Sitting on the table was his source-book. All the manuals for all the parts that went into the Chakratron. The part that intrigues me the most is the rotating electrical connector. That’s the thing that lets the top part with lights spin at a gazillion RPM while the bottom part… well the bottom part sits safely on the ground.

If you haven’t seen the Chakratron, you’ve really got to check it out. Video simply doesn’t do it justice though.

Here’s the source of Gaspo’s rotating electrical connectors, Mercotac. I simply must build something that uses these marvels.

I’ve told people how it’s almost an artichoke tree and people don’t believe me. That highest artichoke in the picture is about 9 feet above the roots!

They taste fantastic. The tips of the leaves don’t have the barbs that normal artichokes do. I don’t have to be nearly as careful to not puncture my tongue as I normally do.
Yum!

Here’s all you have to do:

1. First, sign up for Mozy with my referral link (I’ll split the fee I get and send you $10-20)
2. Then, when signing up, there will be a box where you can type in a promotion code. Type “JULY” and get 10% off an annual or biannual subscription to Mozy!

The above code is only good during July 2009. If you found this link and it’s not July 2009 any more, look on my blog for a current Mozy discount code.

I like the lessons. It’s a woman speaking with a live screen capture of her driving SolidWorks 2007. The presenter has a nice voice, she’s mostly all about business but there are a few tiny flubs to prove that she’s human, it’s well edited and it’s of course nice that I can either do what she does or just watch what she’s doing and replay the video.

I bought the 3 CD tutorial on eBay or Amazon or someplace for $50.

(via, and)

+++++++++++++

Call for Papers, Performances, Machines and Sponsors.

+++++++++++++

Scottish SF author Iain Banks created a fictitious group-civilisation called “Culture” in his eponymous narrative. The vast majority of humanoid people in the “Culture” are born with greatly altered glands housed within their central nervous systems, who secrete – on command
- mood- and sensory-appreciation-altering compounds into the person’s bloodstream. Additionally many inhabitants have subtly altered reproductive organs – and control over the associated nerves – to enhance sexual pleasure. Ovulation is at will in the female, and a fetus up to a certain stage may be re-absorbed, aborted, or held at a static point in its development; again, as willed. Also, a viral change from one sex into the other, is possible. And there is a convention that each person should give birth to one child in their lives. It may sound strange, but Banks states that a society in which it is so easy to change sex will rapidly find out if it is treating one gender better than the other. Pressure for change within society would presumably build up until some form of sexual equality and hence numerical parity will be established.
Does this set-up sound too futuristic? Too utopian? Too bizarre?

We may not forget that mankind is a sexual and tool-using species.
And that’s why our annual conference Arse Elektronika deals with sex, technology and the future. As bio-hacking, sexually enhanced bodies, genetic utopias and plethora of gender have long been the focus of literature, science fiction and, increasingly, pornography, this year will see us explore the possibilities that fictional and authentic bodies have to offer. Our world is already way more bizarre than our ancestors could have ever imagined. But it may not be bizarre enough.
“Bizarre enough for what?” — you might ask. Bizarre enough to subvert the heterosexist matrix that is underlying our world and that we should hack and overcome for some quite pressing reasons within the next century.
Don’t you think, replicants?

+++++++++++++

Please send us [arse2009 AT monochrom.at] your papers, ideas, machines!
Deadline: July 31, 2009!

+++++++++++++

Festival Schedule:

October 1: Film festival(*), opening ceremony and Prixxx Arse
Elektronika(*) Gala
October 2: Literature, fiction, reading
October 3: Talks and discourse
October 4: DIY workshops
(*) Separate calls will be out shortly.

Each class was 3 hrs/day for 5 days, June 15-19. Gizmos: 9-noon, Robots: 1-4pm.

We did way more than I have photographed. One note: NEVER let your students take their projects home before they are done! I let several kids bring their almost-finished (excellent) projects home on Thursday. All but one kid forgot to bring them back to finish and present.

