aerialsoul : Shane's Site

I haven't used Shutterfly in a long time, so I decided to use one of their Free Print offers and give Shutterfly a spin again. But it's a bit hard to use the service when you can't upload pictures!

The text on the pages of their Add Pictures flow refers to buttons that don't exist! If you don't put a BROWSE button on the page or a NEXT button you can't really finish the Add Pictures flow. No Added Pictures = No User Engagement.

I tried it in Firefox 2. This is the page I received when I clicked Add Pictures (highlighting added during screen grab). I couldn't find the Browse button. Somewhat hard to load an image if you can get to the file on your PC.

So I tried it in IE6. A few pages of errors because it couldn't load the page. But I got past the login and clicked Add Pictures.

Well, now. It's a different page layout. But once again, a button is missing. This time it's the NEXT button. As a guess, I hit Enter and it worked.. took me to the next page in the flow.

But no dice. Once again, the page refers to the mystery BROWSE button.

So what should I do? Maybe it's time for me to ditch Shutterfly completely, which I've pretty much done over the last year or so. The occasion email offer and looking at friends shared albums is all the gets me to their site anyways.

And for this problem to happen the same day that Multiply releases some brand spanking new features! Omen?

In my last post on Gas Prices and Commuting I confessed that I whipped up a spreadsheet to model the commuting costs of several options. It started with a basic question of "I wonder at what gas price it will make financial sense to take the train instead of the motorcycle?"

Note that this was just financial sense! Which makes this somewhat of an academic exercise because there are other factors to consider in the question of commuting options. How about: commute times, flexibility, carbon footprint, productivity.

I attempted to include in the model:

• fuel costs ($/gallon)
• train/bus fares (using 10 ride CalTrain tickets)
• parking (daily parking costs)
• oil changes (every 3000 mi for motorcycle, 5000 mi for car)


• tire cost (ballpark cost of tires per mile)
• pre-tax treatment for commuting benefits

The pre-tax treatment is pretty important. Parking and mass transit costs can be paid from the pre-tax withdrawals from my paycheck - using a 34% tax rate means that $10 paid from pretax money is only equal to $6.60 of after tax money.

Here is a shot of the spreadsheet table. The final cost is a round trip total. the blue shaded items are the ones that can be paid from the pre-tax account. Here is a view only version of the sheet on Google Docs. If you want to know more just let me know via the comments.

Note: At the time of this post, our gas price is $4.599/gallon. To answer my original question, I just kept increasing the $/gal until the total amount for the train was less than the motorcycle amount. This happened at about $6.70/gal.

After comparing the motorcycle to taking CalTrain to SF, I added a few other commute options which aren't really options until we buy a second car (which we'll do soon before Baby G arrives).

What can you do with a similar sheet? Compare your commuting options, compare the costs of a commute with two different vehicles you are considering buying, calculate your total commute costs over a period of time.

Embrace the spreadsheet! It's your friend!

This pic pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Photo from T-Shirt Humor

I'm shocked at how fast the prices are rising, but I'm also optimistic that we will finally see some lasting changes in behavior. Short term spikes in prices don't really change the way people behave or what decisions they make. They aren't likely to run out and sell the SUV and buy a hybrid just because fuel goes up a bit. I'm happy to hear that we are actually seeing some movements in the cars people are purchasing -- and not just in California.

So what have I been doing?

For the last few months, I've been using MyMileMarker to log our fuel purchases. I use the mobile version of the service to log each fill up on the motorcycle and the Civic. I've also lately used their Twitter interface which is super easy to send a Twitter msg from my phone giving the vehicle name, odometer reading, gallons, price/gallon. It helps to monitor the mileage on a regular basis. ServiceBeacon also added a feature to track fuel purchases.

I also wanted to know at which price point was it cheaper for me to take CalTrain on a regular basis instead of riding the motorcycle to work. So of course, I whipped up a spreadsheet (those that know me well, know that Excel is a very good friend of mine).

