Consumer Alert - Don't Shop at eCost!!!

Just throwing this quick consumer alert out there - hopefully it's not too late, but I'm betting a ton of holiday shoppers got screwed by eCost this season. My husband and I nearly did just a few minutes ago!! The eCost site (which I WILL NOT provide a link to) is severely lacking security!!!

Here's a portion of the email I just sent to eCost - this was after my husband called and tried to find out just what the hell was going on:

"This evening, my husband placed a TV and extended warranty in the cart then proceeded to check-out via the Paypal link. On the order summary screen we noticed a GLARING ERROR - our TV purchase of around $350 was suddenly reflecting as a total over $1000 and the cart contained about a half a dozen products we did not ever look at, let alone put in our shopping cart. We thought this was extremely odd, so we cleared out the cart and started over again - added the TV again and the warranty, then tried to check out via paypal. Again, there was an extra item in our cart that we NEVER looked at.

I advised my husband to "log out" of your site - only to find out that there is no plainly visible "log out" link on the site (this is a huge NO NO, especially for an online merchant). So, at this point, I was getting pretty nervous and curious - I clicked on the "My Account" link just to see what would happen. What happened is that I was taken into the account of SOMEONE ELSE! Someone named Donald Boyer from CT.

My husband called your phone number and the person he spoke to gave him some half-assed excuse about how we could have gotten on this guys account - I'm a computer nerd and I'll tell you right now that the only way that could have happened is if this other person had been on my laptop before - HE HAS NOT."

So, according to what I just experienced on the eCost website, I'm quite confident in saying that their site security is pretty thin, if it even exists. AND obviously, we will NOT be making a purchase from this site. We were trying to save a few bucks, but now we're headed back to TigerDirect to make a purchase - we may pay a few more bucks at Tiger, but I've been a customer there for a while and I trust their site and the company.

DO NOT SHOP AT eCOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...and the ignorant racists pour out of the woodwork...

The following video is actual footage from outside the McCain rally in Bethlehem, PA on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008.
WARNING, it is VERY offensive.



Absolutely disgusting, huh? This kind of thing is going to start a civil war in this country.

I'm voting for Obama.

Plenty of "Nasty Surprises" from Epix/Frontier Internet

It's been a while since I've had any run-ins with Epix Internet Services/Frontier Communications. You can read my previous rants on them (first time, second time). I personally am not a customer of theirs anymore (my husband handles the account under his name now), so I haven't had any reason to complain.

The first new problems with Epix/Frontier arose a month or two ago. I do computer repair and support for a number of local folks and I suddenly started getting calls one day from people whose email wasn't working. I quickly learned that Epix (which doesn't even fully exist anymore - I'll comment on that below) had suddenly, without any proper warning, changed their outgoing email server settings, basically breaking all of their client's email accounts. I spent a good part of that week running around Mansfield, PA "fixing" folk's email accounts.

The worst part about this is that "instructions" were provided - instructions that were SUPER confusing to ME -luckily, I knew what was going on, but for the average end-user, the instructions were crap. There are probably still 1000's of epix email users out there without fully functioning email, at least on that configuration.

So, what does Epix/Frontier do to remedy the problem that they blatantly created for themselves? I'm not entirely sure about how this went down, but it appears as though they've switched their mail over to the Yahoo! platform. What exactly does this mean? First of all, they're now charging their customers for something that is FREE. Yahoo mail is FREE. Second, (and again, I'm unclear of all the details here, but I'll be working on this problem tomorrow) this change-over has caused a number of users to be unable to get to their email. Apparently it causes browsers to crash in some situations. Oh boy, I just CAN'T WAIT to call their support about this crap tomorrow.

So, what about Epix? Does it even exist anymore? Google it and try going to the website. Hmmmm, that's funny - that poor, pathetic excuse for a website still exists. Try clicking a link. It might take a few clicks through some more awful Epix pages before you end up where? On the Frontier website! It appears as though Epix no longer exists - I mean, they did get purchased by Frontier. So why is it that there are still people getting their internet "services" under the Epix name?

Why is it when Frontier bought out Commonwealth Telephone, they didn't just switch all of the old customers over to Frontier? Why did SOME get switched over, while others remained on the old system? Why would you even want to have two systems?!?!?

Even though Epix doesn't appear to really exist anymore, it does exist, in parts. There are plenty of people out there that still have an epix.net email address (and therefore, internet as well?).

Part of this whole mess concerns my church. I'm the webmaster of their website and it is hosted on what is (or was) an epix server. Their hosting package is also with Epix...

...a couple of other important things about Epix I'd like to point out:

1. You can't find any information about Epix at all on their site. Everything points to the Frontier site (and finding price and feature information on that site is like pulling teeth).

2. Since there are no facts available about the Epix hosting services, I'll make comparisons using the Frontier hosting info (which is also nearly impossible to find, and hillariously enough, the page graphic says Frontier, but it is on an Epix server). Here's a breakdown of the cheapest hosting package with my company, 1and1, versus Epix, Frontier or whatever the hell they are:
------ 1&1 -vs- Epix -------
-price/month: $3.99 -vs- $19.99
-storage space: 10GB -vs - 1.5GB
-email accounts:600 -vs- 30
-transfer limit: 300GB -vs- 96GB
-domain included: yes -vs- no
-subdomains included: 25 -vs- none

Do I really need to continue? Like I've said before, Epix/Frontier web hosting is INTERNET SUPERHIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!

This company is a scam. If you're with them, I'd suggest finding another provider, but, I completely understand if you have no other high-speed option: part of the evil of this is that they have a monopoly. I suggest you at least start using some other mail that's not connected with Epix/Frontier, that way your mail is not effected next time they decide to make a stupid change like the outgoing servers a couple months ago...I'd also suggest you send them an email or two and maybe call and complain. Especially if you're one of those whose email accounts have gone freaky!

And by the way - remember the Frontier damage control guy from my previous post, Ed?

Ya - I lost that jerk's number recently or he'd have several messages from me already. His name is Ed Weirich - I'm guessing I'll get a call from him sometime this week. Go ahead and call, Ed. Know this before you call, I will be requesting a full refund for my church and a speedy transfer of their domain to a different company (it says on the Frontier website that domain transfer takes 2 weeks - are you sending it by sloth?!? - 2 days is more like it). It's one thing to take advantage of the average, computer-illiterate consumer, but it's another thing to be scamming my church.

And finally, one direct quote from the Frontier website that made me laugh so hard - it's from this page:

"High-quality, local customer support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, plus consistent performance you can trust. No nasty surprises, so you can focus on your business"

That's funny, last time I checked, "nasty surprises" were the only thing these guys have a consistent track record with...

Headed to the Gas Station...

I'm headed to the gas station in my newly patched and painted Jeep (I've spent the past 3 or 4 weeks grinding rust, cutting out pieces of the body, patching, sanding, patching some more, sanding, painting, sanding, etc, etc....). I'm filling the hell up while I can still afford to do so.

I hear there are gas shortages in the Southeastern part of the country. I hate to say it, but UM, I TOLD YOU SO, whomever you is....

.....and who the F thought of this 200 BILLION dollar shit? I read somewhere yesterday that the number was just "kind of a random number". Hmmmmmm.....did they throw darts or pick it out of a hat?

...and what about the fact that this gargantuan amount of OUR money will be able to be used without any kind of scrutiny or review - WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, it may be just me, but this seems to be one of those kind of "make Americans riot and revolt" kind of events that I've always wondered could happen (actually, more like wondered when it would happen, the way the Bush administration has pissed away our country).

...and finally, some brief thoughts on Sarah Palin and the McCain cop-out. First of all, Sarah Palin is monster. That's pretty much all there is to it. I've only dreamed of seeing the day when a politician as horribly catastrophic and out-of-touch as George W. Bush or John McCain would surface - that day of reckoning came when Sarah Palin burst onto the scene. Second of all, why doesn't John McCain go back to his damn retirement home and play some golf or something? If he can't pony up and do his Senatorial duties AND campaign for president, then maybe he shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place...

...of course, we all know he's playing with the debate schedule because Sarah Palin can't speak publicly to save her life. Using our economic crisis as his excuse has got to be one of the biggest cop-outs of the year. Gather up your tiny balls and go home, McCain.

I'm going to go have a beer.

(PS: The shirt above is one of my new designs available at the Insan Art Store. Check it out to see more product and color options, as well as the 26 other new designs!)

Vintage Gunne Sax Dress - Info & Year?

I picked up this gorgeous vintage dress at my local Goodwill the other day - $9.99!!! I didn't really know anything about it except that it is my favorite color, damn close to my size and it looked like a nice outfit for our 1890's festival.