It was a bit of a nervous thrill when I saw the cover of one of the Crucible’s catalogs

Extreme Gizmos class

Radical Robots class

Extreme Gizmos posing for a photo with our gizmos

A Radical Robot, an Arduino, servo and photoresistor open the box when you pass your hand in front of the box

Lee and kids

Another Radical Robot, a tripod holds an Arduino and 2 servos to point a mirror or camera in an arbitrary direction

————————————————–
I was on the curatorial committee for the Robogames Art Competition with Marnia, Niladri and Corey. Marnia and I each made the most lovable Tweenbots as a cute marketing ploy for the Art Competition. We set a sign on him that read “Help me get to the Gallery!” and let him loose at the front entrance of Robogames. The tweenbots were a great success! As I left on Sunday with him under my wing, several people stopped me and said how great they were!

At the Crucible class, the kids changed changed the sign to read “Hi! My name is Ron. I am trying to get to the Kinetics Lab. Help if Stuck!” It’s interesting and telling that the kids insisted that the robot have a name. :-)

————————————————–
Went to Robogames. The awesome new Exploratorium permanent outdoor exhibits at Fort Mason are awesome. Firefighting robots are awesome. Robogames is awesome. The Robogames art was awesome. Awesome!

A firefighting robot at Robogames 2009
————————————————–
Hung out with Magnus Wurzer of Roboexotica fame. I drove him to Robogames from the East Bay and caught up with him at Dorkbot.
————————————————–
Went to the Dorkbot 7th Anniversary Party. Saw 2 tesla coils and 1 Tesla Roadster. The coils lit some fireworks… after much consternation; more than one person asked if we couldn’t use a lighter instead of a giant tesla coil to light them. Twas funny, using a hammer to kill a fly sometimes doesn’t work so well :-)

Saw the fantastic Snail Art car. The metal work on it is Fantastic! I haven’t yet found a photo that really captures it perfectly. I chatted with some of the crew and marvelled at it.

Met up with Shameless Heather… we met 5 years ago at Burning Man. 5 years. 5 years! Phew. Five years.
————————————————–

I’ve learned a bit about Rotoscoping from Slim at Noisebridge (sat in on 2 or 3 classes)

————————————————–
Got an f*ing awesome tour of the Advanced Light Source from Marcus

————————————————–

I taught 2 week-long classes at the Crucible. Read about it.

Saw Deborah Violin playing in Berkeley with her friends. Most of it was really cool. They played these really really short, dense quartet pieces that were cool. And the Bach was nice. A guy played his Doctoral Thesis violin piece or something… yes, he’s now a doctor of music… and it sounded like 40 minutes of “Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt! Yeyt!” Oh my god it was awful, I prayed for death’s sweet release, but his professors apparently liked it. So what do I know?

————————————————–

Dinner with Charlotte’s friend Kevin in Brocceley

————————————————–

Went to sensitivity training at The Crucible so I could be Faculty. I now believe that straight, white European males are responsible for all evil in the world. I would kill myself but that would just be another demonstration of their subjugation of us all.

————————————————–

Went to Memoir Spool at Climate Theater, June 25th. Great Storytelling!

————————————————–

I’m now learning SolidWorks so I can design my Tap Pen.

————————————————–

SWARM went to SubZero1 in San Jose. I just went to look at the art. It was cool. There was this piece with a woman on 4 TV screens eating hot dogs until she was near puking, it was as if she was having an eating contest with herself. It was really really cool. It reminded me of how I sometimes eat to excess to push away bad feelings.

————————————————–

I went with SWARM to the Google IO Developer Conference. The conference topics were pretty much lost on me. I tried but no. But we had lots of fun!

————————————————–

I’ve been sitting for a friend’s children. They have an artichoke tree growing in their front yard (yes, yes, I know that artichokes don’t grow as trees but the artichoke at the top of this plant is a full 9 feet off the ground. So there. And they are delicious!

————————————————–

PS. Though I’ve barely mentioned Charlotte in this post yet. She rocks.

Stranger Than Fiction. I liked when Harold Crick ate his first home-made cookie 43:15–43:35.

