Now, I’m not bringing it up to bash the software. Sure, it’s got its issues. I’m bringing it up because, after this many years of seeing this error, it’s hardly “unexpected” anymore. I expect it. Every time.

I remember when automated phone systems took over companies’ answering. It was simple. Press 1 for the menu, press 2 for sales, press 3 for a loud beep, etc. But, I don’t know, at least 10 years ago, they started adding in this voice recognition into their systems.

Thanks for calling COMPANY. What can I help you with?

I’d rather just hear a menu and press a button or two. How am I supposed to know the available commands?

You may say “Yes” or “No”, or you may say “Reconfigure my Service.”

Ok, I’ll “Reconfigure my Service.”

I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. You may say “Yes” or “No”, or you may say “Reconfigure my Service.”

Ok, fine. “SERVICE”.

I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.

Alright, enough already. It was much more usable when you guys simply provided me with a menu. I’ll just press zero until I hear the sound of a transfer.

The bottom line is that voice-recognition automated phone systems actually take me longer to navigate, and I’m in I.T. And it seems they don’t do the greatest job of filtering, because I’m gonna press zero a hundred times until I get anybody, in any department.

Think twice before setting up automated voice-recognition phone systems.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell

CSS Text Wrapper has a nice little interface that allows you to shape your alignment:

CSS Text Wrap

In actually creates a bunch of floating <div>s, each with a width. These <div>s essentially push the text around, making the text appear to wrap around unconventionally shaped objects. Cool idea.

Each of us got a paycheck, and we had to manage our own checkbooks. We could write checks to other businesses for goods or services. It was a blast, actually!

I was a sharp kid at 10 or 11 years old. I was aware that we were working with fake funds, fake money, fake jobs. But the goods I could purchase with my fake money were totally real.

So, since I’m such a generous guy, I wrote bad checks so that I could bring home some goodies for my brother and a friend or two. I’m sorry, Enterprise Village, but I knew better. I intentionally wrote checks my BS checking account couldn’t cash, but I brought home more stuff than the other kids. I remember the other kids asking how much I got paid as a manager, thoroughly confused!

Take a look at this video from Development Seed (More Beer, Less Effort), which shows two users simultaneously installing a bunch of drupal modules:

Drush: More Beer, Less Effort from Development Seed on Vimeo.

So, then, why do some people insist on using multiple question marks at the end of question sentences???????????????????…? Is this really necessary?

Please. One question mark is sufficient.

There’s no lesson to be learned, and that’s frustrating. Oh well, that’s life, huh?

I guess catching colds is good to maintain good immunity. No lesson, but still a benefit. Still sucks being sick, though.

This one uses a helicopter rotor, so it’s really just a tiny carcopter. Funny enough, though, this proof of concept was actually done in 1923. So the technology has been around.

I’m still waiting for the flying cars like in Back to the Future II, where there are no wings or rotors. I want a bad ass DeLorean with wheels that flip around.

PAL-V One

They’ve released a new feature that suggests additional options based on your search term. For example, search for an image of “jaguar”; did you mean the automobile or the great cat?

Sure, it’s a seemingly simple feature, but I guarantee it’ll save me even more time in my daily life, and as a web guy, one minute can be ages.

Thanks, Google.