paul schreiber

iRobot makes their phone numbers hard to find on their web site. Shame, shame!
800-727-9077 customer service
877-855-8593 tech support

I moved last year, and I had to change my address everywhere. As I did this, I kept track of where, hoping to make the process easier next time. Forgetting organizations is annoying.

The list I’ve compiled is below the jump. Where possible, I’ve included a link to the web page where you can make the change.

Please add general both categories of organizations and specific companies in the comments.

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As with my surprisingly popular Hertz discount codes page, I have a few other rental care coupon codes lying around. Most of them aren’t really that special, but I figured writing them down here will benefit someone, and I won’t have to keep a few scraps of paper lying around.

Avis
$25 off weekly AWDB790072 MUGA116
Free weekend day with 3 day rental TUGA074
Up to 20% off leisure rentals D488890

Budget
BCD X443030 CPN TUGZ427
2 day rental CPN MUGZ548
3 day rental CPN MUGZ549

Enterprise
20% off ETBX7A

While many modern microwaves have an “express cook” button, allowing you to heat something for one minute just by pressing “1,” other less-user-centered devices do not.

In these cases, to heat something for a minute, most people press Time-1-0-0-Start. Instead, press Time-6-0-Start. Same 60 seconds, one fewer keypress.

Here are a few Hertz discount codes I have lying around. Most of them aren’t really that special, but I figured writing them down here will benefit someone, and I won’t have to keep a few scraps of paper lying around.

CDP numbers:

• Wells Fargo Card Services, Inc. CDP 65331
• USA Hockey CDP 8972
• CAA South Central Ontario CDP 279
• Six Continents Hotesl Priority Club CDP 22754
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards CDP 205418
• Air Canada
  • Aeroplan 221417
  • Prestige 436521
  • Elite 436520
  • Super Elite 118948

Coupons

• $25 off a rental (expires 31-Dec-2007) PC 185301
• $20 off “Leisure Weekend Rental” PC 945781
• $25 off a weekly rental PC 945630
• One car-class upgrade PC 945615
• Free child seat (three-day minimum) PC 945626

These coupons are expired but may be worth trying:

• One car-class upgrade (US PC 164290, Canada PC 164301, Puerto Rico PC 164312); use with CAA CDP
• $20 off a weekend rental PC 169540; use with Wells Fargo CDP
• $15 off a weekly or weekend rental PC 169536; use with Wells Fargo CDP

I’m not sure of the status of these (2007-08-14):

• $15 off weekend PC 965624 or PC 999036 (CDP 282)
• $20 off weekly PC 965506 or PC999014
• Two free days PC983441 (CDP 205521)

With my old Nokia 6340i, sending email was as easy as sending a text message — you selected Messages > Write e-mail in the menu, entered the email address, subject, text, and off it went.

When I got my 6620, I was disappointed to find out that feature had been removed. Sending an email now required:

• configuring the phone for GPRS (which is different for Cingular customers who, like myself, are former AT&T customers than for “regular” Cingular customers)
• entering my email address, SMTP server, username and password
• paying 3¢/KB (yes, per kilobyte)
• … and waiting quite a while for the message to go through.

My friend Arthur tipped me off to a much better solution last weekend. Simply send a text to 0000000000 (ten zeros) with the first word being the email address of the recipient, and the email will go out lightning-fast, and you’ll only be charged the text message rate.

(keywords: cingular at&t sms text message cell mobile wireless email)

Update: Simon notes that this works on Cantel Cantel AT&T Rogers Cantel Rogers Cantel AT&T Rogers AT&T Wireless Rogers Wireless and passes along this handy tip sheet.

I found a FAQ for Cingular subscribers as well.

Sites like Expedia, Yahoo Travel and Travelocity all have one thing in common: they suck. Actually, they probably all use SABRE, too.

It’s very hard to use these sites to compare trips with multiple airports; refining your results is hard, too. Maybe the UI is bad on purpose — they want you to give up and just buy the more expensive flight.

And why not? They’re travel agents; they make money on ticket sales. There’s hardly an incentive to be objective.

Three new players are filling the void. The first is SideStep, which my friend Samantha told me about. With SideStep, you can easily exclude flights out of your price range, favourite airlines or agreeable departure times. The UI is really slick, and it’s very responsive.

Someone at BarCamp Austin mentioned Kayak, which does much the same thing.

What looks even more interesting is FlySpy, which TechCrunch highlighted in February. FlySpy takes this to a whole new level, letting you track pricing trends and figuring out just when is the right time to buy. You can play with the alpha now, and see what it’s like to fly out of Minneapolis.

Lastly, if you ever want to find out which airlines and flight numbers will take you from A to B, check out SkyGuide.

(keywords: airline airfare flight price cheap)

Ssomeone called me last week and asked what do about his 16-month-old monitor that had just died. He had already shown it to a dealer, and the dealer told him there would be a $500 minimum charge.

Since monitors aren’t something you can easily troubleshoot or repair, i started think about ways to avoid paying the money.