I know from an eco standpoint, I should be riding the train more often. But the eco decisions are tempered with the reality that I only have 24 hours in a day and the train adds 20-30 minutes each way to my commute.

I'll make another post soon with the details of my spreadsheet work, but I found out that when gas reaches $7.50/gallon, it's cheaper to take the train to work instead of the motorcycle. The bike gets 48 mpg and parking is $2.50/day -- and it saves me an hour a day.

BUT I may start riding the train more often once G arrives. I haven't found a car seat for the motorcycle, so a car will be needed when I start incorporating day care drop offs and pick ups to the daily ritual.

The network board I built a while back to unclutter my desk was profiled last week on Lifehacker. Here is the LH post - Three Reader Gadget Pegboard Mounts.

This is pretty much a full circle blog project - I got the idea from a LH post, came up with a solution that worked for my situation, posted it to my blog, recently posted pics to a LH Flickr group, the solution is posted back to LH, and now I'm posting about the LH post. Great!

I've been thinking about trying to make this project into a product - it's a simple idea/solution, but it still takes time to execute it. But who doesn't want to declutter their desk? Would you consider purchasing this 'type of product' to organize the devices on your desk?

Updated for Multiply Cross post: This was posted to my personal site first using Windows Live Writer. Now testing the cross posting to Multiply to see if it still looks okay once arriving at Multiply (which usually makes my posts look better than they do on my personal blog site hosted by blogger).


I've been a bit frustrated by the Blogger tool for post creation and came across a post on Lifehacker about Windows Live Writer. I decided to install it and give it a whirl. So this is just a quick post to see how well it can actually push a post to my blog.

If I can find a tool where I don't dread the details of posting more than actually writing, maybe I'll post a bit more often.

Now for a pic - here is a pic of a friend's newborn girl that I took this weekend -- beautiful Reese looks so peaceful.

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Posted By aerialsoul to blog.aerialsoul.com at 6/11/2008 08:58:00 PM

For the first time in six years I've gotten a new batch of business cards (for work, not personal cards). My previous roles have been very internally focused so I didn't even worry about business cards, but with the new role I do need them.


As I looked at yet another card, it made me walk backwards through the list of jobs I've had and wish that I had a copy (or an image) of each of my cards. I know I have a few of them tucked away in files or old laptop bags. If I find them I'll update this post with a Business Card walk down memory lane. For now, it's just an image of where I stand today professionally.

If you've traveled recently you probably know about the airline baggage policy changes. The increased fees for baggage have been changing for quite a while, but for me it's getting pretty ridiculous. These fees look to be last ditch efforts for an industry in a steady state of decline.


NOTE: Pay attention to baggage policies BEFORE you buy your tickets. The extra fees you pay for baggage may make it worth buying a more expensive ticket that allows for more baggage. And at least know your baggage weights before you leave home -- in some cases it's cheaper to pay extra baggage fees online instead of at the airport. And be careful packing those large suitcases, it doesn't take much to get to 50lbs (typical weight limit for luggage on economy tickets).



Expedia recently sent me a nice link to updated baggage policies for an upcoming trip (see the image or Expedia's link).


What strikes me as 0dd is American Airlines' baggage policy. Currently they are the ONLY airline charging for your FIRST checked bag! And they have the WORST rate of mishandled bags - 6.85 Mishandled baggage per 1000 passengers. The other large airlines aren't great either, but AA is the worst of this list. (sorry for the poor images, still figuring out SnagIt).




Isn't this some type of leap of faith?

"We suck so pay us more and then we can make it better."

I can see the unintended impact of this policy. Anyone else see a plane load of people trying to cram over sized carry on bags into the overhead?

In SF it's never odd to see tricked out or 'art cars' cruising down the highway, but this car caught my eye. We were driving on 280 South near Palo Alto on Friday night when this car cruised past us. It's covered in Obama bumper stickers -- COVERED!!!


I hit the gas while Ava pulled out her phone to snap a shot. As we slid up beside them and snapped a pic, I felt obliged to give them a thumbs up!! Our friend Jake would be proud!

After our recent trip to Italy and Bulgaria, I thought I would pass along some travel tips that may seem obvious to some and could save you frustration later.

1. Let your bank and credit cards know you are traveling

The banks are trying harder to fight fraud so they will quickly put a security block on your ATM and credit cards. Take the 5 minutes to call the number on the back of your cards (including your ATM card) and let them know your travel dates and destinations. There were 5-6 of us on our Italy trip that had problems with our ATM cards.


2. Consider using a GPS
The Europe maps for our GPS unit were worth every penny of the $150 we spent. Just be sure how to enter the addresses for your destination. They saved us several times when driving through Italy.


3. Get the phone numbers for your credit cards and bank
Get the international calling details for your credit cards and bank BEFORE you leave. We had problems using the toll free numbers from outside of the USA - and of course, when the bank called to alert us to the security block placed on our cards they left the toll free number to call them back.


4. Find out the details of Roaming coverage and Costs for your mobile phone
Find out the roaming costs before you leave and determine if it makes sense to sign up for an International Calling Plan before you leave. Even if you don't plan on using your mobile phone it's good to have the info just in case. And be careful about data charges!!! Just because you can get a data connection doesn't mean it's covered under you plan -- and roaming data plans typically charge per MB which can add up quickly!


5. Understand how to call FROM your destination
This part really made me feel like an idiot. But figure out how to call from your mobile in roaming mode either within your destination country and back to the US. Also how to call from a landline phone.


6. Set up email filters and rules to hide the non-urgent emails
If you are traveling for vacation you probably still want to read email but try to hide the crap from your inbox, especially if you will be using internet cafes or pay for bandwidth connections. I just setup a label (SAVE) and quickly labeled the msgs from my Inbox as I checked email -- I would have rather had them automatically labeled based on rules defined before I left.


7. Get currency before you leave or right when you land
I'm on the fence on this one and will have to do some more research, but I'm starting to like having a small amount of local currency as soon as I arrive. I'm suspicious of the fees charged when exchanging money at the airports, so I'm going to consider getting currency from the foreign exchange desk of my local bank. My bank also charged a Currency Exchange Fee when I used the ATM card for purchases, so watch out for these fees too.

There are many communication studies about how much is communicated via non-verbal cues -- something like 80% is communicated via non-verbal actions (I'm too lazy to link to a specific study). So even though I know the Bulgarian words for Yes and No (da = yes, ne = no), I still find myself paying more attention to the body language than the words. It's even worse if I'm not close enough to hear the words.


We were walking across the parking lot of the metro station on Monday near the BG capital of Sophia and tried to wave down a taxi. As the driver saw the hand wave (seems the taxi hand motion is understood across cultures), he moved his head left to right. I slowed down and started looking for another taxi. When I turned back, Ava was walking faster to the cab as I saw him still shaking his head but also waving us to the taxi.


The head nod can get even more confusing when some Bulgarians switch it up because they know you aren't a local, so you really need to pay attention to the words!!

It's been two years since Ava and I were last in Sofia, Bulgaria. So what were my initial impressions of Sofia on this second trip?

It's been a little over a year since BG was accepted into the EU, so I expected to see visiable changes.


First - the Sofia airport is now sporting a new terminal that looks very nice and presents a great first impression upon arrival. Clean, shiny surfaces. Good signage (including English). And all in all pretty efficient to clear through Passport checks, baggage claims, and customs review. No forms to fill out, just show passport, get your bags and get out. No need for us to deal with a rental car since Ava's aunt picked us up, but I'm not brave enough to drive in the capital anyways.


