Reviewing bad reviews when in a bad mood

So now and again people try out Autoptimize in a … clueless manner, see things breaking, deactivating it immediately (no problem up to that point) and posting a bad review. In general I will patiently reply that they can fix almost any issue themselves using the settings-screen and that there’s info in the FAQ and I’ll even troubleshoot for them if they’re kind of nice. This gentle and helpful approach has, in the past, already resulted in updated, raving reviews and can only be highly recommended.
But sometimes I’m just in a bad mood, and I post an rant like this one;

Zoukspot
★☆☆☆☆ You’re doing it wrong
If I could review your review, the title would be “you’re doing it wrong”. Because, you are indeed doing it wrong @zoukspot, on multiple levels.
First and foremost; optimizing JavaScript can be tricky and it is not uncommon to have to adjust AO (or any JS-optimizer) configuration to fix things. So if you have a problem in your context (beaverbuilder) and you don’t configure AO to fix that problem but simply deactivate AO instead, then you’re doing it wrong.
But your doing it wrong on another level as well;
1. If something (say a plugin) doesn’t work, you’re supposed to look at the controls (in this case, the settings page) to see if you can fix it there (spoiler: I’m 100% this is fixable without having to deactivate AO entirely).
2. If you can’t find your way around those controls (the settings-page) you’re supposed to look in the manual (in this case; the FAQ). RTFM, as they used to say in the days of yore.
3. If the manual (that great FAQ) doesn’t help you fix your stuff, you could ask customer service (in this case; the forum) for assistance. I tend to “hang out” there quite often and am very responsive.
If you’ve gone through these steps and you still can’t get your something (a plugin) working and you feel you haven’t received the support you think you’re entitled to, then (and as far as I’m concerned, only then, but I might be biased) you can post a negative review about how bad that piece of junk broke your site.
Now I can’t know for sure if you had a look at the settings page or the FAQ (although I would very much doubt that), but I know for a fact that you haven’t sought help for your problem. So why, might I ask, are you posting a 3-star review if you clearly did no effort to look for a solution for your problem yourself?
Based on all of this, I can only rate your review with 1 star. I will gladly reconsider my review, if you reconsider yours.
(sorry, bad day at the office and kind of frustrated about pointless reviews like these. you’re not the first, you won’t be the last, but you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. no hard feelings. well, not a lot of them anyway 😉 )

But all will be better tomorrow and I’ll be patient and helpful once again, I promise!

On the rebound with an Acer beTouch e110

On January 28th I was stupid enough to forget my trusty HTC Hero on the train. I filled out the NMBS’ online lost luggage forms and mourned the loss of my faithful personal digital assistant for a couple of days. As my employer is supposed co-finance a new handset in July, I decided to look for a cheap temporary replacement for now. Main requirements: cheap, 3G+, tethering and optionally Android. The Acer beTouch e110 seemed to be a perfect match.
The e110 is a small and light touchscreen device, running Android 1.5 (Cupcake). It comes with 3G+ (HSDPA), Bluetooth, GPS and FM radio and it is one of the cheapest Android-based handset available. And when I say cheap, I mean cheap as in “you can’t even find a decent 2nd hand device for that price”-cheap.
So what’s not to like? Well, the CPU is pretty slow, there’s no WiFI and the touchscreen needs some tough love. Android 1.5 Cupcake isn’t exactly the latest and greatest Android around either. Although Acer did issue new ROM’s in 2010, those were all based on Android 1.5 and there are no plans for an Eclair or Froyo version. What’s more surprising (although some would consider this a plus) is that the e110 is not a Google-branded phone. This means, amongst other things, that there’s no Google Market and no Contacts synchronization. Add the lack of Exchange integration to the equation and you’ve got very empty contacts and calender, which is pretty frustrating if you want to use your phone for work purposes.
No, Acer’s beTouch e110 certainly is no Hero, but I’ve got my HSDPA, tethering and even Android for a very low price. So I’ll cope until my Hero comes home. And if that doesn’t happen, the unboxing of the Desire Z in July will be all the more exiting.