Exactly what the title says! I have this post up for no other reason than to point out, based on the timestamp, that its 05:06:07 08/09/10!! YAY!
(BTW you are gonna have to take my word for the fact it was posted on the 7th second!)
How iWas burned by one iLoved.
There is someone I have been faithful to over the years. Someone I love, someone I have always stood by. I was pragmatic, when they did something rash or silly I did not blindly defend them to my friends, I listened open-minded to their opinions on the matter, some times I even agreed, but I understood that what they did for me was in the end rewarding. I stood by then through thick and thin, and today I learned I have been burned by them harshly, and I cannot forgive them.
This person? Apple.
(granted they had some help from AT&T who I have always hated with a passion).
The iPad 3G. It comes with the option of a non-contract data plan with AT&T you can pay by the month. The rate? 29.99 for unlimited dat. (Same as the iPhone). You pay it month to month and can turn it off an on at will, with no contract.
Today it was announced AT&T is moving to a new data tiered method. (gizmodo link) The new method maxes at 2gb of data a month for 25$ and includes tethering. Alternatively you can keep your old data plan and be grandfathered into the old rates. The catch though is that you cannot have tethering. If you ever change your dataplan at all then you get locked into the new rate. Fair enough, ok then.
This also applies to the iPad. Ok again, fair enough. It’s the price you pay for a non-contract data plan. No guarantees.
The catch? It takes effect June 7th. This now makes crystal clear why my iPad 3G order, promised to ship in 7-10 business days, was delayed for 14 days to ship on, surprise, June 7th. If my iPad arrives after the 7th, which it will, then I am not elligible to be grandfathered into the old ipad data rate. I am locked into a max of 2gb of data usage, after which it is 1.25 cents per meg.
Now, I have checked my old iPhone data bills. I have never exceeded 700 megs to 1gb ever, EVER. I am not terribly worried about that, yet. (not to mention I plan to rely HEAVILY on the wi-fi already anyways). What irks me, what is a down right insult and slap to the face, is that Apple OBVISOULY withheld shipments of new iPads at AT&Ts request to prevent as many people as possible from being grandfathered in once this was decided upon. Its clear, and it’s insulting. Let me be clear. I understand the new pricing model, fuck I even support it. Truly. What is so insulting though is the whole “withhold my shipping date a week to make me not eligible for the old plan” by apple. Mark my words, my current iphone 3gs WILL BE MY LAST IPHONE. I dont give a DAMN about this new “4g” phone being announced. Once my contract is up this fall or winter I am moving to an Android phone on Verizon or Sprint. This was just too much. Apple has made it clear they are no longer the counter point agaist AT&T. They are obviously willing to work with them to some degree, and that degree burns.
************UPDATE************
6/2 @ 1:40PM PST:
So i just spent 50 minutes on the phone with apple customer service. Long story short they told me to fuck off. I spoke to a very nice young lady at first who agreed the entire situation was unpleasant, but I was the first caller to bring it up to her so she had to review the internal corporate email about the situation first.
Afterwards I spent about 25 minutes on hold while she tracked down a manager for me to speak with. I was transfered to a gentleman named Tim who was a “management representative” who was extremely professional and courteous, but made it clear there was nothing they could do for me. At the very best they could locate an iPad for me at a local store, have it held, and cancel my order and let me pick that one up. This would be perfect for me, except it was purchased as a gift for me from my father on his credit card and I had no way to pay for it in store at this time.
He kept wanting to shift focus to the fact the change in plan was AT&T’s doing, and not theirs, and that really 2gb was a lot of data. I had to keep shifting focus back to the fact I dont care about the plan itself, but the fact from a consumer point of view it is impossible to treat this as a ‘coincidence’ that sooooo many peoples orders were held till June 7th, and then the announcement comes out today that is when the plans change. He also insisted that he was told this was in no way shape or form the case, and Apple would never do something like this to meet AT&Ts requirements, although I told him that while I believed he THOUGHT he was telling the truth, I cant accept that somewhere high up in Apple this decision wasn’t made with this in mind.
In the end I took down his contact info and politely and respectfully let him know my battle was not over and ended the call. As it stands though I am unsure where to take this from here without making it a legal issue, however I am hesitant to threaten legal action before my order is shipped. At the same time I just want a damn iPad in my hands before June 7th so I can have the peace of mind of unlimited data, perhaps that might make that happen? :\
************UPDATE************
6/8 @ 7:43pm PST
So just a bit of a followup, my iPad ended up shipping a few days early and arrived on the 7th. At the same time AT&T out of the blue decided to honor the unlimited data plan for all unit purchased prior to 12:00am June 7th. (Me thinks apple had a hand in that due to bad publicity). I’m still pretty annoyed at things but now I’m more apt to believe the delays were a hardware shortage and not apples full intention. I LOVE my iPad, and am actually writing this on it on the train home from work 
I do however, still plan to buy an Android phone soon on a non AT&T network. Sorry apple but there is nothing about the iPhone 4 that even comes close to making up for the pain for 2 more years of AT&Ts excuse for “service”.
