GeekSugar

Website of the Day: (The Customer Is) Not Always Right

GeekSugar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:31:02 -0700

How many of you have had (or still do) have a job in the service industry? Since I'm sure there are plenty of you out there (including yours truly), I'm beyond pleased to present today's site of the day selection. Taking a cue from Overheard in New York, but this time sharing the antics of crazy customers, stupid questions, and totally out-there situations, NotAlwaysRight is a hilarious collection of stories from those poor souls working in the service industry - the ones who have to smile and serve, but now have a place to vent their frustrations. Plus, we all get to laugh at it!

I know I have my own stories about those memorable customers that really got under my skin while serving the ranks of customer service, and it would have been totally therapeutic to share with other peeps who were in the same boat. Or just to tell my story of those few customers who seemed to be from another planet! To hear one of my faves from Not Always Right, just read more.

Mission: Impossible
Key Shop - Chicago, IL

Customer: “I just locked my key in my car in front of the shop.”
Me: (I pick up some stuff) “Not a problem, I’ll pop it open for $5.00.”
Customer: “What are you going to do with that stuff?”
Me: “Open your car.”
Customer: “It’s a brand new Mercedes. I just drove it here from the dealer - you can’t touch it!”
Me: “Then how do I open it?”
Customer: “That’s your problem.”
Me: “Actually it’s not; I didn’t lock the key in your car.”
Customer: “You have to open it.”
Me: “Watch me not open it.”
Customer: “OK then, but if you make any scratch or mark at all then you will have to pay Mercedes to repaint the whole car. That will cost thousands.”
Me: “So If I’m successful I get $5.00, but if I make the smallest error it will cost me thousands of dollars?”
Customer: “Yes.”
Me: “Your car might just be there forever.”

Hilarity! Just be warned, once you go to NotAlwaysRight, you may not get any work done for a few hours. Seriously.

Source

The Lego Kitchen That Rocks 20,000 Colorful Pieces

GeekSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:44:15 -0800

I guess if I can't have my dream Lego house, perhaps I can settle for a Lego kitchen instead? Created by Paris designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti, the Munchausen LEGO kitchen was made with an IKEA kitchen island base, which was then entirely covered with Scandinavian Lego pieces. The entire project took about a week to finish and certainly gives a plain white kitchen a bold new look. I've always wanted to paint my kitchen bright red, but maybe a Lego counter top would give it just the right amount of liveliness it needs!

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Leonard Nimoy Talks Tech, Star Trek 2, and Fringe

GeekSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:47:12 -0700

If you haven't been watching Fringe, you're missing out on a solid sci-fi thriller that will help fill a void where BSG left off. Sure, there's no space, but there are alternate universes . . . and Leonard Nimoy.

The original Spock made his appearance on the Fox series in last season's cliffhanger finale as William Bell, and will be gracing the screen again in tonight's episode. I can't tell you how excited I was to get an opportunity to talk to Leonard Nimoy himself in a conference call yesterday before his season two debut, but I'm sure you can imagine that I had to take a few deep breaths before dialing the number - come on, he's a geek legend!

Check out what Mr. Nimoy had to say about his sci-fi career, the state of the genre today, and what he's up to now when you read more.

G: Your body of work (even before Star Trek) leans heavily toward sci-fi, so I was wondering if you have always been a fan of the genre yourself?
LN: It's a good thing if you can find your niche as an actor. Back in 1951, I acted in my first science fiction project, which was probably not very well known (but I thought it was going to rocket me to stardom if you pardon my expression), and it was called Zombies of the Stratosphere. I was the third group of zombies that came to earth to take over earth's orbit, and it was a great project. But science fiction has been a fertile ground for the kind of work that I do, the kind of presence that I offer, and I'm grateful for the niche that science fiction has given me.

