What I hate about the Internet is...having to select my credit card type

In case if you didn't know, you can determine the type of credit card, i.e., Visa, Master Card, Amex, and etc. by looking at the number you enter. The prefix and width (including spaces) for the major credit card types are:

CARD TYPES............PREFIX................WIDTH
American Express.....34, 37....................15
Diners Club..............300 to 305, 36........14
Carte Blanche...........38..........................14
Discover...................6011.......................16
EnRoute...................2014, 2149.............15
JCB..........................3............................16
JCB..........................2131, 1800..............15
Master Card.............51 to 55..................16
Visa..........................4...........................13, 16

Therefore, it stands to reason that by looking at the prefix of a credit card, you can derive the type of the card. And finally, as a programmer, I know that Verisign does not require you to send in the type, only the number itself and a few other bits of information.

What I hate about the Internet is...everyone wants you to create an account

It never fails...any website you shop on...they want you to create an account when you check out.

Why?

When I go to my local mall and buy something in my favorite shop, the store doesn't ask for my address, phone number, email address or any other personal information. Normal shopping experiences include an exchange of pleasantries with the sales person, handing over cash, debit, or credit card...and obtaining a receipt and walking away with the goods.

Why shouldn't shopping on the Internet be any different?

What I hate about the Internet is...

While messing around on the Internet, again...I realized I was obsessing over the useability of the Internet and websites I visit. Most of the thoughts are along the lines of what could be better about websites, what sucks about websites, and what's missing. Therefore, I'm going to (but no promises on how often I will update) create a new series of posts regarding these very thoughts.

For the one person who reads my blog somewhat consistently, stay tuned for the first post.

Experimental site navigation added to blog

Recently, I have become enamored with the concept of a "command line" interface. While, I wish I could take credit for the concept, I was quick to realize that before the OS UI, there were punch cards...the punch cards were good...but, quickly replaced by a terminal with a command line for telling computers what to do.

Anyway, I digress. With Mac OS X, the Spotlight application is my most favorite as it provides a command line interface for launching any application or searching for any document on my Mac. Furthermore, I found Enso from Humanized that provides similar functionality to my PC.

So, thinking about it some, what bothers me the most about web sites is the fact that you have to use a mouse to navigate them effectively. So, I figured bring the command line to the web site. The "kui navigation" is a beta navigation tool for websites (v. 0.000001...you get the point, it's very new and not tested at all) leveraging the DOM and Yahoo! AutoComplete GUI library. The result, is a command line that allows you to start typing the text of a hyperlink on the page and it will shortlist the matches based on the DOM which you can select to jump to the next page.

Get it? Give it a try, it's in the right navigation pane. Remember, no comments from the peanut gallery unless they are positive. I made no attempt to test outside of Firefox nor did I worry about duplicate links.

Flight Status using Google SMS

Tonight, while reading through Lifehacker, came across a great post on checking flight status using Google SMS. Apparently, by sending a text message to Google SMS like "Southwest Flight 48", you will receive a message back with the status of the flight. As a frequent traveler, this is way cool.

Wow, another email...it must be my lucky year

From:   vitomas00@hotmail.fr
Subject: Please reply me as soon as possible.
Date: October 26, 2007 10:45:05 AM CDT
Reply-To:   vitomas1@yahoo.com

DEAREST ONE ,
AS I WAS ABOUT SEARCHING FOR A TRUST WORTHY PERSON  .I MUST NOT HESITATE TO CONFIDE IN YOU FOR THIS SIMPLE AND SINCERE BUSINESS IN WHICH MY WHOLE LIFE DEPENDS ON.
I AM  VINCENT THE ONLY CHILD AND OF LATE CHIEF AND MRS RUBEN JAKO WEMBER .MY FATHER WAS A VERY WEALTHY COCOA MERCHANT BASED IN ABIDJAN, THE ECONOMIC CAPITAL OF IVORY COAST BEFORE HE WAS POISONED TO DEATH BY HIS BUSINESS ASSOCIATES ON ONE OF THEIR OUTINGS TO DISCUSS ON A BUSINESS DEAL HE NEVER KNEW HE WAS THE PLAN TO BE KILLED ONLY BECAUSE HE REFUSSED JOINING THE  SPONSOR  OF THE WAR .
 
