Category: Opinions

What I think about things

Zodiac iAqualink Concern, Issues and Suggestions

It’s pretty difficult to find a contact email address for Zodiac USA. All I can find on their site is one of those moderately useful forms. So I’m going to post this message here on my blog and then send them a link.

 

Dear Zodiac,

As the new owner of an iAqualink I have come across a few items that I felt should be brought to your attention.

Concern:

Android Application does not reflect current conditions and ignores Service mode
The Android version of the iAqualink application does not refresh at reasonable intervals. If I log into the application hours or days after my last logon, the information from the previous login is still being displayed. Information such as which devices are on and what the temperatures are should be refreshed, certainly after a new login, but they should also be refreshed with much greater regularity than is happening now.
There is a dangerous side effect to this. Since the device does not check the current system status at reasonable intervals, it is possible to be logged into the Android iAqualink application, manually put your system into “Service” mode and continue to start and stop pumps and manipulate the system as if it was still in “Auto” mode. I recently demonstrated this to Adam of “Pool Tech” (6/5/2012) and he indicated he was going to bring this to your attention due to obvious safety concerns.

 

My Issues:

Can you program my lights for me?

On 5/29/2012 I spoke with Denise in your customer support area. My iAqualink was installed as part of a new pool installation and the lights that had been installed are Fiberstar’s “Pal Treo” LED lights. Unfortunately these are not among the 4 lighting systems already supported by iAqualink. I am able to get some use of my lights by selecting “Jandy LED Watercolors” which will change my lights to something other than the default color, but of course the colors in the PAL Treo system do not line up at all with the Jandy LED Watercolor system. This is something that would require a programming change on the Zodiac side to implement (or my suggestion below). Denise was to check with your developers and get back to me. It’s now 6/15/2012 and I’ve not heard back from her. I would like an answer on this.

You can choose your light color when explicitly turning on the lights but not for any programmed mode.

If you select Lights (at least as it’s set up on my system and verified by Pool Tech) as part of a “One Touch Setting” you do not have the option to select the color that comes up. Certainly for different “moods” one would like to have the option to choose a color other than the initial start up color.
Similarly, when setting the “Dusk” settings for the lights there are no provisions to select a color when choosing your light device. This needs to be corrected.

 

Suggestions:

Allow a DIY lighting setting so that consumers can set up their lights themselves

My experience here is somewhat limited, but a common theme among light systems seems to be that you turn on your light switch and then you flick the switch off then on again to cycle through the offered lighting options. An interface that allows you to specify how many of these options there are, plus the colors that result from these off/on cycles might make the iAqualink system compatible with more lighting systems while reducing the overhead for keeping up with them.

Retain Pool Temperature information when the filter pump is not on

Just like on a weather page, provided you indicate the time for which the reading is current, it would be very useful to me to be able to see my temperature at a glance without needing to turn on my pump system and wait for the water to cycle long enough to get an accurate reading. The temperature will not be exact but since you can see how old it is you can decide for yourself if you need to force a more accurate reading. Since the system is on at least once a day I will always be somewhat in the ballpark and to me this is much more useful than a BLANK reading.

Allow me to change labels for Temp1 and Temp2

It took me a while to figure out that Temp2 was my pool temperature. I’d like to be able to just change the label so that this is obvious to my wife.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Marc Bourassa

WIN!: Hacked IRL: Fishy Fishy NO MORE

Truly this represents what is happening as people become educated, take advantage of technology and push their corrupt theocracies off of their thrones.

In my mind there is still a HUGE question mark about whether the Arab spring will have truly long lasting effects or if the people in those countries will allow themselves to become enslaved yet again by use of their own belief systems.

FAIL Blog: Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments

via WIN!: Hacked IRL: Fishy Fishy NO MORE.

Why can’t I escape from Bank of America?