On if he's a "techie": I use a computer. I don't know if that qualifies me as a techie, but I'm pretty good on a computer!
On how he feels about the current state of the sci-fi genre on TV and film: I'm concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance. When I see a lot of explosions and a lot of chases, I'm not terribly impressed. I think that there are three important elements that must be given priority position in science fiction (as well as any other kind of drama). The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story. If the story is compelling and interesting, all the other elements will find their place.
On other projects he's working on now: I'm doing a lot of photography work. That's one of my major creative outlets right now. I have an exhibition opening at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art next year that I'm really excited about.
On his relationship with J.J. Abrams and how he came into his role on Fringe: Well I first met him about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together and I went to a meeting with him and some other production staff where they told me a very good, strong, and touching story about their feelings about Star TrekStar Trek series. I had a brilliant time working with them, so when they contacted me about working on Fringe - the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity - it was very enticing.
On if he'll be making a cameo in Star Trek 2: Frankly, I doubt that I'll be called upon again. I think I was useful in this last film to help bridge the original characters and the new cast, but with the new cast in place, I'm sure they'll move ahead with that. I don't see at the moment why they would need me, but I wouldn't hesitate if they asked.

People Aren't Watching Commercials During Popular Shows

GeekSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:44:23 -0700

TV networks, don't hate me - but I barely ever watch commercials. This is probably because my DVR is always full, so whenever I do watch a show, I feel the need to quickly get through it as fast as possible so I can delete it and move on to the next one!

A majority of you said that you occasionally watch commercials even with a DVR, but did you know that nearly all shows that won Emmys this year are more likely to have their commercials skipped over? That's right, according to the New York Times, 30 Rock was the only exception among the group (which was blamed on NBC's creative ad placements).

Why does this happen? Well, Todd Juenger, TiVo's vice president for research and measurement, seems to think that people don't want to sit through commercials of hit shows they are really wrapped up in. . . which totally makes sense.

Where do you stand on this? Do you fast-forward through commercials during shows that you are completely sucked into? And if you don't have a DVR - but hate commercials - here's how you can skip over ads using a standard remote.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Cool Capture: Pink Rose of a Photo Taken by a Canon EOS SLR

GeekSugar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:20:18 -0700

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes the right camera is worth a thousand dollars . . . or at least a couple hundred. No matter how much you spent on your camera, or how sharp your shooting skills, cool captures are born when you start snapping. Our Cool Capture group celebrates fabulous pics taken by real cameras. The photo above was shot at Sugar HQ by Angelica. She says:

I took this photo while playing around with a Canon EOS SLR camera. I am not a skilled photographer by any means, but I was thrilled by the lighting. The rose buds look utterly radiant. Love this camera to pieces because it's easy to use and I am always proud of the photos.

Do you have a photo you adore? Join our Cool Capture group and share your image, the model of camera used to take the photo, and a little about the image or moment you captured and it could be featured on GeekSugar. Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Website of the Day: CitySounds

GeekSugar — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:30:30 -0700

I'm always on the lookout for new music, and although Pandora does a pretty good job of "getting" my tastes and introducing me to new artists, sometimes I feel like I really just need to branch out and expand my musical horizons. What a better way to do that than to check out the most popular tunes from around the globe?

That's exactly what you get with CitySounds.fm - a world tour of music right at your desk. I've already found and downloaded a few tracks that I couldn't get enough of, and I couldn't be happier with the latest entries to my music library. And that's after only an hour of perusing the global music selections! Imagine what I could find in a few days. My iTunes will never be the same.

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the GeekSugar homepage!

Quickly Re-Touch Photos With PicTreat

GeekSugar — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:04:49 -0700

Even with their fancy features, digital cameras aren't immune from taking the odd bad picture. Now what happens when you want to fix a photo (like red eye, pimples, bad lighting) and free online photo editing sites just aren't cutting it with their basic features? Sure you could always use Photoshop if you're a master of its many tools, but what if you need to change your Facebook profile photo right away, and you don't have Photoshop? A site called PicTreat will instantly enhance your photo for free, and you can even sign-in using your MySpace ID or Facebook Connect.

Found a useful website you'd like to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

I See Myself Loving the Four Eyes USB Flash Drive

GeekSugar — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:05:27 -0700

Aw, yeah. Right when I think I have seen every novelty USB drive (and really started to get tired of them, to tell you the truth), I see this: the Four Eyes USB Flash Drive ($36) from Fred Flare.

Made to look like the black plastic glasses that launched a geek-is-chic craze in accessories (which I'll always associate with Weezer's Rivers Cuomo), the drive holds 2GB and is still thin enough to tote around with you - Fred Flare even recommends using it as a bookmark. Because reading has always been geek chic too, of course.

Tech Dating 101: To Google or Not to Google

GeekSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:33:12 -0700

Welcome back to Tech Dating 101! In this age of modern dating, there are no more secrets - not if you're on Facebook, anyway! Now, when you make a date with someone and learn their last name, no longer do you imagine what it would sound like hyphenated with your last name - no, you take that last name and type it into Google.

But is that the best idea anymore? It's pretty hard to resist a quick Google search so you have a bit more information about what you're getting into, but you deprive yourself of the mystery of a new person, and the fun and surprises of getting to know someone new.

What do I suggest? I'm going to go ahead and suggest the possible controversial non-Google. That's right, geeksugar is advocating not Googling your dates.

To hear how I've come to this opinion, as well as a Point/Counterpoint, just read more.

I've dated in the age before Google, the hard time when no one had social network profiles and you had to get to know each other totally in person, and in the age after, where I've Googled the crap out of potential dates.

Googling is satisfying, but it's no match for meeting the person. Some people are great on paper, bad in person, or the opposite. Even if you Google them and still give them a chance in person, you usually still think about something you may have read.

Now, for Point/Counterpoint!

Point: You should Google him in case he's an axe murderer.

Counterpoint: National axe murderer records aren't really accessible online.

Point: He might have some crazy hobby or offensive opinions he mentions on an online profile.

Counterpoint: It's better to hear everything in context. Jokes don't always translate, and it's easy to misunderstand someone on the toneless Internet.

Point: What if he's actually listed as "in a relationship" on Facebook?

Counterpoint: None. Good point.

Sidekick LX Review: Takes Me Back to Simpler Times

GeekSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:33:41 -0700

When HipTop launched the Sidekick II back in 2004, I was 100 percent on board. It was the first phone I bought that let me browse the Internet, check my mail, chat over IM, take pictures and video, and text, all in one easy-to-use device. I wore that phone out and still think fondly of it today. Sure it was kind of a monster truck compared to other phones on the market, but I considered it an accessory, not just a phone.

Reviewing the Sidekick LX took me back to those eye-opening times when I first discovered that I don't have to carry five different gadgets with me, and could always (always) stay connected.

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Although I haven't had a Sidekick since, I can spot a lot of fond similarities between the II and the LX. This could be considered good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Find out what I mean when you read more.

Both the LX and my old II have all the basics: instant messaging, text, camera, email and web browsing. What more could you ask for, right? Well, my old Sidekick II didn't have a music player (but you could hack your way to a few tunes if I recall correctly), and wasn't very speedy, so adding the music capabilities and the 3G connectivity really kicks this model up a few notches. The purple "orchid" color option was really rich and beautiful (something I didn't have with my pearly white II), and you can customize it further with additional skins. It still has the same trusty interface, with the scroll wheel and rotating top screen.

Thankfully, T-Mobile has reduced the size of the phone since the old days, and this model is much slimmer and lighter than I remember. But that's pretty much where it ends. The Sidekick hasn't made any huge overhauls since earlier models besides the addition of color, size and speed, and a timely Twitter app. Overall, the phone is still fun, easy to use, and contains all the things you need to stay connected, which is all you can ask for in a reliable mobile device.

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX is available now online and in stores for $200.