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.

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.]

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?