Skip to content

Index

  • 2 min read

Amazon, I love you, But I want to break up [UPDATED]

Email I just sent to Amazon.

Dear Amazon: I can't believe you stoop as low as that and hide the ability to close my account so thoroughly that I now have to engage in a multi- message email discussion with you to convince you to do so. Please CLOSE my account!

If you want to close your Amazon account, good luck, you will be playing hide and seek with them. Kind of lame.

Ok, I sent them that email, and it seems they still won't let me go! Lame^2. Here's what their response email says:

Dear Pito,

Here are some things to keep in mind:

-- If you use your Amazon.com log-in on other sites (e.g., MYHABIT.com, Audible.com, international Amazon sites except for Amazon.cn/ and Amazon.co.jp, etc.), you'll also lose access to those accounts.
-- If you've placed orders on AmazonLocal, you'll no longer have access to your vouchers.
-- Any open orders you have will be canceled.
-- All subscriptions will be canceled (Amazon Prime, Subscribe and Save, etc.).
-- If you have a remaining Amazon.com Gift Card or promotional credit balance, you won't have access to use the funds.
-- Returns and refunds can't be processed for orders on closed accounts.
-- You won't be able to initiate Textbook Rental returns and will remain responsible for outstanding rentals.
-- You won't be able to access Kindle, Amazon Instant Video or Amazon Appstore content.
-- You won’t be able to re-download content from your Games & Software Library.
-- Your Amazon Payments account will be closed and can't be reopened.
-- We can't transfer the history of an account to another account.
-We will delete your customer profile as well as all your reviews, discussion posts and customer images.
-- You'll no longer have access to your Associates, Amazon Web Services, Seller, Author Central, Kindle Direct Publishing and/or Mechanical Turk accounts.
-- If you have an Amazon Web Services account, please contact AWS customer support for assistance with closing your AWS account :
https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/html-forms-controller/contactus/aws- account…

If you still want to close your Amazon.com account after reviewing the items above, please write back by visiting this link and state that you want to close your account:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/rsvp/rsvp-mi.html?q=acc1

  • 1 min read

It’s probably not cool to say, but I am not sure about “Mayday.Us”

"We’re kickstarting a Super PAC big enough to make it possible to win a Congress committed to fundamental reform by 2016. We set fundraising goals and then crowdfund those goals."

Lofty goal but so vague I can't tell which way is up!

I remember something that sounded similar, a few years ago: It was called Americans Elect. They had awesome goals, and they even got Thomas Friedman to endorse them. Like Lawrence Lessig. (See I don't say "Larry" because we aren't really on a first name basis 🙂 The problem is that Americans Elect failed miserably, and there was even some buzz that it was some kind of a front for less savory operators who I would not have supported if I had known them. I honestly don't remember the details anymore but it did make me less willing to jump in an support positive but vague sounding causes.

So I am not ready to jump in with both feet into Mayday.Us.

  • 1 min read

To NDA or Not to NDA?

We all have heard more than once that "VCs will NOT sign NDAs, don't even ask!". And we've also heard and said many times that "Ideas are cheap" and that many first time entrepreneurs are far too precious about their great ideas. They keep them top top secret, ask prospective customers to sign an NDA, and in general undermine their own ability to get useful real feedback on the thing they want to create. The attached article is interesting in its analysis of those tradeoffs:

"Not everyone agrees. Thom Ruhe, vice president for entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, said the declining use of N.D.A.s “is certainly not in the interests of entrepreneurs. It favors the V.C.” Although it is rare that an investor steals an idea, Mr. Ruhe said, it does happen. “But in the skewed echo chamber of the Valley, and the sycophantical networks that aspire to be just like them,” he said, “they’ve made the easier and less morally defensible position — no N.D.A.s — the coin of the realm.”

  • 1 min read

Curaçao harbor

Just playing with my new blogging platform to see if it works ok!

  • 1 min read

Is Apple trying to buy off “Fake Steve” or is it April 1 in December?

I wrote recently about Fake Steve and wondered aloud how he could get away with what he gets away with.

If that thread interested you at all, you've got to go look at the latest shenanigans that Fake Steve is reporting in his blog. He's being offered big bucks to stop blogging.

"[snip…] He sits there with his hands on his knees. He says, I'm authorized to go as high as five hundred thousand dollars, but that's it.[snip…] From Secret Diary of Fake Steve Jobs

Hall of mirrors. Is this Fake Steve Jobs speaking, or is it Daniel Lyons for real, or is it Fake Daniel Lyons?

Originally posted on Dec 23, 2007. Reprinted courtesy of ReRuns plug-in.

  • 3 min read

A View of 20th and 21st Century Software Engineering

I've been digging pretty deep into the Software Engineering literature to prepare a new course I am developing and came across this. It's always fun to have a top-10 list even in the driest of topics, so here is Barry Boehm's "Timeless Principles (+) and Aging Practices (-) of Software Engineering!

