Tag: FAIL

  • HostGator – The Privacy Saga Continues

    HostGator: A friend after all? As I wrote yesterday, HostGator locked me out of my brand-new account because of “suspicious” activity.  I called back to push them further on it.  Do I really need to email them my personal data—scanned copies of  my passport or driver’s license, as well as my credit card—to prove I’m not a…

  • HostGator – The Privacy-Intrusive Web Host

    To proceed with this transaction, we require additional pieces from you. After spending quite a bit of time exploring an alternative web host, I chose HostGator.  The reviews were kind, the price was reasonable, and they were having a sale. Seemed like a good time to start migrating my 10 domains (soon to be 11)…

  • Hunting for a self-hosted photo gallery

    A friend asked me for my advice for software she could use to host photos on her website.  I’ve been out of the gallery game for some time, but I started by checking out the old favourites I was familiar with.

  • Ship with DHL at Your Own Risk

    Recently I shipped an order using DHL because the merchant didn’t offer FedEx or UPS as an option. I assumed the experience would be similar to their competitors, seeing as they’re such a big company. Lesson learned. DHL’s own Customs Collection division opened my package, decided I owed $7.20 in taxes for the goods inside,…

  • Foursquare Fail Page

    Latest in my series of website fail pages is Foursquare, who, late on a Sunday evening of all times, served me up this:

  • Last.fm Fail Page

    I’ve been on last.fm since late 2006 and don’t recall ever getting a failpage before: Hopefully it’s a good sign: of increasing popularity, and not just inadequate infrastructure due to declining revenues and diminishing paid subscriber base.

  • Hootsuite Fail Page

    Hootsuite’s always been very reliable for me.  Here’s proof it can fail with the same grace and good humour as Twitter.

  • Product #FAIL: Koodo Phone Case

    Here’s a few questions it might be useful to ask before designing a mobile phone case, or alternately, before buying a warehouse full of some other manufacturer’s mobile phone cases: (1.)  Should we use rivets to attach the belt clip to the main body of the case? (2.) How many should we use? (3.) How large…

  • Product #FAIL: Crest for Kids

    Can you see anything wrong with this product? Perhaps. But how about from inside a sealed box? No, and as luck would have it, that’s how these kid-friendly tubes happen to be sold. Having had some time to field test it (something I’m guessing Crest didn’t do), I can see at least two fun-enhancing benefits…