Since I just spent hours trying to figure this out, I want to record this for posterity; or some such. This is a great list of parts and explanations:
www.partselect.com
and here is a nice list of takeapart instructions, which seems to have a depressingly low pagerank, maybe this will help:
www.applianceaid.com.
For the record, this is for a Frigidaire stackable gleh1642fs1.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Friday, January 04, 2008
Success!
Well. Maybe success is too strong of a way to phrase it. But it feels like success in any case. As I mentioned before, I signed up at the sites in this post to freeze my credit history. I also found some more interesting sites. Like this one: Opt Out Pre-Screen. Apparently if you're in one of a few useful states (like California), you can request to have them stop sending you credit card offers!
I've done all of this. And by god. The offers have almost stopped. I still get a few, but easily an order of magnitude less. I can nearly hear the sighs of thousands of trees that won't now be turned into trash at my mailbox.
I've done all of this. And by god. The offers have almost stopped. I still get a few, but easily an order of magnitude less. I can nearly hear the sighs of thousands of trees that won't now be turned into trash at my mailbox.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Why sending back empty credit card envelopes works.
I've noticed a change in the offers that I am getting from the credit card companies. And it's not that I'm getting less of them. No, apparently the companies sending out these offers have decided that I'm not being pedantic, I'm stupid. I really want to get the credit cards, I just can't seem to send back the right information. Two things have changed.
1) My girlfriend has decided to start adding random crap (and I do mean random crap; think cutout picture of Sr. Elton John) to the envelopes, so they don't actually go empty.
2) About 10% of the envelopes are now barcoded! I haven't figured out if the barcodes are real or not (well, seriously, I haven't bothered to try and scan them and see if they're meaningful), but they are definitely barcoded and meant to look meaningful. It's definitely not clear if they are trying to figure out who is sending back empty ones, or if they're just trying to make me thing they really care about me. Either way it's entertaining.
On the whole, I still feel somewhat vindicated sending these empty things back, and it's not making a dent in the volume. That site that I mentioned before seems more and more interesting.
In the end, I'm still going to send them back. If for nothing than the humor value to my post-person (or at least so I hope).
1) My girlfriend has decided to start adding random crap (and I do mean random crap; think cutout picture of Sr. Elton John) to the envelopes, so they don't actually go empty.
2) About 10% of the envelopes are now barcoded! I haven't figured out if the barcodes are real or not (well, seriously, I haven't bothered to try and scan them and see if they're meaningful), but they are definitely barcoded and meant to look meaningful. It's definitely not clear if they are trying to figure out who is sending back empty ones, or if they're just trying to make me thing they really care about me. Either way it's entertaining.
On the whole, I still feel somewhat vindicated sending these empty things back, and it's not making a dent in the volume. That site that I mentioned before seems more and more interesting.
In the end, I'm still going to send them back. If for nothing than the humor value to my post-person (or at least so I hope).
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Send it all back.
I am hoping that my spite can spread. In today's world full of "more sperm in your penis" email spam landslide, it's easy to forget how obnoxious regular ole postal mail spam is. Well, as much as I might try, I can't forget. I'm greeted by a credit card offer on (anecdotal) average every day. Not to mention the random catalogs and occasional magazines (how did I get on the right list for E Weekly??) that show up.
Well, there are lots of ways of addressing this. This link talks about how you can get yourself off of the credit card list by calling up some random 800 number and giving them your social security number. Oh, or you can send a postal letter to some addresses with even more personal information. And hope.
This site talks about how you can pay them to stop spam. Maybe. It definitely appeals to the green in all of us. Lots of pictures of happy children and green planets.
Well, I'm a bit more spiteful and execution oriented than that. Additionally, I'm really lazy. Writing letters in the hope that someone might one day listen to me strikes me like thinking those mail-in rebates are actually going to work. Have you ever actually gotten one? Have you actually ever met anyone who does? I know I haven't. So I have an alternative solution.
According to this site bulk postage rates for pre-sorted barcoded mail (what a credit card response envelope would seem to be) is approximately $0.231.
Assuming the credit card companies get 50% off of the posted rates (they send a shit-ton of mail), they still pay about a dime ($0.10) per letter they send. They will also have to pay (presumably) that much for any response. Add in some overhead costs associated with putting together a letter and knowing to whom it needs to be sent, I'll bet that the postage is a big driver of cost. Based on how much credit card spam I get, and how I have never responded (and I mean never. Not once) but it doesn't stop, I can't imagine it costs much to put together that letter. Additionally, my understanding is that opening and sorting mail is actually a complex job that probably is done by humans, and not a machine. That means it's expensive but only happens when you return the envelope.
That means that postage is probably an actual cost driver in this scenario. And thankfully, the credit card companies (and, I suppose, God) have given me all of the tools I need to significantly increase the postage costs per offer sent to me.
Every one of those offers has a postage paid return envelope in them.
Why not use it?
This accomplishes two things. Firstly, it makes me feel like I'm doing something. And that's always a primary goal. Secondly, it significantly increases the cost of sending me that offer.