It wasn't until I got home and did some searching that I learned that this dress may be more "vintage" than I expected. I haven't been able to find any specific information about it, but I would love to know what year it is from and what it might possibly be worth (even though, I WILL NOT part with this unless the price is GOOD, since again, it is my favorite color AND it fits me perfectly!)...

So check out my photos and information. The dress is a sage green (looks more mint in the photos, but it is really a nice, earthy sage color) with embellishments in ribbon and multiple types and colors of lace.

The tag inside reads: FRONT "Gunne Sax Romantic Renaissance Bridal Collection. Professionally Dry Clean Only. #88?22020040 SERIAL 15004. Size 13. Made in USA. Contents Reverse Side." BACK "RN 49422 - the rest is a little fuzzy - ? 100& Cotton, Trim 100%?, ? 100% Acetate, ? - ?% Polyester ?% Cotton".

The dress is in amazing shape, looks like it has been worn lightly but is damn close to MINT. There are no rips, tears, discolorations, etc. The only thing I can see that isn't supposed to be there is a hand-stitched hem inside on the bottom - apparently the previous owner was too short for the dress - either way, the hand hemming was done very nicely and doesn't damage the dress. Oh yes, and the photos make it look like there are armpit stains - I assure you, that is only the flash -vs- the puckered fabric in those areas.

So anyone know anything about this dress? I'm extremely curious! Please leave me a comment here or feel free to email me: sarah [at] insanart.com.

Thanks!

1st Blossburg Geocache Event!

Hey Geocachers! I just wanted to let you all know that I've put together a small geocache event for Blossburg VIBE and it will be starting this Friday, May 23, 2008.

You may or may not know, the Blossburg State Coal Festival is this weekend (actually starting on Wednesday) and Blossburg VIBE wanted to try something fun and original to coincide with the festival.

And...the 1st Blossburg, PA Geocache Hunt featuring historic locations around Blossburg was born!

This is our first geocache event and we have only 3 caches, just to kind of test the waters. If things go smoothly, we hope to do another, larger event in the fall that would include locations in Blossburg, as well as Fallbrook and Landrus.

If you're not interested yet, we also have a few prizes to offer from some great sponsors! Wild Asaph Outfitters (Wellsboro, PA) has donated gift certificates, coupons and free rental tickets, Angelina's Pizza (Blossburg, PA) has donated gift certificates and Blossburg VIBE has furnished their awesome personalized water bottles - each cache will be contained in one of these bottles, while there will be a second bottle attached as a prize! (I will also be randomly placing more "prize" bottles on the caches after Memorial Day weekend/the other prizes are gone).

So, get on over to Blossburg for some geocaching and the State Coal Festival. For more information on the geocaching and coordinates, please visit:

http://www.blossburg.org/geocache

Yet Another Steaming Pile of S*#t from Mansfield University!

Alright, I'm not going to spend too much time on this because it is just so appallingly horrible, I shouldn't even be wasting my time with it (that's why the picture isn't that hot - I'm not going to spend extra time to take and edit a picture of something SO awful, plus, there isn't much I can do to improve such a piece of crap).

Anyways, I'm used to seeing the bland, unoriginal and poorly-designed billboards Mansfield University uses as a piss poor excuse to advertise their programs, but NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER have I seen one that made me wish I were blind and feel ashamed of ever being involved in anything close to design at MU. I seriously almost had to pull over the first time I saw this (bleeding eyes, vomiting and driving don't mix!).

It seems as though the morons (I'm sorry, designers) at MU have tried to apply their usual theme to this billboard - a big goofy picture of an actual student - I understand their intentions, trying to personify the thing that they are advertising, but it usually backfires with the person looking like a giant, raving idiot - not the kind of thing that would compel me to want to go there.

