The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Archive for the ‘Opinions’ Category

SQL Server 2008 installation UI #fail Alt-N bound to two UI controls

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/09

Click on the image on the right to see the full size.

The Alt-N keybinding is bound to two UI controls.

But since the “Next” button is later in the tab order, pressing Alt-N will switch to “Perform a new installation” and deselect the “Add feature to …”

Very handy indeed when you don’t want a new installation, but just quickly want to go to the next step in the wizard.

#fail

–jeroen

Posted in Opinions | Leave a Comment »

#SFO airport international terminal A #fail part 3: baggage claim tag got not sticked to boarding pass or passport

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/03

On every airport I have been so far, my baggage claim tag got sticked to either my boarding pass or my passport.

Not so today at SFO airport international terminal A; it got placed loosely in the passport, not sticked to anything.

I didn’t notice, so I was glad my wife was walking behind me in the shops when it fell out: she noticed, so we still have the baggage claim tag.

–jeroen

Posted in Opinions | Leave a Comment »

#SFO airport international terminal A #fail part 2: women’s restroom G9:G12 are only partially available

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/02

When you leave at SFO airport international terminal A at G9 through G12, and you are female, then don’t queue up at the restroom on the upper floor.
One of them is broken, so there is a huge queue of waiting ladies.

My wife got back in the hallway to use a less busy restroom.

–jeroen

Posted in Opinions | Leave a Comment »

#SFO airport international terminal A #fail part 1: men’s restroom at G9:G12 are not cleaned often enough

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/02

When you need to board at Gate G9 through G12 at SFO airport inrternational terminal A, then don’t go to the men’s restrooms near G9:G12 at the upper level: the smell of urine is so strong and the floor so filthy that I got back in the hall finding clearner one’s.

–jeroen

Posted in Opinions | Leave a Comment »

KLM online check-in #fail: each combobox enter refreshes page

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/01

Most pages don’t do a page submit when you press the Enter key in a combobox.
KLM does in their online check-in.

Which means that a keyboard groupie like me basically is forced to use the mouse to select country a zillion times (Netherlands for all of the group members for Nationality, Passport, etc).

Other sites do it right and accept this:

  1. Press down-key to open combobox
  2. Press N key a couple of time to select Netherlands
  3. Press Enter key to accept Netherlands
  4. Press Tab key to go to next field

KLM online check-in does a page submit on each time you get to step 3, refreshes the page, and moves the focus to some non-input fied.

Big #fail.

–jeroen

Posted in Opinions, User Experience (ux) | Leave a Comment »

ABN AMRO marketing #fail (http://bit.ly/a2nP00)

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/08/27

Onderstaande krijg je te zien als je bij ABN AMRO aan het internetbankieren bent.
Handig als je geen kinderen hebt, en echt offending als je geen kinderen wilt of kunt krijgen:

"Open nu een Eurostyle rekening! Stort € 20,- en uw kind ontvangt €20,0"

"Open nu een Eurostyle rekening! Stort € 20,- en uw kind ontvangt €20,0"

–jeroen

Posted in Opinions | 1 Comment »

TomTom Lifetime Maps/Traffic Subscription: should I do it?

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/08/12

I’m considering a TomTom Lifetime Maps/Traffic Subscription on a TomTom XXL 540 World Traveler’s Edition Series.

But given section 7 “Subscriptions (for Lifetime Maps/Traffic, see subparagraphs f and g only)” of their General Terms and Conditions (see below) – especially the underlined pieces below – I’m hesitating.

I have the gut feeling the same can happen with that device that happened with my HTC Advantage X7500 PDA:
it runs TomTom 6, since TomTom 7 does not support this PDA (might have to do with the 640×480 resolution of the PDA).
Newer maps don’t run on TomTom 6, so I’m stuck with old (Europe and USA) maps.

This TomTom XXL 540 WTE system is only available in the USA (not over here in Europe), and since I’ll be speaking at DelphiLive in less than 2 weeks from now: well, you’ll get my point :-)

I can’t seem to find out if this model has 4Gb or 2Gb memory; so anyone who knows that, please place a coment.
Also the screen resolution seems to be 480 x 272 (I’m used to 640 x 480), so I will probably need to get used to that if I buy.

So: Any opinions on what you think the map support lifetime of this XXL 540 WTE navi will be? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Opinions, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Nick Hodges | The End of the Chow Line

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/07/30

From the comments on Nick’s excellent post (that instantly made me feel hungry <g>):

If you find your developers bringing in their own equipment to work then you know there is a problem.

That reminds me of this story: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in About, Keyboards and Keyboard Shortcuts, Opinions, Personal, Power User, RSI, ThinkPad, UltraNav keyboards | Leave a Comment »

LinkedIn should send “Notifications for Requests to Join My Group” #fail

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/07/30

Right now, LinkedIn does not send Notifications for Requests to Join My Group.

They should!

Right now you need to watch the LinkedIn group very frequently, otherwise you miss the “requests to join.
Mail notification would make that much less of a burden.

–jeroen

Posted in LinkedIn, Opinions, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Now where did I hear that “Aurora” codename again?

Posted by jpluimers on 2010/07/22

Now where did I hear that “Aurora” product codename name again?

Aurora seems to be the new product codename for Microsof’ts’ on-premises/cloud mix of Small Business Server.

But wait, wasn’t it eras ago that you could choose to run PHP on clouds for your business apps?

And isn’t Aurora/Delphi for PHP all about creating those apps?

–jeroen

via: Microsoft small-business server futures: 5 things to know | ZDNet / Aurora – a Microsoft cloud server for the small guy?.

Posted in Delphi, Delphi for PHP, Development, Opinions, Software Development | 2 Comments »