Disappointed in the latest update of the aluminum laptops, I’m still recommending the white bottom-of-the-line as the “best buy”.
It’s now been updated, too. 10hr battery life is sweet.
Apple MacBook – $999
For casual users the iPad might be the better buy. It’s outselling the Apple laptops in the USA.
The iPad has problems, still, a first generation product. It’s difficult, for example, to get photos from your camera into the iPad.
Update: the MacWorld review
What is it about Canada’s least trusted company that makes me distrust them?
TELUS, hated Canadian phone company, is going paperless.
We got notice in the mail. At least the ink was GREEN.
“Effect July 1, 2010 a paper bill will no longer be mailed to you.”
How do you confirm various new ways TELUS has dreamed up to rip you off if you don’t get overbilled monthly?
Simple, you check your eBill online:
“Register online at telus.com/register”
NOPE. You are redirected to the service notice page. UPDATE – that page is LIVE now.
hmmm
TELUS would really prefer people never check their phone bill. On paper. Or online.
My TELUS SCAM senses tingling, I decided my parents better continue to get their phone bill by mail.
To opt back in to the billing system they’ve had all their lives, I simply had to phone 1 877 767-7870 to confirm by automated system.
That didn’t work either. Several attempts failed. On an automated system. … I thought TELUS was a phone company? … Who does TELUS curse when their own phone system fails?
Finally I reached a human at TELUS through the regular business number. She quickly added my parents to the list of those who want to continue getting the phone bill by mail.
TELUS SUCKS. They are not worthy of your business. Go to another company, if you can. If you can’t … don’t drop the soap in the shower.
related – telussucks.inf
Fact is the days of any company charging my parents $65/month for very few phone calls phone and internet (not so bad) are numbered. All phone companies are stuffing money into their coffers because they know that gravy train ends soon.
This is scary.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the good, old-fashioned copy machine. But, as Armen Keteyian reports, advanced technology has opened a dangerous hole in data security.
CBS
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’m amazed this story hasn’t hit the popular media sooner. Obviously manufacturers must build in a time line on when documents are safely deleted, instantly by default.
Thanks George.
I’ll never photocopy anything again … after my Cirque contract later this morning.
I’ve added a new “category”, things getting worse.
When I was a kid, phone calls worked. Almost every time. Yet in 2010 we’ve dropped calls, no service, minimum 3yr mobile phone contracts (Canada). Monthly bills more expensive than expected.
Customers more unhappy than ever before.
Smart phones lure with wonderful apps. But make crappy phone calls.
And have you recently tried to call a company? They obviously don’t want your business.
Sure VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the future. But have you tried Skype? It’s very unreliable.
Fact is … phone service is getting worse.
I don’t have a phone right now, in protest. That has it’s downsides, too.
I love Facebook. Check it several times a day.
Wherever I travel, most laptops and netbooks are opened to Facebook.
Women, in particular, can’t resist.
But the company is evil. Facebook watchers pretty much all agree on this:
… “the act of creating deliberately confusing jargon and user-interfaces which trick your users into sharing more info about themselves than they really want to?” …
MSNBC – Facebook: The ‘Evil Interface?’
10. Facebook’s Terms Of Service are completely one-sided
9. Facebook’s CEO has a documented history of unethical behavior
8. Facebook has flat out declared war on privacy
7. Facebook is pulling a classic bait-and-swit
6. Facebook is a bully
5. Even your private data is shared with applications
4. Facebook is not technically competent enough to be trusted
3. Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account
2. Facebook doesn’t (really) support the Open Web
1. The Facebook application itself sucksGizmodo – Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook
EFF – Facebook’s Eroding Privacy Policy: A Timeline
Matt McKeon – The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook
The Consumerist – Facebook’s Privacy Settings Are Actually “Evil Interfaces”
NYT – Facebook Exodus
CNET News – Understanding Facebook’s privacy aftershocks
If you are as tech savvy as Luke Appleby, and tweak your privacy settings every time Facebook rolls out a change, then it’s no problem. He’s one of the very few defenders.
If you don’t like Facebook, wait. It will be as popular as MySpace in 5 years. My feed is already so bloated I’m tempted to start over with a new account.
Something will replace Facebook.
But what?
I want a service:
• open source
• non-profit
• privacy ON by default (only “friends” can see anything)
• no ads
That service would operate something like Wikipedia.
The business model, on a very small budget, would be to charge companies a tiny fee when users voluntarily friend them. For example, I would “friend” MEC, REI, and International Gymnast magazine … Each time one of those companies posts to my feed, they would have to pay a tiny fee.
The closest we’ve yet seen to what I want is Friendfeed. Here’s my feed, as a sample. (I only have 30 friends there, so don’t use the service.)
Unfortunately Facebook bought Friendfeed, and stopped adding new features.
Google is the company you’d think could quickly lure 50 million or so Facebook users over to a better competitor. They recently tried with Buzz, but that’s been a big FAIL, so far.
If I was to join a start-up tech company, it would be to launch a Facebook competitor. Optimized for smart phone / iPod updates.
_____
Update: The brilliant Jeff Jarvis linked to a Facebook alternative called Diaspora.
It’s only a proposal at this stage, but it’s certain I’d stop posting to Facebook. And switch to the Anti-Facebook, Diaspora, should it come to be.
I laughed aloud at the incredulous poor management of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.
Signage says that 40% of the Navajo Nation lives under the poverty line. What do the entrance fees for that park go to? Not road improvement. Not campground improvement. Not signage … aside from the poverty sign.
The same day I traveled to camp at Navajo National Monument.
… it preserves three of the most intact cliff dwellings of the ancestral puebloan people (Hisatsinom).
The Navajo people who live here today call these ancient ones Anasazi. The monument is high on the Shonto plateau, overlooking the Tsegi Canyon system in the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. …
Rangers guide visitors on free tours of the Keet Seel and Betatakin (Bitátʼahkin in Navajo) cliff dwellings. …
Superb. That attraction is perfectly managed. Congratulations.
It’s run by the National Park Service, but with mostly Navajo employees, by the looks of things.
One example of the government doing a better job than non-government managers.
I saw the movie 2012 and could not comprehend how and why talented people would conspire to make a move so terrible.
… Peter Travers of Rolling Stone criticized the film by comparing it to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: “Beware 2012, which works the dubious miracle of almost matching Transformers 2 for sheer, cynical, mind-numbing, time-wasting, money-draining, soul-sucking stupidity …
What’s the business model for making even John Cusack embarrassed for having joined the cast?
… It topped the international box office in its first weekend with $225 million … ultimately grossed over $769 million worldwide …
Crap like that sells. I guess.
Why do movies suck? Because you’re too old, probably. Author Edward Jay Epstein explains why in his fascinating new book The Hollywood Economist, and the future looks bleak for audiences over 25 or so years of age. …
full article – Noted journalist Jay Epstein explains why movies suck
Amazon – The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies
What a shame.
That discount airline sucks so bad, even I won’t fly them.
They’re not charging for air, … yet.
When Ryanair Airlines announced plans to begin charging to use the airline’s in-flight lavatory, the response was immediate. …
Ryanair has come under criticism for its new bathroom policy.
“The whole idea of making people pay for a bodily function is crazy. There are easier ways to make an extra Euro.”
…He was shocked when Ryanair announced its partnership with Boeing to reduce the number of bathrooms from three to one, and plans to investigate coin-operated locks in their planes’ bathroom doors. …
Weird News – Potty Policy Has Air Travelers Holding It In
related post – worst airline in the world – RyanAir
In 2010 … if Pop music is not entirely dead to me, Pop music videos are.
There’s nothing new in music videos so far as I’m concerned.
Despite that, Lady GaGa has become the first artist in history to have her music videos watched a total of one billion times online. (Perhaps the rising tide of all social media sites is raising all boats, including Gaga.)
Yet there’s nothing new about Gaga aside from her unashamed goal to be more famous than talented.
Seems to me her videos rehash Madonna (who was original) using Eminem’s style guide. Every scene is stolen from somewhere else, and not like a Quentin Tarantino homage. This is simply stale.
Click PLAY or watch Telephone ft. Beyoncé on YouTube. (10min)
Leave a comment if you can ‘splain me why I should be Gaga.
Overall we were somewhat disappointed with this accommodation close to the Port Townsend – Keystone ferry.
The promised hot tub was a cold tub. Beds and the rooms themselves were old and slowly disintegrating. (Everything rots in the Pacific Northwest due to the climate.)
On the up side, management was very friendly. They gave us great restaurant advice: Bayview Restaurant. Loved it.
Rick McCharles 