Apparently Windows Live Writer will no longer work with Blogger. Some of the rumors I've heard point to a possible open-source release (taken with a grain of salt, however. This is the internet, and it's also the same place that would have you believing that Elvis is alive and Belgium really exists)... I don't know what happened. Apparently Google changed/disco'ed some API that Windows Live Writer was using. Really disappointing, too, as that was what I was using. Tried the Scribefire extension for Firefox, and that waas a no-go. So for now, this blog is going to be written in the browser window. Or on my phone/tablet (I still have them, and they do still work).
Btw, yes I have been tinkering with the themes...
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Read my words, and take heed if you're with Comcast.
I've had Comcast in some form or another for over the past 19 years. Always with TV at some level or another, and for most of the recent decade, high speed internet. This is my story on my switch back to Xfinity high-speed internet and my xfinity x1 upgrade.
(This started out as an email that was sent to Comcast in an effort to straighten this out privily. It bounced).
3 weeks ago, I decided to switch back to xfinity high speed internet from CenturyLink. I bought the modem from Best Buy. And then I called to set it up. But first, I had to order it. It was next to impossible at first to get a hold of someone (due to the fallout from the Mayweather/Pacqueou fight and the ensuing service outage). I'm willing to forgo going without most of my TV programming for one night, but let's talk about your customer service for now. When I called to order internet, I reached one of your infamous outsourced call centers. You know what I'm talking about. The places where neither product knowledge, fundamental customer service, nor even a basic understanding of the English language are required. I get a hold of one of your outsourced droids, and she asked about how much i was paying for cable, and then proceeded to tell me how she was going to try to save me money. And then she went into a high-pressure sales pitch to add xfinity voice. I told her no. Several times. When she started berating me for not listening to nor accepting her sales pitch, I hung up.
I was calling to add a service (and pay you more money, at full market rate at that, too), and I was driven away. Think about that. Their greed to upsell me almost drove me away from buying (and paying for) new service.
Eventually I was able to get to someone who was a native english speaker, and I was able to order high speed internet, then I was transferred to an outsourced market droid, but I was finally able to activate my high-speed internet.
Fast forward two weeks, and went to the Federal Way Xfinity store. My experience with trying to order high-speed internet led me to check my account to shenanigans. And I talked to Richard Sjouwke. He looked up my account and told me that I was paying full market price for all my services. He then told me I could save by bundling with voice. And this time I bit. In hindsight, I fell for the Sales Pitch disguised as customer service. But that meant I had to replace all my boxes (I also got xfinity x1) *and* my cable modem. I went the self-install route again, and once again got the outsourced rep who couldn't even speak English. With the voice modem, I realized that my internet speeds had fallen to about half of what they were before I got high speed internet. So Monday morning, I went back to the Federal Way Xfinity to return my old cable boxes. I also returned my cable modem (I went back to the Netgear modem that I bought 3 weeks ago). I told the rep at the counter that I wanted to cancel my voice service (I don't need it, I have unlimited minutes on my Sprint cell phone). I was told that I would have to call the loyalty line (here's what happens when you call it), or I would have to return my x1 boxes and have my other dvr boxes reissued to me. I don't think so. I'm not going to call another outsourced marketing droid just to put up with another high pressure sales pitch.
I don't know it their is a double play bundle that can be brought into play. I get the impression that when I went to the Xfinity store Monday, that the rep didn't want to cancel, and was slightly perturbed that I was returning equipment. I get it. I'm a nuisance. I'm an inconvenience. And may I also add that I did reach out to @comcastcares on twitter each time I tried to self-install, and never got a timely response.
You'd think that if Comcast's customer service was better, if their call centers spoke English period, if they didn't treat every interaction as a chance to foist a high-pressure sales on a customer, if their website wasn't as confusing about what products they offer, the merger with Time-Warner might have gone through....
I know I'm not stuck with Comcast. CenturyLink has adequate service. I can get my video needs through Netflix, Hulu Plus and Spamazon Prime (I have all three). But I own my own modem. I want to make it work. But I'll eat the $109 and change loss if I have to....
Before you upgrade or add Comcast service. Think twice. Read my words and take heed. Have a backbone, and be prepared to hang up the phone if you need to.
Comcast, did I mention your customer service sucks?
(This started out as an email that was sent to Comcast in an effort to straighten this out privily. It bounced).
3 weeks ago, I decided to switch back to xfinity high speed internet from CenturyLink. I bought the modem from Best Buy. And then I called to set it up. But first, I had to order it. It was next to impossible at first to get a hold of someone (due to the fallout from the Mayweather/Pacqueou fight and the ensuing service outage). I'm willing to forgo going without most of my TV programming for one night, but let's talk about your customer service for now. When I called to order internet, I reached one of your infamous outsourced call centers. You know what I'm talking about. The places where neither product knowledge, fundamental customer service, nor even a basic understanding of the English language are required. I get a hold of one of your outsourced droids, and she asked about how much i was paying for cable, and then proceeded to tell me how she was going to try to save me money. And then she went into a high-pressure sales pitch to add xfinity voice. I told her no. Several times. When she started berating me for not listening to nor accepting her sales pitch, I hung up.
