Pulp Free

It’s been a rough past few days for me. You see, I have a strange need to know what the weather is and what it’s going to be. So much so that I actually have three weather stations in the house that provide both 7-day and 3-day forecasts and current temperature. You’ve probably seen the 7-day models from a few years ago… Sharper Image had them available around Christmas time and I promptly put it on my Christmas list that year!

The 7-Day Forecaster continuously displays forecast data for 150 U.S. locations from AccuWeather.com — no PC or internet connection required. Always know daily high and low temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, UV index, pollen, and air quality alerts. This 7-Day model also features pollen and air quality alerts. Back-light changes color to indicate temperature at a glance.

Now you have to be saying – “There’s a hundred different ways to figure out what the forecast and weather is going to be! Just stick your head out the window, turn on the TV or GASP! Look it up on the Internet!!” – and you’d be right. But I’ve just grown to love my colorful forecaster and all of it’s semi-accurate forecasts. I think they even have some humor… (Tropical rainstorm in Saint Louis? And I’m all for being Sunny & Delightful)

But late this past Sunday night – the data provider in Saint Louis suddenly went quiet. No more updates. And now my temperature and forecasts are no longer working! I did submit a ticket and promptly received a response back from customer support:

Dear Dave,

We received the first reports from the area this morning.  We have contacted the wireless provider so that they can investigate.  We do not have a time estimate yet, but we will work to get the matter resolved as soon as possible.

Best regards,

- Brian , Customer Support

Whew! Thanks Brian!! Glad somebody is on it! I’m having a hard time with my forecasts falling off day by day…

As announced yesterday in an exclusive from DSL Reports, Charter Communications will be implementing new usage caps for their broadband bandwidth.

Broadband Reports has learned that Charter will be updating their acceptable use policy (AUP) next week, setting the stage for clear usage caps and potential overage fees. A source familiar with the plans tells us Charter will be imposing a 100GB cap upon any Charter connection of 15Mbps or less, and a 250GB usage cap for broadband tiers “over 15 Mbps up to 25 Mbps.”

So I was pretty excited when Charter finally hashed out their differences with the local Saint Louis CBS affiliate for HD broadcast rights. Charter Good.

Usage caps when I’m paying $70 a month for bandwidth in a Saint Louis monopoly… Charter Bad.

This news isn’t really news, I suppose. I’ve talked about this a few times already… So how have I adjusted?

Meh… No really. Considering I have the 16 MB service – I’d fall into the 250 GB cap. At $1 a GB overage charge… That would be over $470 for two of my months where usage was pretty high. (Average over the last 12 months was right at 251 GB…) Maybe that’s a better way to measure… A rolling 3 month average perhaps? And what about uploads? Do they count? Better hope that there’s some ways to track usage… (Currently there isn’t any…)

I suppose this is a way for the $20 Billion debt ridden company to force users to upgrade to a higher cost tier of service or have those fees roll in. Right now the next tier up from 10 MB to 16 MB is only $25 a month… Do you think that Charter will automatically upgrade users to the new service if they go over 25 GB in a month? Perhaps I should charge Charter $1 a month for every GB under 250 GB I don’t use? How about banking bandwidth like AT&T does with rollover bandwidth?

Now that I’m a full time telecommuter / work-from-home employee who has to pay for his own broadband (don’t get me started) – this just doesn’t help.

We’ll see how it works out… (Especially considering in a month, “unlimited usage” could equate to 5 TB of download capcity on a 16 Mb/s bandwidth tier…)

BTW – I have had a good time reading the comments on Slashdot… A search on Google will bring you plenty of other fun stories about this issue…

In about a week’s time, Charter Communication will no longer be carrying the Saint Louis CBS affiliate KMOV television signal. I stumbled across this tidbit of fairly relevant information just today as EngadgetHD had an article about the new HDTV channels arriving shortly.

