 |
|
|
| BITS
& PIECES |
February 2012
Enough already - it's time for winter to be gone! As Sarah Lolley
so aptly puts it: "Do you know what a pain it is to bundle myself into
what is basically an oversized oven mitt with arms every time I want to
to go outside?"
|
June 2011
FarmVille
- fun little game accessed either through Facebook or through the Zynga
web site itself. Or ... it was a fun little game until Zynga got
greedy. In their haste to increase profits, they have abandoned
the millions of virtual farmers and have little, or no, regard for the
aggravation they foist upon the players who have been loyal to the game
since inception ... since it was just a little game to plant crops, get
mastery rewards, and spend some uncomplicated time relaxing.
In the past year, they have introduced so many new "things" to the
on-line game that it barely functions any more. The guiding
principle behind the game has always been the planting and harvesting
of crops. And their quests to win rewards and prizes usually
entails the successful harvesting of at least one crop and requesting
the help of neighbours. This past week, beginning on June 12th,
thousands - maybe hundreds of thousands (it's rumoured there are over
50 million Farmville players - FORBES)
- lost access to their Market and Gift Boxes, with the result being
they could no longer plant crops. Many were right in the middle
of one of those "quests", and began to receive Quest Expired messages
because they were unable to complete all the steps due to their
inability to plant and harvest.
Zynga also had the audacity to run a plethora of One Day Only specials
while this was going on, in which, again, those who were impacted by
the inaccessibility issue, could not participate, thereby missing out
on many, many rewards and bonuses. Please keep in mind that many
players use real dollars to play this game as there are special items
that can only be purchased with hard earned cash, not the game coins.
And what was Zynga's response to the myriad of inquiries and
complaints? I quote from the email I received today (a full week
after the issues surfaced):
"I was checking your particular issue and found that there are other
accounts affected with this inconvenience. According to the development
team, the resolution is in progress, please bear with us while we
resolve this.
Again my sincere apologies and thank you for playing FarmVille."
You've got to be kidding me!!! Seriously?? He (his name is David Wilfredo)
actually thinks the players are stupid enough that they will accept
such a blatantly ridiculous response as that? And that was
the entire response! Or is even their customer response team so
inept that they are unable to provide a reasonable reply to a simple
inquiry? He was "checking into my particular issue" ...
what? No memo from Zynga to the persons who respond to email
inquiries advising there are issues with the game? What a
complete lack of respect for the participants in Farmville!
|
May 2011
It's
hard being a mother on a windy spring day in Winnipeg. This one
is trying to take "the kids" for a walk at The Forks, and the poor
little things are struggling to stay upright. VIEW VIDEO
Thanks to Aline Russell for supplying the film clip. |
September
2010
I can't believe that Avon is going into another Christmas season and
still no improvement in their shortage situation. If
anything, it's getting worse. It's becoming the norm to wait
4 and 5 months for products from Avon. Surely someone with
Avon Canada should have figured out how to order enough supplies for
their representatives by now, but apparently not.
Or maybe, Avon isn't ordering the products before they advertise them?
Could they be putting the products in the brochures and
waiting to see how many orders they get before they place THEIR order
with the supplier? Just a question ... nothing concrete to
say this is in fact happening, but really - after 2 years?
You would think someone would have lost their job for such
poor planning. |
March
2010
Brandy
is now 20 months old, which, for a hamster, puts her into the senior
age bracket. An UPDATE,
and some new photos of this delightful pet. |
June 2009
A
page long overdue - the
most recent addition to our family ... BRANDY. |
May 2009
During
the past twelve months,
I have lost many of my long-term friends due to the ravages of
illness.
Blair MacLean, Pat Riordan, Wayne Walker, and now, Bill Dagg.
On
May 29th, Bill passed away after a long battle with cancer.
He will
live on in the hearts of all who had the honour of knowing this caring,
compassionate, generous man. |
April 2009
I love my job, I love
my job, I love my job, I love my job ...
|
March 14, 2009
This
video was originally
a POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
titled
"Did You Know?/Shift Happens", created in 2006 by a
teacher from
Arapahoe High School in Colorado. Karl Fisch put together the
presentation
with what he hoped were some thought-provoking ideas to encourage his
fellow
teachers to discuss the world their students would be
entering. It
was never his intention for this video to become such an internet
phenomena,
and I think many people are looking for some sort of hidden meaning
behind
the whole thing. There is none ... it is merely a jumping
point for
discussion on the changing world of which we are all a part.
In Karl's own words, "I was
hoping by telling some of these 'stories' to our faculty, I could get
them
thinking about - and discussing with each other - the world our
students
are entering. To get them to really think about what our students are
going
to need to be successful in the 21st century, and then how that might
impact
what they do in their classrooms."
Click
the picture to the
right to view the video in a separate window. A history,
beginning
with the creation of the presentation, can be found on Karl's site, THE
FISCHBOWL
While the original presentation
has been turned into a more visually-appealing medium geared to the
general
public, by Jeff Brenman, the "new and improved" version does not cite
all
the references used in Karl's original piece. And I think
that is
one of the biggest areas questioned by the casual viewer - is the data
presented accurate. The PowerPoint slides state the
references used
by Karl Fisch are:
|
January
1, 2009
Happy
New Year! |
ARCHIVED
UPDATES
|
©1998
- 2012
Masters Digital Design ®
|
