July 16th, 2009 by Dubber

…blog thingie.  I probably ought to, ya know, write something every now and then, but this thing has become something of a spam trap with comments like “very interesting post” and “We keep reading that he’s still dating Vanessa Hudgens, but who is zac efron dating the I just read that he’s dating Nikki Blonsky. clarify please?”  The only bit of that inane gibberish that I agree with is “who is zac efron[?]”

I have a post percolating, but it’ll wait for another three months.

April 28th, 2009 by Dubber

I’ve had enough!  I hardly ever use exclamation points, so having used two back-to-back indicates my level of irritation.  I’ve had enough of the stupidity and the hype and the hype of stupidity with ever malady, ever so slight, being blamed on *gasp* swine flu.

So there’s an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and it’s killed like 150 people.  That’s probably worth a headline or blurb or some mention; anything that kills 150 people within a week or so is usually newsworthy.  What isn’t newsworthy is this notion that we have some pandemic sweeping the world and that we’re all in grave danger–grave danger–from swine flu.  The fact is, we have various strains of influenza floating about and people die from this all the time.  All.  The.  Time.  The CDC says 36,000 people die from influenza every year.  That’s like about a hundred a day, no?  So why don’t we see headlines every day about the perils of influenza?  Please note that I’m not asking for more sensational headlines about influenza.  I’m just sayin’ that it’s a given people are going to die from the flu, yet we have the media all a’twitter about the pandemic and governments talking about closing borders.  Companies are having their business continuity teams gin up pandemic plans.  Exciting times, I tell ya.  Then we have the intardnet and social media, where some twitter twits (coincidence?  I think not.) think eating pork will give you swine flu.  *sigh*

I appreciate this article because someone gets it:

The outspoken head of the Irish budget airline Ryanair has dismissed apocalyptic warnings of a global swine flu pandemic, saying that the virus was only a risk to Asians and Mexicans “living in slums”.

Michael O’Leary, who pioneered the 1p fares which transformed European aviation, told a press conference that he did not think the virus that is thought to have killed around 150 people in Mexico would wipe out his firm’s business this summer despite UN warnings of a pandemic.

“Are we going to die from swine flu? No. Are we in danger of SARS? No. Foot and mouth disease? No. Will it affect people flying short-haul flights around Europe this summer? Thankfully, no,” Mr O’Leary said.

He added: “It is a tragedy only for people living … in slums in Asia or Mexico. But will the honeymoon couple from Edinburgh die? No. A couple of Strepsils will do the job.”

So far only two swine flu cases have been confirmed in Britain, a couple who returned from their honeymoon in Cancun last week and took ill at the weekend. Iain and Dawn Askham of Polmont, near Falkirk in Scotland, are said to be responding well to treatment with anti-viral drugs at an isolation ward in Lanarkshire.

Curiously, there have been no deaths from the virus outside Mexico and doctors have been unable to explain the high level of mortality in the country.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6186585.ece

Curiously?  Here’s something newsworthy for those doctors in question–Mexico is a third world country.  An unfortunate truth is that people who live in the squalor of third world countries die from diseases that don’t normally kill people (or kill as many people) because of the poor conditions and lack of medical care.

I also appreciate the following article because I think someone sees the hysteria in the media and government for what it truly is:

The spread of a possible flu pandemic could see an increase in already heightened levels of government intervention in economies and financial markets as a result of the global financial crisis.

In the short term, it might serve to give governments an easy justification to impose protectionist measures that could further stifle slumping trade flows.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LR454443.htm

Gee, ya think?  I don’t think it really has much to do with protectionist measures so much as a wild power grab by the UN through the World Health Organization, which raised its alert to an “unprecedented” level and called for travel restrictions.  Fearmonger much?  Political leaders with a socialist bent have been drooling at the prospect of the “death of capitalism,” as some have breathlessly claimed.  This, along with environmental alarmism, is just another means to an end for those in power who want to retain power over an increasingly-dependent populace.

I’m not saying flu isn’t dangerous or deadly.  A million people died of a flu outbreak in 1968.  Thing is, the people who died from that outbreak and other outbreaks aren’t the people who have the luxury of being glued to their TV, computer or cellphone while following the oh-so-exciting minute-by-minute coverage of the pandemic.  The idiots on twitter who openly worry to all their followers about whether they should eat the bacon they just bought because they may get swine flu are unfortunately blessed with access to first world medical care.  I say unfortunately because, once upon a time, stupidity like that would be dealt with on Darwinian terms.  Nature has a way of dealing with stupid, and there’s nothing newsworthy about that.

I had to add this link as someone with a voice agrees with me.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/28/a-pandemic-of-panic-are-we-dead-yet/

Are we dead yet?  When we gonna be dead?

April 22nd, 2009 by Dubber

[EDIT: in taking a cue from Taubman Co. v. Webfeats and shouting my displeasure "from the roof tops," I must say there's something to this whole internet thingie and Twitter.  After my wife "tweeted" about our experience on Twitter, Anthony from Dish (whose name and number I cling to, having learned my lesson) called and said they were crediting my account the $113.95.  I'm waiting to see the credit hit my bill before I say this thing is over or that all is well, but it's an encouraging sign.]

I was thinking of starting a cybergriping site aimed at Dish Network, but someone already registered dishnetworksucks.com.  In lieu of making a stink and [hopefully] engaging in a trademark dispute with Dish (can you say “Taubman Co. v. Webfeats, 319 F.3d 770, (6th Cir. 2003)”?  I knew you could.), I’m left to tell my tale of woe here.

We’ve been a loyal customer of Dish Network since 1995 when we went toe-to-toe with the powers that be at Barksdale AFB, LA in order to allow families living on base to install DBS dishes on or around the historic base housing.  We’ve increased our package and services since those early heady days to the point that we pay about $90 a month to watch TV, or a little over $1000 a year.  Who knows how many customers Dish picked up as the result of me arguing with the officious drones of the 2nd Civil Engineering Squadron.

My tale of woe actually started many many months ago when Dish decided to to make the jump from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 video encoding.  I understand why Dish is doing this and I’m generally supportive of the effort, but the way they’ve handled this is, in a word, ludicrous.  First, Dish offered to upgrade my HD receiver for “free,” though it wasn’t.  You see, I purchased a model 942 HD/DVR receiver for about $500 from a Dish reseller and was quite happy with my purchase.  The problem is the 942 is a MPEG-2 receiver and was unable to receive the bulk (now all) of Dish’s HD programming once it started migrating to the new codec.  Dish would send me a new HD/DVR receiver in exchange for my 942 (note the emphasis), but I would have to pay $5 a month to rent the new receiver and $6 a month for a DVR fee.  That doesn’t strike me as “free,” so I resisted the move to MPEG-4 until it became apparent that I would no longer be able to receive HD programming.  Eventually I made the switch, but I kept my 942 to use as my secondary receiver in my bedroom since it’s an excellent SD receiver and I had a lot of programming saved on the DVR.  Fast forward to March 6, 2009–Dish “bricks” my 942.  It, in essence, disables my receiver on its end.  The following letter was sent to ceo@dishnetwork.com:

It started Friday, March 6th. The 942 we kept as a SD receiver in our bedroom after the forced upgrade to the 622 showed all channels in green. Called Dish the next morning and learned you’ve cut off support for the 942 to myself and some 4000 other 942 customers.

A few things infuriate me about this. First, there was no notice given. One could argue we saw it coming, but Dish handled this in a very cavalier manner–as if you don’t have competition. I can guarantee you that if the company or companies that haul your network traffic to your satellite uplink sites had arbitrarily decided to do work outside a planned and advised maintenance window, or made a change that materially affected your service without notice, a VP or higher at Dish would be screaming bloody murder to some VP at those telecoms with all the typical threats of cancellation and demands for service credit that those calls usually entail. Yes, there are issues of scale, but Dish is still a customer, and by no means the largest customer for any telecom, so there’s a certain hypocrisy to all this that irks me.

Then there’s the fact that many of us bought 942s because there were so few to rent early on. Some bought at a premium because supplies were tight–they usually are whenever Dish rolls out a new and much-hyped product. Now the equity in those 942s is lost, with the added insult that we can either buy or rent another receiver to replace what was a perfectly functional SD/DVR unit. I would think Dish would attempt to retain good will by offering to waive rental fees for a year or two, which is probably the equivalent of what you net on the sale of a receiver, but no.