I was calling to add a service (and pay you more money, at full market rate at that, too), and I was driven away. Think about that. Their greed to upsell me almost drove me away from buying (and paying for) new service.
Eventually I was able to get to someone who was a native english speaker, and I was able to order high speed internet, then I was transferred to an outsourced market droid, but I was finally able to activate my high-speed internet.
Fast forward two weeks, and went to the Federal Way Xfinity store. My experience with trying to order high-speed internet led me to check my account to shenanigans. And I talked to Richard Sjouwke. He looked up my account and told me that I was paying full market price for all my services. He then told me I could save by bundling with voice. And this time I bit. In hindsight, I fell for the Sales Pitch disguised as customer service. But that meant I had to replace all my boxes (I also got xfinity x1) *and* my cable modem. I went the self-install route again, and once again got the outsourced rep who couldn't even speak English. With the voice modem, I realized that my internet speeds had fallen to about half of what they were before I got high speed internet. So Monday morning, I went back to the Federal Way Xfinity to return my old cable boxes. I also returned my cable modem (I went back to the Netgear modem that I bought 3 weeks ago). I told the rep at the counter that I wanted to cancel my voice service (I don't need it, I have unlimited minutes on my Sprint cell phone). I was told that I would have to call the loyalty line (here's what happens when you call it), or I would have to return my x1 boxes and have my other dvr boxes reissued to me. I don't think so. I'm not going to call another outsourced marketing droid just to put up with another high pressure sales pitch.
I don't know it their is a double play bundle that can be brought into play. I get the impression that when I went to the Xfinity store Monday, that the rep didn't want to cancel, and was slightly perturbed that I was returning equipment. I get it. I'm a nuisance. I'm an inconvenience. And may I also add that I did reach out to @comcastcares on twitter each time I tried to self-install, and never got a timely response.
You'd think that if Comcast's customer service was better, if their call centers spoke English period, if they didn't treat every interaction as a chance to foist a high-pressure sales on a customer, if their website wasn't as confusing about what products they offer, the merger with Time-Warner might have gone through....
I know I'm not stuck with Comcast. CenturyLink has adequate service. I can get my video needs through Netflix, Hulu Plus and Spamazon Prime (I have all three). But I own my own modem. I want to make it work. But I'll eat the $109 and change loss if I have to....
Before you upgrade or add Comcast service. Think twice. Read my words and take heed. Have a backbone, and be prepared to hang up the phone if you need to.
Comcast, did I mention your customer service sucks?
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
An advantage to going Old Skool
One of the things that I liked about Windows ME was the Plus! themes. Especially the Windows ME theme. My first computer had it pre-installed, and I used it for about a year until Windows XP came out. I went out and bought the XP upgrade disc, and did an upgrade install when I first got it. And I lost my Plus! themes (meaning the plus! for Win9x. I had also purchased Plus! for XP at the same time as when I got XP). As my skills progressed, I started dual-booting, and then I realized I could just simply copy the c:/Program Files/Plus! folder from one drive to another. And I could also back it up.
So, where the directory is located has changed, but it still used on occasion. Like now. And I’ve realized another advantage of using the Old Skool Plus! themes: A really impressive framerate in FSX. Though I’m assuming you’d get similar results using any Windows Classic theme…
BTW, Happy 1000th post…
Went to the doctor last week…
I’m a Type I diabetic. I’ve had it since 2002 (initially suspected in the spring, diagnosed definitively in the ER in November). When I first started on insulin, they had me on regular insulin and lantus. In 2010, my the dietician and my doctor suggested that I switch to humalog and lantus. I was taking both via vial and syringe. Last week, when I was at the doctor’s office, and my prescriptions were updated, I was moved from the vial to the pen. THis was something my dietician and were talking about during my last visit with her. I’ve been using the pen for a week now. It’s much easier to dial in the dose rather than fill a syringe. And it’s quicker to take a shot at work. At least with the pen, I don’t have to be concerned as much about being called for ‘shooting up’ than with a syringe and vial.
Though I should also add, that regular insulin (that is type ‘R’) is available OTC. When I got out of the hospital, and the doctor wrote my first insulin prescription and I took it to the pharmacy, the pharmacist at Wally World gave the form back to me, and told me it was OTC (Lantus and Humalog are very much prescription only).
Insulin is good.
Even Roger Goodell wants in on it…
I’m not a real fan of Tom Brady. He is a Man-Diva. Whenever I see the Patriots play, I’m always rooting for the opppsing teams’ defensive linemen. I don’t want him to get injured or hurt. Just embarrassed. Like giving him an atomic wedgie after a sack… Hurt his dignity, not his body.
You may have heard of the deflategate scandal. And the NFL has handed down punishments. Tom Brady has been suspended for the first four games of next season. I wouldn’t have stopped at four games. Think like what happened to Lance Armstrong when it was finally realized that he was doping (all of his Tour de France titles stripped). He should have his Super Bowl ring taken away. But then again, it does say something that cheating has to be resorted to defeat Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. Actually, he should have the ultimate sanction for cheating in football. He can still play football, but he’d be force to wear a Tim Tebow jersey…
Even Roger Goodell wants to give Tom Brady a Well-Deserved Beating.
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