Want to know the next way I can increase the costs? I want /you/ to start doing this too. Seriously. It's easy, it's fun, and hell, maybe it just might bleed the beast a bit.
Next time you get an unsolicited credit card offer in the mail (and I'm sure that'll be tomorrow, unless today is Saturday, in which case it'll be in two days), open it up, seal that return envelope, and send it on back.
While you have that envelope open, you might as well check to see if there is any choice secret information about you (like say SSN, address, full name, etc), which you should shred while you're at it. That's another upside of this process; it reminds me to shred that (get a cross-cut shredder so it means something).
That's it. If you start doing this, all I ask is a note back so that I know my spite is spreading.
To quote Calvin: Nothing helps misery like spreading it.
Well, there are lots of ways of addressing this. This link talks about how you can get yourself off of the credit card list by calling up some random 800 number and giving them your social security number. Oh, or you can send a postal letter to some addresses with even more personal information. And hope.
This site talks about how you can pay them to stop spam. Maybe. It definitely appeals to the green in all of us. Lots of pictures of happy children and green planets.
Well, I'm a bit more spiteful and execution oriented than that. Additionally, I'm really lazy. Writing letters in the hope that someone might one day listen to me strikes me like thinking those mail-in rebates are actually going to work. Have you ever actually gotten one? Have you actually ever met anyone who does? I know I haven't. So I have an alternative solution.
According to this site bulk postage rates for pre-sorted barcoded mail (what a credit card response envelope would seem to be) is approximately $0.231.
Assuming the credit card companies get 50% off of the posted rates (they send a shit-ton of mail), they still pay about a dime ($0.10) per letter they send. They will also have to pay (presumably) that much for any response. Add in some overhead costs associated with putting together a letter and knowing to whom it needs to be sent, I'll bet that the postage is a big driver of cost. Based on how much credit card spam I get, and how I have never responded (and I mean never. Not once) but it doesn't stop, I can't imagine it costs much to put together that letter. Additionally, my understanding is that opening and sorting mail is actually a complex job that probably is done by humans, and not a machine. That means it's expensive but only happens when you return the envelope.
That means that postage is probably an actual cost driver in this scenario. And thankfully, the credit card companies (and, I suppose, God) have given me all of the tools I need to significantly increase the postage costs per offer sent to me.
Every one of those offers has a postage paid return envelope in them.
Why not use it?
This accomplishes two things. Firstly, it makes me feel like I'm doing something. And that's always a primary goal. Secondly, it significantly increases the cost of sending me that offer.
Want to know the next way I can increase the costs? I want /you/ to start doing this too. Seriously. It's easy, it's fun, and hell, maybe it just might bleed the beast a bit.
Next time you get an unsolicited credit card offer in the mail (and I'm sure that'll be tomorrow, unless today is Saturday, in which case it'll be in two days), open it up, seal that return envelope, and send it on back.
While you have that envelope open, you might as well check to see if there is any choice secret information about you (like say SSN, address, full name, etc), which you should shred while you're at it. That's another upside of this process; it reminds me to shred that (get a cross-cut shredder so it means something).
That's it. If you start doing this, all I ask is a note back so that I know my spite is spreading.
To quote Calvin: Nothing helps misery like spreading it.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Super cool metallic sculptures
http://www.kodama.hc.uec.ac.jp/spiral/
From the page:
"“Morpho Towers--Two Standing Spirals” is an installation that consists of two ferrofluid sculptures that moves synthetically to music. The two spiral towers stand on a large plate that hold ferrofluid. When the music starts, the magnetic field around the tower is strengthened. Spikes of ferrofluid are born from the bottom plate and move up, trembling and rotating around the edge of the iron spiral."
From the page:
"“Morpho Towers--Two Standing Spirals” is an installation that consists of two ferrofluid sculptures that moves synthetically to music. The two spiral towers stand on a large plate that hold ferrofluid. When the music starts, the magnetic field around the tower is strengthened. Spikes of ferrofluid are born from the bottom plate and move up, trembling and rotating around the edge of the iron spiral."
Saturday, April 07, 2007
ourTunes reborn?
(from: http://www.selfproclaimedexpert.com/?p=127)
Evan wrote:
Mac users: Download a small app called MusicPublisher (http://projects.tynsoe.org/en/musicpublisher/)
Install it, drag your ‘iTunes Music’ folder to the square, change the port in Settings to 3688, and then press Publish.
Open iTunes 7, disable your sharing in Prefs and quit out of the program.
Go back to MusicPublisher, change the Port back to 3689 and press Publish.
If everything went smoothly, you will now be seen in OurTunes. You’ll want to drag the app icon to your dock and select ‘Open at Login’ (and also Hide every morning after you press Publish).
I’m kind of digging this way of sharing better than before. You can drag any folder that contain Mp3 or AAC files to the square, including your iPod. I also don’t think there is a ‘max-user’ limit, which is cool. It doesn’t show playlist info, but hey, at least I can use OurTunes like I used to.
