Tech Pet Peeve: Random Facebook Friending (AKA Power Friending)

I know I’m not alone here — we’ve all had those friend requests from people we don’t know — some who have a few friends in common, and others who are completely random. And although I feel this happens more to girls than guys (because of all the creepers out there), I’ve had my fair share as well. I noticed a particular increase when I started writing for MakeUseOf. So I changed my settings so that only friends of friends could add me, and only the rest could follow.

Here’s the pet peeve of mine though: When I get random invites from people who I have one, maaayyybe two friends in common with, and they send to message prior as to why they’re adding me. If it’s just random people doing this, I would just classify it as random friending, but whenever it’s on a more professional level and they have thousands of “friends”, I call it power friending.

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Facebook is actually an awesome network — I really like it. But I wish they would do a few things help connections be more personal.

Now I’ll admit — there was a time when I did this, but it was on accident.Upon looking at someone’s profile (not sure why I was looking at her’s again), I somehow added her and didn’t realize it. Don’t know how. It just happened. So whenever she confirmed the request, I got a notification and was quite surprised at what had happened and how it had happened. So I sent her a message…

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So. From now on, if there is someone you’d like to add… first look to see if they have the follow button. This allows you to see only what they make public, which depending on what their profile looks like, might be a lot.

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There are several people whom I follow that I know decently — meeting through Twitter or blogs, etc. and even Skyping with, but don’t know them well enough to want to be their friend.

Secondly, send a stinking message! It takes two seconds and is a great way to start the conversation with them instead of being a weird creeper person who just adds people and then never says “Hi! This is why I added you”. Honestly, if you don’t feel there’s a need to message someone and you don’t know them, don’t bother adding them either. Now, if you know someone fairly well, you don’t need to send a message, however if it’s been a while since you talked… why not send one?

In addition to all of this, this is even more important on a professional level. If you’re representing your business, brand or even just yourself, don’t do this. In fact, don’t do a lot of things, but this is certainly one of the big ones.

—End of rant—

My New Lenovo Laptop Is Great… But Their Customer Service? Don’t Get Me Started… Op! Too Late!

I recently got a new laptop and it’s great! It’s a Lenovo Z400 and I love it. It has everything I wanted and need. However, not long after using it, the “screen dimmer” went completely dim and hasn’t worked since.

So I contacted Lenovo once… thought I fixed it… nope. Contacted them again… thought I was receiving a box to send my computer back in… nope. Contacted them AGAIN, just now actually, and after finally getting through to the correct people in tech support and going through a whole rigmarole of questions, they tell me…

This is the important part, okay?

They tell me I, as in me, Aaron Couch, the guy writing this, have to pay for the shipping to send it to them… Um, WHAT?! This is your problem, Lenovo, not mine! I’d rather not send it at all because I have to go back to using my crappy, halfway working laptop for practically two weeks (hopefully no more than that).

Seriously though, it sounds like this is their policy. How do they get by with making customers pay for their (Lenovo’s) shortfalls? So I fought it and got a “one time only” shipping label. Again… really?! Who do you guys think you are? I mean I realize it’s free enterprise and you can do whatever you want, but do you not consider customer service at all?

I’ve had to send laptops back before and either the manufactures or insurance companies always paid for it, even if it was my fault for it breaking and needing it to be repaired. But this wasn’t my fault, and it’s brand new.

So if I have to send this in again, Lenovo, mark my words… It won’t be easy or a fun conversation. Why? Because I’m guessing they’ll try to make me pay for shipping next time — 110% sure of it. And I’m going to put up a fight, just like I did the first time. I’ll be kind obviously, but if you, Lenovo, are jerks about it, I’ll be a jerk right back. I already paid for the laptop. Shouldn’t that be enough?

Facebook suggests who you should poke now? Pokes are already pointless. I honestly don’t get the purpose. For a social network, it’s probably the most socially awkward feature. Just picture… walking up to someone that you know, but haven’t talked to in a year, poking them and then walking away waiting for them to poke you back. Wow… exciting. So is Facebook just running out of ideas of things to “suggest” to us now?
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Facebook suggests who you should poke now? Pokes are already pointless. I honestly don’t get the purpose. For a social network, it’s probably the most socially awkward feature.

Just picture… walking up to someone that you know, but haven’t talked to in a year, poking them and then walking away waiting for them to poke you back.

Wow… exciting. So is Facebook just running out of ideas of things to “suggest” to us now?

My Beef With Verizon: Prepaid Plans Are Like Contracts Without The Contract

I wanted to share my thoughts on this because I feel we shouldn’t just let companies doing these things walk all over us.

