So here I am trying again, nearly 10:30PM local time, and it still doesn’t work. I notice that when I log in, I receive an annoying message saying I must go log in somewhere else, but logging in here seems to work. I’ve seen this before but ignored it.

I still can’t watch a show. It still gets stuck show the download progress bar. So finally I go out to the PS3 itself and re-re-login. Upon doing that it then informs me that I have to accept new Terms of Service. This is for the Playstation Network, not for Netflix. I do so, and guess what – it works fine, instantly even.

I don’t know if this is Netflix fault or Sony’s fault, but either way this is horrible usability: making it look like it’s working, showing me a download progress bar, producing a vague error message that sounds like it’s telling me to do what I just did (sign in), and making me accept Terms of Service for the second time in the last month or so.

Yes, that’s right, this happened before, just long enough for me to forget what the actual problem was. Horrible use of system status, unclear error messages, lack of memorability, they are really pulling out all the stops to violate as many usability heuristics as possible.

While I’m ranting, let me just mention that the newish PS3 Netflix client is a major downgrade. There are too many columns jammed in side by side, making it difficult to read the text. It also makes searching for a title very difficult: not all of the alphabet entry area is visible. If I had to hazard a guess as to why it’s built like that, I think they are assuming you’re on an HDTV. I’d like a downgrade to the old version, please.

Update: With the downing of the Playstation Network, I thought I’d completely lost the ability to use instant Netflix on the PS3. However, the same proceedure that failed before (trying to log in, then hitting the back button, doing this several times) works – for a while. Then you have to do it again.

In doing so, I have managed to create a mutant, Frankensteined Firefox 4/Firefox 3.6 hybrid. (See screenshot.) It has the new tab style, the larger back button, but is missing the big orange button and is showing the old-fashioned File, Edit, etc menu across the top.  It also does the new Firefox 4 CSS3 stuff like transitions.

The obvious solution (uninstall both 3.6 and 4, reinstall 4) did not work, possibly because I did not check the “Remove my Firefox personal data and customizations” on the uninstall for 3.6. All it did was get rid of Firefox 3.6.

So far Googling has not produced much in the way of help, but I’m going to keep banging on this and see if I can get it sorted.  Because I’m on Windows, I suspect registry editing and profile deletion with extreme prejudice may be involved. It could get ugly.

Update: No luck on getting an orange button (which I had as recently as Firefox 4 RC2), even after scrubbing the profile and Program Files directories, searching the registry for any odd information, and removing and reinstalling Firefox 4 again, As a guess, it’s a Windows XP issue, or is possibly related to my use of Songbird, which uses the Gecko rendering engine.

Update2: Problem solved! I had to figure out that the “big orange button” is called the Application Menu, or AppMenu. In brief, right click on the offending “File/Edit…” menu and uncheck Menu bar. This is probably also a good tip for those who hate the big orange Firefox button: you can also right-click on the tab bar to turn this setting back to the old-school menu.

So far, installing Firefox 3.6.15 to its own directory (after installing FF 4) and making a shortcut by hand seems to be working, although FF 3.6 can’t be run at the same time as FF 4: it just runs Firefox 4 again instead. Although Firefox users seem to upgrade faster than Internet Explorer users, I still have to keep an eye on Firefox 3.6 for a while. For instance, although FF 3.6 does CSS3 gradients, it does not support SVG backgrounds, which Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) does support. IE9 of course, does not support CSS3 backgrounds, but does support SVG backgrounds.

I’ve already switched my loyalties to the lightning fast Google Chrome a while ago. For a while, I was using Firefox just for Firebug, but now the Google Chrome Web Inspector is getting pretty competitive: it shows declarations it doesn’t consider valid and marks them with a little exclamation point icon, so you can see you -moz-box-shadow declarations (or even your -webkit properties where you do something silly like rgb(0,0,0,0.5) instead of rgba(0,0,0,.5). This is my new favorite mistake, by the way.

Frankly, despite some differences like the SVG versus CSS3 gradients, the whole browser area is headed in the right direction after many years of languishing in IE6 limbo, so I don’t care nearly as much whether IE9 or Firefox 4 comes out on top as I once might have. Despite the progress, there’s still going to be jobs for CSS3 and HTML wranglers: now with mobile, it makes even more sense to have someone focus entirely on the front end, even without a large team.

Speaking of which, I’m currently available to add all sorts of CSS3 and HTML5 goodness to your favorite website.

Problems:

1. Using Google chrome (version 9), the ability to add a geographic filter fails silently. This is incredibly annoying.
2. Many things (including clicking on what should be normal web pages) on the website require JavaScript.  This is not fancy things like scooting data from one area of the page to another.  For some reason, this is one area where accessibility seems to be taking giant strides backwards.
3. Once I use Firefox with JavaScript on, the filter works, and I start looking at the data. Then I receive a really irritating error message that seems to be blaming me for its random failure. This occurs several times.

So maybe I want to complain about their annoying lack of working with Google Chrome or their bogus error message.  Well, I would, except it’s a state secret who to contact about any website issues.  No webmaster email is in sight upon clicking on the tiny “Contact Us” button. After a long and fruitless search, I give up on trying to send an email.

Maybe the Census bureau folks don’t want email.  Maybe they got too much hate mail when the story broke that Census data was helpful  in rounding up Japanese Americans for placement in internment camps in World Ward II.  Whoops.  I have to say, if I were a Muslim, I wouldn’t get a real warm feeling about that whole incident and giving my information to the Census bureau.

Update: I finally found a “Feedback” button on the site. But it’s too small, and in a weird place – the top bar area where ads usually go. Feedback links should be at the bottom!