I understand the reasoning behind the migration to MPEG4. What I don’t understand in why Dish would go out of its way to alienate a 14-year customer, one who actually fought with commanders at Barksdale AFB LA, and successfully I might add, to break the cable monopoly on base and allow families living on base to become customer of Dish and erect DBS antennas. My service with Dish has continued to expand over the years, to include your Starband offering at one time. Hell, I was such an advocate of Dish Network that I stayed with you despite having both my telephone and ISP service with a cable company that I was working for. Clearly you’re not worried about churn, which is incredibly shortsighted on your part.

I don’t expect a response, but should someone feel compelled to do so, I can be reached at 636-XXX-XXX.

[Dubber]

Much to my surprise, I received a call from “Daryl” (I think), who worked for the group within Dish that handled issues like mine.  According to “Daryl,” Dish wanted to keep my business and was willing to “make it right.”  By making it right, he meant that either they could send me a basic SD receiver for free, or send me a SD/DVR receiver at a reduced rate.  Since I’m using this on a SD TV in the bedroom, I elected to go with option #1.  I receive my new receiver a few days later and I’m happy.  I foolishly throw away “Daryl’s” number thinking that all was well.  Oh, how I was wrong.  I receive my April bill and don’tcha know, Dish is charging me for my free receiver.  Calls are made.  Nothing happens.  Then I send this email:

To whom it may concern,

I will reiterate a point I made in my earlier message–Dish Network seems to be going out of its way to alienate its customers.

Much to my surprise, I received a call in response to the prior message.  I believe the gentleman’s name was Daryl, but I could be mistaken; I didn’t think I would need to hang onto his name and number once this issue was supposedly resolved, but I was wrong.  “Daryl” contacted me, and being customer-focused, “Daryl” offered to remedy this situation in one of two ways: 1) Dish would provide a free receiver to replace the 942 it capriciously “bricked”; or 2) I could rent a DVR/receiver at reduced cost.  I opted for option 1 with the understanding that it was free.  There was no mention of shipping & handling or returning the 942 that I own outright.  I received my replacement receiver within a matter of days.  It came packaged as a typical receiver.  There was no paperwork or other shipping materials indicating that this was an exchange and that I would be expected to ship my 942 back to Dish.

I considered the matter satisfactorily resolved until I received my Dish bill, dated April 1, 2009.  It states I owe $208.74!  The issue, of course, is that Dish is charging me for my free receiver!  $113.95 to be precise.  I called Dish and spoke with a billing representative from your outsourced call center in Mumbai or Pune or wherever, who, of course, hung up on me during our call.  I called back later and spoke with “Ann,” aka operator 858 located in said outsourced call center.  “Ann” first explained that I was being charged for the free receiver because Dish hadn’t received my 942, the 942 that I own and have no intention of giving to Dish for any reason.  After I explained to “Ann” the nature of my conversation with “Daryl” and the resulting understanding, “Ann” took the more creative approach of attempting to rationalize that the $113.95 was for two months of service.  Insulting the intelligence of your customers is poor form.  After explaining to “Ann” that this was not the case for patently obvious reasons, “Ann” excused herself again to review my account and conjure up a more creative response.  “Ann” came back on the line and decided that a line-by-line review of my bill was in order, which, of course, it’s not.  I reiterated my position to “Ann” that she needed to credit my account the $113.95 for my free receiver, or get her supervisor on the line.  “Ann” failed to avail herself of this opportunity, so now it’s back to “Daryl” or whomever.

There is only one correct response which will satisfactorily remedy this situation.  Dish will credit my account $113.95 for the receiver in question.

[Dubber]
636-XXX-XXXX

No response.  Go figure.  And today Dish’s bill for $208.74 hits my checking account.  Dish (and “Daryl”) lied, which isn’t really a surprise, but if my little tale of woe keeps one person from making the mistake of going with Dish Network, I think it’ll make more than a $113.95 dent in Dish’s bottom line (paltry as that is), and this makes me happy.