Second - on the drive from the airport, the number of newer cars on the road was surprising. It seems one of the results of an improving economy is that people replace the old cars. Many are used cars that have come from the US (and other countries), but most of the cars look to be less than 10 years old. There are a fair number of new and expensive cars (Porsche, BMW, Audi...even saw a Bentley one night). The driving habits seem to be improved as well -- I guess if you drive a new car you aren't as willing to risk a fender bender. Two years ago, it was down right scary sitting in the back seat of a car driving in Sofia. Now it's still a bit freaky at times, but not scary (at least not scary ALL of the time). It's almost to the point that I may consider renting a car next trip for our drives outside of the capital.


Third - as the price of gas passed $4/gallon at home before we left, I had been tracking gas increases for months. Well, $4/gallon is chump change compared to fuel prices in Europe. In Sofia, the price is about 2.50 leva/liter for diesel -- which works out to $7.72/gallon!!!! It was even more expensive in Italy -- diesel ended up about $8.61/gallon. So while the economy has improved, cars are newer which is great for improved emissions, but the overall number of cars has increased. So traffic is pretty bad now in and around Sofia at rush hour.


Forth - the basic infrastructure in and around Sofia is in need of major investments. The roads and sidewalks probably haven't had any work in the last two years. The roads are full of pot holes, some are big enough to be called sink holes. The locals know where they are and swerve all over the road to avoid them -- sometimes at 40 mph. So to the outsider, it looks like cars are just swerving around randomly, but it's an orchorstated manuveur that is anticipated by other drivers. The government really needs to pick up the pace of improvements in this area.


Fifth -- (the numbers will stop now) The number of new construction projects taking place within sight of older run down buildings is even more pronounced. It's just odd to see solid structurally sound buildings in need of TLC sitting next to the new 10-15 story hotel or business office building. It must be due to the ownership and legal structures of the old buildings that make it easier for developers to acquire land and start a new building. I don't have any real info on this situation but I just can't stop wondering why it's the case. It presents an odd juxtoposition of shiny new building along side what appears to be a run down structure.


These are just the top items that hit me at the beginning of this trip to BG. Nothing too deep or emotional. Sometimees it's strange what stays at the top of my mind on trips.

Our custom Malm Headboard hack was mentioned on IkeaHacker this week!!! Yeah!!

Here is the link -- LINK to IkeaHacker Post. We were mentioned along with a few other headboards.

For more than 12 years, I've had a lift top coffee table that is VERY functional. We use it for dinner in front of the TV and laptop use on the sofa. The old table was given a new life 4 years ago when I refinished it with a mahogany stain.


After a new sofa, new entertainment unit, and art for our living room, we were having a hard time finding a modern table that still had a lift top with a storage area. I found a Room & Board stainless steel base that worked, so it was time to build what we wanted. It took a lot longer than I expected, but we're happy with the results.











I used birch plywood with birch veneer edging to cover up the visible plywood layers. The corners are glued and dowel joined. I had to rig up some brackets to hang the wood box from the base frame. The lift-top mechanism was harvested from our old table, but the springs were too strong for the new top. I was able to remove the old springs and install a weaker spring (who would have thought Home Depot sold springs).

I also made a table top for a matching console table frame, which will sit behind our sofa for a living room desk area.

See the Photo Album of the full set of photos of the project.

I read a post by Marc Andreessen last week about ABC's plan to develop their own on demand video service, and I still can't stop shaking my head at their plans. I'll pull in the lines from the post written by television industry journalist, Bill Carter, that pretty much sums up ABC's views:

Looking to strike a blow against the proliferation of digital video recorders, the ABC network, its affiliated broadcast stations, and Cox Communications' cable systems are establishing an on-demand video service that would allow viewers to watch ABC shows like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" any time they choose.

The catch: It uses a new technology that disables the viewers' ability to fast-forward through commercials...

Several executives involved in the project, which ABC plans to offer to other cable systems around the country, said the move was an overt attempt to staunch the use of DVRs like TiVo, which viewers often use to avoid commercials. That activity is increasingly seen as threat to broadcast television, which depends on ad revenue to pay for programs.

