2008 archive
Vote Republican 0
Oh, yeah, and while we’re at it, bought any tomatoes lately? You know, the ones that aren’t getting inspected because the Republican Congresses kept ripping inspection money from the budget.
Via Booman Tribune.
Customer Satisfaction (Updated) 0
I have mentioned from time to time getting software for my cell phone. Most of the commercial software is sold under a modified shareware model: There is a trial period; when the trial period expires, you have to license the software or it rolls over, sticks its little legs in the air, and plays dead.
I’ve gotten most of the software through Handango, a clearinghouse for cell phone programs.
I recently installed an ebook reader (you can read about it here). Unlike for most previous purchases, for which Handango can generate the license, the license for this item was to come from the developer directly.
Well, it didn’t come. And didn’t come. My attempt to send an email to developer’s email address as specified in the confirmation of sale email failed, with an “unknown or malformed domain” error (in other words, there was no there there).
A week ago Saturday, I went to the Handango customer service page and filled out the form asking for assistance. The customer service page promised a response within two business days; there was a response waiting for me Sunday morning.
Handango and I made several more attempts to contact the developer. No luck (it’s probably a one-person outfit; in such cases, my first worry is not fraud–not at $13.00 a pop–but that something has happened to the programmer).
At this point, Handango has refunded my money and I’ll be searching for a new ebook reader (which I find disappointing, for the little program I had tried to buy was really good–easy to configure and use and reliable!).
I have only praise for Handango’s customer service. When they told me to do something and wait two days and the two days expired, they followed up with me asking what happened before I could follow up with them. They stayed on top of my trouble ticket better than I did.
Sure, they have a computer program to remind them to do things. But the thing is, a program is just ones and zeroes. It takes people to make it work.
Later on today, I’ll be looking for a new ebook reader.
And I’ll be looking on Handango.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
I ended up with this. More complicated to configure than Easy Reader, but it works.
Linda was saying she preferred a physical book to an electronic one. I do also.
But, when stuck in a long, unexpected wait, it’s nice to be able to whip out the cell phone and have something constructive to do, in place of surfing the web. Currently, I’m working on Samuel Pepys’s Diary.
John McCain Is a Conservative Hack 0
True, he has had second thoughts about Hagee, at least in public.
Or was that about Heinekein?
Peeling the Onion 0
ASZ sheds the tears.
Disconnect 0
While listening to the coverage of the Current Federal Administrator’s trip to Europe, I found myself amazed that the reporters speak of his activities as if he still has any influence, credibilty, or moral authority.
Bushomonics 2
It cost me $64+ to fill up the tank of my little yellow truck today.
That was 16 gallons at $4.03 9/10s.
A while ago, when I first started this blog, I tracked gas prices at local gas stations. Prices were going up and down and up and down (I lost the category when I imported my database to the new server and haven’t taken the time to restore the categories for posts that are over two years old–and I’m probably not going to).
I’m not going to start tracking gas prices again. What made it fun then was that they went up and down and up and down.
Now they are just going up.
Wonder who helped Vice President Cheney formulate this wonderful energy policy?
Gasoline prices are up almost $1 from a year ago, heaping pressure on a U.S. economy beleaguered by falling home values, a sagging dollar and an anemic job market. Oil prices have risen six-fold in the past six years and are up 40 percent since January.
British Lenders Learn from the Yanks 2
Upside down on the other side of the pond:
Falling house prices mean the amount borrowed could be greater than the value of their properties.
The data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders comes as figures show the housing market is slowing down further.
Separate housing figures suggest the number of transactions per estate agent has hit a 30-year low.
And there is no doubt it is highly likely that they took out these 100% mortgages because their estate agent or lender or both told them it was a good move to make.
This credit crunch or whatever you want to call it is worldwide and long-term.
Terrorist Fist Jab 0
Phillybits has uncovered startling, incontrovertible evidence that there is such a thing as a terrorist fist jab. You owe it to yourself to go here and see it for yourself.
And then follow the link in his post for even more evidence of terrorist body language.
Drinking Liberally 0
Tomorrow, Tangier Restaurant, 18th and Lombard, Philadelphia, 6 p. m.
Somehow, I don’t think persons will be dining al fresco. In fact, I doubt Al will even show up. It’s too hot.
John McCain Is a Conservative Hack 0
Will Bunch, commenting on a column in today’s local rag, makes the case.
Support the Troops, Bushie Style 0
Millions for Halliburtion and Swampwater, but no cents for tributes. From ASZ:
From the Army Times:
The sound of a gun salute at funerals for Rhode Island veterans could soon be heard less frequently, due to a federal funding cut.The Rhode Island National Guard has informed funeral directors that it can only supply firing squads for certain veterans, including those killed in action, Medal of Honor winners, general officers or those who served at least 20 years.
Local vets are livid over the new restrictions. But a National Guard spokesman blamed a cut in federal money for the military honors program — from $1.16 million to $775,000.
(ASZ Comments) Rhode Island state law requires a firing squad and a bugler for any honorably discharged vet, so long as the request has been made by the vet’s family. It looks like the Bush Administration has decided this isn’t a very good law.
“Move Along, Now. Nothing To See Here.” 0
Certainly no solutions. More on the ethanol scam:
But to the surprise of the industry and its supporters, the cost of making biodiesel has outpaced the rise in fossil-fuel prices.
Soybean oil, the main raw material for U.S. biodiesel, nearly doubled in price — partly because the consumption of soy has risen globally, and partly because U.S. farmers have been switching land to more profitable corn crops, from which ethanol is made. Demand from biodiesel producers has also lifted prices, and other biodiesel crops such as canola and palm oil have quickly caught up in cost.
It now costs about $4.66 to buy enough soybean oil to make a gallon of the renewable fuel. After adding manufacturing expenses and subtracting a $1-per-gallon tax credit, a gallon of nearly pure biodiesel retails at local stations for close to $6.
Conventional diesel, meanwhile, currently sells for about $4.80 per gallon.
H/T Bill for the link.
Racism 6
Now that Senator Obama has secured the nomination, the racists are coming out from under their rocks.
Not that I am surprised. The ugliness is always there. Some folks think it is a card to be played for electoral gain.
It can be, and it has been a card, sometimes by implication, sometimes by blatant appeal.
But it has also been death and lynching and murder and the shame of this Republic.
And I fear we shall see more of it, blatant and disgusting. It’s the last refuge of a bankrupt ideology.
Link to Sadly, No! via Phillybits.
The Terrorists Win 0
Phillies 6, Braves 2.
Horseless Carnage 0
Ride, Sarah, ride:
The girl, Sarah Friedson, 17, walked her chocolate-colored pony, Cocoa, to the school Friday, to celebrate the last day of classes before final exams. She held sign that read “Save Gas” on one side, “Staples 2008” on the other. Her father, Ronald, drove behind them with his blinkers flashing.
The school called police, saying they were concerned for the safety of students.
Westport police said in a written statement that the girl had ignored a security guard and earlier warnings not to bring the animal on school property.
Ronald Friedson said the pony is docile, 20-years-old, and blind in one eye.
“Overkill would be an understatement,” Friedson said Friday night. “This is a 25-year-old pony, who is only dangerous to a carrot.”
Morning Scene 0
It’s not a great picture: the sky was cloudy at 6:30 this morning, and I couldn’t get close to them, but here are my companions for my morning cup of coffee, behind the fence, trying to figure out how to eat my roses:
