_Amazon Associates No Longer Valid for Connecticut Residents

I have a problem with Governor Malloy of Connecticut.  His policies are not doing anything to grow the state.  Yes, we are in a financial recession.  Yes, the state has a pretty big deficit but the policies he has proposed or implemented in the first 6 months of office have not made Connecticut enticing to move to or stay in.  From raising income tax, sales tax, sales tax on clothing to taxing pedicures, tax on home buyers and now this.

Amazon.com had a nice little program for associates.  Launched in 1996, the program is one of the most successful affiliate programs on the internet.  It helps store owners, Amazon sellers and developers make money by advertising products from Amazon.com and it’s subsidiaries.  I could build a store front or link to a particular product.  If that product was purchased I would get a little percentage of the transaction.

Well, Governor Malloy decided he wants a piece of the action.  He is imposing a tax on any of the transactions that take place.  This is counterproductive to the whole idea of what Amazon put in place.

As of today, June 10 2011, this program is officially canned for Connecticut residents.  Nice job Malloy, take away yet another thing.

Here is the letter from Amazon:

Hello,
 For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of Connecticut residents. Unfortunately, the budget signed by Governor Malloy contains a sales tax provision that compels us to terminate this program for Connecticut-based participants effective immediately. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers - including but not limited to those referred by Connecticut-based affiliates like you - even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We opposed this new tax law because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It was supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside Connecticut, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that we must take this action.

As a result of the new law, contracts with all Connecticut residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program will be terminated today, June 10, 2011. Those Connecticut residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned on or before today, June 10, 2011, will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of Connecticut. If you are not currently a resident of Connecticut, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state after June 10, 2011, please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to offer the Associates Program to Connecticut residents and will not affect their ability to purchase from www.amazon.com.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Connecticut-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to Connecticut residents.

Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

_Incase Product Support

I recently purchased an iPad 2 and started my search for a case.  Apple makes the new case which has ‘magnets’ and puts the iPad to sleep when it is covered and wakes it up when you open the case.  Sounds pretty cool but it does not protect the back of the iPad.  Placing the iPad down on a desk or a park bench will allow it to get scratched easily so I ruled that one out pretty quickly.  I then narrowed in on a ‘notebook’ looking case.  Something that felt nice, protected it in the front and back and functional.  I wanted to the the ‘original’ iPad case from Apple, but the iPad 2 is much thinner and it will not work.

I found the Incase Book Jacket at BestBuy.  It looked great, felt great and had all of these ‘slots’ for different positions of the iPad.  So I picked one up and used it right away.

My overall reaction is it is nice.  Looks and feel is top notch.  Functionality is not.  There are 3 slots within the case to allow different angles of use.  1 slot works all the time.

This postion works well.  It is great for watching Netflix or any videos on it.  You can type on it but this position is ideal for viewing and swiping.

This is the second slot.  This one works pretty well.  Not as much as the first one but it works.  You can type on here but be careful, at random times it slips out of the slot.  A little annoying.

The third slot seems to be ideal for typing.  Just a slight angle and type away.  The problem is I can never get the iPad to stay in the slot.  It keeps slipping out.  And if I do get it to stay as soon as I breath on it let alone type, it slips out.

There’s not a whole lot I can do about it now. I contacted Incase and they responded with the following:

Hello Josh,

Thank you for contacting Incase Designs Corp.

If you have a problem with your warranted Incase product you may file a claim to have it replaced by going to the following URL:

http://www.goincase.com/warranty-claim-form/

Sincerely,

Incase Designs Corp.

I can’t really warranty it since I do not have the receipt and really do not want to deal with the hassle.  So I am informing others about the case.  Reviews posted on GoIncase.com, Amazon and BestBuy will hopefully educate buyers along with informing Incase that they need to fix the issue at some point.

_My Top 5 iOS Annoyances

1. Add To Home Screen – When I browse to a web site using mobile safari I might choose to add it to my home screen since it can be a nice way to launch the web browser.  When I do that task, Apple (for some reason) decides to leave the Safari window and show me where the icon is being placed.  How nice…and annoying.  Now I have to go back to my Safari Icon and open it back up, which will now RELOAD the web page (in some cases)…argh!
2. Push Notifications – Not sure if this is an iOS thing or just certain apps.  Let’s take ESPN Scorecenter for example, a score happens, I get a push notification alert sound.  I go to my phone and see the notification.  I then do anything and “poof” it goes away.  Why not open the app?  Why not give me an option to close or open the app?
3. Auto Correct – Wow.  I really hate this one.  Why not an Auto Suggest?  I might want the incorrect word?  Why should I perform another action to NOT correct the word.  I should type away, it should ‘suggest’ a new word, if I want to use the word then I can initiate it otherwise ignore it.  Right now, if it suggests a word it uses it unless I tell it not to…which is slower…argh.
4. Installation of Apps – similar to Add to Home Screen.  When I install an app, it leaves the app store to show me the icon and the installation process.  Wow…how exciting.  Why?  Makes no sense.
5. Multitasking – It really is a joke.  Your telling me there is no way to quit an app unless I go to the multitasking screen?  Obviously you do not have kids.  They open up 20-30 apps and quit them all the time but they are still running?  Why not prompt for a ‘quit’ when you ‘quit’ an app?  C’mon.

_iPad – The Weekend

On April 3rd the world got their hands on Apple’s latest creation call iPad.  Our company (Story Worldwide) pre-ordered one and we got our hands on it the following Monday.  We all “oohed” and “ahhed” over the looks.  The screen was crisp, the movement was as expected.  We downloaded a few apps, surfed a few sites, hooked up email etc.  Some liked it, some dismissed it.  Overall it met the expectations that we had for it.

So after having it in the office for a week and messing around with it how would it really hold up with ‘real world’ use.  I decided to bring it home this weekend.  Here is my recap.

Friday Night: After running around when I got home and making dinner I was able to settle down with the iPad and my family.  I showed my kids and they instantly thought it was cool.  Probably because it was a new gadget in the house.  I went to the app store and downloaded a few games (all free) and they were hooked to the big screen.  So Friday was an A+ with the kids.

Saturday Morning:  Like most people, Saturday is the day to catch up on the week that has passed.  So with my coffee and my iPad I started to surf the web for the latest news.  I started with Google News like I always to on my Laptop.  After reading some headlines and clicking over to the news sites, I had hit and misses.  The resizing became more of a pain surfing the web for some time.  Flipping the iPad horizontal was better but still a pain.  Grade B.

Saturday Mid-Morning: While I was prepping to start running around with the kids, I flipped on Netflix for them and they watched Tom & Jerry for a bit.  Kids Grade A+

Saturday Afternoon: During my running around my car died.  That was it.  Time for a new car.  (we have been thinking about getting one so this just seemed right).  I opened up Google and did some searches for local dealers and their inventory.  Well, most of the sites are in Flash so it was very difficult for me to search and find out the info I needed.  Grade C-

Saturday Late Afternoon:  I did end up visiting some dealerships but more on that later.  When we got back we decided to do some DadPerfect basketball shots.  See DudePerfect.com for more info.  After hitting two shots from down the driveway and over the garage I went in with the kids to show them how the experts do it.  So we whipped up DudePerfect.com and….wait…that is Flash.  So we fired up the Laptop instead.  Grade F

Saturday Evening: After putting the kids to bed I started to check out the app store.  A few things I noticed.  1.  Not a lot of apps yet, that will eventually change.  2.  Not a lot of free apps.  3.  Why are these apps 1000% more than what the iPhone are?  Is it the bigger screen?  Anyway, I downloaded a few different ones.  Some for the kids, some books, magazines and games.  The one I was excited about was the Bible.  I can bring the iPad to church and have the Bible right there.  When I started to view it and read it, the glare from the screen was a little annoying.  It seems ok for web pages and images but when I really needed to focus on text I did not like it.  Grade C-

