blog brumax
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
If so many people "Support our Troops" then why are Veterans overlooked?
The local VA hospital has a patient waiting list with SIX HUNDRED names on it. These are veterans who were injured while serving in the military.
Its bad enough that we are sending people to fight a war based on lies but now American is not even honoring our agreement with these troops. ¶ 6:36 PM 20 Comments Links to this post
Its bad enough that we are sending people to fight a war based on lies but now American is not even honoring our agreement with these troops. ¶ 6:36 PM 20 Comments Links to this post
Friday, March 18, 2005
PayPal is a fraudulent and dishonest company
I don’t usually use words like "fraudulent and dishonest company" these days: too much chance of trouble from lawyers and such. In this case though I make an exception. If PayPal wants to sue me, they can be my guest. I would be glad to defend my comments in court and get as much publicity as possible in the process.
It is of course very doubtful that PayPal will sue or even send me a "cease and desist" on this site because I am sure they hate the thought of any discussion that relates to their low ethical standards.
Bill Cobb, the President of eBay North America sent out a mass email to customers asking for input. So it reminded me of my old PayPal issues and I sent him a summary.
Basically PayPal let me get robbed out of $800 because SOMEONE ELSE'S account got hacked.
Today I read in Forbes about a PayPal Hate Site and it made me realize that Mr. Cobb never bothered to resolve the issue I emailed him about - all I had received back was a generic letter from someone working for him telling me to report it to the eBay fraud department (which I had already done).
So today I sent this email to Mr. Cobb:
Hello Mr. Cobb,
I am not sure why you offered to address concerns if there is nothing you can do about this.
A person's PayPal account was hacked into and I lost $800, not the person who was hacked and not PayPal. PayPal is owned by eBay so you are one in the same company as far as I am concerned. Since no one at PayPal cares or bothers to address these things I responded to your offer to hear from customers.
In the recent Forbes article highlighting one of the several anti-PayPal sites, PayPal said "PayPal welcomes constructive criticism from members to help us continue to improve our service through our community discussion boards, chat rooms and Voices program. The problem with complaint sites is that the issues reported are sometimes out-of-date and have long since been resolved. Other times, customers may write complaints on the sites without trying to get their issues resolved through our customer service channels first. As a result, we can't confirm the accuracy of the information on these third-party sites. "
This is quite simply a lie. These so called discussion boards are very difficult to find if they even exist at all (type in "PayPal Voices" in Google, there is no link from the home page as well.) Also, most of the complaints on the web sites go into great detail about what customers did to try to resolve the complaints from within the PayPal channels.
My complaint is very clearly documented and I even have an email from a PayPal employee in which she states "PayPal has never been hacked" yet in the same email admits that a person's account was illegally accessed and used to commit fraud against me, this clearly falls under the definition of a hacked account.
PayPal is a dishonest and unethical company that is a black eye to the good name of eBay. This is why you have had these large class action suits. More lawyers and longer documents like those you have recently added are not the solution anymore than they were for Enron; the solution needed for PayPal is to repair the overall company ethics and to stop defrauding customers.
You requested and initiated this email correspondence, not me - if you intended to use it as a marketing gimmick or to do nothing with the responses, then it should not have been sent. If you were genuine in your original email then please use your position and authority to do something to resolve my specific claim and, more importantly, create an ethical system that prevents these types of occurrences in the future.
-Bruce ¶ 1:48 PM 7 Comments Links to this post
It is of course very doubtful that PayPal will sue or even send me a "cease and desist" on this site because I am sure they hate the thought of any discussion that relates to their low ethical standards.
Bill Cobb, the President of eBay North America sent out a mass email to customers asking for input. So it reminded me of my old PayPal issues and I sent him a summary.
Basically PayPal let me get robbed out of $800 because SOMEONE ELSE'S account got hacked.
Today I read in Forbes about a PayPal Hate Site and it made me realize that Mr. Cobb never bothered to resolve the issue I emailed him about - all I had received back was a generic letter from someone working for him telling me to report it to the eBay fraud department (which I had already done).
So today I sent this email to Mr. Cobb:
Hello Mr. Cobb,
I am not sure why you offered to address concerns if there is nothing you can do about this.
A person's PayPal account was hacked into and I lost $800, not the person who was hacked and not PayPal. PayPal is owned by eBay so you are one in the same company as far as I am concerned. Since no one at PayPal cares or bothers to address these things I responded to your offer to hear from customers.
In the recent Forbes article highlighting one of the several anti-PayPal sites, PayPal said "PayPal welcomes constructive criticism from members to help us continue to improve our service through our community discussion boards, chat rooms and Voices program. The problem with complaint sites is that the issues reported are sometimes out-of-date and have long since been resolved. Other times, customers may write complaints on the sites without trying to get their issues resolved through our customer service channels first. As a result, we can't confirm the accuracy of the information on these third-party sites. "
This is quite simply a lie. These so called discussion boards are very difficult to find if they even exist at all (type in "PayPal Voices" in Google, there is no link from the home page as well.) Also, most of the complaints on the web sites go into great detail about what customers did to try to resolve the complaints from within the PayPal channels.
My complaint is very clearly documented and I even have an email from a PayPal employee in which she states "PayPal has never been hacked" yet in the same email admits that a person's account was illegally accessed and used to commit fraud against me, this clearly falls under the definition of a hacked account.
PayPal is a dishonest and unethical company that is a black eye to the good name of eBay. This is why you have had these large class action suits. More lawyers and longer documents like those you have recently added are not the solution anymore than they were for Enron; the solution needed for PayPal is to repair the overall company ethics and to stop defrauding customers.
