The Audacity of Bright House

Bright House cable just called me. At first I am thinking...WOW...this is great customer service. They are calling to apologize about the DVR FirmWare fiasco and give me an update on the status. This would be exceptional customer service.

But...no...it is the promotionals department trying to get me to add digital telephone service to my plan. Needless to say, I very politely told the lady that until my DVR was fixed I would not be adding anymore services and that, right now, Bright House had not inspired a lot of confidence from me. She was very polite and understnading and stopped her promotional sales pitch. She knew immediately that I wasn't going to be a sale and got off the phone.

Now...she didn't do anything to help me get my DVR fixed...that would have been going above and beyond and making a great Customer Service experience.

Christmas Card Picture Photoshopped

Here is a rare occurrence on my blog: pictures of my children. I have a two and half year old and a 19-month old. Needless to say, taking Christmas pictures with two toddlers is always an experience. Erin wanted to get pictures of the children in their Christmas pajamas in front of the Christmas tree. Getting the children set up to cooperate with each other and mom (the photographer) is an effort in futility. Noah thinks it is a game of "catch me" where he runs away laughing while I try to catch him. Mihaela loved taking the pictures and would try posing, until Noah got too close and sibling rivalry kicked it with personal space being invaded.

Anyway, after many attempts, we finally got a halfway decent picture. The only problem is that to get Noah to cooperate, he had to be holding the remote control:




Obviously we can't send that picture out with the Christmas cards. No problem I say, heroically posing with my hands on my hips and my chest out. See, I have been playing with Adobe Photoshop so that I can do really neat announcement slides at church. Photoshop is powerful. It can get rid of a remote control.

However, my p-shop sk1llz r the noob (i.e., I'm not that good with it yet). So, instead of really crisp photoshopped picture, we ended up with this:



I'm not all that happy with it. But Erin thinks it looks great and nobody will notice the disformed hand, the lack of boundary between bottom and carpet, and the different light shading on the carpet. Oh well...I'll get better with practice.

Beer for Celiacs

Anheuser-Busch introduces sorghum beer - Yahoo! News: "People with wheat allergies who have stayed away from beer now have a new option."

Personally, I can't stand the taste of beer...so I don't care. But, it is interesting to note that Anheuser-Busch worked with the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness in developing the product and that as celiac disease is moving out of the shadows, big companies are interested in targetting that specialized market.

Now...if we could just get some really good, cheap sandwich bread!!!

Stossel on NYC ban of Trans Fat Foods

Always with a voice of reason, John Stossel commentates on NYC ban of foods containing Trans Fats by asking, "What Will They Ban Next?"

Government Indoctrination Center Update

I love this quote by this "teacher" concerning the use of a "body sock" as a form of discipline:

" 'In reference to the body sock; it was not used for disciplinary reasons. It is used as a tool for calming children down.'

But then she added, "The verbal warnings given to [the boy] prior to its use were not working. If I wanted to 'discipline' him he would've been in time-out ."

News: Teaching tool or restraining device?

So...let me see if I got this right...?

Boy was not acting calmly (we call that misbehaving where I am from).
Teacher asked him to calm down (verbal warning). I call this discipline. The boy was acting in an undisciplined fashion and the teacher drew his attention to it in the hope that he would start behaving more appropriately...I think we just defined discipline.

Boy continued to misbehave.

Teacher escalated discipline to "body bag" in an effort to calm him down (i.e., in an effort to instill discipline in the boy...ergo...she was using the body bag as discipline.)

Hmmmm....I know, I know...too much logic there for a public education employee.

Bright House Networks DVR Firmware Upgrade has Problems

When I woke up this morning I noticed that Bright House Networks had upgraded the firmware on my Motorola DCT6412 DVR. The guide had different fonts and colors and the navigation system is all different. This was a little disconcerting because I was not expecting it, but I could have lived with it.

However, it appears as if the firmware upgrade erased (or hid) all of our previously recorded shows. When went to start a saved show that Mihaela asked for, it was not there!!!! As a matter of fact, nothing was there and the DVR reported that we had no shows saved. Also, it appears that there is no way to record a series now, shows have to be recorded one at a time.

The machine says we have 50% of our space available...but we've only recorded one half-hour show (this is what makes me think that our previously recorded shows are somewhere) since the upgrade.

If this is what happens in an upgrade, I am very disappointed. It certainly doesn't seem like an upgrade to me to lose all previously recorded shows, lose scheduled recordings, and lose features. Great job Bright House and Motorola!!!

"Christian" Parodies of Mac vs. PC commercials

Funny parodies of the Mac/PC commericals that show a "Christian" conversing with a "Christ-follower."

Very counter-culture.

BTW...personally I think the Mac vs. PC commercials are some of the best marketting I've seen in years. I am staunch PC guy, but I can't help but want to go buy a Mac after I see those commercials. Absolutely brilliant advertising.

Let Freedom Ring

Some observations:

• Today is the 73rd anniversary of the repeal of prohibition.
• Today the New York City Board of Health passed a regulation banning restaraunts from serving foods with artificatial trans fats.
• Earlier this year, Chigaco banned restarants from selling fois gras.

Hmmmm....