Some Background
Currently, I have a prepaid plan with Verizon with an unlimited texting for an additional $20/month. The prepaid plan is $2/day for unlimited talking that day. I only pay the $2 if I make or take a phone call.

The Problem
Yesterday I added money to my account because my account has a due date for payments. Yes.. a contract-free service has a DUE DATE. A date telling me when I need to pay them. Verizon is telling me what to do with my money? I don’t like that.

Here’s the other clincher. A minimum payment of $15 is required. So now you’re telling me how much I have to spend? Not cool Verizon. Not cool at all.

So let’s say I want to end my service and I have $20 left on my account. I haven’t made many phone calls, in order to let the money go further. The payment day to keep the service going is in one week. There’s no way that I can spend the $20 in one week even if I made a phone call every day.

When I proposed this scenario to a Verizon representative on the phone today she said that they could credit it to my account… Yeah. I already have it on my account, don’t really need a credit. What I NEED is my money back because it’s MY money. Not yours.

Basically their prepaid plan has all the consequences of being on contract and whenever I mentioned that, the rep really didn’t have anything to say. And probably because she agreed, but couldn’t do anything about it and had to support the company she works for, which I completely respect.

But isn’t this the WHOLE point of not being on a contract? The ability to just do whatever you want? Yet, large companies have slowly began changing rules and policies here and there… and we just let them without ever taking a stand!

Some people pretend that there isn’t even a problem at all. These people are also probably ones who don’t care what the Government does (which is sad, but that’s a different topic).

Conclusion
So I’ve decided to find an alternative plan asap. Use up the money Verizon requires me to spend, before the next due date.

What are your experiences with big companies like Verizon?

Challenges of a College Student: Cash vs. Loans — Colleges Prefer the Latter

I just took on the Director of Student Accounts at UNL. I pretty much got shut down, but I wasn’t going down without a fight — I made sure to give her my two cents. Actually, I personally feel it was worth way more than only two cents… more like 99 or 100 cents, which is equivalent to one dollar for those who can’t add.

So how did this all go down? I’ll tell you. I will tell you.

A Little Background
I go to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, NE, a branch of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln college. Most or all NCTA policies are pretty much handed down from UNL and we have little or no say in most matters. We used to have our own “system”, but UNL has since then changed that… in my opinion it’s basically a small form of communism. Or socialism. Or both!

The Scenario
I tried to register for a second-eight-week class, but it was closed. I talked to the instructor and someone in the admissions office and they opened the class back up. By the time the class was opened though my bill for this semester had already been due and since I haven’t paid it yet, a hold was place on my account, thus preventing me from registering for any new classes until the bill was paid.

The Meeting
I met with the Coordinator of Admissions, aka “The Student Life Guy”. He’s super cool, down to earth and just contains a lot of common sense, which is lacking everywhere these days. Unfortunately he couldn’t do anything because UNL has restricted NCTA from “changing” policy. 

The Phone Call
At this point I decided to call UNL Student Accounts. I talked to one guy, told him my story, but he said he couldn’t do anything and that “waving” a hold on a account was above him. He asked if I’d like to talk to the Director of Student Accounts and I agreed.

The Conversation
She answered and I explained my situation. Before even letting my finish, she started to interrupt with “rules” and “policies”.

Let me stop there for a moment. Rules and Policies are made for two reasons. To protect the “customer”, in this case the students, and to protect the company or organization, in this case the college. They also help keep things in order, but really they’re made for those to reasons above. Keep that in mind as you read this.

I wasn’t about to get walked all over, so I diplomatically continued “my side of the story”. I could tell from the beginning though she had her mind set and wasn’t budging. I tried to test the “flexibility” of it, but nope — like running into a brick wall… backing up… and running at it again. 

But this wasn’t just any brick wall; this was a brick wall of irony and stubbornness — she wasn’t about to “give in” to a student. No way. First she said that I haven’t shown any payment so how is she supposed to release it without anything put forth on my part? And rightfully so. I completely agreed with her so I asked if I was able to make a small payment, like 100-200 dollars, would she release it? She, right away, said no and made a reason. I countered that asking why she just said [paraphrased] “if I made any payment she’d be more likely to help me out.” No helpful response — just repeated herself (which happened a lot in this conversation by the way).

Boom! Shut down. Didn’t. Get. Anywhere.