The Bucket List. Maybe I should have found it sappy, but I didn’t. I enjoyed it greatly.

C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin>wget -r --convert-links --page-requisites --html-extension --no-parent -R '*action=diff*,*action=edit*' http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/HomePage

Here’s how that parses out:

-r recursive
--convert-links
--page-requisites
--html-extension
--no-parent
-R '*action=diff*,*action=edit*'       don't get wiki tidbits

And yes, you can try the service out for free before you commit to buying it :-)

Here is how to claim this referral money:

1. Click on the Backblaze link to the right or here.
2. Sign up for a free trial of their service.
3. If you like it, sign up within 30 days for a 1 year subscription.
4. Email me at with your name, the date and time you started your 1 year subscription, and your paypal email address.
5. When Backblaze pays me in 2 months or so, I’ll send you money!

That’s it! Pretty simple, eh?

Feel free to write comments here about Backblaze or this discount program. And please check out the rest of my site :-)

What is Backblaze? Backblaze is an automated online backup system for your computer. It is similar to Mozy. I have a popular discount program with Mozy as well if you prefer that service. I haven’t used Backblaze myself but a few people have told me they like it very much.

Watch Rap Chop, a remix of Vince Shlomi’s Slap Chop infomercial. After you’ve watched the Rap Chop video, be sure to watch slap chop just to see how masterfully Steve Porter remixed it. Steve has made all of his source files available on his website so you can slap your own troubles away :-)

There has been concern among the Fire Arts community recently regarding the Additions to Title 19 Chapter 6.5 involving Flame Throwing Devices.

First a little background. This issue came about as the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco And Firearms) was attending a gun show in CA and found fully functional Flame Throwers for sale. These devices for sale at the gun shows were not “Guns” and not covered by any kind of background checks, waiting period, or age requirements.  This would have allowed Timmy terrorist or Sammy seven year old to buy it right off the table. With the intention of closing this loophole a group was formed to decide how to regulate the issue.

The Flame Throwing Device Work Group was formed by the CA State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The group was composed of members of the Department of Justice, ATF, State Fire Authorities as well as folks from the Special Effects industry and folks who are contracted to do fire prevention and suppression for the CA Fire Service. Clearly there were a lot of uses for flame throwing devices in such applications as setting preventative burns as well as in the film and entertainment industries. Early on Kevin Mathieu and I did sit on the group meetings and helped craft wording to protect the interests of the fire arts community. In the end I left the group feeling good about what was finally written. As with most states it was immediately covered in red tape and passed from lawyer to lawyer. Well here it is it is finally about to come into law and the public commentary period is open.

This law will not affect 99% of the fire arts community…

Lets take a look at it…

I emailed Diane Arend this week at the Office of the CA. State Fire Marshal Code Development and Analysis. She has reviewed this and agreed that this interpretation appeared consistent with the regulation.

Flame throwing Device: For the purpose of clarification, Health and Safety Code Section 12750(a) is repeated “Flame Throwing Device” means any non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet.

First off this is only in effect in California…

If you are using these in Nevada it is not an issue. There may be some gray area as to its storage in CA.

This does not impact propane effects as it states, “Intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet”. Propane is in most cases used as a gas and not as a liquid. Even in effects where liquid propane is used it is for the most part completely turned to a gas before reaching 10 feet.

Liquid fueled effects usually describes a situation in which there are separate fuel tanks, hosing, controls and other attached gear which are “Not Portable”.  When set up, this is a considered a stationary effect.

If the supply tanks and operational controls were attached and able to operate in a mobile fashion it WOULD be a Flame Thrower…

OK so what if you have a device that is a “non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet.” and you intend to display it in CA?

You can apply for this permit…

First off this is a big deal you must pass background checks, have a secure by state definition safe storage area, transport it in a secured manner as well as a surrender of you rights to search and seizure. You must also keep records on the use storage and sale or destruction of said device.

Unless you feel strongly that this regulation applies to you and you plan to operate it in California I would not apply!

