ED HAYES

QR Codes have become tremendously popular over the last few months.  Most companies use QR codes as a way to direct users to websites.  Users can scan a code with their mobile phone, and the phone directs the user to the marketer’s webpage.  The process saves the user time by eliminating the need for the user to type the web address into their phone.

QR Codes are two-dimensional machine readable images.  Much like normal barcodes, such as UPC codes, but with a much higher density of information, and significant redundancy/error correction.  Any simple text can be encoded in a QR Code and then read by a machine using a scanner or camera.

When I was doing some research on QR Codes I found they can be used for other purposes such as encoding VCARDs. VCARD files are simple contact or address book files saved as plain text.  Most address book applications can save and open VCARD files with ease.  Many QR scanner applications recognize QR codes with VCARDs as the encoded text.

So, when I was designing my most recent personal business card I though it would be a neat idea to include a QR encoded VCARD on them.

The first step was getting a VCARD.  Unfortunately this was not an easy task. Although there is a standard for VCARDs, most software applications interpret the standard differently, especially as related to the phone number.  It is worth mentioning that if too much information is in the VCARD text, the QR Code will get denser, and thus harder for phones to read.  Through some trial and error, I ended up with this VCARD:

BEGIN:VCARD
N;LANGUAGE=en-us:Hayes;Ed
EMAIL;INTERNET:ed@edhayes.us
TEL;CELL:440-263-4420
URL:http://www.edhayes.us
ADR:;;;CHICAGO;IL;;
END:VCARD

Any decent QR encoding software should be able to encode this.  I used the one available at http://invx.com/code.  Make sure the encoder encodes the text as the QR code, rather than encoding a URL that directs the user to a page displaying the text.

Finally I placed the encoded QR code image on my business card.   Now, when I give my card to someone, they can scan it with their phone, and my contact gets added to their address book.  Not only does this ensure that there are no typos, it’s much easier for the user to enter my contact information by scanning an image rather than typing on a tiny keyboard.

For the past month at work we have been experimenting with Oracle iSetup as a way to migrate Oracle R12 configurations from instance to instance.  We had been using Rapid Solutions (Rapid e-Suite) in Oracle 11i in the past, but wanted to try something quicker, more robust, and seeded with Oracle.

The iSetup module worked pretty well in our proof of concept testing.  But we ran into a problem when we started migrating our multi organization/business unit configurations. We have multiple business units because we are sharing the instance with another division at our company. Migrating configurations with iSetup brings all the ORGs and sites along with each configuration, however we only wanted our division’s configurations migrated.  To solve the problem, we started editing the exported XML before loading it into the new instance.

Editing XML is relatively time consuming and prone to error when editing in a text editor compared to a program designed to edit XML.  We tried to use the free Microsoft XML Notepad 2007, however, loading the exported files was causing iSetup to fail on upload.  I found the problem and solved it as described below.

Conditions

• Oracle iSetup module in Oracle E-Business suite R12
• XML Documents edited by Microsoft XML Notepad 2007

Symptoms

• iSetup reports error when uploading edited XML files
• Log file as seen here:

oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLParseException: Start of root element expected.
at oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLError.flushErrors1(XMLError.java:320)
at oracle.xml.parser.v2.NonValidatingParser.parseRootElement(NonValidatingParser.java:341)

at oracle.xml.parser.v2.NonValidatingParser.parseDocument(NonValidatingParser.java:303)
at oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLParser.parse(XMLParser.java:205)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.api.BC4JAPI.createAPIEntityItems(BC4JAPI.java:330)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.extractor.cpserver.UploaderContextImpl.validateExtract(UploaderContextImpl.java:170)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.extractor.cpserver.UploaderContextImpl.upload(UploaderContextImpl.java:105)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.extractor.cpserver.UploaderCp.runProgram(UploaderCp.java:74)
at oracle.apps.fnd.cp.request.Run.main(Run.java:157)

Solution

1. Download extraction ZIP file generated by Oracle iSetup
2. Extract ZIP file to your computer
3. Edit and save extracted XML file in Microsoft XML Notepad
4. Open saved file in Notepad (Text Editor)
5. Save As ASNI encoding
6. Replace existing file within original ZIP file
   1. ZIP file compression levels and algorithms must reamin intact
   2. 7-ZIP supports replacing files within an existing file using drag and drop functionality
7. Upload updated ZIP file to Oracle iSetup as a new extraction.
8. Load extraction into source instance

Conclusion

H&R Block is really frustrating me; do they want me as a customer, or not?

I started doing my tax return with H&R Block online last week.  Upon visiting the site, I clicked on the “Start Now” under the FREE edition.  As returning user, I entered my username and password and clicked log-in.  Suddenly, I was thrown into the Premium service, without warning.   Thirty minutes went by as I tried to search the FAQ, support, and rest of the internet for a way to switch back to the free edition.

Giving up, I called their support phone number.  The gentlemen I spoke to asked for my e-mail address and birth date to verify my account. He verified that I was in a  premium account, but was unable to tell me how I got to the premium section without paying or how to get back to a free account, making sure I did not have to pay later.  It sounded like he was a complete novice.  I must have spent 20 minutes on the phone with H&R Block cycling between representative confusion and hold music.

Frustrated, I asked for the gentleman’s supervisor.  He requested my Social Security Number in order to verify my account.  Why would I be asked for my Social Security Number when requesting a supervisor?  And why now, not before.   That made absolutely no sense to me.  I refused to divulge the information as it served no purpose, and I had already been verified.

I was about to be late to a Fit-Core class at my gym, so I thanked the gentlemen and hung up.

Now, a week later, I am trying once again to start working on my tax return.  I login, and see this message:

H&R Block Online 2010 Screen Capture

What am I supposed to do? Was this proof-read at all?

• The explanation makes no sense to me
• There appears to be internal-use-only jargon and/or industry acronyms within the explanation
• What is this newsletter they are describing?
• What are the implications, other than price, for switching?
• Will my tax data be deleted either way?
• There is a space before a period within the explanation

I think it’s time to file with TurboTax Free edition.

**UPDATE**

Upon publishing this post, an automated Tweet went out on twitter, and I quickly got a response from H&R Block. I responded with my phone number a and the best time to call which they acknowledged.  Promptly, at the time I specified, I got a call back from H&R Block!  Within ten minutes H&R Block had apologized and solved my problem!

I would have liked to thank H&R Block for their quick response, but it is hard to do that when I had to go through all of this just to solve a problem that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.  Furthermore:  their initial line of support should have been able to solve this just as quick!

I read an article written by John C. Dvorak posted on MarketWatch about Foxconn;  I thought it was quite interesting and worth a read.

From what friends have told me and from most reports it is “essentially a steel mill on one end and computers come out of the other end.”

Read More: Foxconn’s troubles expose China’s woes

Last Saturday I was trying to print a simple postage label for a package I wanted to ship.  All I wanted was a shipping label.  I thought it would take me five minutes at USPS.com, but it turns out a pot-roast cooks in less time that it takes to print a shipping label!  After using their sites, I have come to the conclusion that the United States Postal Service (USPS) and United Parcel Service (UPS) go through very little, if any, user acceptance testing.  FedEx isn’t much better; I did get a label in 10 minutes, but their rates are significantly higher than I was willing to pay.  Here are the pains I felt while navigating though the websites of the three major United States shippers.

Read more…