Posted 03 Nov 2006 at 4:53 pm ¶
Let's see what happenes.
Evan wrote:
Mac users: Download a small app called MusicPublisher (http://projects.tynsoe.org/en/musicpublisher/)
Install it, drag your ‘iTunes Music’ folder to the square, change the port in Settings to 3688, and then press Publish.
Open iTunes 7, disable your sharing in Prefs and quit out of the program.
Go back to MusicPublisher, change the Port back to 3689 and press Publish.
If everything went smoothly, you will now be seen in OurTunes. You’ll want to drag the app icon to your dock and select ‘Open at Login’ (and also Hide every morning after you press Publish).
I’m kind of digging this way of sharing better than before. You can drag any folder that contain Mp3 or AAC files to the square, including your iPod. I also don’t think there is a ‘max-user’ limit, which is cool. It doesn’t show playlist info, but hey, at least I can use OurTunes like I used to.
Posted 03 Nov 2006 at 4:53 pm ¶
Let's see what happenes.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Myspace is dying.
Thank god. My sister (target demographic for myspace, high school girl) says that no one uses Myspace anymore. More importantly, she says that people in her class are deleting their Myspace pages in favor of Facebook. I'm not exactly out there evangelizing for Facebook, but at least the web pages don't offend my sensibilities. I mean really, who needs music you can't stop on a webpage? If nothing else (and there's plenty), Myspace deserves to die a gruesome death for that.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Bombs?
In other news... here's a video of the guys putting up the "bombs" in Boston:
Here's the news story about /actual/ fake bombs being planted in Boston on Thursday, Feb 1:
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=180349
And here's a story about actual bombs, not in Boston:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Is there any explanation other than absurdity?
Here's the news story about /actual/ fake bombs being planted in Boston on Thursday, Feb 1:
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=180349
And here's a story about actual bombs, not in Boston:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Is there any explanation other than absurdity?
Monday, January 01, 2007
Why digital video editing is the coolest thing ever.
Check out this video on Youtube done by an amatuer to assemble an amazing piece of music:
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Occasional Nike entertainment
Sometimes, the sun shines even on a dog's ass; as the man says. Today, the sun has shown on Nike's ass. Well, or something like that. What's cooler than shooting a golf ball at random objects? Video-taping it at high speed for slow mo.
The Norwalk Dilemma
Perhaps you've heard of Yelp? Perhaps you've reviewed a restaurant? Then, you may understand my dilemma. Step this way...
There is a restaurant you've rated highly before, and you've enjoyed thoroughly previously. Then, you go one Saturday evening, and have a good time. Mysteriously, during the middle of the night, one of the participants gets sick. A little internet digging and some basic logic analysis leads to the conclusion of Norwalk virus via oysters.
Now, you can always blame the victim (what the hell were you doing eating spicy oyster appetizers), or bring on fire and brimstone (there must be some reason that shellfish are specifically forbidden in the Old Testament). However, my focus is on the restaurant review.
What is the etiquette for this? Am I honor bound to write a new bad review? I mean, how seriously do you blame the restaurant? I suppose the only answer is completely... Sigh.
There is a restaurant you've rated highly before, and you've enjoyed thoroughly previously. Then, you go one Saturday evening, and have a good time. Mysteriously, during the middle of the night, one of the participants gets sick. A little internet digging and some basic logic analysis leads to the conclusion of Norwalk virus via oysters.
Now, you can always blame the victim (what the hell were you doing eating spicy oyster appetizers), or bring on fire and brimstone (there must be some reason that shellfish are specifically forbidden in the Old Testament). However, my focus is on the restaurant review.
What is the etiquette for this? Am I honor bound to write a new bad review? I mean, how seriously do you blame the restaurant? I suppose the only answer is completely... Sigh.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Why I love technology?
It's not the constant reinstalls and reboots of all of the sundry electronic devices I have. No, certainly not. Having to know the secret handshake code to get an iPod to reboot after it's decided I don't need to listen to any new music is just icing on the cake. The real reason is illustrated in videos, such as this:
Oh, the hilarity.
Oh, the hilarity.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
New hottness
Check here, and look at the list of products at the bottom. Notice the one that looks like a released Gmail client for the Blackberry? Yeah? Well, hell yeah, it is. Damn that's slick.
Prolific friends
Ever wondered what it's like to live in Cambodia? Well... of course... here's a way to find out.
I love it when people doing interesting things take time out of their day to tell me what fun I'm missing...
I love it when people doing interesting things take time out of their day to tell me what fun I'm missing...
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Sweet new Google thing.
Super cool Tom Cruise jeans.
Google Co-Op CSE
Make your own search enginge? I'm dying to do something funny, but unfortunately, I'm not creative enough.
Google Co-Op Custom Search Engine
Google Co-Op CSE
Make your own search enginge? I'm dying to do something funny, but unfortunately, I'm not creative enough.
Google Co-Op Custom Search Engine
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