Archive

Archive for August, 2004

Smoke Alarms that can’t tell the difference between Smoke and Cooking

August 24th, 2004 2 comments

Is it any wonder that people die in house fires after pulling the batteries out of smoke detectors.

How many smoke alarms out there are non-functional because people get sick and tired of the smoke alarm mistaking cooking for smoke?

I’m not talking about burning food here, just normal cooking, no smoke, yet the smoke alarm keeps going off. Can nobody design a smoke alarm that detects just that, and only that?

Powerhouse Website tied to Internet Explorer

August 21st, 2004 No comments

Tried to access the Powerhouse website today, but got the following crap:

Welcome to Powerhouse Online
You may be experiencing difficulty in accessing our site because your Internet Browser needs to meet the following criteria:
? IE 5
If you wish to use our site you will need to update your browser accordingly.

So, I sent this email:

Please note that by excluding users who choose not to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, you are alienating an increasing number of customers, and also bucking the trend of webmasters who support more and more browsers.
Many people choose not to use IE, mainly because it is full of security holes and there are better browsers out there. Even CERT have advised people to switch from IE because of security issues.
If I visit your store, you wouldn’t require me to leave my car unlocked, but you are doing the same by requiring me to use IE to access your website.
The comment on your website suggests ‘updating’ to IE, but to use IE is a backward step.
Please update your website to use industry standards and not be reliant on the proprietary features of IE.

UPDATE: I received a reply:

Dear Sir or Madam;

We are currently looking at future site developments and enhancements. We value our customer’s feedback and will take you comments on board when making future changes. We apologise for any problems that you have experienced and hope to eliminate these in new developments.

Best regards

PRG Powerhouse-Online

iTunes Music Store Bug

August 10th, 2004 No comments

iTunes occasionally throws up the following when accessing the iTunes Music Store:

Errr… it is the latest version.

It seems to do this when the store site is down, but it’s obviously the wrong error message.

Categories: Uncategorized Tags: , ,

Disabled Parking Abuse

August 10th, 2004 No comments

While waiting in the Car Park of B&Q Warehouse in Bolton yesterday, I saw something that is becoming increasingly common.

An inconsiderate driver in a black customised Vauxhall Astra (speaks for itself really) parked diagonally across one of the disabled spaces. Not surprisingly, when he gets out, neither he nor any of his passengers showed any signs of a disability – well not physical anyway.

Categories: Misc Tags: ,