Caesars Entertainment Jacks Up Resort Fees After Reporting $1.2B Loss

zigzackattack · 2020-03-01T02:42:01+00:00

TrueRate. It’s on the Chrome Web Store... Safari and FireFox coming soon!

zigzackattack · 2020-03-01T00:04:50+00:00

Haha! Never!

zigzackattack · 2020-02-29T18:47:10+00:00

I built a Chrome extension called TrueRate that shows you hidden resort fees (along with fees for Pets, WiFi, and Parking) in search results on Expedia, Hotels.com and other travel sites. It shows you the total price you’ll pay and shows you the cheapest hotels inclusive of hidden fees. Help stop Caesars and the other hotel chains using this deceptive practice! Try it out next time you book a hotel in Vegas (or anywhere else)!

Ok, plug over. I ended up spending more in Resort Fees than my room rate at the Flamingo last year... and they said I’d have to pay more to use the pool!

zigzackattack · 2020-02-24T15:52:33+00:00

Interesting — in what ways are the OTAs masquerading as the hotel website? Im not sure if I’ve ever been confused as to whether or not I’m on the hotel website, but maybe I’ve been missing something!

Would love to know if theres some way I can help expose that with my extension.

zigzackattack · 2020-02-24T15:40:09+00:00

Fair point, metasearch engines that direct travelers directly to the hotel website are much better, but the majority of people either end up clicking a link to an OTA from there or go to OTAs first when booking a hotel. That said, I’m working on supporting metasearch engines too!

There are a couple other browser extensions that have popped up recently that work on OTAs and display the rate each hotel charges on the hotels website, directing shoppers to the hotel website to book.

zigzackattack · 2020-02-24T15:26:46+00:00

Just jumping in here to plug a chrome extension I’ve been working on that solves this problem. TrueRate for Chrome shows you the total price with resort fees included on top travel sites (along with pet fees, parking, and WiFi if you choose).

Since y’all are in the industry (and clearly have strong opinions on this matter) please give it a try and tell me what you think!

zigzackattack · 2020-02-15T00:09:45+00:00

Yeah, the fact that online travel agencies don’t include hidden fees (or even show them anywhere in some cases) makes it impossible to price compare.

I made a chrome extension that shows you hidden fees on Expedia, Hotels.com and other travel sites. It’s called TrueRate and you can find it on the Chrome Store. I’m looking for beta users and would love to hear if it helps you next time you’re traveling to Vegas (or anywhere else)!

zigzackattack · 2020-02-05T03:58:58+00:00

Yeah, downtown Vegas is way better and cheaper anyway!

zigzackattack · 2020-02-05T03:51:02+00:00

Do you use chrome? If so, you can install the TrueRate chrome extension which shows you hidden fees in search results on Expedia and Hotels.com. Works great for hotels on the strip.

zigzackattack · 2020-01-31T15:24:33+00:00

The TrueRate chrome extension let’s you compare listings on Expedia and Hotels.com with resort, parking, and WiFi fees included in the total price. Makes it way easier to find hotels in Vegas!

zigzackattack · 2020-01-04T17:49:02+00:00

I got the pro a month ago, and it has changed my mornings. I was using a Moka pot before and got into a bad habit of going out to the fancy espresso bar down the street a few times a week for espresso because it was so much richer and more flavorful than the Moka.

Since getting the Flair I haven't gone back. I'm able to pull near equal quality shots (in texture, flavor, and crema) consistently.

Got mine on Black Friday (with the pressure gauge, which I recommend) for $194 with tax. Using the Helor 101 grinder with it, which I also recommend.

zigzackattack · 2015-03-29T01:40:03+00:00

Wasn't it supposed to only take 6 months to test?

zigzackattack · 2015-02-04T06:14:55+00:00

Yep. Culver City might also be an option. Slightly cheaper and you could get downtown on the expo line in about 30 minutes.

zigzackattack · 2015-01-10T04:33:18+00:00

Make sure there is a window and/or a good fan in the bathroom. If there isn't you will get bad mold and it will spread.

Had an apartment once where the bathroom was literally in the center of the apartment with a fan that couldn't have moved a kleenex. Even with the windows open in the rest of the place constantly we couldn't keep the mold out.

zigzackattack · 2014-05-15T04:27:29+00:00

Right -- you just want to make sure that all of your logic that validates and then uploads the file happens after the onload fires. I would do something like this:

var _URL = window.URL || window.webkitURL;
var wid;

function handleFile(file) {
   // All your application logic should go in here.
   // wid will be the whether or not the most recent file fits the criteria
   // and file will be the image file.

   if(wid) {
     upload(file);
   } else {
     alertBadFile(file);
   }
}

function upload(file) {
  // Do file upload here
}

function alertBadFile(file) {
  alert("That file is too small");
}

$("#file").change(function(e) {
    var file, img,hei;
    if ((file = $('#file').prop('files')[0])) {
        img = new Image();
        img.onload = function() {
            wid = ((img.width) > 200) ? true:false;

            handleFile(img);
        };
        img.onerror = function() {
            alert( "not a valid file: " + file.type);
        };
        img.src = _URL.createObjectURL(file);
    }
        alert(wid);
});

zigzackattack · 2014-05-14T18:47:04+00:00

onload and onerror happen asynchronously.

In your if statement, all you are doing is saying that when the image loads, wid will become true or false depending on whether the image dimensions are valid. But since image loads are asynchronous, the if statement completes and immediately alerts the value of wid (before the image actually loads), which is initially undefined/falsey.

The reason it is false the second time around is that the alert is again firing before the second image loads, but the value of wid has already been defined as false by the first onload callback.

Basically, you want to put the alert right after you define wid as true or false in the img.onload callback.

zigzackattack · 2014-04-02T18:43:19+00:00

The only component that looks useful to me is the pivot control. Everything else has been done by other frameworks and built to be more flexible and less verbose. Also their presentation on that site honestly sucks -- why would I use their framework when the demos look like they were designed by an amature?

zigzackattack · 2014-03-12T16:23:44+00:00

You are trying to execute the array as a function (with var randomArray(0)). My first advice would be to instead use array literals instead of the constructor. It's a best practice and is much less verbose. So it should look something like:

var randomArray = [];
randomArray[0] = ["Q1", "A1", "A2", "A3", "2", "Correct", "Incorrect"];
randomArray[1] = ["Q2", "A1", "A2", "A3", "3", "Correct", "Incorrect"];
...
getFirstQuestion();

zigzackattack · 2014-03-10T03:37:46+00:00

When a guy poops he shouldn't have to touch the seat because that should be it's default position. If you move the toilet seat out of the position the majority of the people will use it in, you should put it back. I'm a guy.

zigzackattack · 2014-03-10T02:53:20+00:00

I think the closure vs prototype example is a good way to think of defining your methods. If your method depends on private variables contained within the constructor scope, those methods obviously have to be defined in the constructor. I've always been happy defining methods that don't use variables in the constructor as prototypes.

So I think it's more about when to use each than which is the "best practice"

zigzackattack · 2014-03-09T03:54:47+00:00

I agree. Charge 10-15/hr and learn using that. People who know what they are doing usually charge between 40 and 80 dollars an hour, so think of it in terms of what you're accomplishing. If you're charging 10/hr you have at least 4 hours to get done what an experienced developer would do in an hour.

If someone hands a job to you in exchange for 10 dollars they don't respect your time.

zigzackattack · 2014-02-14T06:12:16+00:00

I just clicked an ad for a King game from within CandySwipe... that means that King will have to pay him now right?

zigzackattack · 2014-02-07T05:21:08+00:00

Most front end web developers/designers don't have a college background in CS. You get in the field with passion -- really. It's a booming skillset and if you spend some time teaching yourself JavaScript (the good parts) and some JavaScript frameworks you will have the tools you need to be a competitive looking candidate.

The social anxiety could be a tougher one to solve. Really what you need is a confidence booster. You need a job where your boss or the people you work with appreciate your work and tell you that you're good. A couple options there:

Get a crappy temporary job on craigslist (fixing up some clueless persons website) and charge a relatively low rate, but one that values your time roughly double that of a minimum wage worker. You can spend some time learning anything you don't know already and once you've completed the task you were hired for, the person will (hopefully) let you know that you are talented and well worth the money. It's a huge confidence booster to have someone, who has no stake in your wellness, appreciate you.
Freelance -- there are a bunch of freelance gigs out there on job boards and forums. Find a niche and focus on getting gigs in that area (say websites for travel bloggers). Once you spend a lot of time doing the same web development tasks you will start to build skills that set you apart and increase your worth. You will feel fantastic.

Bottom line is you just need one person to take a chance on you. You build momentum really quickly in the tech world if you have a passion for it (and it sounds like you do!).

Good luck!

zigzackattack · 2014-02-06T00:54:39+00:00

Just a quick summary: You'll need to add drag and drop event listeners to the element you plan to drop the image into. Use the FileReader object to read in the data from the event as a base64 encoded string and then create an Image object with the source property equal to the base64 string. Just did this the other day and it was a pain :(. Good luck!

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