How side channels cost me DKK 160.

I buy a lot of stuff from dealextreme.com. Usually I try to keep it under DKK 80, as this means that I would not get fined DKK 160 by the Danish Postal service.

According to them, this balances out the costs of having to charge you the VAT and occasionally import duties. I didn’t believe them, and I would get pissed and call them every time I had to pay this fine, just to get something out of my money.

Usually this would end up with another person being equally pissed at me for wasting their time. In my mind, the process would look a little like this:

• Parcel going by a customs officer, who deems me worthy of a fine.
• Customs officer scans the barcode - which has every information needed to preform a customs declaration.
• A printer spits out a letter for me with the fine included
• I hand in the letter of indulgence and pay in return for my goods.

This entire process in my mind would cost around DKK 30, given that it might take a maximum of 5 minutes of their time to preform. Therefore if I try to avoid paying import duties, it is only due to the Danish Postal Service being complete jerks.

This brings me back to todays experiences. After a package from DealExteme had floated around in the Danish Postal Service for 21 days (getting to Denmark from Hong Kong took less than 3 days), I went down to the Post Office to try to sort these things out. After an initial confusion, they managed to find my package and almost handed it over without any fines. But I was not so lucky. From the back of the Post Office, “Remember to charge the import duties”, an elderly lady screamed.

DKK 40 in VAT, 160 in fines.

I didn’t want to complain this time. Fearing they would send it into the postal gyre again, I paid up. To my amazement they had, without having to contact me, figured out the price of my goods.

Nothing was revealed on the front side. Not even DealExtreme was mentioned. The customs declaration was conveniently lying about price. HKD 45 is nowhere near the USD 29.88 I bought it for.

But somehow they found out. From my receipt, they knew it was from DealExtreme.

I was curios wether they just had estimated the price or how they came up with that number. I checked my invoice: USD 29.88. 

I turned the package around. 3 small numbers was the only thing. I entered the numbers into the search box dealextreme.com, there it was.

For once, they earned their DKK 160. Tomorrow I will send them their diploma.

Thanks to @plomlombot for the source. I think it might work better when I increase the number of tweets and filter out the Danish ones.

04:02:20: How to play Blackened by Metallica. (pardon the nosiness; but i find data visualization software fascinating)

07:53:46: Wishing all of you asked. My imaginary girlfriend broke up after our last video evening. who do you prefer?

08:31:04: “being awesome” is on the matter of zombies—I’m scared: Who am I? What have i become?

09:02:55: Last thing I do at my computer before leaving for the Roskilde Festival to put @intronaut in the lounge

09:03:55: ‘Watchmen’, it’s 162 minutes of a Nokia N900 hooked up to a famous plane http://i35.tinypic.com/6t2yy0.jpg

09:19:25: @pickled thank you, it is not a friend, it’s just a person with an icon” http://bit.ly/90CuOe

09:20:43: …you’re telling me that it is free. Me: …worst business model, evar.

09:25:41: I found that @adba had an affair with my imaginary girlfriend doesn’t follow me on this thing.

09:56:59: So, there’s such a thing as ‘too much information.’ First, let me repay you with sex.”

10:08:57: Why Twitter Will Endure - David Carr in New York Stock Exchange” -… http://tumblr.com/xkn4flwpl

10:45:07: I’m back from Phobos, we all should be able to perform a very neat party trick: 100 consecutive push ups

10:48:37: Me: “…and followers who do use the favourite function, follow so many others that I go to bed *sigh*

11:24:35: My night out hitting on ladies went extraordinarily. http://www.youtube.com/googlechromethemes

11:36:10: RT @wikileaks (via @telecomix & @intensifier) Can journalism be saved with an icon” @adba: wanna go to bed!

11:36:36: tor-resolve: go home! @pragmatk: go to the Linux User Group meeting, tonight. [cue pistols]

12:09:29: At #rf09 I got a hand injury from opening beers, so I had to correct it, one of us is doing it wrong

12:23:44: I’m making a website launch reception? official hashtag is: #fuckyeah!

12:25:08: “being awesome” is on the matter of zombies—I’m scared: Who am I? What have i become?

12:25:21: Saw my first movie in 3D yesterday. What a blast. official hashtag is: #fuckyeah!

12:32:50: Bred opbakning til forbud mod terrorsurfing - Måske vi kan få kineserne til at græde, okay? Skam dig, magrethe. #bypåskrump

12:46:19: @elneff you’re funny! funny-man! how do I listen to Ganon while doing that? “Oklahoma!”

12:55:01: #10yearsago my mother didn’t allow us to do so-Deny my card will ya?

13:01:30: after reading the “anti-sec exposure”, my conclusion is that the eco-friendly me has doubled my coffee yet!

13:04:03: just launched mariner write from the bowel of my lungs (death metal style).

13:05:42: @fafner curious which issues you encounter in mm app development? What brand of chloroform do they use?

13:24:06: Okay people, I’ve got some good old family friendly fun for you, it’s a xmas movie. Pay some goddamn attention!

13:25:44: People who do not hesitate forcing him down and rub his nose in it—He will thank you!

13:36:36: People who do not think, that Jesus came to earth, to ring the bell at the local pub in Berlin

13:46:32: Best actor ever. If I’d deliver any of the seven words you can never say on television.

14:56:47: after reading the “anti-sec exposure”, my conclusion is that the eco-friendly me has doubled my coffee yet!

14:58:12: “Google Wave real-time.” (even if you’re actually on a map; it could be about a girl in trouble.

15:24:50: @obak81 although they do their wicked “Running Man”, and their shape makes for easy hiding and smuggling into a prison

15:28:32: “being awesome” is on the matter of zombies—I’m scared: Who am I? What have i become?

15:41:58: 5 things that make my life “I’m really busy right now”, “It’s not you, it’s me”, and “but I’ve just finished eating a hamburger.

15:49:44: @kylebragger is there any news on a day with wall-to-wall TV coverage of the same ideas i have for #mixtapeyourdarlings

15:54:10: ‘Watchmen’, it’s 162 minutes of a sudden my neighbor felt an urge to tell me that it isn’t a game; it’s merely edutainment—darn!

16:07:25: At #rf09 I got a hand injury from opening beers, so I had to use my other hand. http://www.flickr.com/photos/maaloe/4093307828/

16:42:33: My imaginary gf woke me up; Apparently, when I got home the iDisk started acting up. Gentlemen, that is no way to @26c3 by train

16:57:32: I can’t seem to find a girl who can stand me for an evening. Me: “stop, stop…you had me at bacon”

17:15:51: face-gruppe med missionen “tina dicow til singstar” > http://bit.ly/65ePLq who do you prefer?

17:59:34: I found that @adba had an affair with my imaginary girlfriend doesn’t follow me on this thing.

18:00:39: putting final touches on #KNC10 application for an well educated woman with a good career.

18:05:25: #10yearsago my mother didn’t allow us to do so-Deny my card will ya?

18:25:37: Gar-den-ing. noun. When one or more persons turn everything green in a porcelain store.”

18:27:23: Overheard office chatter: “We should be able to keep a couple of brews. (true story.)

18:27:46: @MeetingBoy …and Sony Ericsson. There’s a reason I unplug the charger when I go to bed *sigh*

18:48:43: @fafner curious which issues you encounter in mm app development? Rats…

18:55:13: ”I guess that I won’t reveal the killer by shouting it out loud this time

19:22:27: When taking photos of the prints using my Sony Ericsson phone. (okay, ESPECIALLY if you’re going to die.

19:40:35: Saw my first movie in 3D yesterday. What a blast. Fincher’s made other films, already!

19:49:35: “being awesome” is on the matter of zombies—I’m scared: Who am I? What have i become?

20:01:56: @MeetingBoy …and Sony Ericsson. There’s a reason I unplug the charger when I go to bed *sigh*

20:19:04: Another from @ArsTechnica: “A look at her favstar page: http://favstar.fm/users/showedyoumine

20:19:46: @obak81 although they do their wicked “Running Man”, and their shape makes for easy hiding and smuggling into a prison

20:20:26: omg! a black guy gave a balanced argument about something that isn’t black or white. buhu… @FakeAPStylebook

20:26:52: I found that @adba had an affair with my imaginary girlfriend doesn’t follow me on this thing.

20:42:17: This might be the one they gang up on and force to “say something funny.”

20:55:17: Saw my first movie in 3D yesterday. What a blast. Rats…

20:56:40: At #rf09 I got a hand injury from opening beers, so I had to use my other hand. brb, skal lige registrere gåågle.dk

21:09:25: Shock & Denial; Pain & Guilt; brb, skal lige registrere gåågle.dk

21:26:28: In celebration of St. Patricks Day, the bird at the keyboard while i do it.

21:42:08: @Havalina !important should only be used is in the year 2154… #avatar

21:47:29: At home at the office; right move, go for a very nice evening and then party at the office. Considering that I already bought!

21:48:07: Bought a sofa. If we continue, in a garden black, by use of fire. wanna fight about it?

22:02:37: “Somehow I do not panic; 2. Rip the battery out of your iPhone;

22:18:14: face-gruppe med missionen “tina dicow til singstar” > http://bit.ly/65ePLq —The 7 Stages of web development.

22:57:58: @obak81 although they do their wicked “Running Man”, and their shape makes for easy hiding and smuggling into a prison

22:59:49: Also just made a word processor, time travelled back to now and then charged 49$ for it.

23:13:39: Social conventions: Is it deemed too passive aggressive people? Now in stunning 3D!

23:58:42: This might be the one they gang up on and force to “say something funny.”

One website in particular has begun to get on my nerves recently. The newspaper recently revamped themselves and put up a new faster loading website. Except that the new design made room for even more annoying advertisements. Especially the kind that will play at random if you use a non-Windows platform. Full volume movie trailer with explosions.

The website might be loading faster, but in return, it manages to use about 50% of my CPU. This really pisses me off. Using an ad-blocker, the CPU usage is less than 1%. I guess this is really my point, but climate stories are big this season.

In a set of measurements of questionable scientific standard, I used a power-meter I had checked out at the local library to measure how much power my computers used, viewing politiken.dk with and without an ad-blocker.

Ubuntu 9.10 (+30W / 25%)
Without ads: 120W
With ads: 150W

Windows 7 (+15W / 11%)
Without ads: 122W
With ads: 147W

Mac OS X 10.5 (+9W / 13%) (Laptop and x5 the number of open instances)
Without ads: 14W
With ads: 23W

Say you have a web browser open for 3 hours every day and your computer uses 12W more with Flash ads, then you emit around 7 kg CO₂ each year.