MY MOTHER DIED ON THE 21ST OCTOBER 1988, MY FATHER TOOK ME SO SPECIAL BECAUSE I AM MOTHERLESS AND THE ONLY CHILD.BEFORE THE DEATH OF MY FATHER ON 24TH JUNE 2006 IN A PRIVATE HOSPITAL HERE IN ABIDJAN. HE SECRETLY CALLED ME ON HIS BEDSIDE AND TOLD ME THAT HE HAD A SUM OF US$16,600,000 (SIXTEEN MILLION SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) HE STOCKED IT IN A CONSIGNMENT BOX AND DEPOSITED INTO A SECURITY COMPANY HERE IN ABIDJAN, THAT HE USED MY NAME AS THE ONLY SON IN DEPOSITING THE BOX WITH THE SECURITY COMPANY AND TOLD THEM THAT I WILL PRESENT TO THE SECURITY COMPANY THE FOREIGN PARTNER AND BENEFICARY WHO WILL CLAIM THE BOXES.
HE ALSO EXPLAINED TO ME THAT IT WAS BECAUSE OF THIS WEALTH THAT HE WAS POISONED BY HIS BUSINESS ASSOCIATES, THAT I SHOULD SEEK FOR A FOREIGNER IN ANY OF THE OVERSEA  COUNTRY OF MY CHOICE WHERE ,AND THAT I SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT I TRUST THE PERSON THAT HE / SHE WILL NOT CHEAT ME OR KILL ME LATERON BEFORE I CAN DISCLOSE TO HIM WHERE THE CONTACT OF THE SECURITY COMPANY .HE SAID THAT THE CONTENT OF THE BOX MUST BE A CONFIDENTIAL BETWEEN I AND THE PERSON BECAUSE THAT NOBODY EVEN NOON OF THE SECURITY COMPANY WORKERS KNOWS THAT THE CONTENT OF THE BOX ARE MONEY.HE SAID THAT HIM DECLEARED THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX AS FAMILY VALUEABLES SUCH AS  GOLD DUSTS. 
I AM HONOURABLY SEEKING YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS AND I AM ASSURING YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS  LEGAL AND 100% RISK FREE HENCE YOU LISTEN TO MY WORDS AND BE SURE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO HELP ME FROM THE BUTTOM OF YOUR HEART
 
2) TO SERVE AS MY GUARDIAN AND YOU WILL BE PRESENTED AS LATE FATHERS FOREIGN BUSINESS PARTNER.SINCE I AM A BOY OF 21 YEARS OLD   
 
3) TO MAKE ARRANGEMENT FOR ME TO COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY TO FURTHER MY EDUCATION AND TO SECURE A RESIDENTIAL PERMIT FOR ME IN YOUR COUNTRY.
MOREOVER, I AM WILLING TO OFFER YOU APPRICIATIVE SUM FROM THE TOTAL MONEY AS COMPENSATION FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE AFTER YOU HELP ME CLEAR OUT THE BOX FROM THE SECURITY COMPANY 
 
FURTHERMORE, YOU CAN INDICATE YOUR OPTION TOWARDS ASSISTING ME, AS I BELIEVE THAT THIS TRANSACTION WOULD BE CONCLUDED WITHIN SEVEN (7)  WORKING DAYS .IF YOU HAVE  INTEREST TO ASSIST ME PLEASE ENDEAVOUR TO FURNISH ME WITH YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER SO THAT I WILL FORWARD THEM TO THE SECURITY COMPANY OFFICE AS MY LATE FATHERS FOREIGN BUSINESS PARTNER WHO HE DEPOSITED THE METALIC BOX ON HIS BEHALF.
THANKS AND GOD BLESS,HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU I WILL BE HAPPY TO CHAT WITH YOU ON THE PHONE SOONEST.
IN GOD WE TRUST.
YOURS SINCERELY,
VINCENT JAKO WEMBER.
NB: PLEASE  REPLY ME THROUGH THIS MY PRIVATE E-MAIL  FOR SECURITY REASON. THANKS
vitomas1@yahoo.com

Test Post Using Flock

While surfing tonight, learned about a browser that's been around for a while.  It's called Flock.  It's built on the Mozilla engine and puts an emphasis on the social networking of the web.  That is, it provides tools for Blogging, Flickr, FaceBook and other services that are integrated into the browser.  I'm making this post using the integration of Blogger.  Like it so far.