So a possible upside to this would be no longer being subjected to the daily Guiding Light obsession that my wife has had for the last 20 years… However, WE are big fans of How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Gary Unmarried, Flashpoint, and Rules of Engagement… Well – you get the idea. (I suppose grabbing downloaded episodes after they air might work in a pinch but very annoying and very specific…)

Having already been annoyed with Charter over not carrying the HD lineup for CBS, not carrying the entire channel is just ridiculous. Our family spends a good deal of money with phone service, HD and digital cable along with 16Mbs broadband… With rumors of Charter running low on cash – what options are there? Being that their HQ is just a few blocks from our house – there’s been little incentive for other options to present themselves… (I’m not going to say monopoly… but maybe I’ll hint at it…)

So KMOV has their side of the story… But I’ve yet to find any information on Charter’s side of the story… A quick search of Google will give you plenty of links to other newsworthy information…

“For more than two years, KMOV has been trying to reach an agreement with Charter Cable to have KMOV’s signal available to Charter cable customers,” KMOV leaders said in a written statement. “We have made offers, Charter has not responded. We want Channel 4 on Charter, but effective Dec. 31st, Charter will no longer carry KMOV.

Feel like letting off a bit of steam about your favorite shows? Give Charter a call…

Charter Communications offices: 314-965-0555
Charter Customer Service: 1-888-GET CHARTER (1-888-438-2427)
Charter E-mail: SteveGM@chartercom.com

Just as I was actually getting to like Charter after years of crappy customer support, technical support and dodgy quality, I have to wonder if other broadcast channels are going to be going static…

It recently came to my attention that a Saint Louis local idiot once again purchased an iPhone and returned it back to the store just within the 30 day return policy.

With the purchase of the new 3G iPhone at an AT&T store a few weeks after release, it was told to me that with even with a nice leather case – the size of the phone eventually proved to be just too large to keep in his pocket. Asked if he really thought the size changed that much between iPhone 1.0 and iPhone 2.0 – his eyes rolled into the back of his head and asked for another sweet tea.

Good luck with your cheap-o phone, idiot. I’m sure the size of your new phone is in relationship to the peanut-size brain rattling around in your head… How could you not just love the iPhone…

Just to be fair… This local idiot is a great friend of mine… And long time lunch partner (and don’t read anything into that!) This was just a cynical, sarcastic, tounge-in-cheek effort to hassle him and his Apple iPhone issues… I’ll be sure to report when he picks up an iPhone 3.0 phone as well… And returns it!

American Idols Live “performed” this last Thursday at Scott Trade Center Auditorium. C and I were treated with tickets in one of the Club rooms so obviously I had to say yes. I’ve been a huge follower since my first obsession with Kelly Clarkson (or just the nice to look at Katharine McPhee):

Well – I knew neither of them were going to be there but there was going to be free hot dogs, chicken fingers and nachos!

While I had some hopes of a good time, my expectations of something more than a glorified chorus line or group karaoke like the TV show were quickly dashed as soon as the group came on stage. I now know exactly what it takes to be able to sell tickets to families at $65 a piece…

1. A singer must point to the audience at all times (must be an old television camera trick)
2. When singing male/female duets, the couple can only pretend to like one another, and then move away from one another like somebody just caught them making out as “just friends”
3. A singer should left their legs up one at a time as an excuse for “dancing” or “choreography”
4. Shouting “Hey Saint Louis” or which ever town you’re performing in as a last ditch effort to excite the crowd can only be used a few times in a single show.
5. Running up and down stairs does not qualify as choreography (neither does just walking around)
6. Equally – strobe lights and disco balls don’t make up much in the way as lighting effects.
7. If you’re near the audience and your fans are lining up to get a glimpse of you – when you’re done pointing around (see #1 above) – reach out and try to touch your fans. Don’t shake hands – just touch… or slap – or high five.
8. Most of the group can’t sing very well to begin with – but a horrific mix in a live venue sure doesn’t help much either!
9. If you’re going to sing covers all night – you could at least make them more original… That is unless you’re Blake and then you’re just going to screw it up with your beat-box fads and bad A cappella.
10. Covers of Whitney Houston songs usually never do a singer justice – however LaKisha Jones did a really good job with “I Will Always Love You” – the only stand out (by far) song sung all night.
11. And lastly – Sanjaya Malakar. No more to say about that…

So all in all – an okay night. I can say I’ve hit an Idols show in person now – but I’ll probably never go again… (Unless they’re Club level tickets!) If those tickets weren’t free – I would have thought that the event promoters were out to steal our money! They even had a 30 minute intermission! So – until next season…