4.1 TimelessPrinciplesandAgingPractices

For each decade, I’ve tried to identify two timeless principles headed by plus signs; and one aging practice, headed by a minus sign.

From the 1950’s

  • + Don’t neglect the sciences. This is the first part of the definition of “engineering”. It should not include just mathematics and computer science, but also behavioral sciences, economics, and management science. It should also include using the scientific method to learn through experience.

  • + Look before you leap. Premature commitments can be disastrous (Marry in haste; repent at leisure – when any leisure is available).

  • − Avoid using a rigorous sequential process. The world is getting too tangeable and unpredictable for this, and it’s usually slower.

From the 1960’s

  • + Think outside the box. Repetitive engineering would never have created the Arpanet or Engelbart’s mouse-and-windows GUI. Have some fun prototyping; it’s generally low-risk and frequently high reward.

  • + Respect software’s differences. You can’t speed up its development indefinitely. Since it’s invisible, you need to find good ways to make it visible and meaningful to different stakeholders.

  • − Avoid cowboy programming. The last-minute all-nighter frequently doesn’t work, and the patches get ugly fast.

From the 1970’s

  • + Eliminate errors early. Even better, prevent them in the future via root cause analysis.

  • + Determine the system’s purpose. Without a clear shared vision, you’re likely to get chaos and disappointment. Goal-question- metric is another version of this.

  • − Avoid Top-down development and reductionism. COTS, reuse, IKIWISI, rapid changes and emergent requirements make this increasingly unrealistic for most applications.

From the 1980’s

  • + These are many roads to increased productivity, including staffing, training, tools, reuse, process improvement, prototyping, and others.

  • + What’s good for products is good for process, including architecture, reusability, composability, and adaptability.

  • − Be skeptical about silver bullets, and one-size-fits-all solutions.

From the 1990’s

  • + Time is money. People generally invest in software to get a positive return. The sooner the software is fielded, the sooner the returns come – if it has satisfactory quality.

  • + Make software useful to people. This is the other part of the definition of “engineering.”

  • − Be quick, but don’t hurry. Overambitious early milestones usually result in incomplete and incompatible specifications and lots of rework.

From the 2000s

  • + If change is rapid, adaptability trumps repeatability.

  • + Consider and satisfice all of the stakeholders’ value propositions. If success-critical stakeholders are neglected or exploited, they will generally counterattack or refuse to participate, making everyone a loser.

  • − Avoid falling in love with your slogans. YAGNI (you aren’t going to need it) is not always true.

For the 2010’s

  • + Keep your reach within your grasp. Some systems of systems may just be too big and complex.

  • + Have an exit strategy. Manage expectations, so that if things go wrong, there’s an acceptable fallback.

  • − Don’t believe everything you read. Take a look at the downslope of the Gartner rollercoaster in Figure 10.

  • 1 min read

Double Agents

I am reading a really cool book right now: Review & Outlook: Loose Lips on Syria - WSJ.com:

It's always possible that all of this leaking about when, how and for how long the U.S. will attack Syria is an elaborate head-fake, like Patton's ghost army on the eve of D-Day, poised for the assault on Calais. But based on this Administration's past behavior, such as the leaked bin Laden raid details, chances are most of this really is the war plan.

  • 2 min read

Let’s give GPSs the EMOTION feature

Maybe it's because I just arrived from a long drive and stay in New York where I was guided by the nose by my TomTom GPS lady.

Did you know that the Garmin GPS Lady gets a little annoyed when you choose a direction different from what is suggested? She says something like: "Incorrect Route, Recalculating…", which after you hear it two or three times sounds like "Incorrect Route, you jerk, you are wasting my time again by making me do all this work to recompute another route for you. Can't you listen???" The TomTom lady just suffers in silence and provides you with a new route as soon as she sees that you didn't follow directions.

Which led me to thinking of a cool feature that none of the GPSs that I've seen or heard of have. I think it would be differentiated enough that vendors would put it as one of a few features printed on the front of the box. At any rate, if that much doesn't come true, at least it would be funny! Here's the idea.

In addition to picking the voice, as you can today ("American, Female", "New York Cab Driver", "747 Captain") let me also say what the emotion iis. Could you imagine:

NERVOUS: "Oh no, please don't go that way, I can't say what might happen, but it can't turn out well…."

MOTIVATING : "Don't worry that you missed that turn. You're a good driver and I know that you have a good reason to making the change. I am always impressed with your rapid and effective decision making!"

CASTIGATING: "You dope, there you go again. I have applied the computing and data resources of the universe to find you the best possible route. All you have to do is steer. I mean really, are you totally a waste of space?"

Add your own additional ideas. I think it would sell like crazy and who knows, reduce driver fatigue and accidents too!

Originally posted on Jul 29, 2009. Reprinted courtesy of ReRuns plug-in.