DygiScape

Alright, I’ve really had enough. Today, I went to lunch and I got pulled over again by a cop for “suspicious activity.” I was pulled over previously this week also for the same reason. In all circumstances, I was obeying the law.

I’m not sure why I seem so suspicious, I was traveling at a nominal speed, driving straight, using turn signals, paying attention, and also have valid plates (’till next month).

Anyhow here’s how the Field Interview (FI) went:

[Radio off, hands positioned at 11 and 1 on the steering wheel]

Officer: Good afternoon, how are you doing today?
Me: I’m doing fine. May I ask why you pulled me over?
Officer: You seemed a little suspicious.
Me: What was suspicious? … My vehicle or my driving?
Officer: Can I see your license, registration and insurance?
Me: Sure. [Hands them to him]
Officer: Where are you from?
[Understand that I gave him my AZ license and registration, and I still have my AZ plate]
Me: [Redacted], Arizona
Officer: Ah, where you going?
Me: Just out to lunch and on my way back to work, sir.
Officer: Where do you work?
Me: AOL, it’s right off of Waxpool. Here’s my employee badge — [shows my RFID badge].
Officer: Hm. Ok… [He goes back to his Tahoe and runs some records and comes back]
Me: Sir, what was the reason why you pulled me over? … I’ve been very compliant to your questions today and I haven’t exhibited any unusual or criminal behavior. I would like to know the reason for initiating my stop.
Officer: We’re just making sure everyone is safe.
Me: I beg to differ. This is just so you and your buddies can earn quotas. This is my second time of being pulled over on this road. It’s getting ridiculous. The officer last time provided me the same lines of bullshit on why you are pulling people over.
Officer: Sorry to hear that.
Me: Sure you are. Are you going to write a ticket or am I free to go?
Officer: You better watch your tone, or–
Me: Or what? Write me a ticket that is questionable in the first place, and that it will be my basis for holding you and your department accountable for harassment. Last time I checked, it isn’t a crime to drive in Virginia.
Officer: Here you go. [Abruptly hands back my license, registration and insurance and returns to his vehicle.]
[Drives back to work, fuming.]

I know I was very abrasive at the end, but his dodgy questions and overzealous attitude deserved it. While I may not be the one wearing a badge, I am a customer of sorts, and the police here need to understand how to better adapt to different “customers.” For instance, when I asked very direct and clear questions, I expect them to reply with just as much clarity.

I am thrilled to pay for for my vehicle registration this month. Exhilarated!

Personal police, Rants, Traffic

It should come to no surprise that when companies have their pages in Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia edited by people, that their communications departments have a chance to play, too.

Wikiscanner, made by Virgil Griffith, has enabled a way for users to research the history and activity of the edits made to various articles, including the IP addresses who edited them.

Wired’s Threat Level ran the story and let their readers find rather interesting edits made among many companies for their financial interests. NY Times has now raised their eyebrow to this questionable activity, too. Maybe soon, Wikipedia will be taken more seriously.

Can’t we all just get along?

I’m probably the last person that would be defending Exxon or the MPAA for editing their own pages, but these companies have a corporate responsibility to play fair when it comes to user-generated communications. While at face value, they are “correcting wrong information,” their own financial and/or political interests end up corrupting Wikipedia. If you don’t like what someone has to say, participate in the talk section.

However, users shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that a company’s IP automatically means the edit is just propaganda. All information has to be questioned and verified, not just a company. Maybe there was more to a story than a former contributor once thought, this is where a company’s comm. department can help fill in the blanks and confusion.

If a company’s PR team is sweating, there’s really no need to. Just behave and understand that Wikipedia is a fully-disclosed entity, since that preserves the quality in their content. Maybe it’s been said before, but your own Wikipedia page should be read as if it was from an encyclopedia, not an advertisement. Using superlatives are the easiest sign that flags bias. However, using them in conjunction with quoted material is generally acceptable.

Is it just me, or do you think PR folks sometimes don’t understand the Web?

Blogging, Geeky, Social Networking corporate responsibility, PR

So, this Friday I got all excited to venture around to meet up with the local ricers and such. After some small talk, I was surprised to see that street racing here is non-existent.

[ Yes, we can debate about the moral and legal issues concerning street racing, but that will be for a future entry.]

There’s no drama between racing factions, no he says/she says crap, and no stolen parts conundrums. It’s kind of interesting. Also, the collection of cars, the American Muscle and foreign cars park next to each other and just hang out. People meet up to hang out and not cause trouble.

Being more curious, I asked what happens when the 5-0 comes around? Simply put, the cops don’t do anything unusual. They simply drive by to make sure no one is fighting or causing a public disturbance. Wow.

A few other reasons why street racing is rare, is the the aggressive enforcement from the police when you are caught, aggressive judgment (biased in the police’s favor), and excessive fines on top of it. I can totally understand. If you didn’t know, street racing in Virginia carries hefty penalties:

• Seizure of all vehicles who participated in illegal street racing. [Ref.]
• License suspension 6Mo. to 2 Years, at discretion of the court. [Ref.]
• License shall be assigned 6 demerit points. [Ref.]
• $350.00 Civil Remedial Fee. [Ref.]

Yeah, so let it be known that I do not engage, participate, promote, or encourage any illegal street racing in the state of Virginia.

So I asked about the local drag strip, Old Dominion. It’s a 1/8 mile strip! Not even a full quarter-mile. It’s about 20 minutes from me, it’s not worth it to go. I find it so hard to fathom how they couldn’t lay out another 1/8 mile of asphalt!

In conclusion, drag racing and street racing is a pretty dead scene. Call it good for the safety of others, call it good cause another scene hits the dust thanks to legislation. I miss drag racing.

Blogging northern va, Rants, street racing, virginia

Error messages on the Web really do suck. Either they are too vague as to what the problem is, or not helpful enough after explaining the problem. Error messages today, have become the 404 pages of yesterday.

Current Status

Right now, error messages suck. They don’t tell the user what heck is going on, the Web site stealthily performs maintenance without letting users know (and thus breaking things). Users are left frustrated, confused, and simply will leave.

Take for instance, MySpace’s infamous generic error message, Sorry. an unexpected error occured. The page looks considerably drab, the advertisements work beautifully, and I am left all alone to reload the page over and over without understanding what’s happening. It never told me to wait X minutes to try again, it never told me to try to fix anything, and it never explained what caused it.

Alright, I know first hand, that error messages are usually difficult to explain cause they are always unexpected. Who expects error messages? LOL, I got a few suggestions on how MySpace could better communicate these problems to users, in a relaxed, yet informative way that might help ease frustration.

The Solution

Ok, first we establish some helpful messaging. Here’s what I propose:

Oops! It appears that our servers are having some trouble helping you send a message. You can try to clear your temporary files and try again, or give us a few minutes to wake the hamsters up.

Sorry for the trouble,
MySpace Staff

Ok, that’s a little better, don’t you think? It’s relaxed for the audience, it provides a helpful suggestion to fix it … but indeed, if it is a server problem, they can suggest to a user to try back in a few minutes.

So, here’s what I suggest that I looks like:

What do you think about my suggestion? Maybe you are an online provider and you mastered the art of online error messages? What works, what doesn’t? Leave some comments and let me know what you think.

Geeky, Social Networking, Tips Help, myspace, social media, Usability

Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred.This error has been forwarded to MySpace’s technical group.

Why do you do this, MySpace? I just wanted to check a message.

Blogging, Geeky Help, myspace, Rants

By the grace of God or my incessant bitching yesterday, Lifehacker posted how to stop the Windows Update window from popping up again.

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type sc stop wuauserv.
4. Press Enter.
5. Live in peace without that Automatic Updates pop-up.

Thank you, Lifehacker. I love you! That weird kind of geek-love.

Blogging, Geeky, Tips Help, Updates, Windows

I always wished for the option of “Do not remind me for 8 hours” in the constant “Automatic Updates” reminder. Yeah, yeah, I know I need to be more responsive to the Windows Update process but it’s just so futile. Oh, how I drown in my hatred for Windows.

Blogging, Geeky, Work Help, Rants, Updates, Windows

Recently, a state law went into effect startling Virginia drivers, House Bill 3202 [pdf]. As a result it has garnered a lot of negative response from the locals.

First off, I think this law is total bullshit. But, not for the reasons you might expect. While we all can argue the fact it is unfair, unreasonable, and unjust; we can’t dispute the fact that it will prevent repeat offenders from going through the system. If you are a repeat offender, you are welcome to buy your way out of it, and pay for the state’s deficit.

Keep in mind, that these “Civil Remedial Fees” are additional fines for the current fines in place. The state is double-dipping when you get a traffic citation.

This law is only impacting VA residents. That means drivers from AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY are not impacted by this law. Note that in Virginia, residents from Maryland and the District drive through VA regularly.

When someone questioned the legality of these new fines, they won. These laws violate one’s 14th Amendment (equal protection of the law). Good job! I’m hoping more cases like this come up, and will result in the repeal of this unjust law, of which its sole purpose to generate revenue. Now, who’s going to the Sheriff’s Beer Bash when his officers make over-quota the fourth week in a row? We can’t, we’d be broke and have to use the Metro to get around.

So where do I stand on this … am I for or against? I’m against this law because it is too strict, offers no appeals or judicial process, and is applied unevenly. It shouldn’t be a penalty to live in VA, I mean we all pay high enough taxes on everything else, no need to double-dip us when it comes to traffic offenses.

I suggest that if VA legislature wants to earn revenue, but also obtain buy-in from their citizens they need to publicly announce the following:

• Re-evaluate ALL posted speed limits where traffic enforcement is assigned. It is fair to say that most vehicles here can easily handle a higher speed, faster braking, and would certainly please the folks here.
• Cooperate with MD, D.C., WV, and PA legislature to mimic the current laws (of what they choose for traffic enforcement).
• Lower the fines, and have an appeals process for negotiating the “right” fine. Basically, people who are on their first or second citation, I think that judges should be able to delegate state-mandated education and or temporary restricted licenses in lieu of $1,000 penalties.
• Go fucking nuts on “Leaving the Scene…” (Hit and Run), DUI/DWI drivers, and suspended licenses. I understand that VA doesn’t tolerate DUI, well they should be able to pwn them further with fines (like $5,000?) to really make a dent on that. Excessive? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Will they — can they afford — to do it again? No.

That being said, I register my vehicle with the State of Virginia. Pray the Rosary for me.

Blogging, Politics Rants, virginia

In twelve minutes, I think I found the answer.

Blogging, Funny, Geeky funny videos, internet, memes

Funny thing, I was stumbled into Sprint’s Waitless campaign. The marketing genius behind this was pretty creative, but I still don’t see how they make money. Maybe that’s the secret.

I think this is the best form of advertising for Sprint. Considering that I am either bitching about traffic or stuck on hold when I need to fix a billing error with them; this video takes the cake.

Oh, how I wished I could be the stunt driver in this commercial. But a Kia?!!

Blogging, Funny cell phones, funny videos, PR