I've been exploring Furl.  It is sweet.  Sign up for the service, add a browser toolbar that furls pages, one click and you have a searchable online library. 

I love the archiving feature where you save stuff you want to read later with one click.  It just makes remembering so effortless.  That's a great plus over the newsreaders i use such as the built in Radio Aggregator, Sharpreader and Bloglines.  Moreover, although some might say its just another bookmarking tool, i think its useful for me as i use multiple computers - I can now access my bookmarks on different machines.  I can share them too with others through RSS feeds and by adding a script to my blog, which i have just done on the right panel beneath my blogroll. 

What's neat too is i can subscribe to Furl archives of other people i want to, as RSS feeds and get updates daily.  

I just wish they had an easy push-to-blog button like some of the news readers do.

In comparison, Stumbleupon, has a greater community networking focus, because each user has a home page.  However i couldn't be bothered to rank each site i visit, although i am told it is a great way to find new sites around your area of interest. 

So far, i think i prefer Furl for its simplicity. 

I'm going to experiment some more :)

8:47:37 PM    comment []  trackback []

Warning ... this is a long one.

I've been using Skype for over a year now and SkypeOut since its launch.  I use it almost every single day and am totally addicted to the sheer brilliance in connection and sound quality, even when in a conference call with people in several locations.   So it upsets me when things don't just work the way they should. 

I've been trying to buy SkypeOut credits since November 29 and have made several attempts using different credit cards and even Moneybookers as suggested by them (despite being uncomfortable with using them as i don't know who they are, unlike PayPal).  Nothing works and this is what i get :

Order #	Date	Amount	Payment
1940685	December 13 2004	Ä10.00	Moneybookers (REFUSED)
1932703	December 13 2004	Ä10.00	Moneybookers (REFUSED)
1932428	December 13 2004	Ä10.00	Eurocard/Mastercard (REFUSED)
1932273	December 13 2004	Ä10.00	Eurocard/Mastercard (REFUSED)
1932143	December 13 2004	Ä10.00	Eurocard/Mastercard (CANCELLED)
1931420	December 13 2004	Ä10.00	Eurocard/Mastercard (CANCELLED)
1722393	December 02 2004	Ä10.00	Eurocard/Mastercard (REFUSED)
1722325	December 02 2004	Ä10.00	Visa credit card (REFUSED)
1658103	November 29 2004	Ä10.00	Eurocard/Mastercard (REFUSED)
1658051	November 29 2004	Ä10.00	Visa credit card (REFUSED)
85084	July 28 2004	Ä5.00	(AUTHORISED)
4701	June 25 2004	Ä10.00	American Express credit card (AUTHORISED)

 

In addition, the address fields are not long enough to contain the same address on my credit cards - this problem is in the first address line. Previously in June, i bought credits with Amex and it worked, however that is no longer allowed. .

I tried livehelp - it did not connect, and goes right back to my account overview page.  I asked for help in the forum.  I sent a note via the customer support channel and i get this response :

The same page for a bug report as the one i had sent.  This is so frustrating ... when all i want it to do is work !  And i know its not an isolated problem ... the Skype forum is full of complaints in this area.

So now i am stuck with E1.69 in SkypeOut credit and no way to get more.  Yesterday i wanted to attend the Yi Tan weekly call on Freedom to Connect using SkypeOut where i would pay just 2 cents a minute and i had to get Stuart to conference me in instead.  Which worked wonderfully well .... but that's not a solution is it.  

At a broader level, i am quite surprised that a company that is revolutionizing how we communicate is unable to complete transactions seamlessly.  Imagine the revenue they are losing out.   

1:46:31 PM    comment []  trackback []