Category: Gadgets, Geekness, Personal |
Tags: Apple, at&t, bullshit, cell phone, customer service, geek, iPad, iPhone, technology
New server!
So after about 6 years of the same host, for a variety of reasons I have moved most of my sites off of my old host and onto a new VPS I have. I still have some work to do bit the BIG test was relocating sargonas.com which so far has gone fairly smooth! There are some plugins here and there which have some hard coded info I need to tweak as I see them break, but all things considered i think I am good to go!
Biggest 2 minutes of sports.
So I spent the weekend in Louisville, a 5 day weekend at that. Growing up in Louisville you become fairly accustomed to all the hopplah around the Kentucky Derby. Locally it turns into a 2 week long even known as the Kentucky Derby Festival. It kicks off with a fireworks display known as Thunder Over Louisville. (Don’t laugh, its the largest fireworks display in the world, preceded all day long by the largest air show in the world) and carries on through street festivals, parades, and all sorts of local entertainment until Derby Day on the first saturday of May.
A lot of people back west were like “Oh yeah, that Derby, that horse race. Is that really that big of deal?” I think it’s fairly hard to comprehend just how big of a deal it is unless you live here. Bear in mind we are talking about a sporting even that is celebrating its 136th year today. How many sporting events do you know of that started in 1875? The city really goes all out for it, given what a tourist event it is. The airport, which is quite large for one of its size due to it also being the UPS air hub of the world, had every single spare piece of tarmac housing a sleeping private jet thrusday night when I landed. Girls in dresses and derby hats were handing out Burbon Balls to you as you came down the terminal, and they had a blue grass band in the atrium of the airport. The car services were even bringing in cars and drives from Cinci, Nashville, Atlanta and Indianapolis.
The first part of my trip was fairly uneventful, I got back to my dads place thursday night and just hung out with the family until they all crashed shortly after I arrived, given it was 11pm local time. That left me with little to do other than surf the web and harass my friends back west for entertainment. I also checked out the Star Craft 2 beta for mac 
Friday I was able to get my grimy paws back on my car, which my Dad’s wife is driving currently. (In return he pays the car payments on it and I dont have to worry about storing it out in SF.) I went and caught up with a few friends I haven’t seen in ages, as well as hit both malls. I realized that 10 years later, and 2 years since I last visited either mall, I still park in automatically in the same out of the way but surprisingly convenient secret places you only know about if you work there… weird. I also stopped in the Apple store had them swap out my 3GS. It recently began to get some weird white spots on the backlight and also drained the battery more than was normal, so I went ahead and had them give me a new one, just before they closed the place down early for the iPad 3G launch. (Which I am thoroughly U-turning on and now plan to get quite soon!)
Saturday was rather eventful, for the obvious reasons. I went to the Derby with my dad. He managed to get his hands on some clubhouse “walk-around” tickets. Basically they give you access to both the ground level as well as all of the upper club house interiors and the outside boxes. In other words you can go everywhere but the Turf Club and Millionaires Row, more or less. Definitely a nice thing given the off and on drizzling rain all day. He had some friends who had several boxes in an area together, so we just hung around with them up there with some decent views of the track. While it rained lightly off an on all day under a constant cloud cover, just as they were walking the horses into the starting gate and the traditional “My Old Kentucky Home” was being to be sung, during the opening phrase “the sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home” the clouds break and the sun comes out in full foce, I shit you not. It was quite a sight. Once that race we over, we decided to not stick around for the final two and got out of there before 150,000 other people decided to leave with us. On a fun side note, my friend Lamont managed to hit the trifecta (picking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place horses) and for a $12 bet raked in 2200 and some change.. lucky bastard.
