Check out this sellers rating. Do you see 120? Now hit refresh, what did the figure change to?

Here are screenshots if the item is no longer available:

What buyers would normally see

What buyers would see momentarily after a refresh before the embedded javascript changes the rating value back up to 120 (first screenshot)

The javascript not only changes the sellers rating, it also points the sellers link to an actual seller with that rating. Amazingly, Ebay allows javascript to be embedded into templates thus allowing pages to be manipulated in this way. I have seen the offending piece of code which I was going to post but decided against for obvious reasons. I am astounded to think that there are no checks in place to prevent this from happening.

Actual Ebay Item

I have carried out many, many site launches over the years. Thankfully the vast majority have gone smoothly, with only a handful I can safely say have been valuable lessons. Admittedly the issues I faced pale into insignificance when compared the 2012 Olympic debacle. What a mess!

Firstly, the logo. I have already discussed here what I think, no doubt you have your own thoughts on it.

To add to it all, the video has had to be re-edited on the advice of the charity Epilepsy Action as well as a leading professor in the field. I watched the video the day it was launched and it occurred to me that the flashing lights could quite possibly bring on seizures. But I soon dismissed it and thought that any design agency would be aware of such issues so therefore this sort of animation probably has no effect. WRONG!

So far, there have been 18 reported seizures forcing the committee to have the video re-edited. It isn’t clear as to whether the same agency behind the logo was the same one who created the video. But no doubt the assumption that they are the same will have already been made. Mud sticks.

It is surprising that this was missed. It is a well known fact that flashing imagery can bring on epileptic seizures. Even TV announcers warn viewers that there will be flashing imagery. For a major organisation and agency who probably deal with projects of this sort all the time to have missed something so simple is shocking. The video itself must have underwent a review process with the committee. It is staggering to think that it was put before a large group of people and no one, not a single person, nitto thought that the flashing lights and animation would cause a problem.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6727029.stm

Like I said, What a launch! :D

I am no designer, I enjoy designing, but I cannot really put myself in a position to criticise other designers… but this time I cannot stay silent.

What the hell were they thinking of?!?!

Here are a few quotes lifted straight off the BBC web site:

“This is the vision at the very heart of our brand,”
“It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.”
“It is an invitation to take part and be involved.”
“We will host a Games where everyone is invited to join in because they are inspired by the Games to either take part in the many sports, cultural, educational and community events leading up to 2012 or they will be inspired to achieve personal goals.”
- Seb Coe.

“When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life…”
- Tony Blair

“This is a truly innovative brand logo that graphically captures the essence of the London 2012 Olympic Games - namely to inspire young people around the world through sport and the Olympic values.”
- Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge

Do all these quotes sound like they were written long before the logo was revealed? They sound so “generic”.

Can someone explain to me how pink and yellow jagged fuzziness will make da’ yoof feel inspired?

I can appreciate the risk they took in trying to come up with something new, well, the risk the design agency took… for a fee reportedly at £400k I might add. (Not confirmed though…).

Naturally, like most departures from the norm. There is the backlash which the committee will have to weather. A mere few weeks and all will be forgotten.

But if like me, you cannot stay quiet on the topic then thanks to the t’internet, you can have a say.

Sign the petition! As of writing this, over 4,000 other have.

Take the piss! Again, many others have.

I have to let you know the level at which USB dongle inventors seem to think consumers are at.

Behold, … wait for it… the Mouse Jiggler!

Want to know exactly what a Mouse Jiggler does? It jiggles your mouse to prevent your screensaver from kicking in.

Where do you begin? Why swap 15 seconds of your life which is what it would take to turn your screensaver off with a pointless piece of crap at a cost of $30? Did market research turn up users who would consider purchasing one?

Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.

Whilst queuing up at my local Asda i happened to glance over my shoulder at the person behind to see what they were about to purchase. This was an attempt to make myself feel better about the monstrous Victoria sponge cake i was about pay for.

Amongst all her goods, was a ready made meal. To my amazement, it was a pre-packed ready made omelette. WTF?!?!!

Now, I am famous for not knowing how to cook. Its not that I don’t try, its more that i have a problem with the word simmer. Simmering is something which I cannot bring myself to stand around and wait for. As a result….well…. you can guess the rest. But one dish I can manage is an omelette.

I was not able to read the cooking instructions, something which I plan to do on my next visit. But surely, no matter how simple, it cannot take as long as it would to whisk up a few eggs and fry them. I realise that omelettes come in many different varieties, but this just said “Omelette”. Not to mention the idea of re-heating a half cooked omelette is enough to put you off eggs for life.

Surely, this has to be convenience gone mad. Are we now so busy that we just don’t have the time to mix a few eggs in a bowl? We must be if manufacturers feel their is a demand for such foods. Not to mention Asda in all this, but a large supermarket chain which has a team of people who decide what to put on their shelves thought an omelette in a box would be a real hit. Well they must be onto something, the person behind me bought one.

For those needing cooking instructions from a person whose bookshelf contains 101 recipes by Baldrick.

• Break eggs in bowl
• Whisk ‘em
• Pour into frying pan
• Fry
• Put on plate
• Eat

(p.s. and yes, i had to look up the recipe to make sure :) )