Fastspells.com is a ridiculous website loaded with sexy young lady “Wiccans” who, for anywhere from $40 to $265, will “find you love, give you an abortion, cure your cancer, grant you immortality, and change your sex organs.” Terrific, because I need some new sex organs! These are all worn out. Anyway, Trae at TRHOnline.com was annoyed by their expensive and unrealistic promises, and the more he looked into the domain registrations, the more suspicious he became.
internet
McDonald's & Microsoft To Let Zune Users Download Music While Scarfing Burgers
By 9.16.08
Is there really a need for this? Microsoft says that they’ve partnered with McDonald’s to offer access to the “Zune Marketplace” to Zune owners via a free wifi connection inside 9,800 participating McDonald’s. This is apparently going to “attract new customers whose digital lifestyle extends beyond their home and office,” according to a press release.
Dear Verizon: I Am Canceling FiOS Because Of Your "Ridiculous And Unacceptable Billing Practices"
By 9.15.08
Reader Rob has cc’d us on the Executive Email Carpet Bomb that he launched on Verizon due to the fact that he has been unable to get them to send him a bill. Each month (for the past 3 months) Verizon has been deducting random amounts of money from his checking account, and when he asks them to send him some sort of bill (electronic or paper) they assure him they will — and then they don’t. By his calculations, Verizon has overcharged him $117.68 over the last three billing cycles.
Giftag: Best Buy's Retailer-Neutral Gift Registry Browser Add-On
By 9.10.08
Best Buy launched a new “retailer neutral” gift registry browser add-on Monday called Giftag. The idea is that you can visit any online retailer and click an icon to put it in your gift registry, as well as highlight specific parts of the page for potential gift-givers. In the open-source program, you can choose whether you want to make your gifts public, and shareable via social network sites and the like, or private. However, whether you select private or public, Best Buy will be able to see every purchase you make, whether you buy from them or their competition. Mmm, juicy buckets of data.
ATT Chatbots (People?) Don't Even Pretend To Help Anymore
By 9.3.08
This unedited transcript from a recent “customer support” chat is pure, undiluted idiocy. Do not be surprised if after reading it, you feel a little dead inside, or a little stupider. That’s how you know the customer service chatbot—or person, which is kind of sad—is doing its job.
By 9.2.08
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Cnet has rounded up a list of free bandwidth monitoring apps for Windows and Mac users who will be facing Comcast’s new 250 GB download limit next month. They aren’t perfect, but they “should tide you over until Verizon brings some Fios action to your hood.” [download.com]
Most Verizon FIOS Installations Violate National Electric Standards
By 8.30.08
A two-year investigation has concluded that most Verizon FIOS installations fail to meet national safety standards, and could cause fires or electrocutions. FIOS is famous for house fires, but New York’s Public Service Commission first started its investigation back in 2006 after several inspectors discovered improperly grounded installations.
eBay To Be Credit Card, PayPal Only
By 8.29.08
The word is that eBay is banning checks and money orders, and buyers will have to use PayPal or (if the seller has a credit card merchant account or an account with a service called ProPay), credit cards.
Comcast: 250 GB Cap Coming October 1st?
By 8.28.08
Broadband Reports is saying that they’ve confirmed through several sources that Comcast is going to be instituting a 250GB cap on their high speed internet.
By 8.20.08
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American Airlines has launched broadband internet service on nonstop flights from New York to San Francisco, New York to Los Angeles and New York to Miami for a fee of $12.95 [Bizjournals]
How To Avoid AT&T's Connection Fee For A New Phone Line
By 8.19.08
An alleged insider for AT&T sent us the following tip on how to avoid a connection fee if you plan on getting both a regular phone line and DSL through AT&T. We don’t know if it works, but you may be able to avoid a $40 charge for what amounts to “flipping a switch” at AT&T HQ.
AT&T Lies About 3G Coverage, Buys You Off With $250 Credit
By 8.6.08
Reader Corey checked the 3G coverage map before buying a new iPhone, only to find out that the map was wrong. The story has something of a happy ending, however, because Corey says he’s pleased with the $250 service credit AT&T offered.
Frontier Charges Up To $10.80 Per Gigabyte For High Speed Internet
By 8.4.08
Frontier Communications, a Rochester, NY based DSL provider, has recently added language in their acceptable use policy that caps “reasonable” high speed internet usage at 5GB per month, after which they may “suspend, terminate or apply additional charges to the Service.” Metered-internet-hating blog “Stop the Cap” calculated that at Frontier’s most expensive price (for those who do not accept a multi-year contract) the ISP is charging a whopping $10.80 per gigabyte.
Get Comcast Just For Wii? Flee? Fee.
By 8.1.08
If you think you can sign up with Comcast just to get a Wii and then cancel or downgrade service, think again. Downgrade service or cancel in the first year, $250 in fees, second year, $125. Other restrictions apply. The insider says the new Wii promotion is a bunch of crap and they and other Comcast CSRs won’t be offering it to customers unless customers beg for it because of all the caveats. Frankly, they’re in the right for protecting their asses on this one. However, it’s not too hard to imagine scenarios where Comcast gets the account details wrong and customers wrongly get assessed fees… The internal document, inside…
By 7.30.08
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Finishing second in the Worst Company In America contest hasn’t slowed down Comcast’s money making machine. Their profits rose 7% thanks to telephone and high-speed Internet services. They’re adding customers and making more money per customer, thanks to bundling, says Bloomberg. “…Average revenue per customer rose 8.6 percent to $109.66 as it sold packages combining its services.” [Bloomburg]
Confirmed: Comcast Gives Free Wii To New Triple-Play Subscribers
By 7.28.08
Just like we told you via exclusive insider leak last Tuesday, Comcast is indeed giving away a Wii to new triple–play subscribers. It says so right in their press release. You will have to sign a new 2-year contract with Comcast for “Triple Play” services. And you will have to sign up with Comcast. There is that.
Getting Internet From AT&T Is Almost Impossible If Your Address Is 914½ Whatever Street
By 7.24.08
We’ve seen a few addresses that have fractions in our time on this planet, but we never stopped to think about what it was like to try to order internet at one of these locations. