bus from Los Angeles International Airport’s employee parking lot, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said in a phone interview this morning.

“This is the type of vigilance that ought to be commended and encouraged,’‘ he said.

Suspicious guy spotted and dealt with. Good job. Oh, but wait…