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ATMs attempting to be intelligent
Bank of America installed new ATMs sometime this year which, for the most part, are pretty user friendly. They're touch screen based (along with a physical keypad) and automatically scan in checks. You have to insert the check in the correct direction or the ATM spits it out because it can't OCR the check. While OCR does take time, it would seem that the ATM could simply flip the image and try the OCR again instead of spitting it out. This isn't rocket science to add that code:
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Quality HP Software
For years I've complained to my father about the poor quality of HP's Mac scanner software. He always brushed it off as my standard are pretty high and it would appear (to outsiders) that I don't like many programs. (There are some programs I really like and there are some that just suck; yes, my standards are high, but I'm on a Mac and I deserve the best!). Recently, he started using his HP All-In-One with his new Mac (he had been using it from his PC) and after hours (maybe days) of frustration, he contacted their support and got no where (support was on a PC reading from a script). He complained up the change and accused them of fraud/deception as they advertised certain features working on the Mac, when they clearly don't.
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Turned off my server
As I've previously written, I started making the move to turn off some of the services running on my server. Last week, I managed to move the last service (SlimServer) running on my server somewhere else; in this case to my AppleTV which is quieter and more energy efficient than my monster server. So, last Monday, I sent an init 0 to the server and turned it off. I then moved my UPS to my office. It is such a relief to no longer have to make sure my server is running; while I do have some services running on my virtual private server, I don't have to worry about it physically being up. In addition, by not using my server as a router, I don't have to worry about restarting my server and having it affect my internet connection.
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Radio Hanukkah == Radio Not-Christmas
The other day I heard an ad (yes, an ad) on XM for Radio Hanukkah. Cool, I thought, and tried to tune it in. After a few false starts (I kept getting a message that I wasn't authorized to play the stream and then online streaming stopped completely), I was able to tune it in. We started listening to it while lighting the candles and thought it was cool to have Hanukkah tunes, but unfortunately there isn't enough Hanukkah music to fill a full station. XM Radio has decided to play all music that is Jewish, like "Going to Israel", "Eliyahu Hanavi", etc.