I just installed a minor upgrade to Nucleus which, of course, took out some of the customizations I have made to GOS (e.g. support for CoComment). I think I've put everything back, but if you notice anything odd and/or broken, please let me know!

Having given InCircles a test drive here and on other sites where people are using it, I'm starting to get a feel for what I like -- and for what I'd like to see added. Since it's currently in Alpha, I suppose now is the time to speak up, for whatever my opinion happens to be worth. (Don't answer that! )

Likes:

• The concept and functionality in general.
  It is very cool to be able to chat in real time with people who are viewing the same page as you. As I mentioned earlier, I would love to see LibraryThing.com add this so that users could chat with others in real time about the books they are interested in. I think it would be a good addition to online shopping sites as well: Customers can discuss what they know about a particular product, and the merchant can participate in this discussion, taking advantage of the feedback and providing assistance as necessary. I also see good potential for its use in distance education -- a way to connect students who are otherwise disconnected and get them talking about the content they are currently viewing. This could come in especially handy for the Assistive Technology course I teach each summer! I'm sure the more I think about it the more uses I will see for products such as InCircles.
• The fact that messages don't get stored on the page.
  Traditional chatboxes seem far too inviting to spammers (I cannot believe we now have chatbox spam....) and to the sorts of people who find it amusing to leave inappropriate messages.
• The ability to send personal messages in addition to public ones.
• It looks slick.
  Okay, perhaps that shouldn't matter but -- let's face it -- it does.

Wish List:

• Associate user names with IP addresses.
  If I am simultaneously viewing multiple pages that use InCircles, I can only be "Joanie" on one of those pages -- say my blog. Navigating to any other page with InCircles embedded on it results in my being told that my name has already been taken and a number getting slapped onto the end of my name. Thus I'm at once Joanie, Joanie2, and Joanie47. To make matters more interesting, refreshing the page will cause the number to change. Once InCircles takes off, it will become increasingly difficult to choose a unique user name due to other users. Having to compete with oneself just complicates matters. Couldn't the user name be associated with one's IP address so that as long as I'm the only Joanie, I can be "Joanie" when viewing multiple pages?
• Add the ability to store messages for just a little while.
  While I really do like the fact that messages don't get stored on the page, things like refreshing a page and navigating away from a page (say by following a link) will cause the chat history to vanish. Several times I have noticed text appear just as I was leaving the page and had to ask the individual to repeat what was said. If it would be possible to have messages temporarily stored for, say, a couple of minutes, accidentally leaving the page or needing to refresh it wouldn't result in any loss in the conversation.
• Find a way to be able to embed the flash object that is valid XHTML.
  Currently my site no longer validates.
• Be sure to adhere to the Best Practices for Accessible Flash Design.
  It's the right thing to do, and it would help to ensure compliance with Section 508 of the Rehab Act. While I have a number of ideas for how I can incorporate InCircles into my summer course, if InCircles is not accessible to users with visual impairments it won't matter: I personally am not willing to select a technology that not all of my students can use -- and even if I were willing, neither the university nor my agency would permit me to do so....

I spent some time today -- okay, technically, yesterday -- catching up on my feeds. Via TechCrunch I learned about InCircles and added it to my sidebar to give it a spin. Let me know what you think. By the way, if you use Linux, be sure to get version 9 of the Flash player which is currently in beta. (Thanks Inforhix!) Otherwise, InCircles doesn't seem to work.

Thanks to TJ at Better Living Through Chemistry, I spent several hours cataloging the majority of my books and exploring. LibraryThing.com promises to be far more entertaining and reliable than Amazon.com's recommendations. Plus nothing says "Web 2.0" like clouds and tags -- the latter of which I need to go back and add....

UPDATE: Wouldn't it be cool if LibraryThing.com incorporated InCircles into their site so that you could chat with people interested in a particular book?

Ze Frank has added a Flash version of "The Show" to his site. Cool! Rather, it would be if viewing "The Show" didn't require at least version 8 of the Flash player.

"Version 8!?" I hear you exclaiming in disbelief. "That's old technology. Certainly a geek such as yourself would have gotten version 9 back in June."

Well, yeah, I would have were it not for the fact that Adobe's latest version of the player for Linux is still 7....

I'm not positive, but I think this is why I am unable to use InCircles on my Linux boxes. *sigh*

Please, please Adobe: Update the Flash player for Linux!

How do I hate Comcast? Let me count the ways....

I just opened my Comcast bill and was startled to see "Past Due Notice" written at the top. As someone who is neurotic about always paying her bills on time, this was a slap in the face. To add insult to injury, there was a $20 "returned payment fee" tacked on to what I owed!

I, of course, immediately contacted Comcast to inquire. After all, I had received a "we got your online payment" notification via email -- just like I have each month for years. Even though they charge far more than their products and services are worth, my account has more than sufficient funds.... Their unsympathetic response? The problem was on my end and I should call my bank because there was nothing they could do.

Fine.

My bank informs me that Comcast never tried to charge my account. I then double-checked that I entered the correct account and routing numbers by looking at the saved form information in my browser. I had. Time to call Comcast back....

Unsympathetic Comcast Rep #2 informs me that there are a number of reasons payments get rejected, most of which apparently have nothing to do with me and the amount of money in my account. In other words, I do everything in my power to pay my bill, something goes wrong on their end, and it's still my fault. Then I'm told by UCR2 that they would consider waving the charge if I:

1. Obtain a written statement from my bank indicating that they did not reject the charge because my account was never charged
2. Appear in person at their local office with said statement in hand

How very generous.... Time to call the bank back....

Sympathetic bank rep #2 concurs with my statement that "Comcast sucks" and tells me I should have said written statement in a few days. She also tells me that if I want the statement sooner, I could visit a branch office. If I thought I could walk into the local Comcast office calmly this afternoon, I'd do it. Right now, I'm just too furious: Furious that I was not notified via email that there was a problem (surely their automated system could handle such technical feats), furious that I am am being treated as someone who does not take her financial responsibilities seriously -- especially given my years of on-time payments, furious that I have to take the time and energy to prove that Comcast screwed up so that they will "consider" waving the fee I am being assessed because they are too incompetent to debit my account.

Did I mention that Comcast sucks?

Or rather, what to put on your salad: Trader Joe's Romano Caesar Dressing. It's vegetarian: The Romano cheese uses vegetable rennet and the Worcestershire sauce is a vegetarian alternative. Yum!

Actually yesterday was the travel day. Greetings from Montréal! Did you know:

• You're supposed to stop at U.S. Customs before entering Canada in order to declare your gadgets so that you can take them out hassle-free when you leave?
• "Trucks" is apparently how you say "U.S. Customs" in French.
• "Crap!" is how you say "How was I supposed to know that I was to go in the 'trucks' lane?" in English.
• "You can only use your $10/day internet access from one computer so that you don't give it to others for free" is apparently how you say "use a static IP address" in French.
• A 80-slide PowerPoint presentation can be made even more tedious when you read each slide.

At least this hotel provides robes and slippers!

Just spent the better part of an hour trying to get my Nokia 770 to connect to T-Mobile via my RAZR. Most of this time was spent with T-Mobile tech support. The call did not start out very auspiciously. After spending 10 minutes answering Diane's questions, I was put on hold. When she came back she asked, "Are you trying to use your RAZR as a modium?" This is not a typo. The word out of Diane's mouth rhymed with "sodium."

Eventually I got transferred to someone knowledgeable. The docs he had on the Nokia 770 were for an earlier version of the OS, but he was willing to give it a go. Besides, it was nice to have someone intelligent to troubleshoot with. And troubleshooting we were until <insert swear words here> we got disconnected.

Interesting thing about T-Mobile: When they transfer you to a support person and that support person looks up your account and starts providing support, it is not safe to assume that this individual's name and/or ID get associated with your account. I did not know this. Had I known this, I would have paid closer attention when the gentleman provided his name and ID at the start of the call. Live and learn.

So after I called back, convinced the automated voice system that I really did need customer service, verified my account information with Sylvia, convinced Sylvia that I needed to talk to the tech support guy I had been talking to, got transferred to tech support, verified my account information with someone else, and explained the situation, I was informed that there was no record of whom I had been speaking with. So now I have to start all over explaining what I am trying to accomplish. At the end of my explanation, I'm asked if my phone has been activated. I point out that my phone was activated over a year ago. "What about the other device," she asks. "The Nokia?" I respond incredulously. She confirms that this is indeed what she means. "It is not a phone and does not require activation," I sigh. At this point I get put on hold.

While holding, I did a quick search and look at what I found: ThoughtFix's how-to!

Back in your Control Panel, tap Connectivity then Conections. Tap the phone connection, then Edit. Use the following settings for T-Mobile USA:

• Connection Type: Packet Data (next)
• Access point name: wap.voicestream.com
• Dial-up Number: *99#
• User name: blank
• Password: blank
• Prompt password at every login: blank (next)
• Tap Finish
• Tap Done
• Tap OK

Holy crap, what was I even thinking by calling tech support? Thanks ThoughtFix!!!

Look what just arrived: A Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It's Linux-based. Sweet. Now I have something to do at an upcoming conference which has very little content of relevance to me professionally, but which I nonetheless need to attend in order to maintain my professional certifications. As long as I look up at the speakers often enough and look interested, they'll think I'm taking notes!

New reps for everyone!

Typical Day:

Not-So-Typical Day:

1 migraine left untreated for a day, 3 Midrin, 1 Rozerem. I went to bed Friday evening, woke up mid-Sunday, and am still in a bit of a fog. Yikes!

According to this story, it's a pretty close race:

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- On the eve of the election, polls showed both of New Hampshire's races for Congress were tight.

In the final WMUR/University of New Hampshire Survey Center tracking poll, Rep. Jeb Bradley was hanging onto a 9-point lead over Democratic challenger Carol Shea-Porter, 49 percent to 40 percent.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Democratic challenger Paul Hodes was leading Rep. Charlie Bass by 9 points, 48 percent to 39 percent.

Don't forget to vote!!!

Boston traffic factoid: The amount of time it takes to drive 180 miles to Burlington, Vermont exceeds the 50-mile rush-hour commute to my agency by a mere 40 minutes. (I am SO glad I telecommute!)

Hotel suite factoid: A partial wall is not sufficient to prevent the noise of a full-sized fridge from reaching the bed. (Grrrrr!)

CCB voice mail factoid: The "notification" feature is erroneously named. (Yikes!)

Fortune cookie factoid: Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible. (I really like that one!)