I have now spent 8 hours of my life trying to get Dragon Age to work under either Crossover or Parallels (both of which have been reported on the interwebz as being successful by someone or another) to no avail. My Windows partition is only 20 gigs, which is the minimum amount of bloody free space required to run the bloody game, so to run it under Boot Camp I’d need to use an external hard drive. I’m having twitchy flashbacks of trying to install The 11th Hour. I might need therapy.

Jason Eyer, the man behind the phone calls

How many times have you gotten a phone call in the last week telling you that your car warranty is about to expire or that your credit card interest rate could be lower? I got three calls on Friday alone. This is one of the fine, upstanding individuals behind the calls. Note the scruffy face, the greasy hair, the all-around look of lizard-like complacency.

For more info on the scam, this Ask Metafilter thread has a lot of good links to follow. The people are crooks that don’t give a damn about the national do-not-call database and they prey on the old, sick, and weak. Karma’s a bitch.

Publishing companies: it’s all very well and good that you’re targeting certain readerships for upcoming thrillers. But when you throw the title of a book (or novella, or short story) out there that’s got a major twist at the end, and say “If you’re a fan of X book, you’ll like this one!” and then tie it to reviews that talk about the major twist at the end… well, could you have possibly given away the major huge thrilling twist at the end of your soon-to-be-released thriller?

Just a thought.

In possibly-related news, many of us have turned into gibbering, twitching masses trying to figure out where the crazy tapes lead. If you’re coming to this blog because you’ve received a mysterious tape recorder that wants you to play it, won’t you please leave a comment here saying what your story was about, what number was on the tape, and what it was wrapped in?

And if you’re intrigued, please do join us for conversation on Unfiction and check out Rowan’s guide which is a great way to catch up with what’s happened so far.

What I sent to Which Wich, assuming it got through their flash-based submission system.

Please, please, PLEASE design a website that’s not entirely flash-based! I want to be able to place an order over the phone and know what options I can choose, but all the possible condiments – spreads, vegetables, etc. – as well as kids menu choices are hidden in the background and impossible to read. Not only that, but the flash-based location finder scrolls past so fast that I can’t figure out which location is nearest to my house. Can’t I just enter in a zip code and have it tell me what locations are in my town? This is not a user-friendly site! We have two kids and need places that help us save time, not frustrate us. Unfortunately, Which Wich is not it. I’ve been wanting to try your sandwiches due to the good reviews I’ve been reading about them, but until I can figure out how to get them via take-out, sorry – ain’t gonna happen.

Update: Wow, that was quick! I got a response – albeit not addressing the icky flash interface, but at least I know where to get a menu if I can deal with the twitchy scroll on the location list:

Hi Dee,

Thank you for your comments through the Which Wich website.

Which Wich is constantly updating their website, so we appreciate the feedback. Our to-go and catering menus, including the condiments, are under each location as a pdf on our website.

If you email us the specific location you are looking for we can also email your the pfd of the menu.

Best WICHes!

They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

The Pink Lady does not approve.

I called back because I had one more day before my year anniversary of getting this battery and 1.5 hours of battery life ain’t gonna cut it. They forwarded me to a product specialist who made an exception for me and is shipping a new battery as I type. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Normally Apple’s excellent with their tech support, but my call to 1-800-APL-CARE today has me flummoxed.

I replaced my MacBook Pro’s battery under Apple’s battery exchange program last September. Since then, I’ve racked up 96 charging cycles, and my battery is now at a max capacity of 4528 mAh. That’s 82% of its maximum. Two days ago it was at 4589 mAh – 83% of maximum. My battery life sucks and the battery’s not right.

I called Apple today to replace it. Apparently they have an arbitrary number that must be hit in order to do so. I need to have under 300 charging cycles (check) and be under 80% of my battery capacity. The guy refused to do anything for me at this point.

I said, “So I’m supposed to call you back in a week when this battery’s low enough for you to take action?” and the answer was yes.

They could have made a customer happy this week about an issue that obviously isn’t going to solve itself, or they could have just told me to run along and play. They chose poorly.

Perhaps I should try a Genius Bar. They’re generally very helpful. Unlike tech support dude.

If it were April 1, I’d be happier about this article.

Weekly Ketchup: Flash Gordon, Highlander Remakes Announced

They’re planning on remaking Flash Gordon, Highlander, Red Dawn, and Robocop.

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame.