Current News: We pick through it, so you don't have to.
Archive for July, 2009
Please Leave a Message After the Beep…….Beep
Jul 31st
“David Pogue has distilled into useful form a long-standing complaint I have (and one reason I have long had a voice mail greeting that asked people not to leave me voicemail): cell phone companies set up the greeting, caller instructions, and playback system prompts in large part to maximize their revenue per user; by his calculations, the “mandatory 15-second voicmail instructions” from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and others is earning those companies something near a billion dollars a year in charges. Pogue suggests that users should “take back the beep,” and to that end provides contact information for the largest cell carriers in order to register a complaint — and, more helpful in the short run, suggests ways in which to make better use of paid-for phone minutes by alerting callers how to bypass the annoying instructions.”
I’ve never really thought about it this way. I mean, I’ve always noticed the message and I’ve always wished I could skip it but I’ve never really thought about the reason it was there.
I thought that on all these plans they always said, “When you call voicemail, it doesn’t count towards your minutes.”
If, however, I’ve been under a vast misunderstanding then this definitely brings up a good point that, shockingly, I’ve never heard arise before.
I suppose we will hear more of this at some point.
Yea….because this is a good idea…
Jul 31st
“A student team from Virginia Tech Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory have created a vehicle which allows the blind to drive. The vehicle uses a laser range finder to determine distances and alerts the driver through voice commands and vibration. Tomorrow [Friday] morning, the vehicle will have its first public test drive at the University of Maryland. At last, Braille on drive-up ATMs may finally be vindicated.”
Can’t we wait until people that can actually see learn how to drive….
I mean I feel bad for the blind and it’s a shame there are so many things they are unable to enjoy but is this not putting everyone else at risk?
This is a little worrying to me…
iPhone App to Track Sex Offenders
Jul 30th
You’ll see why I included this article at the end.
First off, this seems like a good idea if you are looking for a good neighborhood to move to.
The Narrative Fallacy writes “All 50 states in the US require the 50,000 people convicted of sexual offenses to sign a register so that their whereabouts can be tracked and monitored. The Telegraph reports that now users of the iPhone Offender Locator application can search for sex offenders living nearby a friend or colleague whose address is stored in their Apple iPhone address book, or they can type in a street address to generate a list of convicted sex offenders in the local area. ‘Offender Locator gives everyone the ability to find out if registered sex offenders live in their area,’ says the application developer, ThinAir Wireless, on its iTunes page. ‘Knowledge equals safety. They know where you and your family are…now it’s time to turn the tables so that you know where they live and can make better decisions about where to allow your kids to play.’ Offender Locator uses the iPhone’s built-in GPS to pinpoint the user’s location, and then provide a map listing sex offenders in the local area. Tapping on one of the ‘pins’ dropped on to the map brings up a photograph of the offender, as well as their address, date of birth and list of convictions.”
Then the article includes an image:
Now my question is…where the hell is that! Does that not seem like an unusual number of sex offenders to be living in one place? I mean, did they all move to this place for a reason? That green pin is a children’s school isn’t it!
Green Pin: “Oh no, they’re surrounding me….offering me candy and video games….oh no!”
America’s Most Reliable 3G Network
Jul 30th
“Verizon has asked a court to affirm its claim to be ‘America’s Most Reliable 3G Network.’ From the article, ‘Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone Group PLC, asked a U.S. court for a judgment that its advertising claims to be “America’s Most Reliable 3G Network” were truthful, which rival AT&T called “misleading” on Monday. In papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Verizon said assertions on July 1 by AT&T Mobility LLC, a unit of AT&T, that its advertising was false could not be supported. AT&T, which has its principal business in Atlanta, had filed the challenge with the National Advertising Division of the Council for Better Business Bureaus. Verizon Wireless said its claims of having “America’s Most Reliable 3G Network” and “America’s Best 3G Network” and “America’s Most Reliable Wireless Network” are “truthful, accurate and substantiated” and do not violate the trademark law known as the Lanham Act. It said that AT&T’s challenge “relies on the incorrect premise that speed is an essential element of the standard for measuring network reliability.”"
suraj.sun writes “I can only hope that at some future date a court will decide which light beer truly is the best tasting.”
I CAUGHT YOU AZERO!!
Jul 29th
See, and you even admitted today that you drive like a jerk….i KNOW this was you lol