However, the bottom line is that this is an advertisement for a Graphic Design program. The billboard falls MILES short of anything good. Shouldn't a billboard for Graphic Design be an extraordinary example of design itself? To keep myself from letting more expletives fly, I'll continue to try and rip these guys a new one constructively. Here's a list of some problems I see with this billboard, in relation to proper design:

1. The total design area is not used. Nearly 50% of the billboard has no content. The big, ugly purple stripes do NOT count as content!
2. The design is unbalanced. The head DOES NOT IN ANY WAY fit with the layout or context of the ad. The text is being balanced with the head and since the head doesn't belong, the whole layout is off.
3. What is with that damn head? Again, it doesn't fit at all. Wrong color scheme. Wrong value (much lighter than the overall values in the whole ad). The worst part is that the rest of the ad is so crisp, glossy and hard-edged, while the head is fuzzy and has a sloppy diffused edge. Sometimes juxtaposing different textures works, but not here!
4. The light sources do not match. The highlight on the head places the light source coming in from the right, while the "Graphic" text has a light source that is coming more from the bottom or directly overhead.
5. What is with the text used for "Graphic"? Poor choice of font - the G connects with the R, then the rest of the letters are staggered and unevenly spaced. I would've gone with something that looks less like an epileptic wrote it.
6. Overall the text is just wrong. How many different fonts did they use? (looks like 4, maybe 3) And how many of them look like they work well together? (hmm, zero)

In conclusion, I believe that someone at MU has just learned how to use Adobe Illustrator and they're trying to put their new-found pseudo-skills to work. Ooo! They can type text and apply a style to it! How talented!

But the problem here is that graphic design has two aspects that MUST work together seamlessly, lest you get crap like the ads from MU. First you must know how to use the design software. Second, and the part the MU lacks, is that you must have a solid understanding of design and what works. Anyone can plop some stylized Illustrator text on a billboard, but only a true artist that has a good concept of the elements and principles of design can take that text and make it into something to say "Wow!" about.

Here's an interesting idea. Sure, this sounds like I'm in 3rd grade, but, I DARE Mansfield University to cut the crap and HIRE ME to whip their advertising department into shape (I'll start at at least $35,000/year). Also, I forgot to mention this before, but one of my biggest fears about the Graphic Design billboard is that it may have been done by a current graphic design student, or a recent graduate who has been hired by the university. If that is the case, then, MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY, I DARE YOU to hire me to teach in your graphic design program (I'll start at at least $45,000/year) since the instruction in that department appears to be lacking. Of course, that'd make it no different than any other department at MU.

FINAL CONCLUSION: There is enough trash on the sides of the roads in Tioga County, we don't need Mansfield University contributing to the problem! Putting up this billboard is just as bad as throwing trash out your car window.

The Squid Shop & Five Shirts a Week

Well it's been a bit since the last time I posted! My last post was on my newest blog, Five Shirts a Week. Since then I've been working really hard to get the blog going with some kind of consistency and at the same time I've been working on my new shops with the T-shirt printing partner, Spreadshirt.

So, Five Shirts a Week is going well and with the help of some fellow Spreadshirt designers I am now featuring their work as well. If you are a Spreadshirt Shop owner and you'd like to submit, please visit my post, How to Submit a Design.


Along with a totally new Insan Art Store at Spreadshirt, I've also opened another new shop called The Squid Shop. The Squid Shop is the culmination of my love of the cartoon the Squidbillies and my desire to see the hat designs worn by the shows "star", Early Cuyler, available for fans to get on hats and t-shirts. It took about 3 weeks, but I redesigned all of the now almost 50 designs for t-shirts (and some for hats depending on how they fit). Each week when a new design airs it is added to the shops***. So, if you're looking for Early's hat designs on a t-shirt, you better get on over to The Squid Shop! (***If you're REALLY hardcore and are looking for hats, please visit the Insan Art Store @ Cafepress to browse the selection of designs on hats...)

New! - Five Shirts a Week

Howdy! I've got the new site, Five Shirts a Week up and running! Check it out and please be sure to subscribe to one of the feeds to stay informed of new designs!

If you're an iGoogle user, please add the Five Shirts a Week feed to your iGoogle page! There is a link to add to iGoogle on the left of the page right under the About Me section. I am trying to get as many iGoogle users as possible so I that I can add my feed to the public Google gadgets catalog.

So add, add, add and tell your friends!

Visit Five Shirts a Week

New Blog(s)

I've just set up another new blog, "Five Shirts a Week". It is going to be somewhat of a "daily shirt" blog, but, with the goal of at least 5 shirts a week (instead of daily). Since I typically do web work on the five days a week that my husband works (and those 5 days change bi-weekly) I knew that a daily format wouldn't work.

So, look forward to the new blog which will showcase a new, funky, well-designed, chic, humorous or topical shirt, five times a week. You'll find the link to the right in my links/points of interest section...