You can apply for this permit…

First off this is a big deal you must pass background checks, have a secure by state definition safe storage area, transport it in a secured manner as well as a surrender of you rights to search and seizure. You must also keep records on the use storage and sale or destruction of said device.

Unless you feel strongly that this regulation applies to you and you plan to operate it in California I would not apply!

I talked to Matisse Enzer form the Flame Thrower Shooting Gallery project and as the name implies it IS a Flame Thrower.

He went through the application and he had this to say about how he got one:

The application process goes like this:

You need to get a Certificate of Eligibility from the California Department of Justice. This is an annually renewable certification that you are eligible to own firearms. It involves getting fingerprinted. This will cost a couple hundred bucks the first time and $20 or $25/year to renew.

<http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/coeapp.pdf>

You will need to fill in the application form and describe the flame throwing devices that you have. The rules have not yet been finalized, but the application form I filled out in 2008 was pretty much the same as the proposed form.

Links to the proposed rules and associated forms:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/codedevelopment_title19development.php>

For example, the proposed new rules are:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/pdf/title19/FFDet.pdf>

The proposed application form is:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/pdf/title19/formft1.pdf>

Note especially the storage requirements: They are much stricter than for a handgun or rifle.

To summarize, please remember a word like “Flame Thrower” is not to be used lightly.

For the most part what we are talking about with fire arts is the use of “open flame and flame effects”. I hope this provides some clarification and that you all burn hard and burn safely…

I got about 1/2 way through listening to the unabridged “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)”. I couldn’t finish it. Not enough science, too angry, too snarky, too jerk-like, too monochromatic, too… a lot of things. And the reader amplified those emotions.

Here is my simplified version of the book:

You’ve seen this a million times before: some jerk cuts you off on a highway on-ramp at 5:30 on a Friday afternoon, you speed up to see who this moron could be and he waves apologetically at you! What could this doo-doo head possibly he possibly be thinking? There was a study about this. It said that most people on the highway aren’t really jerks. But let’s get back to this idiot who cut you off.

I kept thinking it would get better, that the author would dive more into the ample quantity of interesting studies he’s read, that he’d bridge together ideas from across the story-arc. That he’d propose some ideas that didn’t sound like they came from some white-knuckled, road-raged jerk. But that didn’t happen.

1.5 out of 5 stars. (0.5 stars for choosing a good topic)

Here’s what to do:

1. First, sign up for Mozy with my referral link and I’ll give you $10-20 via Paypal)
2. Then, when signing up, there will be a box where you can type in a promotion code. “JULY” gets you 10% off an annual or biannual subscription to Mozy!

The above code is only good during July 2009. If you found this link too late, look on my blog for more current Mozy discount codes!

The piece is astounding. I would say “simply Astounding” but there is nothing simple about it.

And that’s Adam and Eve standing beside the gates. Interestingly, The cowering Adam is the piece in this garden of naked people with the most fully formed junk. All the others have “tastefully” partially formed naughty bits.

Aesthetic is perception.

Perception is history.

History is stereotype.

Stereotype is a box.

I imagine the front of the t-shirt looking like the above image.

And of course the back of the t-shirt reads “Think outside the box”

- Marnia Johnston and I came up with this when considering the possible criterion for an art competition we’d be curating. We knew we needed an “aesthetic” criterion. Our discussion took us down this dark avenue.

• Due to the idiotic Swine Flu idiotic panic, Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley was closed for a few days. I babysat for Erin for a couple days.
• I’m still working on the Tap Pen idea. After a week, the first beta customer is very happy with it. :-)
• I submitted a proposal to the San Francisco Unified School District with Noisebridge to teach an after school program. That might manifest in the fall.
• I’ve been making a little money on my Mozy referrals and Google adwords.
• I’ll be teaching a mechanical sculpture class at the Crucible in June.
• I’ve been working part-time for  Charlotte’s company, fixing computers and such. I logged many hours saving her computer this week
• I’m going to be working a trade show on commission with Charlotte soon.

I need a real job….

