Several states have consumer protection boards set up for just this sort of thing. I know because I filed a complaint in CT against a contractor who did faulty work.

My complaint along with a few others were compiled, leading to a hearing where his license was revoked. Additionally, the state had a fund set aside for people who lose money on shoddy work (up to 15K). We were one of the lucky ones, as he only cost us $3K (which we got back). Others lost 10-20K.

Bringing it around to the topic at hand, a code inspector for 'code' is an interesting idea. That said, I'm okay with devs/agencies being held accountable for their coding work -- as long as clients are likewise held accountable for paying on time, proper briefs, etc.

Hmm. Typically, it’s the opposite, no? There are plenty of companies who have no reason to innovate once their competition is gone.

Grand-parent has slightly clumsy phrasing, but you both agree: "the lack of a monopoly is what's keeping Apple innovating"

I think you're both saying the same thing, the parent just worded it a bit oddly.

The minor design tweaks I’d make aside, it‘s creative and I love it, but having tried the creative cv route before, headhunters and/or HR always come back with “Can you send us something formatted for Word?”

In that case I would make a page-sized BMP and paste that into Word, and send off the DOC.

At the risk of complaining about a free service, the most frustrating/humorous part is their voice to text translation service. While about the only thing that comes out accurate is the number the call came from, the rest of the conversation translates to phrases that are worse than any drunk dial line. Again, good for a laugh but not dependable enough to build a solid business model on if you’re trying for a large piece of the cell market.

Oh, it's no risk. I openly complain about Google Voice and it has never been anything except 100% free-as-in-beer. I wish I paid for Google Voice so I could demand that they refund me. You see, I got on board when it was still called GrandCentral, and there seemed to be every intention to create a Real Product with Real Support that people would pay Real Money for. Then Google bought it, and I figured, "Great! Now it'll be a Real Product just like Google search or Gmail, but free, or at least affordable!" Instead I got this bupkus. Bah, humbug! etc.

The transcriptions are fabulous, by the way--I think a great business model would be piping them into a web service for use instead of Markov chains in spam e-mail. Once it translated an entire message from my Dad as an ominous string of "Ha ha ha ha ha"s.

the english transcripts of international messages are the best

I guess I've had better luck--the text translation is far from perfect--BUT, it has been sufficient for me to find out the gist of the message. Also, I get an email notification--for example, today, while I was at work, I got a call from a Verizon tech that they were at my house. My phone was in my office and I was in another location (with email), so I get the notification and see the number. This is useful for me.

Another nice use case is that when I go out of the country, I can see if someone called my US number--so while the service is not perfect, at least for me, I find it useful--and free ;>

I think that's the main problem, you have to get "lucky" in order to get text translation that is "sufficient to find out the gist of the message".

Except, Google would then be in the customer service business. I’m not saying they couldn’t throw resources against that endeavor, but think of the time waste of being on the phone vs. having automated responses based on the keywords in someone’s complaint. Cuts down on time/cost from their POV. Not justifying what Google did, just sayin.

It's maddening though in a time when people -- one would hope -- would have access to better customer service, yet, it feels things are as bad as ever. It’s hard enough to reach someone on an e-commerce site, forget social networks (1-800-FACEBOOK ain’t happening anytime soon). Little different scenario in this case, but you get the gist.

The only time they seem to make it easy to reach out to a real person is when you need/want to buy something.

Don’t know if others experience this, but I can’t listen to anything with lyrics while figuring things out because it distracts me, so movie scores work best. (Currently, that’s James Horner, Thomas Newman etc.) When I’m banging work out in the production phase though where I don’t need to think, then metalcore/metal/hard rock.

He can also use delivery times as an incentive the way Domino's used to, albeit in reverse: The sooner he gets it to you, the more you pay.

(Meaning, not to offer it outright in fixed increments like $5 for 20, etc., but as incentive for him to get there ASAP.)

Tone of voice is just as important. I have an in-law who’s a cop, and most times if you're a jerk, he says you get the ticket you might otherwise not have. It’s very much an issue of power because someone needs to control the situation—you or them. Not to mention, being argumentative gives them a reason to suspect something else might be going on, and in turn, mess with you. Why give them that chance?

I wonder if he would try another experiment where he actually answers the questions as asked, but instead makes his tone sarcastic, etc. I bet he's pulled out of line just as quickly for cooling down, even though legally he’d have complied.

Which is another American use of sir in that, when someone cuts you off in line, rather than let loose, a firm but loud “Sir” tends to let them know you’re angry and that perhaps they did something wrong. Of course, if “Sir” ends up failing, then comes more interesting dialog. :-)

Times are different. I walked to school since kindergarten, but no way I let mine when it came time. (Certain years we drove just because we lived where there were no bus routes, and making a small kid walk that far with heavy backpacks just never made sense from a time POV.) Imagine that though, they actually survived my paranoia.

But now? No way unless they were a few years older. NYC needs to watch more of that news they dismiss: Attempted kidnappings happen a lot in the burbs. All paranoia is local though.