1. Don’t put your bag on the seat next to you. Lap or floor are the only polite choices.
2. Don’t sit with your legs crossed. (See also #3)
3. Don’t slouch so far you leave no room for the person across from you.
4. Don’t sit on the outside of the seat when no one else is there.  Not only will people step over you to sit on the other side of the seat, but then you’ll be stuck with the less desirable outside seat.

If you do #4 and #1 at the same time, congrats – you’ve won the douchebag award!

All of these rules can be ignored if the train is deserted. Putting your feet up on the seat across from you when someone is sitting there is NEVER OK. It doesn’t matter if they are not sitting directly across from you, this is still an invasion of person space. This only happened once, thankfully, and I was able to restrain my rail rage.

Also, I should say that I am far from blameless – I will sometimes set my bag down on the seat when the train is pretty empty and not move it soon enough, or let my big winter coat take up some of the seat to my right.

Other observations:  people sitting almost never offer their seat to women, (older-looking people do a bit better) and the seats at the end of the light rail cars are not as wide as the standard seats (to allow room for bicycles) so they are not exactly two person seats. This sometimes leads to awkward interactions.

Bonus points for helping tourists out.

• If you carry it, the hard drive could break.
• If you sing at it, and you’re a powerful enough contralto or tenor, the hard drive could break.
• If you look at it mean, it will resent you.
• There is SecuROM for the Mac.
• Macs are scandalous bitches.  Ask anyone who’s ever had to do student labor in a computer lab.
• There are viruses for the Mac.
• There are exploits for the Mac, even though it’s built on a BSD core. And yes, I do know my darwin is going to punish me for saying that.
• Steve Jobs would have the midas touch if he weren’t so damned greedy.  Why can’t I use MIDI in GarageBand as easily as I can use text in Mail?  Where is DAT?  Why is sampling so hard still?  The technology has been around since the early 90′s, you buttheads.
• REFIT no longer works.
• Ubuntu will no longer install on my mac.  It worked, once. Apparently lappy is too smart to fall for the same tricks twice.
• LMMS is broken in MacPorts, and I’m convinced it’s a conspiracy against me personally.
• Songbird breaks more and more every day, and I’m convinced it’s a conspiracy against me personally.
• If you charge a MacBook battery too much it will GET BIGGER and EXPAND, and then your keyboard will stop working, and you will be pwned in BGs.  Repeatedly.  No matter how badass a healer you are on your ancient ass lappy.  And you will be forever chatting wwwwwaaaddd to your guildies.
• The number of games that will run on this machine is miniscule.
• Apple software developers like to make you buy a new version of their software when the OS gets upgraded.  They prefer to charge full price.
• Apple’s own developers like to break old software when you upgrade the operating system, so that you are FORCED to continually buy new software.
• I’m probably one of the few hackers out there who REFUSES to steal software.  You are making it very, very hard for me, Jobs.  I got a mac because I was a student.  I don’t have any money!

The Douglas County Libraries Board of Trustees will consider a resolution concerning Amendments 60 and 61, and Proposition 101 at its September 16, 2010 meeting (7 p.m. at Philip S. Miller Library, 100 S. Wilcox, Castle Rock).

If these 2010 Colorado ballot measures are successful:

• Taxpayers around the state, and within the Library District, will pay lower property taxes.
• The Board anticipates the layoff of more than half the library staff, the potential closure of libraries at Castle Pines, Louviers, and Roxborough, and the significant reduction of hours in the remaining locations.

Public comment will be welcome at the meeting.

STOP BURYING THE LEAD.

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

On the other hand, I do know a few people who seem to speak reality before it happens, so what do I know?

To make matters worse, the jar prominently features saguaro cacti, which do not grow in New Mexico. They grow in Arizona and the extreme eastern edge of California, but they just don’t grow here. If you live in New York, like the people who make this salsa, where saguaro grow may not matter much to you. But here in New Mexico, it matters. It’s an identity thing — just like salsa.

Chad did a little research and found that although the address on the label is in Santa Fe, and the outfit responsible is “Santa Fe Packing Company^®,” the parent company, LiDestri Foods, Inc, is actually located in New York. John Lidestri runs LiDestri Foods: he bought out his old boss, Ralph Cantisano, whose family founded the Ragu^® company. Yes, that Ragu^®, the spaghetti sauce people.

But does it taste like spaghetti sauce? We ran over to the grocery store and picked up a jar of Santa Fe “Salsa” and one from the Albuquerque Tortilla Company^®, both of the Hot variety. Albuquerque Tortilla Company^® is actually located in Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque Tortilla Company^® salsa tasted fresh, tangy, and complex, and its texture was more varied than the bland Santa Fe “Salsa”. Its heat level was enough to get a good endorphin high, and make you come back for more.

On the other hand, the texture and color of the Santa Fe “Salsa” was horribly reminiscent of tomato sauce, and the taste was awful. Just an unpleasant bell pepper flavor and the feeling that you should be eating this on pasta instead of chips. Plus, the “Hot” variety we tasted barely registered as hot. Yuck!

What all the locals eat? Maybe the locals in New York, but not here in New Mexico. Santa Fe “Salsa” is neither.

So what is a salsa lover to do? In a pinch, the widely available Tostitos^® salsa is passable, but if you really want authenticity, buying online may be your best bet. Here are some of the best salsa brands:

• Albuquerque Tortilla Company^® salsa
• Frontera^® salsa (available at many organic grocery stores)
• Salpica^® salsa (from Frontera^®)  — may be available in conventional grocery stores
• Pedro’s Salsa^®