In other news…

• A problem and solution I had with Sporatic bad LCD initilization in 4-bit mode of an Arduino and LCD is going to be turned into a code change in the main Arduino library.
• SWARM performed at the Google IO Developer Conference and we’ll be at Maker Faire, SubZER01 and Robogames. :-)

Create useful, unique content.

That’s it.

There is no more to it.

Now stop reading.

And start clicking my ads!

Muhahah!

You are still reading!

I have teh google juice and I control your mind!

Now click! Click for all time!

* Sunday & Monday: repairing SWARM orbs for Google IO, finishing sound design, shelling etc.

* Tuesday: Charlotte’s office hard drive failed. Spent the afternoon and evening recovering

* Wednesday: More hard drive recovery, finished sound design for Orbs. Performed at Google IO with SWARM! (you couldn’t hear the music over the DJ :-(((((((((((((((((   )

* Thursday: Attended Google IO, priced out computer for Charlotte’s office, attended Professional VFX Compositing With Adobe After Effects class at Crucible, sat in on German class at Noisebridge with Charlotte for a few minutes

* Friday: more computer help for Charlotte, working on lesson plan for a Crucible class I’m teaching, tidying hundreds of loose-ends emails

The class I’m teaching at the Crucible:

Youth Extreme Gizmos

Learn kinetic techniques to design, engineer, and construct a mechanical sculpture, contraption, or gadget with lights and moving parts. Using new and salvaged components, you will learn how motors, lights, and switches work, how to create mechanical structures, how to create different types of motion, and how to incorporate switches to operate your very own fantastical contraption! 

8-12 year olds, June 15-19 2009

Cost: $235.00 (Tuition: $180.00, Materials: $55.00), Members: $217.00

Youth Radical Robots

[KIN15-Y]

Build a simple remote-controlled robot . From the wheels up, you’ll create your robot’s shape and personality from salvaged components, mechanisms, and electrical components. You’ll also learn soldering, mechanical construction techniques, and how to remove and repurpose these items. Each student will receive a kit of motors, wheels, and a remote control toy. 

June 15-19 2009

Cost: $295.00 (Tuition: $220.00, Materials: $75.00), Members: $273.00

(Frank Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. Class Action, San Francisco Superior Court, Case No. CGC-04-434884, local copy of  Amended Long Form Notice of Class Action and Proposed Settlement, local copy of Amended Settlement Agreement.)

These are still on my list… didn’t have time to have them mailed to me:
The King of Kong
Robot Monster
Superbad
S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
Waking Life
 

So here’s what I rented in 30 days… (reviews to come eventually!)

The Omega Man
Failure to Launch
Sideways
The Bucket List
Strange Culture
The Departed
Crash
Psychos in Love
Children of Men
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
A Scanner Darkly
The Illusionist
X2: X-Men United
National Treasure
Solaris
Stranger than Fiction
Sin City

Our first item up for bid is a sign I’ve seen quite a bit in airports lately. It’s an ad for… well, I’ll let you guess.

That’s right, it’s an ad for a new foofy perfume called Pre’tentious. This scent conjours images of being famous, being photographed by top photographers and being in framed photos of… what’s that? Oh, it’s a phone. Yes, my eye is drawn to the head and eyes of the model with the feathers, down to her breasts, over to the bottle, left to the photographer, left to the other face in the frame and… that’s it.

Congratulations, Samsung just sold me a scent that doesn’t exist.

That’s right, the ad isn’t trying to sell perfume, it’s actually, after reading the fine print, marketing a cell phone with a camera.

Who is going to buy this cell phone? Professional perfume photographers? No, I don’t think so. Fashionista? Maybe

V For Vendetta 3-28-09. I came out of the movie thinking it was completely excellent. After a few minutes of mulling I can think of many plot holes and unexplained bits. So I’ll just say that the theme and visual elements of the movie were excellent. A little something was missing… maybe it got lost on the editing room floor? Still a worthwhile movie!

select that/ correct that – correct the last thing you said
correct [word] through [word] – correct a string of words
(hit – on the keypad) – pulls up correction window

Show-dictation-box – pops up a text window that will paste when it’s closed. Good for Firefox.
Edit-selection – You should select something, say “Edit-Selection” and it’ll be pulled into a dictation box.