Once I realized that my chances of her lifting the hold were in no way “possible”, I decided to take a new approach. And I was very diplomatic about it, but I wanted her to understand my point of view — looking back it probably didn’t help me one bit, but I wasn’t trying to help my chances, I was hoping that she could see from a different paradigm. A student’s paradigm.

The thing that set me off was she told me I had no plan of payment and I somewhat came back and said “I don’t really appreciate you saying that.” Pause. “I have paid for all my school with cash, no debt..” She interrupts “You’re in debt now to us.”

Ya. You’re an idiot, lady. See how close-minded she is? But I stood my ground and reiterated what I meant by “debt”: ”Yes, I realize that, but what I mean is I have yet to take out any loans to pay for school.”

By the way, I’m not bragging here, this is very tough to do and I am proud that I’ve made it this far, but she didn’t even acknowledge the effort that I put. I felt like what I’ve done or even me as a person, let a lone a student at her college, didn’t even matter to her. It’s sad that most staff in education treat students this way. The conversation goes on…

I continued to explain my thoughts: “I have faithfully paid each time. It may not have been as soon as it should have been, but I paid it and not with loans, but with cash!” She still expressed close-mindedness saying something about me not having a plan. I came back with “my plan is to pay with cash when I get the cash.” Can’t she see my track record and that I’ve paid each time in full amounts? Sure maybe I could pay $10 here, $10 there (like she mentioned once), but is that really going to make a difference in several thousands of dollars? No. I don’t have a steady job. I am a full time college student. Did you hear that? I. Don’t. Make. Money. So how am I supposed to continuously pay when I don’t have a steady pay check?

So I told her, “I make money however I can, when I can. I save it all up and once I have enough, I pay it. That is my system and plan”. I continued to explain to her that I feel like society doesn’t even consider paying with cash and we so easily just take out loans. I also told her that I wasn’t trying to point fingers at her and that I understand her position on the matter (she still didn’t try to understand mine though). She came back with, “well you need to have a plan.” So I responded with, “Alright. Thank you. Have a nice day.” or some other sort of BS-trying-to-not-be-a-$&@!#-like-you response. And then Click.

HUH?! This lady is obviously way to consumed with her life. Sure she may be just passing down to me what she was told in training, but there was no empathy. No understanding. No “I’ll see what I can do and get back to you.” None of that. In fact it was almost like she didn’t want to help! I’m confused here. Wouldn’t me paying the college for a class and me also being able to take the class be a win-win? I actually proposed that to her too, but it didn’t change anything. I really don’t get it. I thought colleges where here to help students—help us by providing classes. In turn, we give them our money. (which on a side note, they apparently think we have tons of because the tuition goes up each year. And people complain about the price of gas…)

So let me try to understand…

They, in essence, are turning down my money because I “haven’t paid”, yet had I been able to sign up for the class prior to the hold being placed, the price for that class would have just been added to my bill… soooo… what’s the difference? You don’t want my money? Alright. Whatever.

This is really quite ridiculous. It could easily have been solved, but policies and rules! Policies. And. Rules. Go effin’ figure… I thought they were in the best interest of the students AND the college? Wouldn’t the college want more money and want to help the students? Why would you turn that down? Beats me.

Thanks for reading this extraordinarily long and probably pointless rant, but it really helps me express my thoughts and even if one person enjoyed it, it was worth my time. Have an awesome day!

Tennessee To Jail Social Media Users For "Emotionally Offensive" Images

You “should know” better, says Tennessee law makers. Possible sentences for the crime include a $2,500 fine and up to a year in the clink.

This is absolutely ridiculous! Politicians never stop amazing me with their ignorance and stupidity. As if we didn’t have enough lawsuits already. Why don’t we fill the jail cells with people that are actually costing lives, OR BETTER YET… use tax dollars to PREVENT those types of things from happening, NOT developing policies for people posting “hurtful images” on the web. Sigh.

Facebook Pet Peeves

When people…

  1. “Like” their own post, comment, etc.
  2. Ask “What happened?” on an ended relationship status.
  3. Have fake profile pictures other than themselves: cartoon, celebrity, etc.
  4. Spam my wall with stupid questions they’ve “answered about me” and other worthless crap.
  5. Tag me in photos I’m not really in… like “my top friends pictures.”
  6. Post their relationship status. Remember number 2? Problem solved.
  7. Cuss. I just don’t like it and there’s no need to have bad language.
  8. Make irrelevant conversation on statuses that completely change the subject.
  9. Get their accounts hacked. Why?! Just why?
  10. Make or Invite me to “fake events.” If it’s not somewhere you can go or do, it’s not an event.

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