When I first moved to the United States many moons ago, I opened a bank account and a credit card account with BofA. When I quickly realized that they would charge me a fee for everything from withdrawing money from ATMs to just having a pulse I quickly fired them and moved on to SunTrust who have heretofore treated me pretty well.

Shortly after starting to deal with SunTrust I got a credit card with them and life went on. After several years the BofA card lapsed and that account closed.

Not too long ago, at Clark Howard’s suggestion, I looked for some kind of financial rewards card. I’m pretty basic financially, if I don’t understand a financial product I’m really not interested in it. So those bizarre air miles cards or “redeem for prizes” Discover cards held no interest for me. Along came Charles Schwab with a financial rewards card that offered 2% cash back on everything. They actually offered more back on some special items but I’m not wasting my time trying to keep up with that nonsense.

Charles Schwab eventually decided that they no longer wanted that portfolio and sold it to… you guessed it, BofA. BofA promptly eviscerated the card benefits and made the card uninteresting to me.

Meanwhile SunTrust had sold its credit card portfolio to… you guessed it, BofA.  Now I’m waiting to see what they do to this card because it’s the only card I own that does not charge a foreign transaction fee premium (3% is the norm I think). So I like to use it when traveling.

Meanwhile SunTrust has begun soliciting me, they seem curious to know why I wouldn’t want a SunTrust Credit card.

So, to look at me I’m apparently some kind of BofA fanboy because I trust them with so much of my credit business.

Time to look for some good Credit cards again. Let me know if you know of any that offer understandable rewards…

New way of doing politics needed – or Skeletor for president

This is about a generation off of my feelings about the choices being offered (missed “Skeletor” by a few years).

We really need to be able to vote much more granularly than along so-called “party lines”.

Everything comes as a package deal with a little bit that you agree with and then a whole lot that you absolutely don’t endorse.

Maybe future politics can be like fantasy football, you pick the position you want endorsed for each issue and create your ideal fantasy political party. The majority position for each issue (within the constraints of the constitution) is used as the direction for your elected officials who act as agents rather than leaders.
I think we can all agree that true leadership and vision is something our Federal and State representatives discarded a long, long time ago.

At least with Skeletor, he’d be up front with his motives…

Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail

This article in Rolling Stone’s online magazine does not at all surprise me and only confirms my own experiences and opinion of Bank of America.

This little snippet pretty aptly sums up the character of this corporate behemoth.

Take your eyes off them for 10 seconds and guaranteed, they’ll be into some shit again: This bank is like the world’s worst-behaved teenager, taking your car and running over kittens and fire hydrants on the way to Vegas for the weekend, maxing out your credit cards in the three days you spend at your aunt’s funeral. They’re out of control, yet they’ll never do time or go out of business, because the government remains creepily committed to their survival, like overindulgent parents who refuse to believe their 40-year-old live-at-home son could possibly be responsible for those dead hookers in the backyard.

As always, you need to take what you read from ANY source with a grain of salt, however I have always felt that if you deal with them, you really deserve what you get.

I’ve made my views clear in the past

Bank of America – What’s not to trust?

Who do you love to deal with, and who do you not?

 

 

How to stop CVS automated prescription calls

** Update December 8, 2018 **

Whelp, finally got fed up with their shenanigans and switched pharmacies. The final straw for me was their terrible app that had so much trouble letting me pick with method I wanted to pay with (hint, it just picks the first one it finds if you have more than one available). Also they kept switching my prescriptions to “autofill” so when I would actually want to refill a prescription it would be ineligible.

To the CVS management who believes that being so aggressive is the key to success. I presume your target demographic is confused elderly baby-boomers. What you are doing is not only annoying but is poor form across the board. Adiós muchachos

** End Update **

** Update March 1, 2014 **

Jeremy (in the comments below) pointed out that the second number is to opt out of that annoying reminder that your prescription is ready. Presumably you already know when it will be available and you just happen to not be able to immediately run out and pick it up. It will keep for a few days…

** End Update **

It’s a minor annoyance but when my phone rings it’s because it’s somebody I want to talk with, or there is a problem at work. I don’t want to be called because I might need a prescription refill or there is one ready and waiting for me.