Sunday Morning: After looking at a few cars I wanted to do some more research.  I went to MazdaUsa.com.  That proved useless.  The site detected my browser as an iPhone so I got a skinny mobile site.  I tried to hack the url to get the full site but kept getting an XML error.  I Google’d some Mazda terms and found some links into the Mazda site but same result.  Argh.  I then went over to BMWUSA.com.  Mobile site appeared.  I could not do anything.  I tried entering my zip code.  I tried clicking on some dropdown menus and nothing.  Site was not working.  I went over to Ebay.com so I can just view some photos.  That worked but not as fulfilling as I wanted it to be.  Grade D

Sunday Evening: I skipped the afternoon since I ended using the Laptop to view the sites listed above.  So my car died again today leaving me and the kids stranded, has to be alternator.  I dropped my wife off at work earlier in the day and now it was time to pick her up.  We hop in the car that works and take the iPad.  The kids are playing Tic-Tac-Toe and having a blast on it in the back seat.  Kids A+.  Me – C- because the screen was so bright it was annoying me on the way home.

My overall impressions.  It is nice.  Videos look nice.  Kids love it.  When push came to shove and I wanted it to do what I do on a normal basis, it failed.  Until the Internet converts everything to HTML5 and out of Flash then it will be worth it.  Until then, you need to rely on ‘apps’ and pay for everything that is normally free on the Internet.  For another game console or a portable DVD player for the kids, sure it is good but I can get those for 150 bucks.

_HP or CDW Fail Take Your Pick

It was time for me to get a new laptop for me here at work. I was excited since I can now move up to Windows 7 from Vista and sink my teeth into the I7 processor from Intel. The HP Elitebook was chosen for the availability and specs. 4gigs of RAM,I7 Processor, DVD Burner, 14″ screen, 250GB hard drive..etc..etc..

Now my set up here at work is dual 19″ monitors for my development environment. Works well. So I really need a dock for the laptop.

Here is where the fun begins. I get the HP EliteBook and dock and get it all set up. Move over my files, install programs etc. Then I notice I only have 37 minutes left of battery. Wait. I am docked. Oh, the power cord must of came out. Checked the plug. That is not it. Maybe the power cord is the wrong voltage. Tried another. That is not it. Phone tech support, must be a Windows issue. That is not it. Argh. Must be the NEW dock.

They send me out a new dock. Awesome! I am back in business. Ah…no. No worky still. I have to send back the Laptop. The BRAND NEW LAPTOP. Fine. Then at the last minute they say we have one in stock and we will ship that back out to you. Awesome! I will get a replacement instead of waiting to get this fixed.

Now it is Friday and a full week has passed since the start of these events. I get the NEW laptop. I did not have to reinstall anything since we just swapped out Hard Drives. Look it charges! Yeah..

So all is well again with the HP Elitebook and it is charging when docked. I take the laptop home over the weekend and notice a scratch on the screen. C’mon. It is about 20 pixels big. I did not notice it when docked since the video card was outputting to my monitors. So annoying.

I then come in on Monday and dock my laptop and start my process of plugging in my headphones and listen to some music as I work. Hmm..that is weird, music is still coming out of my laptop speakers. After troubleshooting and doing a bunch of things, it turns out the headphone jack does not work. Seriously?

So, my NEW replacement laptop has a scratch on the screen and a dead headphone jack. Wait there’s more.

My IT guy is now phoning HP to let them know. In the meantime I still have to work. So I am slicing up some images using Adobe Photoshop, I have NetBeans IDE open for PHP development, Firefox running to view my site and MS Outlook. Then sloooooooooowness happens. What the heck it going on? I check the system settings just to see what the memory is and I see 2 gigs of RAM. Not 4 but 2. Really? They rob me of my RAM.

So I close all my apps and then try to install Windows XP on the VMPlayer since my Virtual PC Hard Disk for some reason has been corrupted. I get the DVD and go to my laptop and….what the…where is my DVD Rom?

I can’t make this stuff up. FAIL FAIL FAIL.

I will report back when I get my third laptop, hopefully three times IS a charm.