Eric Shapiro

Member since: Mar 8th, 2007

Eric Shapiro's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
ParentDish	1 Comment
Download Squad	1 Comment
Slashfood	1 Comment
AOL Video Blog	1 Comment
Lemondrop	1 Comment
Daily Finance	2 Comments

Recent Comments:

Martha Stewart and Kmart: Putting on appearances (Daily Finance)

Oct 19th 2009 2:44AM I have never really cared for K-Mart. I do seem to go there grudgingly maybe once a year, but it's definitely not one of my favorite stores. K-Mart really needs to take a page from how Target marvelously and continuously decorates and re-decorates its stores.

However, I did try to buy one of Martha Stewart's ironing boards - they looked absolutely terrific.

But I went to every single K-Mart within 90 minutes' drive of where I live and each and every ironing board, the particular item I wanted to buy, was defective. I finally gave up, and to this day still have the ironing board I wanted to get rid of originally.

It is possible the other customers bought the good version of the item I wanted and the remaining copies of the same item were defective ones that were left behind, and the latter are the ones I saw.

But, these items left Martha's factories, not K-Mart's factories, and ultimately Martha has to be held responsible for quality control before these items hit the shelves at K-Mart.

But then again, items can also break or be damaged enroute or at some other point after they've already left the factory. All stores are responsible for removing all defective items from its shelves anytime anywhere that any defective or broken items are found. Why waste customers' time and valuable real estate on store shelves with items you know customers are not going to purchase if it's obviously defective or damaged?

I worked at Target for 6 years, and anytime we come across a damaged or defective item, the item is identified as "chargeback," and we take it off the shelves and send it to the backroom. This is done during overnight when the sales floor is closed and we're re-stocking the shelves, not during the hours the store is open to the public. K-Mart clearly did not do that in at least the stores that I saw with at least the particular item from Martha Stewart that I was looking for.

So I think the blame for the quality of the items I saw on the shelves has to include both K-Mart and Martha Stewart. I don't know if this blame is 50-50 or one side is more to blame than the other, but either way neither gets off scot free in this mutual finger-pointing in my opinion. Maybe it's more K-Mart because ultimately they're the last line of defense before an item gets exposed to the customer for possible purchase.

Has Buffett's GEICO hit the limit to online growth? (Daily Finance)

Sep 15th 2009 2:21PM I think this is a good idea. I tend to do as much research as I can online for anything, but there have been times I don't make a real decision until I can actually touch or see the product or talk to a real live human being face-to-face.

I also believe everyone has different levels of comfort with different technologies, it's not always by older or younger generation.

"Baby, please don't go!" Facebook laying it on thick when you deactivate (Download Squad)

Aug 7th 2009 12:23PM No, your friends can't tag you if you don't want that to happen. I'm on FB but set up my privacy info such that I can't be tagged at all on photos anywhere in FB.

I got mis-tagged twice by different folks within my FB network, but I appeared nowhere in those photos and the people in the photos looked nothing like me -- one of them was because the real person has the same first name and a last name that puts him alphabetically right next to my name in that person's FB network, and he was careless when he clicked on the other person's name next to mine with his mouse; the other mis-tagger apparently had a senior moment and thought my name went with someone else's face -- and after I alerted both mis-taggers, the tags were corrected.

After the second mis-tag, I came across an article somewhere online that explained how to permanently block such tagging on FB which alerted me to the possibility. Later I lost that article but I looked at my privacy controls and figured out how to do it, and went ahead and did it.

British Court Says Woman isn't Smart Enough to be a Mom (ParentDish)

Jun 4th 2009 4:14PM One problem I see here is that IQ isn't a unitary concept. There are many different kinds of intelligence. A better question would be how this mother is intelligent, not if she is intelligent or not. The hospital or social worker may be using an inappropriate or outdated definition of intelligence, since according to this article they are acting as if it is a unitary concept.

It also sounds as if mistakes have been made in different ways on both sides.

Americans Trounced by British in International Spelling Bee (Lemondrop)

Feb 9th 2009 8:16PM I think everyone should just be more relaxed. Even back in the days of the Roman Empire, elders complained about Latin getting mangled by the younger generation.

I have no problem using spellcheck, it's not out of laziness, there can be words spelled wrong that manage to slip under the radar when you're looking over what you just typed for errors. I'm also aware spellcheck doesn't catch every error either, having it helps but isn't enough. It also helps, if it's possible, to walk away and then return to the text later, you'll see it with fresh eyes and even more errors will pop out, but that isn't always possible or convenient.

Also, I regularly switch back and forth between words such as 'tho' and 'though', 'light' and 'lite', etc, for example if I'm in a hurry, or I want to be really casual, or I'm on a cellphone with a really tiny keyboard, or I want to match the words used by the other person I'm talking to so that we'll be on the same 'wavelength'. Of course in formal writing or emailing to either an important person or I want to emphasize the importance of what I'm saying, I'll switch to more formal writing such as 'though'.

That whole process is called code-switching, it happens in both speech and in writing too. You don't talk to your boss the way you'd talk to your spouse or kid. There's a 'formal' register of speech, a 'colloquial' register of speech, etc.

So I wouldn't worry if people use words like 'tho', I think what's more important for English teachers is to make sure their students know how to code-switch and what's appropriate for different registers of speech.

Also, don't forget, these so-called mistakes, intentional or otherwise, are often the source of creativity that can lead to changes in the language, which is to be expected for any living language.

Annoying Restaurant Trends (Slashfood)

Sep 28th 2008 5:14PM I just came across this blog for the first time, and I'd like to add my two cents here.

I am deaf, and I really resent it when I'm with hearing folks and the server comes and recites the dishes to them simply because it's easier because they're all hearing and it's just so convenient to blatantly (to me, yes, but obviously not to them) leave the deaf person at the table out of that conversation, and I feel like I don't exist as a person at all.

Then when I want to know what was said, I feel like I'm being patronized if the hearing folks I'm with then repeat to me what the server said, rather than if the information comes from the server.

I don't like it that hearing people are also always treated first before deaf people are at the same table. The server can find a pace for sharing the specials of the day menu and any other information so everyone at the table gets the information at the same time, that shows the ultimate highest respect for all of the sitting diners.

What I prefer is that the server treat me the same way the server treated the hearing people at my table. If it appears appropriate, I would like to be asked directly if I needed the info repeated or if the information can be given to me in some other way.

What the server says may not match exactly what is said on the printed specials flyer menu, or the sever may add additional comments that I wish I had been told, like this or that dish a certain ingredient is now gone or that one dish is really good. I'd like to know that information too, if it was worth sharing with the hearing diners, please include the deaf diners too. This makes me feel more included and therefore I feel more like a real person.

Thanks for listening.

BTW, I make sure that servers who treat me like a real person and not like a nonperson get a much higher tip from me.

Rosie Calls 'Idol' Racist (AOL Video Blog)

Mar 8th 2007 2:47PM I wish this website would allow us readers to vote on the value of each comment, from low to high, and that we could then click a button that allows us to see only the worthwhile comments in descending order from high value to low value. Amazon.com does this with comments on their books, every comment is rated by other viewers and we can read comments in descending order from 5 stars to one star. I hope the webmaster for this website will consider doing the same for this website. That way we can look only at the classy comments and can more easily ignore the rest.