JP Grace
life, technology, travel, and photography
The Weekly Roundup for 2010-01-03
Jan 3rd
- Just uploaded 15 new photos to my Flickr "Bon Aire Sunset" photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpgrace/sets/72157622959499767 #
- OK, I've sped through most of the images in my queue. Still have a few hundred more to develop. That can wait for another day. #
- Interesting Google Earth visualization of global temperature since 1850 (Youtube) http://bit.ly/7LMPWW #
- Win a new Canon 5DMKII or $2700 of photo printing/product from @WHCCPro & Scott Bourne. Pls RT. Info: http://bit.ly/6Mtx9I #
- Bomb scare in Times Square about 3 blocks from me, reports of building evacuations (4 & 7 Times Square). #
- I was just in Times Square about 30 minutes ago at 44th St and Broadway grabbing lunch and everything seemed normal. #
- Nothing to see here, all seems normal at 44th and broadway. http://yfrog.com/6mo4ymj #
- All clear in Times Square… back to work. #
- Times Square is officially totally insane. See you next year insanity! #
- This is a public service announcement. It's twenty ten, see: http://www.twentynot2000.com/ Thanks for you time, Happy New Year! #
- First glass of woodford reserve is going down nicely with this m&m chocolate chip cookie! Wish you all were here! Happy New Year! #
- So 2010 seems pretty righteous so far! Let's keep this momentum going. #
The Weekly Roundup for 2009-12-27
Dec 27th
- At the Columbia Restaurant on the pier for the 10th year reunion dinner. http://yfrog.com/3770631830j #
- Knights hit the jackpot http://bit.ly/8VLiXy #
- Back in Brooklyn! Had a great time in FL, now it's time to get back to business. #
- I have 1200-1500 pictures to go through pick, crop, and edit now that I'm home. Oof! I'll get them up ASAP. #
- Do the math and I think you'll agree: http://yfrog.com/1e3v6uj #
The Weekly Roundup for 2009-12-27
Dec 27th
- At the Columbia Restaurant on the pier for the 10th year reunion dinner. http://yfrog.com/3770631830j #
- Knights hit the jackpot http://bit.ly/8VLiXy #
- Back in Brooklyn! Had a great time in FL, now it's time to get back to business. #
- I have 1200-1500 pictures to go through pick, crop, and edit now that I'm home. Oof! I'll get them up ASAP. #
- Do the math and I think you'll agree: http://yfrog.com/1e3v6uj #
The Weekly Roundup for 2009-12-20
Dec 20th
- Just uploaded 15 new photos to my Flickr "Central Park Zoo & Top of the Rock" photoset: http://bit.ly/7kHuxl #
- What Earth Would Look Like With Rings Like Saturn (Youtube) http://bit.ly/8aWhWg #
- Residents flee as Philippines volcano threatens to erupt – CNN.com http://bit.ly/7DXRqa #
- I'm taking the late flight to FL tonight. I'll see everyone down there tomorrow. #
- New Rihanna vid "Hard" on http://www.vh1.com/ #
- On board and almost on my way! #
- Meet me at Fergs (@Ferguson001) today at 5pm for the George O'Leary Show about the @StPeteBowl with @UCF_FootballSID #
- Prague from the TV Tower – worlds largest panoramic photo (18 Gigapixels) http://bit.ly/8ZYoJF #
- Just arrived at fergs, got a great seat for the George O'Leary Show. Meet me now! Seats going fast! #
The Weekly Roundup for 2009-12-13
Dec 13th
- Chrome For Mac Beta Launch Is Imminent http://bit.ly/4tSiBK #
- WSJ confirms Apple purchase of Lala http://bit.ly/8cv1UB #
- Apple's iPhone On Its Way To Becoming The Microsoft Windows Of Mobile http://bit.ly/4umZos #
- Find out where your twitter friends were last. http://bit.ly/66v3XD #
- In bed before midnight, slanket on, time for the daily show on DVR #
- Williamsburg Openings http://bit.ly/8FMcai #
- I'm willing to concede that @CrumbsBakeShop cupcakes are the best I've ever tasted, even if they are a bit large. Sorry mom/grandma. #
- It's way to cold outside. So its a cheesy movies, beer and slanket Friday night for me. #
- Join me in a live video discussion with @RobertKiraz http://bit.ly/4GjFCC #vokle #
- Let's just say I have a new found knowledge of the size of central park & hatred 4 at least 2 people & google for bad directions to the zoo #
The Weekly Roundup for 2009-12-06
Dec 6th
- Headed to Hooters at Tyrone Sqr Mall for the Bucs game, come meet me! #
- UCF accepts bit to St Pete Bowl! Looks like I'll be back down to FL one more time this year after all #
- Live in NY? Find out how your state senator voted on today's gay marriage bill http://bit.ly/8XWFNn #
- Just uploaded 9 new photos to my Flickr "Portland, Maine" photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17365676@N00/sets/72157622813801531 #
- Just uploaded 11 new photos to my Flickr "BJ's Brewpub @ Thanksgiving" photoset: http://bit.ly/7dz4Iy #
- Just uploaded 28 new photos to my Flickr "Portland, Maine" photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17365676@N00/sets/72157622813801531 #
- I finally got around to processing photos that I'd been neglecting forever. + others that I just took. Now its time for videos games. #
- Snow in Rockefeller Center! http://yfrog.com/3gt1oj #
- Now rain again… Check back in 5 #
- Today's number one sign that the apocolypse is upon us: "Ed Hardy" beer. Has anyone else seen this? http://yfrog.com/33su9tj #
Firefox Bug> :hover cannot bind to a classname with CSS in HTML 4.01 Transitional
Dec 5th
They say you learn something new everyday. Yesterday was no different for me. As many of you know I work at VH1. While working on the new sitewide navigation yesterday I came across an interesting HTML 4.01 transitional bug in Firefox. Special thanks to Tom Raab for help sorting this out.
