How much does AT&T suck? Let me count the ways

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Raoul

My original iPhone is finally dying and I decided it was time for the iPhone 4 upgrade.  In fact, I tried to get on board that train the first day of release, but AT&T’s crappy website left me without a reservation (just as well, it turns out, because I was told even people with reservations waited in line for 5 hours plus at the soho store).

Anyway, I finally ordered the phone a couple of weeks ago and, after some glitches on the order site (AT&T’s not Apple), it went through and my lovely device arrived Friday.  I was able to synch it immediately to iTunes as a clone of my existing phone which is great – everything came over, even including my alarm clock settings.  But as it had to resize 3000+ photos for the new screen it took a while so I left it to process while we went out Friday night.

Saturday morning, I’m excited to activate the new phone and call AT&T – but what’s this?  I can only activate my phone Monday to Friday?  What the fuck? Head online – fill out all the information (isn’t this the phone you sent to me?  Why do I need to type in two 15 digit strings and the order number that matches my account?  I’ve already authenticated with you.)  And…. nothing.  The page tells me it may take 15 mins to 4 hours to activate my phone, but 36 hours later there’s still no signal.  The phone itself works just fine – connects to wireless, uploads apps and gets iTunes, just no phone activation.

OK, well;  I’m waiting patiently till Monday morning and as of now (1020am), I’ve called AT&T three fucking times and have yet to get through to a person – I keep being put on hold for ten minutes or more then get a message saying they are experiencing “technical difficulties” and then disconnected.  “Difficulties?”  No shit!  You have difficulties running a business and not alienating your best customers who spend $3-700 / month with you.

Do I really like the iPhone enough to put up with this? (not even getting into the 6-10 dropped calls a day, while sitting still, in Manhattan!)  I’m starting to wonder; and every additional hour my $200 paperweight sits here I reassess some more.

Posted in Life, WTF? | Leave a comment

Die Antwoord in Brooklyn

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Raoul

If you don’t know who Die Antwoord are, go here to see the Ninja video and then come back.

Kim bought me tickets to see them last Sunday and we trekked into darkest Williamsburg to the Music Hall for the gig.  It was everything I expected and more – strange, loud, fun, compelling.

I still don’t know whether these guys are real or fake, but they put on a great a show and we all had fun (and they are better than 99% of music on the radio right now.

And anyone who was there for the warm-up DJ set will not forget that in a hurry – who were those guys?

Update: They have an EP available on iTunes – search for “Die Antwoord”

Posted in Life, Music, WTF? | Leave a comment

Lemmy!

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Raoul

It was my birthday yesterday; Kim threw me a lovely party on the roof which was very touching and appreciated.  I’m not very good at letting myself be at the center of attention like that, but it was small group of friends and a lot of fun.

And then I got this as a gift – how awesome is it (and I mean awesome in the literal sense of actually inspiring awe, not the devalued sense so often used)?

I also got tickets to Die Antwoord show next weekend – if you don’t know who they are, you should. (Start here).

<< I’m guessing I may be the first person to link Lemmy and Ninja in a post >>

P.S. When is Lemmy: The Movie opening?

Posted in Friends, Life, Music | 1 Comment

Hot and cold

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Raoul

OK it’s weather rather than climate – but as we are in record-breaking heat in NYC, it’s record cold in Alice Springs.

But Michael Mann used the word “trick” in a private email that was stolen and published, so clearly all the science to date is junk and there’s no issue with climate change.

Climate change will cause more extreme weather events around the world and we will tend to see evidence for these before we see overall systemic change.  No individual extreme event can be attributed solely to anthropogenic climate change, but a pattern of them certainly bolsters all the other observational data and models.

How many more of these events do we need to have before people take notice? And how many people around the world will die so people in the US can continue to live in 6,000 square foot homes?

Oh, I forgot, Al Gore is fat and lives in a big house – never mind.

<sigh>

If you are interested in learning about climate, climatology, palaeoclimatology, and anthropogenic climate change – here’s a good start: realclimate.org.  In particular, look at this section.

Stay cool or warm – wherever you are.

Posted in Life, Science, WTF? | Leave a comment

Take a moment to reflect on luckiness

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Raoul

I just picked up 5 rolls of film I had developed and printed at my favourite lab (Yeah, I know, I’m old school).  In that collection were some pics from Buenos Aires last year (great buildings in San Telmo), wonderful snow covered Lake District in the UK (from New Year), and four rolls from Australia on my last trip – Great Ocean Road, Bells Beach, Mornington Peninsula.

You know, sometimes all my traveling sucks really badly, but the upside is that I’ve had the chance to visit some absolutely wonderful places in the world.  Remind me of that next time you hear me complain about flying, jet lag, and hotels 🙂

Ill scan and upload some pics soon – actually look for links to a whole new photography site in the autumn / fall (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere – opposite for my antipodean friends)

Posted in Life, Travel | Leave a comment

Helpful sizing advice from Nike

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Raoul

“If your body measurement is on the borderline between two sizes, order the smaller size for a tighter fit or the larger size for a looser fit.”

Wow.  Add this to the list of things that really should never need to be articulated.

Posted in Fitness, WTF? | Leave a comment

I have a new work blog

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Raoul

Just in case anyone is interested, I started a new blog on Enterprise Architecture, Content management and Technology.  There’s a link over on the right, or just click here.

Recently I’ve just been bitching about AT&T and Apple, but that will pass.

Posted in Life | Leave a comment

Friday Sesame Street YouTube mashups

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Raoul

I’m sure there are many, many more

Posted in Life, WTF? | Leave a comment

Two reasons why Melbourne / Victoria is the New Jersey of Australia

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Raoul

(probably most of interest to my American readers, but still… )

On my very first day in Melbourne I was walking down William street to Foster’s and I saw this strange sign

(remember USAians, that Aussies, like all right-thinking people drive on the left)

So – I watch people pull to the left to make a right turn and think of the only other place in the world that forces you to turn the opposite direction you want – the good old Garden State itself.

So imagine my surprise when I see this on a number plate:

Does Bruce know about this?

The parallels become even clearer – who loves their big V8s more than Aussies and Jerseyites?

Johnny 99

“Well they closed down the Holden plant in Pagewood late that month
Ralph went out lookin’ for a job but he couldn’t find none ”

Open All Night

“Early north Geelong industrial skyline
I’m a all-set Monaro-jet creepin’ through the nighttime
Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a pay phone
This turnpike sure is spooky at night when you’re all alone
Gotta hit the gas, baby. I’m running late
Victoria in the mornin’ like a lunar landscape”

(lyrics from here)

(updated 6/11/10 2:19 – Just want to state that I believe the lyrics above come under fair use / parody – if anyone disagrees let me know.  The last thing I’d want to do is upset the Boss)

Posted in Music, Photography, Travel, WTF? | Leave a comment

It’s been a while

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Raoul

Apologies for not updating in a while.  New job, new laptop, lots of things going on.  I was in Steamboat springs skiing for a week in early April (fantastic – will definitely be back there next year), then down in Melbourne for a couple of weeks as soon as I started with TEAM,  Been back almost two weeks and I’m heading back to Aus on Monday.

I’ll update with some pics over the next week or so, but I did want to reflect on a couple of things.

I posted some goals in late February and have already achieved 1 1/2 of them:

  • I started my new job with TEAM Informatics in mid April
  • I finished the NYC half marathon on March 21st in 2:22:32

The other thing is that the pile of paperwork, bills, files, and stress that has squatted like an ogre in the corner of my dining table for almost 6 months is finally gone.  The process of reclaiming order in my life is well underway!

Posted in Fitness, Life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment