Almost Georgetown

Archive for January 2008

January 30, 2008

Comcast Fined $12,000 For Crappy Customer Service

YES! Score one for consumers! Comcast just got their butts kicked by Montgomery County. Apparently Comcast has failed to follow the basic rules of the franchise agreement, doing such difficult things as answering the phone in 30 seconds and resolving service disruptions in 24 hours or less. Take that and suck on it, Comcrap!

1:25 pm | Comment (0) | Print | Categories: Civil Rights, Maryland

Some Good From The Rate Cuts...

As the Federal Reserve considers whether or not to cut interest rates again today, there's not all doom and gloom as a result. For me, and thousands of other students who have yet to consolidate their student loans, the move represents a blessing. But for millions of others (including my mother), thanks to Republicans in Congress, they won't see a penny of relief.
Continue Reading...

10:21 am | Comment (1) | Print | Categories: Economics

Imagine You Are Five Again...

...and you are playing a game of dodgeball. Imagine that the rules say if you catch and then drop the ball you're out. Then the big kid catches and drops the ball, and suddenly announces a rules change - if HE catches and drops the ball he's not out. Is that fair?
Continue Reading...

7:27 am | Comment (0) | Print | Categories: Crime, Election '08, Politics

January 27, 2008

Time Machine Is Pretty Cool

For all the early-adopter problems I've had with Leopard, Apple's new operating system, I have to say that Time Machine is pretty cool. Especially since it saved my bacon yesterday.
Continue Reading...

6:33 am | Comment (3) | Print | Categories: Apple, Technology

January 24, 2008

A Busy Weekend and a Fire

It was 25 degrees on Monday, at the World War II Memorial.

Last weekend, from Friday to Tuesday, my mom came to visit. We had a great time, seeing the sights, visiting shopping malls, and enjoying lasagna with Mike and his family. It was bitter cold - sometimes reaching into single digits on the thermometer - but we had a lot of fun.
Continue Reading...

4:48 pm | Comment (2) | Print | Categories: Adventures, Washington, DC, Weather

January 17, 2008

Hmmmmm is right....

From The Consumerist.

7:43 pm | Comment (1) | Print | Categories: Bizarre

January 16, 2008

Paring Down An Inbox With Sentenc.es

Mike Fullerton gave me a great idea regarding paring down one's inbox. It involves an idea from www.sentenc.es that all e-mails are limited to a set number of sentences for clarity and efficiency. Mike Davidson blogged on this on July 17, 2007. I think it's a good idea, and I think I might learn to employ it.

9:55 am | Comment (4) | Print | Categories: Technology

January 14, 2008

Patent Reform In 2008?

The Senate is currently considering the the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (presumably to be renamed to 2008), which essentially places limitations on patent litigation, most significantly in the amount of damages that can be awarded for patent infringement. Particularly, the legislation would limit damages to being calculated using a formula that would take into account the amount of importance and the part of an invention that relies on the infringed patent.
Continue Reading...

8:21 am | Comment (0) | Print | Categories: Pet Peeves, Politics

January 12, 2008

Fun Things To Do On A Saturday Afternoon #6...

Metro riders got a surprise today when a stunt, organized by George Mason University student Richard Julian, took the pants off Metro riders - literally.
Continue Reading...

10:37 pm | Comment (3) | Print | Categories: Bizarre, Metro, Washington, DC

And The Discussion Goes On...

Whether fair or not, New Hampshire's place as the first primary following the first caucus has always given it a unique impact on the Presidential campaigns. In some years, it has shifted the momentum from one candidate coming from Iowa to another; in other years, it has approved the Iowa nominee who then went on to be President. But whatever the outcome, there has always been a unique result out of having such a small state with such a prominent place in the national discussion of Presidential candidates. Last Tuesday provided no exception to this rule.
Continue Reading...

5:02 pm | Comment (0) | Print | Categories: Election '08, Politics

January 7, 2008

Comcast To Back Standardization (About Time!)

A long time ago, the phone companies shouted loudly about adoping rules that would permit people to connect phones not sold by the phone companies to the phone network. To do so, they said, would potentially unsettle the network and cause problems. History shows that they were outright wrong, but it seems that in the communications industry, they never learn.

Now Comcast has announced that they will begin the process of standardizing the protocols used to communicate with settop boxes and cable boxes to allow integration of these standards into multiple televisions, allowing a person to buy a television but not need a cable box. These new standards will work across all cable providers, meaning that a user of Comcast can move to an area served by Cox and not have to buy a new cable box. Continue Reading...

11:48 am | Comment (2) | Print | Categories: Phones, Politics, Technology

January 3, 2008

Barack Wins Iowa

In an upset that has the potential to sink Hillary Clinton's campaign in a hurry, Barack Obama has won the Iowa Caucus, giving him a boost heading into New Hampshire. With a 4-point race in the polls and a margin of error of ±5% the race is considered a statistical dead heat. A win for Obama and loss for Clinton in New Hampshire would tie up the nomination almost inevitably. Clinton and Edwards are fighting for second, but things don't look good for Clinton right now.

Congratulations to the Obama camp. A race well run.

9:51 pm | Comment (3) | Print | Categories: Election '08, Politics

What Would Be The New Year Without A JibJab?

JibJab thought the year was rough too. They put together a little ditty that I think is hillarious and I am posting here for you to enjoy. Continue Reading...

2:38 pm | Comment (3) | Print | Categories: Holidays

January 2, 2008

Why The Iowa Caucuses Are Unfair

Iowa holds it's first-in-the-nation caucus this Thursday, and the races are tight. Since it's the general consensus among most pundits that regardless of the nominee, if the election were held today, the Democrats would win it. But if that's true, then why is it that the state of Iowa, population 2,892,085, gets to decide for the rest of America who the next President will be?
Continue Reading...

12:15 pm | Comment (1) | Print | Categories: Election '08, Politics, Washington, DC

<-- Back to the Archive