Bug Description
As the title of this post implies, the :hover psuedo-class cannot be bound to a class name on pages rendered with a DTD of HTML 4.01 Transitional. For instance:
Broken Example
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional test case</title>
<style type="text/css">
.class { background:#ccc; }
.class:hover { background:#ff0000; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="class">Hover over this to watch nothing happen.</div>
</body>
</html>
Working Example
Then simply change the DTD to XHMTL or the class to an id and watch the hover magic!
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional test case</title>
<style type="text/css">
#id { background:#ccc; }
#id:hover { background:#ff0000; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div id="id">Hover over this to watch the magic happen.</div>
</body>
</html>
Broken Demo (Obviously this is only broken in Firefox)
Working Demo
Conclussion
I should probably file a bug with Mozilla, but after spending all this time on this post now its time to go eat. :P (I’ll file it later don’t freak out.)
Zipcar makes good, Visa proves they need to be regulated
Dec 4th
Well, I’ve finally heard back from both Zipcar and Visa. I was waiting to hear back from both before I updated the continuing saga.
Zipcar actually saw my last post and called me on my cell to see if there’s anything that they could do to smooth out the situation. Kudos to them for that. In the end, I got a $240 credit on my account that can be used for rentals over the next few months. I’m still a bit hesitant to try it again, but hey its something.
Visa was less than accommodating. They actually called me to tell me that I should have read the fine print before appealing. How insulting is that?! Like, I could have avoided it in their rejection letter! They either didn’t understand the basis for my appeal or they think I’m retarded.
I think my next move is actually to call Clark Howard. After that I guess I have no choice but to sue them. At this point I just want to make a statement out of this. They’re inviting me to take action. They clearly are begging me to assist them in levying heavy government regulations upon their industry. An invitation I’m all to happy to oblige.
If anyone knows a good class action attorney that I could consult with, I’m almost to that point. I’ll keep you posted.
The Weekly Roundup for 2009-11-29
Nov 29th
- YouTube – "Nikon Girl, Canon Guy" music video, The Photo Club http://bit.ly/51I5mu #
- RT @michaeltorbert: 1Password Pro For iPhone is free till 1st December 2009 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1password-pro/id319898689?mt=8 #
- At JFK terminal 5, waiting on my flight. Can't wait to see everyone in warm, sunny FL! #happythanksgiving #
- Safe on the ground in Tampa, can't wait to see everyone! #
- Here I come! http://yfrog.com/3goonj #
- Everyone meet me at BJ's Sports Bar and Grill at 8pm tonight in Pinellas Park! http://bit.ly/61VHvk #
- Sushi and sake at Osaka here I come! #
The Best Buy Black Friday Shopping Experience
Nov 28th
Every year my family takes a christmas photo over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and sends out an embarrassing holiday card to our friends and family. This year we’re taking a night shot that will require a flash. Which meant I needed to buy a flash while on vacation in Florida. Normally I would have just gone to B&H Photo before I left NYC, but I forgot.
That’s how I found myself at Best Buy on Black Friday. What follows is my experience dealing with a stubborn sales manager and a rigid price-matching rule.
Upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn’t a nasty melee amongst patrons fighting for the last $400 75 inch plasma TV. They had probably sold out already. I must have missed all of the good action.
Quickly, I forced my way past the crying babies and lunatics towards the Photo Department. I had no intention of paying more than B&H’s price for the flash. Surely that wouldn’t be a problem, I thought. Best Buy has a price matching policy. If the item was more than what I knew it sold for at B&H I’d just invoke said policy and be on my way. Oh, if it were so simple!
Arriving at the photo department I found the price of the 580 EX II was almost exactly $50 more than at B&H. Upon flagging down a shellshocked employee I asked him about their price matching policy. Apparently Best Buy doesn’t price match on Black Friday. That seems like a fair policy. Most of the advertised prices on Black Friday are for a very limited number of items at each store. That being said, I know for a fact that the price of the 580 EX II at B&H has been the same for quite some time.
Perhaps the Sales Manager would be reasonable and make an exception in my case so that I wouldn’t have to come back the next day. Naturally, this story wouldn’t be very interesting if he had been, so I left empty handed. As I left, I noted the 300 person line at the register and felt glad I wasn’t in it.
Over the course of the next hour I scoured the internet and called every photography store within 100 miles to get quotes. About an hour into this exercise I realized that the $50 difference between the price of the flash at Best Buy and B&H was simply a manufacturers instant rebate. Attempts to get ahold of the local Best Buy to confirm the rebate failed after 11 minutes of ringing. It was at this point that I began to get exasperated myself. Another 5 minutes of ringing with the national line put me in contact with a nice lady that confirmed that there was indeed an in-store manufacturers instant rebate. ”No problem,” I said I’ll just run back up to the store.
Armed with this new information I could just strong arm the sales manager into knocking $50 off the price. Another 20 minutes in the car, I made my way back. This time, according to the sales associate the $50 “must have already been taken off the price of the flash and it just wasn’t noted on the price tag.” Ugh!!!! Again, no luck!
The final solution was to buy the flash at full price and then come back the next day with the receipt and I would be given a refund. This I did. In the end, I did get what I want. I didn’t have to wait in the 300 person line (they ran my card at the photo department), but I really had to jump through a lot of hoops. Not to mention the fact that they never acknowledged the in store rebate. Granted, I didn’t have a whole lot of options (every other store in the area either didn’t have the flash or wouldn’t match the price). So I am grateful for eventually price matching the flash, it just seems like this should be a proto-typical case study in how not to handle a customer.
Perhaps I’m wrong. I’d love the hear your feedback.