"This does counter the DVR," said Anne Sweeney, the president of the Disney-ABC television group. "You don't need TiVo if you have fast-forward-disabled video on demand..."

Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications, which owns three local ABC stations, who is also the chairman of the board of affiliated ABC stations, was even more direct about the goal of the new service.

"As network and affiliates, we both have an interest in slowing down the explosive growth of DVRs," Mr. Cole said. "This is about combating DVRs. As we developed this at every stage, there was an agreement that however we put this together, disabling the fast-forward function was key."

Now my rant - how can ABC attempt to develop a product that goes against what consumers want. Do they think we will just throw out our DVR and welcome their box into our homes? Have they not learned from the music industry and the approach old media has taken to digital music? Prior to this post, I actually thought that ABC may be getting "it" with their online approach to TV. I really like their online offering at ABC.Go.com. Full episodes of shows with very limited commercials. I think their approach gives a nice balance of limited commercials with a viewer friendly interface that allows full episode viewing (some even in HD quality) of recent shows.


If ABC plans to use their online type of mandatory commercials for their set top box, then they need to pitch it VERY differently! Don't tell the world your goal is to MAKE your viewers watch your commercials. Pitch it as a balance of customer wanted On Demand shows with very limited commercials and then quote some findings from the ABC online 'experiments' about customer satisfaction.


And later that week I read a post from Silicon Alley Insider about NBC's study of DVR usage which gave a view of how NBC seems to be taking an "if you can't beat them join them" approach to DVRs. NBC has found that some skipped ads still have value. It looks like NBC may be the ones to learn how to work with consumer behavior instead of fighting it.


If ABC doesn't want to run their own research they can just buy it from TiVo. During the TiVo quarterly analyst call last week, CEO Tom Rogers (no relation) noted that,

We are the only player out there providing (advertisers) with new forms of inventory as well as research on how people are avoiding commercials.

ABC should buy this research, learn what consumers are doing, and then figure out how to work WITH the behavior not try to beat their viewers into going back to old behaviors.

It's been years since TiVo first released their commercial skipping box, and I keep waiting a commercial intended to be skipped! I envision a commercial that when fast forwarded takes on a completely different visual -- that commercial will not only be skipped it will be replayed over and over! And posted on the web in fast forward. I haven't seen one yet -- but then I skip commercials.


Hey, Old Media!!! Start innovating!


Disclosures: I've been a TiVo user since early 2001. I have one TiVo Series 2 hooked up with a Lifetime subscription in the master bedroom, one TiVo Series 1 in the closet, one TiVo Series 2 in the guest room without a subscription, 1 Comcast HD DVR in the living room, and we've given 3 TiVo boxes as gifts.

Over the past several months Ava and I have been posting to our blogs on a frequent but somewhat random basis. Several friends and family have mentioned that they try to go to our sites to look for new posts. This is where RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds make things easier!


Ava just recently started using Bloglines for blog reading and has completely embraced it. I've been using G Reader for about a year and it's always open in my browser. If you use Yahoo! Mail, you can get RSS feeds within Yahoo! Mail - here is a Tutorial. But we also know that many people haven't warmed up to using RSS or Blog Readers.


If you aren't ready to use a Blog Reader, there is good news. Here are two services that deliver RSS feeds to your email. Just enter the feed url for our blogs and your email address and when new posts are made to our blogs, you will receive an email.


SendMeRss
RSSFwd

For as long as I can remember I've loved the view of clouds from a plane. This is a shot of the view from the plane on Wednesday's flight from DFW to SFO.

With each blink of an eye, the vision I see changes. The clouds look like:

• they are only 50 feet below the plane
  
• fluffy pillows -- a white version of a huge bed filled with pillows
  
• the flowing sands on a large, large beach
  
• the plane is hovering -- it seems as if we aren't really moving

It makes me just stare out of the window and brings a smile to my face (and my soul).