Tag: australia-post

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The 9pm Edict #2

The 9pm Edict

Labor Party dissent over internet censorship goes public. Shock horror: modern vigilantes use Facebook. And the interim Premier of New South Wales says a precedent is not actually a precedent.

Ladies and Gentlemen, despite the appalling service of the #badoptus network, here is episode 2 of The 9pm Edict. Finally.

You can listen to this episode below. But if you want them all, subscribe to the podcast feed, or even subscribe automatically in iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:18 — 10.1MB)

If you’d like to comment on this episode, please add your comment below, or Skype to stilgherrian or phone Sydney +61 2 8011 3733.

[Credits: The 9pm Edict theme by mansardian, Edict fanfare by neonaeon, all from The Freesound Project. Photograph of Stilgherrian taken 29 March 2009 by misswired, used by permission.]

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Australia Post’s lousy website

I’ve never been a fan of the Australia Post website, and not just because it’s pig ugly. In any website design, attention to detail is important — and every time I’ve used this site I’ve run into attention-to-detail problems.

click to view website My first annoyance with this site was just before Christmas. I needed to know when post offices would be closed over the holidays, and when the deadlines were for posting Christmas mail. I couldn’t find either piece of information.

Yesterday I was annoyed again.

I wanted to call my local post office to book a time for a passport interview. Yes, I’m finally getting a passport, and the quaint thing is you apply at a post office. So, rather than use the messy, advertising-filled White Pages I thought I’d get the number straight from the source.

Screenshot of Australia Post website fragment

And this is what you get (right): all the details for your local post office — but the general phone number for Australia Post.

That’s right, you can’t actually call your local post office to ask. You have to phone a call centre, navigate a silly IVR system and then wait in a queue.

Why on earth don’t they just give you the phone number?