For some reason there are two numbers you need to call. The first one is absolutely simple:

To opt out of the refill reminder calls dial 1-866-514-4965. It will default to opting the number you called from out but will ask to confirm this and ask for any additional numbers.

Not sure why, but the second one needs for you to speak with a person:

To opt out of the prescription ready reminders dial 1-800-746-7287, you’ll need to yell “more options” into your phone and then yell “Opt out of reminders” to be taken to a person who will remove your number(s) for you.

I suppose it’s a useful reminder for some folks but I prefer to keep track of my own stuff.

 

Warning regarding purchasing golf balls from Knetgolf.com

*Updated 2011.10.22*

A couple of days ago I received a package from Knetgolf with a dozen replacement balls. They arrived unannounced (except for the note from UPS regarding the impending shipment). So I had no idea what, if anything Knetgolf was going to do regarding my order.  I’m a little surprised they didn’t shoot me a quick email to tell me their intentions but I do give them kudos for making things right.

*End Update*

For myself, I’m fine with plain old white golf balls. Now that I’m a bit older I usually buy my balls new as I do see a difference between those and balls that have been sitting at the bottom of a lake for a month.

Michelle has concerns other than performance in mind for her golf balls and so I was tasked with getting her a some PURPLE golf balls.

I eventually found a place that sold reconditioned purple balls (don’t tell her they’re not new) for a reasonable price from knetgolf.com and ordered two dozen.

The balls were delayed in getting to us by a day, UPS noted that this was because the label was unreadable.

When we received the balls the following day, I could see the issue. The label had been destroyed and the box obviously ripped open and taped shut again.

Inside, one dozen of the balls were fine. The other dozen had their little mesh bag ripped open and was actually missing one of the balls. Of those remaining 5 of them look like they had been dragged across some surface hard enough to scrape the shell down so they are smooth in a patch on one side.

Sending a note to Knetgolf’s order confirmation address with a couple of pictures had them respond by asking me to resend the pictures to their help desk. I never heard back.

About a week later they sent me an automated survey email asking how they did. To this I relayed the same story as above and never heard anything back either.

The value of the balls is not enough for me to get worked up about. But the pretense at customer service with absolutely no follow through was irksome.

So I post this warning. I’m sure the fault for this lies in UPS’ court, but it’s up to the vendor to deal with any issues with their carrier. Of course I won’t be patronizing knetgolf again and, if you are thinking of doing so, you should consider this anecdote with respect to their customer service.

Cancelled my DirecTV service

Hmmm…  Apparently the $99 I paid for my DVR back in 2005 wasn’t to actually *buy* the unit but rather is a lease price and they want it back. No doubt there were too many people who were continuing to watch all of their recorded content long after they had cancelled service and they needed a way to quell that.

Since mine is about as useful as a brick I have no objections to returning it. Looking at my bill I can see that I’ve had a $6 charge for a “leased receiver” (and a corresponding $6 credit) forever so I can’t really say they weren’t telling me that.

Who really pays attention to those line items anyway?

Now, what will life be like using Netflix, Hulu and other Internet resources for entertainment?  We’ll have to see. The adventure begins…

When is the last time you read the Georgia Driver’s License Manual?

Of course, in my opinion, we should have in place a system where folks are re-tested every few years. The laws are *always* changing – those legislators have to justify their existence somehow – and are you really sure you know what the current thinking is on the correct way to handle a driving situation?

Even if your approach *is* the best, if it is unexpected as far as the other drivers are concerned then it is *you* who are the hazard.

I just finished reviewing the 2010 Driver’s license manual and got 100% on this (rather simple) test. I challenge you to do the same.

What do you do when a schoolbus has its amber lights flashing? What about its red lights? On a divided highway? I see people doing the wrong thing all the time, they are endangering EVERYBODY’s lives.