1. If the product is just out of warranty, and it has previously been repaired, you may still be covered due to warranty tolling. the idea here is that for every day your product is in the shop being repaired, your warranty is extended by a day. As far as I can tell, warranty tolling exists in a few US states (California, Tennessee, Connecticut) and Mexico. The relevant sections of the California Civil Code are 1795.6 and 1795.7:
   

   1795.6. (a) Every warranty period relating to an implied or express warranty accompanying a sale or consignment for sale of consumer goods selling for fifty dollars ($50) or more shall automatically be tolled for the period from the date upon which the buyer either (1) delivers nonconforming goods to the manufacturer or seller for warranty repairs or service or (2), pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 1793.2 or Section 1793.22, notifies the manufacturer or seller of the nonconformity of the goods up to, and including, the date upon which (1) the repaired or serviced goods are delivered to the buyer, (2) the buyer is notified the goods are repaired or serviced and are available for the buyer’s possession or (3) the buyer is notified that repairs or service is completed, if repairs or service is made at the buyer’s residence.

   (b) Notwithstanding the date or conditions set for the expiration of the warranty period, such warranty period shall not be deemed expired if either or both of the following situations occur: (1) after the buyer has satisfied the requirements of subdivision (a), the warranty repairs or service has not been performed due to delays caused by circumstances beyond the control of the buyer or (2) the warranty repairs or service performed upon the nonconforming goods did not remedy the nonconformity for which such repairs or service was performed and the buyer notified the manufacturer or seller of this failure within 60 days after the repairs or service was completed. When the warranty repairs or service has been performed so as to remedy the nonconformity, the warranty period shall expire in accordance with its terms, including any extension to the warranty period for warranty repairs or service.

   …

2. If you purchased the product on your credit card, you may be in luck. many credit card companies will double the warranty, up to an additional year. check with your credit card company; they may cover the cost of the repair.
3. Check with your insurance company. if you have homeowners or renter’s insurance, you may be covered. you may need a personal articles rider on your policy to cover this sort of thing. they’re cheap, however — mine costs $50/year and well worth it.

A couple of months ago, Sarah got engaged. She declined to get an engagement ring (she doesn’t elaborate on her reasons). This, in my opinion, was an excellent decision. Why? Since then, I came across an Econ-Atrocity Bulletin “Ten reasons why you should never accept a diamond ring from anyone, under any circumstances, even if they really want to give you one,” which seemed like a good time to remind people of why diamonds are a Bad Thing.

The extensively footnoted Bulletin empahsizes the human rights and economics angles:

1. You’ve been psychologically conditioned to want a diamond
2. Diamonds are priced well above their value
3. Diamonds have no resale or investment value
4. Diamond miners are disproportionately exposed to HIV/AIDS
5. Open-pit diamond mines pose environmental threats
6. Diamond mine-owners violate indigenous people’s rights
7. Slave laborers cut and polish diamonds
8. Conflict diamonds fund civil wars in Africa
9. Diamond wars are fought using child warriors
10. Small arms trade is intimately related to diamond smuggling

A couple years ago, Anil Dash’s daming indictment of the business, “Diamonds are for never,” hit on the sleaziness and misogynism of the ads:

But how can you look at a list on the industry’s own marketing website and see “Of course there’s a return on your investment. We just can’t print it here.” and not be aware that they’re selling, along with war and market dominance, dysfunction. Want your materialistic, easily-misled wife to stop being such a frigid bitch? Buy her a diamond! Did your husband decide to increase your consumer debt in order to buy you a pair of earrings that were mined at gunpoint by children in Africa? Reward him with grudging sex and a temporary cessation of your relentless nagging!

The best resource for this, hands down, is the 1982 Atlantic Monthly essay, “Have You Ever Tried To Sell A Diamond?” by Edward Jay Epstein. It’s long, like every Atlantic Monthly piece, but also very much worth your time. Here’s the lede to get you started:

The diamond invention — the creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem — is a relatively recent development in the history of the diamond trade. Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were found only in a few riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. In 1870, however, huge diamond mines were discovered near the Orange River, in South Africa, where diamonds were soon being scooped out by the ton. Suddenly, the market was deluged with diamonds. The British financiers who had organized the South African mines quickly realized that their investment was endangered; diamonds had little intrinsic value — and their price depended almost entirely on their scarcity. The financiers feared that when new mines were developed in South Africa, diamonds would become at best only semiprecious gems.

There is hope, however: Wired’s “The New Diamond Age” offers a glimpse of a cartel-free future.

Over the past couple of years, many of my friends have started using a Mac. I often find I’m recommending software to them. Sometimes it’s because they ask; sometimes it’s because I’m so enthusiastic about a program I just have to tell them.

The single most indispensible utility for me is LaunchBar. I use it to find applications, people and music. It’s a great complement to Spotlight. LaunchBar is the first piece of software I install on any Mac.

Other stuff I like:

Internet tools

• Instant Messaging (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber) in one: Adium
• (S)FTP Transmit
• P2P Acquisition
• BitTorrent Tomato Torrent
• If you’re a web developer, you need at least two browsers. Firefox is my second browser.

Productivity tools

• BBEdit is where I do my heavy lifting. (TextWrangler, its sibling, is free.)
• SubEthaEdit is a great collaborative text editor
• PCalc is a very nice calculator.
• OmniOutliner tracks my to-do lists.

System utilities

• Pseudo is handy for dealing with software that uses shitty installers.
• DiskWarrior will save your disk.
• Growl

Media

• Delicious Library tracks your books, movies, and CDs.
• VLC plays pretty much any audio or video file.
• DiVX is a great video code, cramming lots of data into very little space.