Sunday was a fairly uneventful day, I spent it at the house with my family with a small outdoor cookout for my birthday, while a month and a half early it was as close as my family was going to get to celebrating it with me since I wouldn’t be home in june. It was fun, and I got to play with my moms iPad! Afterwards I dug through 4 boxes in storage in the garage and inventoried a ton of my old books, DVDs and video games into my Delicious Library 2 catalog. This software is the absolute best and great for keeping tabs on al my media I have scattered between ATL, Lou. and home in SF. (You can see my published collection at www.sargonas.com/DeliciousLibrary) I also came across a few other surprises, like my year books, and prom photos, and other potentially embarrassing things we wont discuss
Monday I spent most of the entire day with my laptop and an old copy of Dune I dug up from storage in a hammock under the deck, aside from lunch with my mom. Just the very exact sunny afternoon I needed out of a vacation. Hearing some of the neighbors mowing the yards though, and the smell of lawnmower exhaust made me miss doing yard work. Come to think of it now its been nearly three years since I have been able to do any, and I think I genuinely miss it! I’m about to head out to dinner with my sister and dad for some delicious Steak. Tomorrow at noon I catch a flight out of here, and its back to SF. I’m kind of looking forward to it, being gone from work for so long makes me rather neurotic, I also miss my time zone. My body still functions on PST which makes it terribly difficult to wake up at 8am here (5 my time) and I’m not tired until around 2am or later, long after everyone I know is ready to call it a night hours before and I’m left to entertain myself.
Time And Relative Dimension In Space
So I’m still on the fence about wanting to watch the new Dr. Who. This Matt Smith guy just doesn’t look right to me. I have a hard time accepting a Dr who is the same age as a fratboy… also, I openly admit I have a total man-crush on David Tennant and his version of the Dr.
In the meantime however I have decided to indoctrinate my friend Amelia (no pun intended!) into the show. So far in the last 2 weeks we have banged out series 1 and 2, and are now 1/3rd into number 3. She seems to be loving it so far, which I am not at all surprised by. Lets face it, if your a geek (and she is) this show is the pinnacle. Watching them all over again for the third time since they first aired is just as great as the first and second time, especially being able to watch someone experience all of it for the first time. I do feel bad though when in order to preserve the integrity of the drama I couldn’t warn her about the end of series two, so I had to watch her cry a little.
I do think I’m ready to give Mr. Smith a chance once we are caught up though, someone I know told me their friend, who has the same opinions on the 11th version as me, said the following about the new premier of the 11th doctor: “In the last 10 minutes of the episode Matt became my new favorite Doctor.” Now I dont expect to feel the exact same way, but hearing that gives me hope at least…
The She-Geek Show!
Soooo I just found out my friend Kate has a YouTube channel of her own now, called the She-Geek Show. Its pretty damn good actually. She is about 4 episodes in so I request you go and catch up right now, then subscribe for more of her awesomeness.
http://www.youtube.com/user/shegeekshow#p/a
Oh and if it helps any did I mention she is hot?
Minor modifications to mah blog
Nothing major to share, just that after some prompting from Morgon, (apparently my blog is a result if you search for MyGamerCard) I have replaced the basic wordpress midget I had for a gamercard with a hard coded one. It took a lot of tweaking due to the bastardized theme and adjustments I have made over time, but was worth it. The MyGamerCard.net Sliverlight gamecard is friggin bad ass and looks awesome, doesn’t it? Also it has hover over/click through controls that open up some fun features. Add one to your blog toda! *thumbs up*
AT&T Fail
So on New Years Day I went and bought a Motorola Droid, and switched from AT&T to Verizon. It was fun, I liked it. By the 3rd though I decided that for all Droid did, it wasnt an iPhone, and went back to AT&T.
I called AT&T, reactivated my account, had my iPhone turned back on, and went back to the Verizon store and returned my Droid. All this went smoothly.
Fast-forward to today. I pop into my online control panel for AT&T to see what my billing cycle is (I forgot) and to look at the new reduced price plans. I suddenly see my account flagged as Past Due with a balance of $155. I look into it and this is my early termination fee. WTF! I’m still a customer!
I call AT&T and after having someone research my issue for what seemed like kind of long to do a simple “hmm he canceled, hmm he came back, thats odd” verification they confirmed I was indeed due to be credited that charge. I asked why it was still on my account, and they told me it wasnt, that it shows the credit on their side. The fact it still showed the due amount on my web panel was a mystery to the agent.
After further hold time and investigation she told me that I need to pay the cancelation fee, even though its credited in their system, then when my Feb bill comes, there will be a $155 credit applied to my account for that month to account for my non-cancelation.
…what?
I laughed and said there would be no way I was doing that, I would prefer to let it just sort itself out in Feb when my new bill came and the credit was applied etc. She told me I could not do this as my account was currently flagged past due and would be deactivated for non payment before that point, and I was required to pay the fee, which would then be credited back to me the next billing cycle. (Please note I have no other due amounts on the account that I am liable for, the ONLY charge is the cancelation fee!)
