Thoughts on technology, accessibility, pets - especially dogs, UI, UX, and anything else that I feel like sharing.
Blue Buffalo has issued a "very limited recall" of its sweet-potato-flavored dog food due to the possibility of mold.
See more: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/dog_food_recalled_due_to_possible_mold.html
Just a reminder, you can watch Google I/O 2016 if you want:
People love to focus on the “evils” of technology, but the positive side gets far too little attention.
Case in point: someone has come up with a brilliant way to use a 3D printer to create “cards” that allow a reader with vision issues to “see” the pictures that go along with the story. And that’s just one use for this technology - the creators report that the solution has also been used for designing assistive devices like can openers, tactile diagrams, and fractal art.
The tool’s name is CraftML, and there is an online demo scheduled for Wednesday, March 30th at 3pm MT (5pm ET).
You can read more about this by visiting: http://makezine.com/2016/03/28/customize-and-print-3d-picture-books-visually-impaired-kids/
Murphy looking very pleased with himself. Ignore the stolen socks…
Read MoreI’m looking forward to another exciting Google I/O - this year it’s running May 18 - 20, 2016.
For easy access to the online session, feel free to come back and check this out:
Do Something Nice: http://www.childsplaycharity.org
In their own words: “Child’s Play seeks to improve the lives of children in hospitals around the world through the kindness and generosity of the video game industry and the power of play.”
Happy children opening holiday gifts
Yes, things are tight this year; very, very tight. But while you’re shopping this holiday season, if you can find a few extra dollars, this a great cause.
Think about it, won’t you?
You can donate gifts from the wishlists or cash, it’s up to you! Click below to get started:
Holidays are filled with excitement and interesting smells for our pets, but it is up to us to make sure the fun doesn’t turn into danger. For example, things that are yummy to us, like chocolate, grapes/raisins,and avocado, can make our pets sick or worse.
The ASPCA has put together a handy list of foods to avoid: ASPCA: People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets.
Oh. and keep a close eye on your guests - adults and kids may “feel bad” for your pet and slip them a little treat, not knowing the damage they could cause!
For a lot of people, Thanksgiving is THE holiday of the year, and there are lots of reasons why: good food, football, fun with friends and family, etc.
But it is also important to remember to keep our pets in mind on this big day. Keeping them safe lets everyone enjoy the holiday fun!
For a great set of tipe, please visit: AVMA: Thanksgiving Pet Safety
For many people, the holidays are time to get together with friends and loved ones, and often that means it’s time for a road trip!
However you travel, if you plan to take your pet along, you should plan their trip as carefully as you plan your own, or even more so. ;-)
The AVMA has posted a great list of tips for traveling with your pet: 11 things you can do to make travel safer for you and your pet.
They're cute. They're curious. They're counting on us to keep them safe.
Read MoreEveryone says that they want to offer excellent customer service, and most-often think that they do. But when they find out that customers are unhappy there is a laundry list of reasons why “it’s not our fault.”
Seriously, I can give you one easy step to turn those customer grumbles into customer grins. Heck, those unhappy customers will start signing your praises. You just need to do One Little Thing.
And I’m such a sweetheart, I won’t even charge you for this secret. Yep, I’m that wonderful!
OK, got your pen and notebook ready? Do you maybe want to sit down for this?
Follow up
When you say you are going to do something, DO IT. For example, if you tell a customer that you will put a note on their prescription to hold it until the customer can get in to pick it up, DO IT.
When you tell a customer that you will look into a problem/request/etc. and let them know - DO IT. Check out what needs to be researched, and contact the customer with the information right away. If it turns out that it will take longer than you thought, contact the customer to let them know you are working on it; that you did not forgot them.
Go on, give this a try. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at the results.
[UPDATE 08/25/2015: Over the past week or so I’ve noticed that Google Analytics is now reporting Windows 10 and Edge browser traffic! Whoohoo!]
The quick answer is…you can’t (yet). At least not easily, or cleanly.
But, there are a couple of thing things you can do.
1) Look for the new Microsoft Edge user agent string, which will look something like:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/42.0.2311.135 Safari/537.36 Edge/12.10240
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/42.0.2311.135 Safari/537.36 Edge/12.10136
Note: The last numbers, the part after Edge/12, will vary.
2) Compare the Windows NT traffic you were getting before Windows 10 launched to what you see now. Any increase could be signs of Windows 10 users, who are most probably using MS Edge.
3) Grab or create a custom segment. For example: http://tinyurl.com/ngua99w
4) Wait a bit for Google to catch up. (Although, I really don’t understand why they don’t already have this in place. You’d think that they would have been working with the early releases, right?)
Here are a couple of interesting articles to watch - they’ll probably update as new info comes in:
Let’s see if this widget works..
OK, so now that we know the real name for the browser formerly known as “Spartan” is Microsoft Edge*, the next question is…
What is this browser going to do to my website (or web application)?
There are 2 ways you can go about testing this today:
Since I don’t have a system I want to install Windows 10 on right now, I went for the online testing option. Here’s how you can do that:
That’s the good news. The bad news is, it doesn’t work for local testing. Even when I replace localhost with the IP address. Which makes sense, since it’s based on a remote system, but for those of use who need to test stuff that’s not out on the public web, well, hopefully a solution is on the way!
*And think of all the fun confusion we have to look forward to, since Edge is used for Micorsoft Edge Transport servers, the Verizon Edge program, the Samsung Edge phones, heck there was even a Microsoft Edge messenger bag!
Yesterday (4/6/15) I got an email letting me know that AmazonFresh is now available in my area.
The timing was great, as I had forgotten to submit my usual order for ShopRite From Home and I was running out of the important basics. You know, stuff like bread, milk, toilet paper, and the like.
So, I quickly placed my first AmazonFresh order, selecting the option that doesn’t require me to be home for delivery. But, just to be on the safe side, I selected the earliest delivery window, 7am - 10am, so hopefully the delivery would arrive before I had to leave.
Sure enough, at 7:01am I heard a vehicle outside… my delivery arrived! I went about my usual morning routine, then when I finished I went to check out the delivery. Despite that fact the all the emails had stated they would leave the order someplace other than the location I specified, the delivery person put them exactly where I had requested when I placed the order. Step 1: Success!
I brought everything inside, and every item I ordered was there - no problems at all. And all of the cool/cold stuff was at the perfect temperature. Step two: Success!
At this point, I don’t think AmazonFresh will replace ShopRite from Home for me, even with the $20 fee ShopRite charges. But it will come in handy from time to time; and if AmazonFresh starts to carry more of my favorite brands, maybe more than that.
I was able to put all the AmazonFresh delivery bags and containers into these 2 bags.
For us, the winning combo was a flavored dog toothpaste that Bailey loves (don’t use human toothpaste, it’s not safe for pets!), and the finger toothbrush (see below).
This is our fav!
These are handy too!
A real person in a sometimes unreal world.
