My Kryptonite

Several months ago, it was announced that pretty much all Kryptonite locks were being recalled because they could be opened simply by removing the cap from a cheap Bic pen and then jamming the now-hollow end into the lock. I have such a lock for my Segway, so about two and a half months ago I started the lock exchange process. It all worked through email, and was quite unpleasant, and by the end, they stopped returning my emails, and if you call their number, you just get a machine telling you to send them email. So, I was annoyed, but I eventually gave up on it. Well, yesterday, I finally got a UPS return label from them out of the blue... I was quite surprised. That was quite the turnaround time. So, anyway, I guess in a few more months I'll have a new lock for my Segway, having used my original one a total of one time.

In comparison: recently, I acquired a Creative Zen Portable Media Center. This is a weird device that not only plays MP3s and WMAs, but also videos, including AVIs, WMVs, and recorded TV. Normally, it isn't something that I'd buy, since it's at least twice the size of an iPod, and I don't care that much about watching TV on the bus, but I got it from a charity auction, so I technically didn't pay anything for it. Anyway, after a couple hours of use, it stopped working, and just displayed a picture on the screen that showed someone putting the device into a box and shipping it back to Creative, which was quite funny but also quite disappointing. I called them, and that picture indicates a critical hardware failure, so I had to ship it back. The same day that they got my old one they sent me a new one. This is from Creative, who I expected to have terrible support due mainly to my poor experiences with their drivers and their policy to completely abandon products after they've been in the market for a couple months.

There's no real point to the story... but, I mean, people keep telling me that I should blog more, even if it's something stupid. So, there you go. :)