You requested and initiated this email correspondence, not me - if you intended to use it as a marketing gimmick or to do nothing with the responses, then it should not have been sent. If you were genuine in your original email then please use your position and authority to do something to resolve my specific claim and, more importantly, create an ethical system that prevents these types of occurrences in the future.
-Bruce ¶ 1:48 PM 7 Comments Links to this post
Friday, March 04, 2005
Romney is not too bad
I dont see what the big complaint is with Romney from so many Mass residents.
The biggest complaint I hear that is close to valid is "Romney cut the budget for schools." What is the budget for schools? Do these people picture a bunch of kids getting thier crayons taken away? These people might want to look into the school budget that Romney has cut.
For every hard working teacher who is out there helping students learn and making $32,000 a year, there are TWO administrative beaurocrats making $70,000 a year. What do they do? I guess we need a superintendant to hire and fire principals, and to call snow days. Maybe this superintedant needs a staf of, say 30 or so, this is government so lets say 100. Lets say another 100 people to pick out textbooks and order them and to deal with contractors and things. We'll add another 300 beaurocrat employees for good measure.
Well then, what to the other 18,700 non teacher employees left over who work for the state many of whom are making $60,000 a year and driving cars paid for by the taxpayer? What do they do? I say get the admin staff down to a lean mean 1000 people or so, fire the rest - give half the money back to the taxpayer and half to the actual schools, principals, teachers and toward student supplies. ¶ 1:48 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
The biggest complaint I hear that is close to valid is "Romney cut the budget for schools." What is the budget for schools? Do these people picture a bunch of kids getting thier crayons taken away? These people might want to look into the school budget that Romney has cut.
For every hard working teacher who is out there helping students learn and making $32,000 a year, there are TWO administrative beaurocrats making $70,000 a year. What do they do? I guess we need a superintendant to hire and fire principals, and to call snow days. Maybe this superintedant needs a staf of, say 30 or so, this is government so lets say 100. Lets say another 100 people to pick out textbooks and order them and to deal with contractors and things. We'll add another 300 beaurocrat employees for good measure.
Well then, what to the other 18,700 non teacher employees left over who work for the state many of whom are making $60,000 a year and driving cars paid for by the taxpayer? What do they do? I say get the admin staff down to a lean mean 1000 people or so, fire the rest - give half the money back to the taxpayer and half to the actual schools, principals, teachers and toward student supplies. ¶ 1:48 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Friday, January 28, 2005
Sponge Bob is Gay?
Dont these right wing nut freaks ever get tired of making fools of themselves?
I almost called them "conservative" but I can figure out what is conservative about cutting civil rights and being generally crazy.
¶ 4:35 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
I almost called them "conservative" but I can figure out what is conservative about cutting civil rights and being generally crazy.
¶ 4:35 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
Saturday, January 01, 2005
In Loving Memory
Nappy Fenton
March 3, 2000 - December 31, 2004
Loyal companion, loving friend, family member, protector, ally and warm sweetheart.
¶ 10:14 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Nappy Fenton
March 3, 2000 - December 31, 2004
Loyal companion, loving friend, family member, protector, ally and warm sweetheart.
¶ 10:14 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
nicer
lets all try to be a little nicer as the new year starts
I will do my part- I am going to try to cut down on the mean rants and find some new things to focus on
its easy to be funny at the expense of others but a better challenge is to be nice and kind to others to create a better and happier world
¶ 1:16 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
I will do my part- I am going to try to cut down on the mean rants and find some new things to focus on
its easy to be funny at the expense of others but a better challenge is to be nice and kind to others to create a better and happier world
¶ 1:16 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, December 27, 2004
Opportunists: You will be assimilated
Sadly, the tidal wave tragedy is barely a day old and I have already gotten what appears to be a scam email asking for aid (it even slipped through the new spam filter).
It has occurred to me lately that there are far too many people out there who do not add real value to their fellow human and who make their living off of the work of others rather than their own work. There are entire careers, whole businesses in fact whose existence is solely based on being glorified parasites. I'm not just talking about the scammers either - there are many industries where things like referral fees, finders fees and layers of "value added resellers" (who don’t add value) clog the system and probably prevent as many sales as they help. I have some friends who have had this experience with realtors lately. The realtors I worked with recently were good. There are some in the industry however who survive more on finders fees to other out-of-town realtors and getting listings that they don’t work and sell (another agent does and they still get half the fee) rather than actually working hard and adding value.
One good thing about the internet is that it helps level this playing field to some degree. There are enough small businesses out there that are adding value one user at a time that it makes a dent in the huge phony companies who try to outspend competitors in advertising in place of having a good product. With the increase of shareware, freeware, royalty free music, use of the creative commons copyright and other developments, companies better make darn sure they have a very good product that people want if they are too survive. Workers at these companies should likewise make sure they are adding some kind of value to the equation as well.
After a decade of mainstream use, the internet now promises to start doing some of the things that were predicted in the mid 90s.
¶ 2:23 PM 5 Comments Links to this post
It has occurred to me lately that there are far too many people out there who do not add real value to their fellow human and who make their living off of the work of others rather than their own work. There are entire careers, whole businesses in fact whose existence is solely based on being glorified parasites. I'm not just talking about the scammers either - there are many industries where things like referral fees, finders fees and layers of "value added resellers" (who don’t add value) clog the system and probably prevent as many sales as they help. I have some friends who have had this experience with realtors lately. The realtors I worked with recently were good. There are some in the industry however who survive more on finders fees to other out-of-town realtors and getting listings that they don’t work and sell (another agent does and they still get half the fee) rather than actually working hard and adding value.
One good thing about the internet is that it helps level this playing field to some degree. There are enough small businesses out there that are adding value one user at a time that it makes a dent in the huge phony companies who try to outspend competitors in advertising in place of having a good product. With the increase of shareware, freeware, royalty free music, use of the creative commons copyright and other developments, companies better make darn sure they have a very good product that people want if they are too survive. Workers at these companies should likewise make sure they are adding some kind of value to the equation as well.
After a decade of mainstream use, the internet now promises to start doing some of the things that were predicted in the mid 90s.
¶ 2:23 PM 5 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Oh web cam emails how I will miss you
My old friends
Cialis, Viagra, Propecia, make money now, low interest mortgages and you too Amber with the webcam, we will have to meet another day.
You see my friends, I have a new sidekick now – its name is MailFrontier and since I started it yesterday afternoon I have been feeling rather lonely.
MailFrontier blocks spam. I’d been meaning to get one since I started getting more spam emails a day than Canada has pine trees. When I took a few days off a couple weeks ago and came back to find 700 messages in my inbox I knew it was soon to come.
I thought about installing a JavaScript on all my email address popup boxes on my sites to prevent screen scraping but this would only slow the flow of new spammers – not stop the penis enlargers and 3.14% financing people who hound net citizens 24/7 with more tenacity than the FCC on a democrat radio show host. I also worried it might exclude legitimate people who did want to contact me.
I was even tempted a time or two to click on the “stop spam now” emails – NOT!
Then I read on CNet about MailFrontier – the geeks at CNet said it’s the best spam blocker and they didn’t steer me wrong with my new Sony Handicam so I figured I’d give it a shot.
The results: great. Its everything CNet says and more.
The unexpected result: it seems so lonely - I realized I was logging in 10 times a day, basically to delete junk mail and filter the much smaller number of actual messages. Now I go in and only see real emails from people I want. I have to ask; “Is this all the mail I have?”
I keep checking the blocked spam emails thinking that somehow MailFrontier has blocked a good one – they haven’t yet.
I don’t know what I will do without you Cialis, Propecia and Amber web cam but all this free time I have will give me more time to enjoy the $25,000,000 I am getting from my friend in Nigeria who contacted me before I had MailFrontier.
¶ 5:27 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Cialis, Viagra, Propecia, make money now, low interest mortgages and you too Amber with the webcam, we will have to meet another day.
You see my friends, I have a new sidekick now – its name is MailFrontier and since I started it yesterday afternoon I have been feeling rather lonely.
MailFrontier blocks spam. I’d been meaning to get one since I started getting more spam emails a day than Canada has pine trees. When I took a few days off a couple weeks ago and came back to find 700 messages in my inbox I knew it was soon to come.
I thought about installing a JavaScript on all my email address popup boxes on my sites to prevent screen scraping but this would only slow the flow of new spammers – not stop the penis enlargers and 3.14% financing people who hound net citizens 24/7 with more tenacity than the FCC on a democrat radio show host. I also worried it might exclude legitimate people who did want to contact me.
I was even tempted a time or two to click on the “stop spam now” emails – NOT!
Then I read on CNet about MailFrontier – the geeks at CNet said it’s the best spam blocker and they didn’t steer me wrong with my new Sony Handicam so I figured I’d give it a shot.
The results: great. Its everything CNet says and more.
The unexpected result: it seems so lonely - I realized I was logging in 10 times a day, basically to delete junk mail and filter the much smaller number of actual messages. Now I go in and only see real emails from people I want. I have to ask; “Is this all the mail I have?”
I keep checking the blocked spam emails thinking that somehow MailFrontier has blocked a good one – they haven’t yet.
I don’t know what I will do without you Cialis, Propecia and Amber web cam but all this free time I have will give me more time to enjoy the $25,000,000 I am getting from my friend in Nigeria who contacted me before I had MailFrontier.
¶ 5:27 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Who’s afraid of Mozillas?
Its scary, lets face it.
Switching to a new browser.
I have about 200 items in my favorite places file on MSIE and those are just the ones I’m “meaning to get to”, there are another 400 or so that I have been accumulating over the years.
I have a bunch of blogs I’d like to read but I just don’t have time to go to each one individually and when I do, they are not always updated. I need a service that gives me a new homepage and puts my most important links and the option to scan for other stuff such as blogs. I know there are a bunch of great services out there - but what the geeks in the know keep telling me is to switch to Mozzilla and to use Newsmonster.
The thing is, Mozilla is a whole new browser. Now, I am not afraid of downloading new stuff, its just that, Microsoft stuff works pretty well and anything that has the words “open source”, “Unix”, “Linux”, has a PayPal donation icon on its homepage or any weird combobulated method of reporting bugs scares me.
I’ve downloaded a number of these things in the past and they usually turn out to be junk. Say what you will about Microsoft, Bill’s stuff works for 99.9% of the people it is meant for: people who want to spend more time working and less time configuring, etc. On the other hand, I have gotten some great software that is freeware, cheapware or whatever - back when I played Ultima Online there was this utility called easiest that was awesome- I think it was $10 a year or something.
I have the problem of being in geek limbo - I'm a geek, it’s true, you have to be if you start a dot com (that actually worked) in 1994 and you are a member of Generation X who grew up with Commodore 64s, TI99s, Apple 2cs and Digital Rainbows. Of course I am a Gen X geek -the problem is - I am not quite ENOUGH of a geek to really be into this funky world of Mozilla and Firefox and Unix and whatever - but just enough of a geek to actually know these things exist and to care to give it a try. I need my computer to make a living and want it to actually do stuff and enjoy the results a heck of a lot more than the process of setting things up.
So what do I do? I buy Microsoft stuff - I run MS everything. Does this mean I get ripped off? Sure, there's probably a free solution for everything from the operating system to the browser to whatever else. Does this mean I am not getting the best program? Probably that too. But I can’t spend $600 worth of my time to save $200 on a piece of software that might not be compatible with our business partners or might not even work. I can’t tell you how many die hard "real" geeks have laughed at me for using FrontPage for my websites. I've probably "programmed" 2000 pages of content using MS FrontPage. The die hards say my code looks like crap and if anyone clicks "view source" they will know it wasn't made by a member of the Vulcan High Council of MIT grads. But guess what? When my customers come to the site it looks fine and the people clicking "view source" ain’t putting food on my table. They laugh when I tell em I use FrontPage but they usually stop if I ask them if their site actually generates any revenue.
So here I stand - in geek limbo - I have my Franklin Edition Boba Fett Sculpture looking down at me from above the Ninja Lego’s on my office shelf, I've got the 30 some odd domain names, the desktop filled with icons, the comic book collection in the closet and the blog I am posting on now. BUT I also have MS everything and the aforementioned AOL account. I stand on the knife's edge of geeky by default and true geeky. Do I cross in to geek domain forever?
I'll give it a shot and see what Mozilla is all about.
¶ 5:15 PM 18 Comments Links to this post
Its scary, lets face it.
Switching to a new browser.
I have about 200 items in my favorite places file on MSIE and those are just the ones I’m “meaning to get to”, there are another 400 or so that I have been accumulating over the years.
I have a bunch of blogs I’d like to read but I just don’t have time to go to each one individually and when I do, they are not always updated. I need a service that gives me a new homepage and puts my most important links and the option to scan for other stuff such as blogs. I know there are a bunch of great services out there - but what the geeks in the know keep telling me is to switch to Mozzilla and to use Newsmonster.
The thing is, Mozilla is a whole new browser. Now, I am not afraid of downloading new stuff, its just that, Microsoft stuff works pretty well and anything that has the words “open source”, “Unix”, “Linux”, has a PayPal donation icon on its homepage or any weird combobulated method of reporting bugs scares me.
I’ve downloaded a number of these things in the past and they usually turn out to be junk. Say what you will about Microsoft, Bill’s stuff works for 99.9% of the people it is meant for: people who want to spend more time working and less time configuring, etc. On the other hand, I have gotten some great software that is freeware, cheapware or whatever - back when I played Ultima Online there was this utility called easiest that was awesome- I think it was $10 a year or something.
I have the problem of being in geek limbo - I'm a geek, it’s true, you have to be if you start a dot com (that actually worked) in 1994 and you are a member of Generation X who grew up with Commodore 64s, TI99s, Apple 2cs and Digital Rainbows. Of course I am a Gen X geek -the problem is - I am not quite ENOUGH of a geek to really be into this funky world of Mozilla and Firefox and Unix and whatever - but just enough of a geek to actually know these things exist and to care to give it a try. I need my computer to make a living and want it to actually do stuff and enjoy the results a heck of a lot more than the process of setting things up.
So what do I do? I buy Microsoft stuff - I run MS everything. Does this mean I get ripped off? Sure, there's probably a free solution for everything from the operating system to the browser to whatever else. Does this mean I am not getting the best program? Probably that too. But I can’t spend $600 worth of my time to save $200 on a piece of software that might not be compatible with our business partners or might not even work. I can’t tell you how many die hard "real" geeks have laughed at me for using FrontPage for my websites. I've probably "programmed" 2000 pages of content using MS FrontPage. The die hards say my code looks like crap and if anyone clicks "view source" they will know it wasn't made by a member of the Vulcan High Council of MIT grads. But guess what? When my customers come to the site it looks fine and the people clicking "view source" ain’t putting food on my table. They laugh when I tell em I use FrontPage but they usually stop if I ask them if their site actually generates any revenue.
So here I stand - in geek limbo - I have my Franklin Edition Boba Fett Sculpture looking down at me from above the Ninja Lego’s on my office shelf, I've got the 30 some odd domain names, the desktop filled with icons, the comic book collection in the closet and the blog I am posting on now. BUT I also have MS everything and the aforementioned AOL account. I stand on the knife's edge of geeky by default and true geeky. Do I cross in to geek domain forever?
I'll give it a shot and see what Mozilla is all about.
¶ 5:15 PM 18 Comments Links to this post
Saturday, December 18, 2004
I liked AOL before it was cool
I signed up for AOL back in 1992 when you'd go to "the chat room" (there was only one) and CEO Steve Case would come and say 'hi'.
I kept the account all these years, much to the ridicule of my friends. When I moved I got rid of the AOL Broadband service- here's one of my 10 tech support chats.....
...transfered from one department...
FentonB: yes, i canceled it on Nov 17
FentonB: i have not used it since then, and i have been trying to fix it for 2 weeks
MHI Lhyn: For best possible assistance with this issue, please allow me to provide you
with the number you can call to speak with a trained specialist. Do you have a pen handy?
FentonB: this is the THIRD time i have been transferred, and now you want me to wait on hold
FentonB: i have been trying to fix this for 2 weeks -- what is the problem?
MHI Lhyn: So that we can best assist you with your concerns, please contact our AOL Broadband with DSL toll free support line at 888-418-1258 from 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. EST, seven days a week. For more information, you may refer to AOL Keyword: AOL Broadband.
MHI Lhyn: I do apologize for the referral; however, I want to direct you to the proper
Department who can best assist you with your concern. I hope this little information has lessened the inconvenience you may have experienced. I really wish to help.
FentonB: that is what the last person said
FentonB: and I said "are you sure they wont just transfer me again"
FentonB: and they said "I assure you it will be the right department"
...5 minute wait...
FentonB: WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT FIXING THIS???????
---9 minutes later-
MHI Lhyn: As much as I would like to assist you with your broadband service but DSL service
cannot be processed via Billing Live Help at this time.
FentonB: I just got connected at that number and they said they couldn’t help - and have
now transferred me to another department
MHI Lhyn: Do you have any other billing questions I may assist you with at this time?
MHI Lhyn: If you do not have any additional questions at this time, kindly close this active
window so I may assist the next member. Thank you.
FentonB: You haven’t answered the questions I did have, I am still trying to get this fixed
MHI Lhyn: Please understand that DSL service cannot be processed via Billing Live Help at
this time.
MHI Lhyn: I do apologize for the referral; however, I want to direct you to the proper
Department who can best assist you with your concern.
MHI Lhyn: I hope this little information has lessened the inconvenience you may have
experienced. I really wish to help.
FentonB: NO, IT HASN’T, I AM LOOKING FOR A PERSON WHO CAN FIX THIS ONLINE OR BY PHONE
FentonB: I am talking to a consultant now - that is not the problem --- the problem is that he says that is not his department
FentonB: just like the person before him
FentonB: AND the person before him
FentonB: AND you
FentonB: AND the person who forwarded me to you
FentonB: do you understand? please don’t answer with a macro
MHI Lhyn: I would like to assist you with this issue. However, I will need to refer you to
the web site or department where your concern can be best addressed. Let me get
that information for you now.
MHI Lhyn: We can easily assist you with this matter by please contacting our DSL team at
1-888-275-4720, (7 AM to 2 AM EST).
Please call us at least 72 hours before your next billing date to avoid being
charged for the next month's service.
MHI Lhyn: If you do not have any additional questions at this time, kindly close this active
window so I may assist the next member. Thank you.
FentonB: So I take it there is no real person at the end of this chat room?
MHI Lhyn: I am a real person and I am here to help you with your inquiries.
FentonB: then why are you not listening?
FentonB: you keep giving me the same macro -- and I keep telling you that the number is not right
MHI Lhyn: But your concern can not be solved via online and this can only be resolved by
call us directly at 1-888-275-4720.
FentonB: ok - as I mentioned -- this does not work
FentonB: every department says that they cannot handle it
FentonB: including the number you keep giving me
- 3 minutes --
MHI Lhyn: If you do not have any additional questions at this time, kindly close this active
window so I may assist the next member. Thank you.
MHI Lhyn: I apologize for the inconviennce but as long as this window remains active and we
are not communicating, I am unable to assist the next member. I am going to
close this session now however; I invite you to return should you have future
questions.
MHI Lhyn has left this session.
The session has ended.
¶ 3:43 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
I signed up for AOL back in 1992 when you'd go to "the chat room" (there was only one) and CEO Steve Case would come and say 'hi'.
I kept the account all these years, much to the ridicule of my friends. When I moved I got rid of the AOL Broadband service- here's one of my 10 tech support chats.....
...transfered from one department...
Welcome FentonB...
MHI Lhyn: I understand that you wish to cancel your service.
FentonB: huh?!?!
FentonB: I want to make sure broadband is cancelled, not my membership
....3 minute wait....
FentonB: yes, i canceled it on Nov 17
FentonB: i have not used it since then, and i have been trying to fix it for 2 weeks
MHI Lhyn: For best possible assistance with this issue, please allow me to provide you
with the number you can call to speak with a trained specialist. Do you have a pen handy?
FentonB: this is the THIRD time i have been transferred, and now you want me to wait on hold
FentonB: i have been trying to fix this for 2 weeks -- what is the problem?
MHI Lhyn: So that we can best assist you with your concerns, please contact our AOL Broadband with DSL toll free support line at 888-418-1258 from 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. EST, seven days a week. For more information, you may refer to AOL Keyword: AOL Broadband.
MHI Lhyn: I do apologize for the referral; however, I want to direct you to the proper
Department who can best assist you with your concern. I hope this little information has lessened the inconvenience you may have experienced. I really wish to help.
FentonB: that is what the last person said
FentonB: and I said "are you sure they wont just transfer me again"
FentonB: and they said "I assure you it will be the right department"
...5 minute wait...
FentonB: WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT FIXING THIS???????
---9 minutes later-
MHI Lhyn: As much as I would like to assist you with your broadband service but DSL service
cannot be processed via Billing Live Help at this time.
FentonB: I just got connected at that number and they said they couldn’t help - and have
now transferred me to another department
MHI Lhyn: Do you have any other billing questions I may assist you with at this time?
MHI Lhyn: If you do not have any additional questions at this time, kindly close this active
window so I may assist the next member. Thank you.
FentonB: You haven’t answered the questions I did have, I am still trying to get this fixed
MHI Lhyn: Please understand that DSL service cannot be processed via Billing Live Help at
this time.
MHI Lhyn: I do apologize for the referral; however, I want to direct you to the proper
Department who can best assist you with your concern.
MHI Lhyn: I hope this little information has lessened the inconvenience you may have
experienced. I really wish to help.
FentonB: NO, IT HASN’T, I AM LOOKING FOR A PERSON WHO CAN FIX THIS ONLINE OR BY PHONE
- 4 minutes later --
MHI Lhyn: We can easily assist you with this matter by please contacting our DSL team at
1-888-275-4720, (7 AM to 2 AM EST).
Please call us at least 72 hours before your next billing date to avoid being charged for the next month's service.
FentonB: I am on hold with the SECOND person at the first number you gave me, in a
different department and, he ALSO says this is not his department
FentonB: I am talking to a consultant now - that is not the problem --- the problem is that he says that is not his department
FentonB: just like the person before him
FentonB: AND the person before him
FentonB: AND you
FentonB: AND the person who forwarded me to you
FentonB: do you understand? please don’t answer with a macro
MHI Lhyn: I would like to assist you with this issue. However, I will need to refer you to
the web site or department where your concern can be best addressed. Let me get
that information for you now.
MHI Lhyn: We can easily assist you with this matter by please contacting our DSL team at
1-888-275-4720, (7 AM to 2 AM EST).
Please call us at least 72 hours before your next billing date to avoid being
charged for the next month's service.
MHI Lhyn: If you do not have any additional questions at this time, kindly close this active
window so I may assist the next member. Thank you.
FentonB: So I take it there is no real person at the end of this chat room?
MHI Lhyn: I am a real person and I am here to help you with your inquiries.
FentonB: then why are you not listening?
FentonB: you keep giving me the same macro -- and I keep telling you that the number is not right
MHI Lhyn: But your concern can not be solved via online and this can only be resolved by
call us directly at 1-888-275-4720.
FentonB: ok - as I mentioned -- this does not work
FentonB: every department says that they cannot handle it
FentonB: including the number you keep giving me
- 3 minutes --
MHI Lhyn: If you do not have any additional questions at this time, kindly close this active
window so I may assist the next member. Thank you.
MHI Lhyn: I apologize for the inconviennce but as long as this window remains active and we
are not communicating, I am unable to assist the next member. I am going to
close this session now however; I invite you to return should you have future
questions.
MHI Lhyn has left this session.
The session has ended.
¶ 3:43 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, December 13, 2004
Read the dictionary
Webster online
sar·casm (sar-ka-zm) noun
1 : a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain
2 a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual
Ok are we clear?
No, I do not really think that "Bob Dylan should be locked up with Cat Stevens because he helped Hurricane Carter who was obviously guilty because he's black."
I didn't quite take the Onion literally when I reported thier headline "Kerry goes to Vietnam to avoid service in the Alabama National Guard."
I do not think war is "cool" or that Pres Bush is a hero and I watch things other than Fox News.
When I say its good that Private Ryan got censored because it will be harder to get poor kids to sign up for the war and that Michael Powell should silence Speilberg and Stern because they are Jews - do you think that maybe, just maybe it might be a satircal point?
Apparently not, since I got three emails accusing me of being anti semetic.
If you were not sure, I have an important fund you need to donate to - its called the "Seriously clueless and gullible people who dont understand sarcasm, parody or satire Fund" - please send $100 today, its a Federal law and you could get ill if you dont. ¶ 2:25 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
sar·casm (sar-ka-zm) noun
1 : a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain
2 a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual
Ok are we clear?
No, I do not really think that "Bob Dylan should be locked up with Cat Stevens because he helped Hurricane Carter who was obviously guilty because he's black."
I didn't quite take the Onion literally when I reported thier headline "Kerry goes to Vietnam to avoid service in the Alabama National Guard."
I do not think war is "cool" or that Pres Bush is a hero and I watch things other than Fox News.
When I say its good that Private Ryan got censored because it will be harder to get poor kids to sign up for the war and that Michael Powell should silence Speilberg and Stern because they are Jews - do you think that maybe, just maybe it might be a satircal point?
Apparently not, since I got three emails accusing me of being anti semetic.
If you were not sure, I have an important fund you need to donate to - its called the "Seriously clueless and gullible people who dont understand sarcasm, parody or satire Fund" - please send $100 today, its a Federal law and you could get ill if you dont. ¶ 2:25 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, December 06, 2004
Bravo Romeo Uniform Mike Alpha X-Ray
I bought a new video camera today!!
When I was placing the order I had to repeat the order numbers and "D" and "E" or "N" and "M" kept sounding alike so I decided to memorize the cool alphabet from all the action movies
Here it is
A .......... ALPHA
B .......... BRAVO
C .......... CHARLIE
D .......... DELTA
E .......... ECHO
F .......... FOXTROT
G .......... GOLF
H .......... HOTEL
I .......... INDIA
J .......... JULIET
K .......... KILO
L .......... LIMA
M .......... MIKE
N .......... NOVEMBER
O .......... OSCAR
P .......... PAPA
Q .......... QUEBEC
R .......... ROMEO
S .......... SIERRA
T .......... TANGO
U .......... UNIFORM
V .......... VICTOR
W .......... WHISKY
X .......... X-RAY
Y .......... YANKEE
Z .......... ZULU
Learn it and make sure that next time you order a laptop you dont get a hair dryer. ¶ 10:06 AM 5 Comments Links to this post
When I was placing the order I had to repeat the order numbers and "D" and "E" or "N" and "M" kept sounding alike so I decided to memorize the cool alphabet from all the action movies
Here it is
A .......... ALPHA
B .......... BRAVO
C .......... CHARLIE
D .......... DELTA
E .......... ECHO
F .......... FOXTROT
G .......... GOLF
H .......... HOTEL
I .......... INDIA
J .......... JULIET
K .......... KILO
L .......... LIMA
M .......... MIKE
N .......... NOVEMBER
O .......... OSCAR
P .......... PAPA
Q .......... QUEBEC
R .......... ROMEO
S .......... SIERRA
T .......... TANGO
U .......... UNIFORM
V .......... VICTOR
W .......... WHISKY
X .......... X-RAY
Y .......... YANKEE
Z .......... ZULU
Learn it and make sure that next time you order a laptop you dont get a hair dryer. ¶ 10:06 AM 5 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Cool Person of the Day: Bill Cosby
The cool person of the day award goes to Bill Cosby.
Like all outspoken people, not everyone agrees with everything he says. He deserves recognition for speaking his mind his efforts.
As Chris Rock, Johnny Cochran, Jesse Jackson, Cosby and other black leaders have pointed out - at some point it became fashionable for black youths to act ignorant (or as Chris Rock says "it became cool to be a dumb nigga"). Media portrayals seemed to try to out do each other with the most ridiculous depiction of ignorant black people. Bill Cosby has stood up against this destructive trend.
A lot of white dudes like me don't talk about race due to fear or whatever other reason. Worse, many do not even recognize that there is a problem. Problem isn’t the word, "epidemic" is more accurate. There is a serious problem when we have communities in the United States where a black male has more likelihood of dying or going to prison than reaching his 30th birthday. Cosby has worked hard to change this and people should take notice.
Cosby has also been very active in helping parents in communities such as Springfield Mass take on responsibility that can help improve the lives of their children and others in their community.
Congratulations Mr. Cosby on the Brumax cool person of the day award.
¶ 9:15 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Like all outspoken people, not everyone agrees with everything he says. He deserves recognition for speaking his mind his efforts.
As Chris Rock, Johnny Cochran, Jesse Jackson, Cosby and other black leaders have pointed out - at some point it became fashionable for black youths to act ignorant (or as Chris Rock says "it became cool to be a dumb nigga"). Media portrayals seemed to try to out do each other with the most ridiculous depiction of ignorant black people. Bill Cosby has stood up against this destructive trend.
A lot of white dudes like me don't talk about race due to fear or whatever other reason. Worse, many do not even recognize that there is a problem. Problem isn’t the word, "epidemic" is more accurate. There is a serious problem when we have communities in the United States where a black male has more likelihood of dying or going to prison than reaching his 30th birthday. Cosby has worked hard to change this and people should take notice.
Cosby has also been very active in helping parents in communities such as Springfield Mass take on responsibility that can help improve the lives of their children and others in their community.
Congratulations Mr. Cosby on the Brumax cool person of the day award.
¶ 9:15 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, November 15, 2004
the Loser's Mantra
"Well, I went to Vegas and lost $2000, BUT I HAD FUN"
LOSER!
If you think sitting at a table at 2 am losing $2000 is FUN you need to get out more. Casinos are for idiots.
Anyone who thinks that the "fun" of losing money is comparable to any kind of actual fun simply doesnt know how to party.
For the extra slow, heres the math:
Save $200 on hotel room, $100 on flight and get 3 free rubber chicken buffets worth $30 each = equalls only like $1000 in savings (I dont have my calculator) so if you lose $2000 gambling you are still $1000 behind. GET IT?
CASINOS ARE FOR LOSERS. ¶ 9:39 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
LOSER!
If you think sitting at a table at 2 am losing $2000 is FUN you need to get out more. Casinos are for idiots.
Anyone who thinks that the "fun" of losing money is comparable to any kind of actual fun simply doesnt know how to party.
For the extra slow, heres the math:
Save $200 on hotel room, $100 on flight and get 3 free rubber chicken buffets worth $30 each = equalls only like $1000 in savings (I dont have my calculator) so if you lose $2000 gambling you are still $1000 behind. GET IT?
CASINOS ARE FOR LOSERS. ¶ 9:39 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, November 11, 2004
FCC fears cause "Saving Private Ryan" to be banned
You bunch of pathetic nancy ass liberals who dare call yourselves American!
How dare you speak out against the FCC! You should be supporting our troops!
I wish AOL would just ban you all from using the Internet and spewing your crap "opinions". Our government should be able to fine anyone any time for any reason.
Colin Powell's son is in charge of the FCC and I think he knows a few things more than you! How do you think he got that job? It’s because he knows best what America should see and that’s that.
How can the troops be supported in their God given mission in Iraq if the television networks are able to make war look bad by airing a show that shows death and bombs and stuff? Do you think the old people who were there want everyone to think the D-Day invasion was all about killing?
War is supposed to be fun and cool! I like to watch Fox news and see the infra-red footage of soldiers kicking ass in Iraq! It’s cool! When President Bush flew on to the aircraft carrier and said "mission accomplished”, that was cool!! When Rumsfeld shows the technology of new missiles that can blow up like 50 rag head houses at once- that’s COOL! What’s cool about Private Ryan? It rains during half the movie.
If I see something like Private Ryan I just close my eyes and ears and refuse to listen - same as I do when these raving liberals like Four Star General Wesley Clark, Admiral Stansfield Turner former CIA Director, Terror Czar Richard Clarke, Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neil, Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and other whining babies start complaining about the lack of WMDs or not capturing Bin Laden. Who cares about Bin Laden? Who cares about weapons of mass destruction! We should be in Iraq! When I hear this stuff I just close my ears and sing Lee Greenwood songs to myself until I can change the channel back to Fox.
How are we going to get new kids from poor neighborhoods to sign up for the war if they think its all about getting shot at and bombs and stuff because they watch some liberal crap like Private Ryan? What the heck does that hippie Steven "Shindler's List" Spielberg know anyway? By the way, did you happen to notice that Howard Stern is and Speilberg are Jewish? Hmmmm. I’m not saying that Powell should ban all Jews from talking yet, but they sure do make a lot of trouble. [editors note 12/13/04 this is sarcasm, please stop emailing me about being anti-Semetic - I guess the Sesame Street Homeland Security Logo and the other 200 clues on the site were not enough - DUH)
And furthermore - what is the comparison with this World War Two crap? I don’t even understand the point of that war. In Iraq the mission is clear! We have got to find weapons of mass destruction. Even though Saddam had them in the last Gulf War and didn’t use them and everyone, including a dozen senior members of Bush's own administration say there were none this time. Its good we attacked! Now that the mission is accomplished we need troops to stay their and die daily so that we can, um, secure the area! Wouldn’t you go there to die tomorrow?
And what’s with you still complaining about the Super Bowl fine?! What if someone was watching it with their kid and their kid saw a BREAST?!?!?! Good God you people? Have you no shame? Have you no morals?! If my child ever went to one of these museums with the filthy dirty naked statues I think I'd burn it down. Maybe you liberals have been hanging around the French too long- they think they are so cool and smart with all the museums and everything.
You are so into busting on poor Mr. Powell for what? Some "freedom of speech" nonsense? What liberal idiot ever came up with the idea that free speech was so important? I suppose you think that Muslims should get freedom of speech too? I suppose you support freedom of speech for all these people like Howard Dean and the other hippies who protest our president when they should be locked behind bars.
People, being an American means doing what the government tells us without question. Supporting our troops means agreeing with the President no matter what, even if he invades Canada. What if our founding fathers would have been arguing and rebelling all the time? Think about it – its time to stop protesting and start following orders.
I bet you don’t even have yellow ribbons on your car.
War is cool and free speech should not be taken too far.
God Bless.
¶ 9:43 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
How dare you speak out against the FCC! You should be supporting our troops!
I wish AOL would just ban you all from using the Internet and spewing your crap "opinions". Our government should be able to fine anyone any time for any reason.
Colin Powell's son is in charge of the FCC and I think he knows a few things more than you! How do you think he got that job? It’s because he knows best what America should see and that’s that.
How can the troops be supported in their God given mission in Iraq if the television networks are able to make war look bad by airing a show that shows death and bombs and stuff? Do you think the old people who were there want everyone to think the D-Day invasion was all about killing?
War is supposed to be fun and cool! I like to watch Fox news and see the infra-red footage of soldiers kicking ass in Iraq! It’s cool! When President Bush flew on to the aircraft carrier and said "mission accomplished”, that was cool!! When Rumsfeld shows the technology of new missiles that can blow up like 50 rag head houses at once- that’s COOL! What’s cool about Private Ryan? It rains during half the movie.
If I see something like Private Ryan I just close my eyes and ears and refuse to listen - same as I do when these raving liberals like Four Star General Wesley Clark, Admiral Stansfield Turner former CIA Director, Terror Czar Richard Clarke, Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neil, Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and other whining babies start complaining about the lack of WMDs or not capturing Bin Laden. Who cares about Bin Laden? Who cares about weapons of mass destruction! We should be in Iraq! When I hear this stuff I just close my ears and sing Lee Greenwood songs to myself until I can change the channel back to Fox.
How are we going to get new kids from poor neighborhoods to sign up for the war if they think its all about getting shot at and bombs and stuff because they watch some liberal crap like Private Ryan? What the heck does that hippie Steven "Shindler's List" Spielberg know anyway? By the way, did you happen to notice that Howard Stern is and Speilberg are Jewish? Hmmmm. I’m not saying that Powell should ban all Jews from talking yet, but they sure do make a lot of trouble. [editors note 12/13/04 this is sarcasm, please stop emailing me about being anti-Semetic - I guess the Sesame Street Homeland Security Logo and the other 200 clues on the site were not enough - DUH)
And furthermore - what is the comparison with this World War Two crap? I don’t even understand the point of that war. In Iraq the mission is clear! We have got to find weapons of mass destruction. Even though Saddam had them in the last Gulf War and didn’t use them and everyone, including a dozen senior members of Bush's own administration say there were none this time. Its good we attacked! Now that the mission is accomplished we need troops to stay their and die daily so that we can, um, secure the area! Wouldn’t you go there to die tomorrow?
And what’s with you still complaining about the Super Bowl fine?! What if someone was watching it with their kid and their kid saw a BREAST?!?!?! Good God you people? Have you no shame? Have you no morals?! If my child ever went to one of these museums with the filthy dirty naked statues I think I'd burn it down. Maybe you liberals have been hanging around the French too long- they think they are so cool and smart with all the museums and everything.
You are so into busting on poor Mr. Powell for what? Some "freedom of speech" nonsense? What liberal idiot ever came up with the idea that free speech was so important? I suppose you think that Muslims should get freedom of speech too? I suppose you support freedom of speech for all these people like Howard Dean and the other hippies who protest our president when they should be locked behind bars.
People, being an American means doing what the government tells us without question. Supporting our troops means agreeing with the President no matter what, even if he invades Canada. What if our founding fathers would have been arguing and rebelling all the time? Think about it – its time to stop protesting and start following orders.
I bet you don’t even have yellow ribbons on your car.
War is cool and free speech should not be taken too far.
God Bless.
¶ 9:43 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