Cap … - next letter is capitalized
caps-on - Capitalize the First Letter of Every Important Word until “caps-off”
caps-off
All-caps - next word is in ALL CAPS
All-caps-on - EVERY LETTER IS CAPITALIZED UNTIL “All-caps-off”
All-caps-off
No-caps - next word is in all lower case.
No-caps-on - no caps until “no-caps-off”
Cap-that - capitalize the first letter of each word in the last phrase, or the selected text

open-quote - “
close-quote – “
open-parenthesis - (
close-parenthesis - )
open-bracket - [
close-bracket - ]
at-sign - @

scratch-that-[X]-times - multiple undo

————————————————–
Moving the cursor and mouse

mouse-grid - brings up the mouse grid. Then…
mouse-click
mouse-double-click

move-up-[n]-lines
move-left-[n]-characters / words
go-to-top / bottom
go-to-beginning-of-line / end-of-line

insert-before-[word] / after

select-[words I want]
select-again - tries other choices

select-[starting word]-through-[ending word]
select-all
copy-all-to-clipboard
paste-that

backspace-[n]

scratch-that
undo-that

————————————————–
Actions

To kill a voice-recognition action that has gone awry, click the little red X inside the Result box. That will also turn off the microphone.

To spell out individual letters or numbers, pause, say “spell-that”. Wait for the spelling menu.

Chat start time May 24, 2009 5:41:26 AM EST
Edith ext 1601: Welcome to Digi-Key Live-Help. How may I assist you?
Lee Sonko: I’m trying to get a hold of a few of this IC ATTINY43U-SU-ND to test. It looks like I can only get it in quantities of 1,000 or so. Can you help me get just a few units?
Edith ext 1601: I’ll check on this, one moment please.
Lee Sonko: Thanks very much. :-)
Edith ext 1601: This is a part that we don’t stock; we can order it from the mfg but we have to go by their mins
Edith ext 1601: which is 1,036 pcs
Edith ext 1601: We could ask a technician if there’s a sub
Lee Sonko: hurumph. This is a new part, released in March or so from Atmel. You’re the only folks I see it even listed with so far. I’ve tried contacting Atmel but no response in a week. :-(
Lee Sonko: I doubt there’s a sub. It’s a new class of part… a microcontroller with a built-in voltage converter.
Edith ext 1601: I’m sorry; I don’t understand why new parts are advertised if they aren’t available.
Lee Sonko: Me neither! Thanks for looking.
Lee Sonko: Have a great night.
Edith ext 1601: Thanks.  You too.
Lee Sonko: G’night.
Edith ext 1601: bye.

Of course I wonder how it was he came to contact me. Was it one of my emails, my sample parts request, or the “squeaky wheel” post you are looking at now? I’ve heard it can be hard to get samples from Atmel.

http://boxshopsf.org/

If you need space in San Francisco to make large metal art, consider the Box Shop :-)

Marnia and I were making a shopping list for some robots we are building this weekend. She’s in San Mateo, I’m in San Francisco. Over the phone (with headsets) and with Etherpad, we hacked out a list, exchanged links to websites we were considering shopping, and had a finished shopping list in a few minutes. Since we each had our own computer to work on, the collaboration may have taken a tiny bit LESS time than if we had done it in person. That’s weird.

X Men 2 and X Men 3 – Jeez, they are scary violent. I mean, when you go up against Wolverine, he doesn’t knock you out or paralyse you or anything; he puts 6 long metal blades into you and moves them in opposing directions with superhuman strength. He kills you. And the ending of X Men 3… yow, Jean Grey uses telekinesis to tear everyone in a 100 yard radius into what look like 1/4″ blobs of flesh.

Star Trek. Saw it at the Metreon on the IMAX screen last night with Brenden, Charlotte, Jon F and Rick T. Wow. This is the summer’s blockbuster. Very heavy on the attitude, energy, emotion and visuals. A couple plot holes but that’s not what the movie was about. It was more about getting kick-ass backstories for the ST:TOS characters that we thought we already knew and loved. This morning I was exhausted; I think it was because the movie took it out of me. Phew!