…what what?
I told her that was a ludicrous request. How can they rightfully suspend my service for non payment of a fee I did not legally incur. (Please note I have no other due amounts on the account that I am liable for, the ONLY charge is the cancelation fee!) They themselves admit its a false fee, and its been credited to my account (for next month, for some silly reason) and they are going to suspend me for not paying it this month? Thats ridiculous!
I politely informed her this kind of service is the very reason why I experimented with leaving AT&T in the first place, and was making me start to second guess the choice to come back. That seemed to strike a chord with them, and after another 15 minute hold she came back to inform me the fee had been entirely removed as of now, which I verified online. Seriously folks, what the fuck?
2009
Wow, what a year. Seriously, I don’t think that any other year has been this…. filled. Normally I think a retrospective look at a previous year on New Years Eve is a cheap and silly blog topic for one to write about, but so very much has happened, some for the good, some not. More changes and new developments in my life have occurred in this one year than I ever thought possible. So, without further ado, I give you my 2009 year in review.
January – I got final word that I would indeed be moving to San Francisco from Atlanta, and flew out here for 2 and a half weeks to prepare for the move. Ctide, Tiv, and Bill were nice enough to let me crash on an air mattress at 15b during this time, since Harry had not yet moved out of the room I would be taking at 1250 South Van Awesome. These 3 guys end up being awesome friends of mine as well as great co workers.
February – After going back to ATL for a week to prep, my relo package finally gets approved and I pack up everything I think i need for the time being into two big suitcases and fly out to SF once and for all, and move in with Clarence, Regina, and Stan. The following day, however, I get a phone call from my family to let me know that Tucker is in the doggy ER and has to be put to sleep. He was 14 and had become quite sick the last few weeks, but at the time I had planned to come home again in Feb or March specifically to say goodbye to him, knowing he would not last the year. Sadly at this same time a round of layoffs run through EA and 85% of my old ATL office is let go, as is Clarence from the sims team :\
March – after several weeks of sleeping on an air mattress and living out of a suitcase, I finally get my relo bonus and go to Ikea and buy a while new bedroom set, so I can live like a normal human. After that I can actually consider myself “moved in” and actually living here. For me, it made it all “final”. GDC hits and over the course of the week I am introduced to one Mr. Alex Q Ryan who is a sort of a gateway drug into an entire social circle out here that I am flat out honored to be a part of, these people make life here awesome.
April – Ariel and I mend some bridges and talk for the first time in almost a year, and I fly her out here for a weekend. It’s rather nice having my best friend back. Sadly my room mates had to entertain her for the whole weekend, as 6 hours after she arrives I promptly get alcohol poisoning and spend the rest of the 3 days violently ill and in bed.
June – I go to E3 for the first time since 2005 and have a BLAST. The following week Ariel comes out to visit for a week and do some much needed catching up. The day after she leaves, however, I return from my week and a half vacation to work and am promptly laid off from Rupture, just in time for my birthday… fortunately days later I met Allie. I think if she had not been around during this time it would have been a lot darker for me, but she definitely made it all the more bearable, and then some!
July – Two weeks after much frantic job hunting, early in the month I am back at EA. This time at our corporate office running PC/MAC Compliance within EA Cert, in no small part thanks to several people I used to work with who had great things to say about me!
August – I fly back to ATL for the first time since January, and pack up my old apartment and put it all into storage. I am officially moved out of ATL now, aside from a 16 x 5 storage facility full of boxes I have there.
September – PAX09 was even more fun than 08 was! Sadly, the day I return Allie and I are no more, as she had decided that an acquaintance of mine was apparently a more attractive proposition…
November – Another round of layoffs cut through work on a random Monday morning, affecting my entire Department, including our managers. Miraculously I and one other person are spared the carnage, and are shifted off to a new team. Now, who knows what is in store…
December – I go home for the first time since last Christmas, something I never though would take so long, and see my family. So much has changed in the city since I was last around it’s almost alien to me. After some careful consideration I decide that I am visiting my family, not going home. Home is now SF, and I have no regrets at all about that. This is an amazing city with so much to offer, and so much fun to bed had. I only wish I was a few years younger when I had moved out here, as I fear I won’t have enough time to experience all the fun there is to offer here before I have to start settling down in life and think about the future and stop living in the now. That’s my goal for 2010. Experience the ever living fuck out of California!
On a side note I’d like to thank my room mates for taking me in. They have become a surrogate family to me out here, and have made this transition so smooth. They really do feel like family to me!
