Asides

Stupid email tricks: Putting your entire sales pitch into a remote image so that the average user only sees your unsubscribe link.

Stupid email tricks: Putting your entire sales pitch into a remote image so that the average user only sees your unsubscribe link.

Bonus points for using the nonstandard phrase “denotify” instead of something more easily understood like “unsubscribe”

It’s almost like they’re TRYING to look like spam.

This email was broadcast to…

“This email was broadcast to UCLA Volleyball ticket buyers, Volleyball Insiders and data collection contacts subscribed to the Olympic Sports Bruin Alert.” None of which apply, so get out of my inbox.

Bonus points for making me wait in line to unsubscribe.

Extra bonus points for, as near as I can tell, automatically subscribing me to new lists when I had previously unsubscribed from everything after giving them the benefit of the doubt last time. (I never did sign up for UCLA athletics, but I did sign up for UCLA arts, and I suspect they got their lists mixed up at some point.)

It’s long past time to start reporting this junk as spam.

Unknown Caller is still trying to call me twice a day.

Unknown Caller is still trying to call me twice a day. But I guess it must not be that important, since they can’t be bothered to leave a message, and they went to the trouble of blocking Caller ID so that I can’t call them back.

Wayne comments: I’ve been getting regular calls from an 800 number that also doesn’t leave a message. Wonder if they’re related. ;p

–GP

Finally picked up the “Unknown” caller who’s been calling 2-3 times daily and not leaving a message. They hung up immediately. #WTF

–T

Crossing against the light when no one’s around is one thing. Brazenly sauntering across the…

Crossing against the light when no one's around is one thing. Brazenly sauntering across the street while a green arrow is directing a long line of cars into your path, then stopping in the middle of the street and flicking them off while they pass you as if *they're* the ones in the wrong? That says you want to show off your guts a bit too literally.

On Facebook

Gee, thanks SOPA. Sort of.

Comment on Web Giants Form US Internet Lobby Group

I remember this being something that came up during the fight over SOPA: Namely, that while the entertainment industry is used to lobbying the government, the tech industry was fractured and didn’t see lobbying as a high priority, so the success Hollywood had at railroading some of those crazy ideas just blindsided them. (Stacked hearings, deliberately ignoring experts, etc.) It became clear that something would have to level the field, and since we know the RIAA, MPAA and friends aren’t going to back off on their lobbying (and we know the government isn’t going to stop listening to lobbyists), the solution is a tech lobby.

On Slashdot

Delicious Retreat

Comment on A Delicious Retreat: Early Sharing Pioneer Announces Feature Downgrade

I get the impression that they tried to be Pinterest and then realized that they couldn’t keep up, and figured it would be better to focus on their strenghts than be a third-rate Pinterest clone.

The fact that they added Facebook integration at the same time as announcing the cancellation of stacks suggests that they’re aiming to be a repository for link sharing on other social services. Searching your Twitter stream or Facebook timeline (or Google+ page, or Tumblr, etc) for a particular link you posted three months ago is a pain. Searching for it on Delicious is…well, at least possible, though it’s better if you take the time to tag your links once in a while.

That of course goes away if FB or Twitter realize that people might want to look at their old stuff and improve their own search…except for people who use more than one social service. Or *have* used more than one social service over time. Aggregating those shares in one place could be useful, and might even turn out to be a niche worth filling.

Disqus

Comics aren’t missing from comic-con.

“Why should Comic Con be an exclusive comics-only club? What is wrong with welcoming all things geeky? For four days, the spotlight is on the things we love. Isn’t that a good thing?”

EXACTLY.

I do not understand why people who have traditionally been excluded from the cool kids’ hangout are so determined to turn around and exclude someone else.

I was looking at the program grid this weekend. Events are color-coded for comics, movies, TV, gaming, sci-fi/fantasy, and “everything else.” The majority of the events were comics-related. Comics aren’t missing from comic-con. They’re the nucleus around which everything else is built.

On Reddit