Relax

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

She was cool.

On about 4-15-09 my girlfriend and I bought a pint of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough at the convenience store at…

We found that it had less chocolate chips and cookie dough than we’ve had in the past. We weren’t very happy with it.

We know that you make a fine product and this was probably an anomaly but we thought you should know.

Thank you…

I included a photo of the ice cream we ate.

Last week I got back this letter.

…and Annie (from the letter) included 2 coupons a free pint of Ben and Jerry’s and a $0.55 coupon off any Ben and Jerry’s product.

This is a fabulous letter. Why? Because it turns a problem into an opportunity for them to make me into a customer for life.

Let me count the ways:

1. The letter is signed, in ink, from a real person. That makes everything personal.
2. The first thing Annie did was acknowledge the problem. (I might have opened with a brief apology but their approach works too)
3. It looks like Annie actually read my letter. She mentioned my problem directly. This wasn’t a form letter.
4. They made amends, not just with a replacement but a second coupon to ease me back into paying money for ice cream. It’s a  110% guarantee. Nice!
5. The letterhead shows their excellent branding, the design all the way around the edge of the sheet is fun and welcoming.
6. She told me that my information was being forwarded to Quality Assurance. This makes me feel like my letter will actually be productive and help them make a better product. Since I obviously care enough to write a letter, I appreciate helping to make the thing I love better.
7. They put their phone number, web site and mailing address at the bottom. They obviously don’t mind if I call again… the communication channel is open. They like me. They really like me.

This is the kind of stuff I have read about in Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point”.

Ben and Jerry’s has great customer service. I should remind you, the reader that Ben and Jerry’s is owned by Unilever, a multi-national conglomerate with 174,000 employees. They are, by some accounts “a big evil corporation”. Well darn it if we don’t need more of them!

Here are some large excerpts and then my comment:

Plug1: San Francisco City officials claim graffiti complaints are way up this year. They claim The City is overwhelmed with graffiti removal requests from private citizens and business owners. Is there really more graffiti now than there was five years ago?

Steve: No, not even close! In fact, San Francisco’s never been more graffiti-free, thanks to several years of aggressive buffing. Just a few years ago, graffiti was ubiquitous: there were big colorful rooftop pieces in almost every neighborhood, parking lots were layered with years of history, business roll-down gates featured a steady rotation of throw-ups, there were doors crushed with tags citywide, and several Muni tunnels were painted end to end. Almost none of that exists anymore. The amount of graffiti today is exponentially less. It raises an obvious question: what’s all the fuss about?

…

Plug1: City officials say all we need to know about graffiti is that it’s illegal and it’s vandalism. What do you think?

Steve: That’s simplistic. Graffiti is obviously much more than criminal. It’s a worldwide renegade art culture that’s been around for decades. Graffiti is routinely exhibited in museums and art galleries all over the world. Bookstores feature shelves full of graffiti and street art collections. Graffiti festivals are commonplace. Graffiti-inspired designs infuse popular culture. Why? Because people enjoy it!

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Plug1: What are some good locations to get a taste of the urban art you’ve been documenting in San Francisco?

Steve: Just for starters, I’d suggest Clarion Alley between Valencia and Mission streets. Also in the Mission, Lilac Alley between 24^th and 26^th streets. In the Soma district, Bluxome Alley at roughly 430 Townsend street. And in the Upper Haight, check out the Amoeba Records parking lot.

My comment:

Marking another person’s property without their permission is anti-social, ugly, and a crime.

Marking another person’s property with their permission has the ability to be art. Every example you cited, Clarion Alley et all all had permission.

The amount of graffiti today is exponentially less. It raises an obvious question: what’s all the fuss about

Ask that question to the hundreds of people in San Francisco that had to clean up these “artists” shit in the past week, replacing $1,000 windows, spending hours scrubbing with toxic chemicals and renting steamers and blasters.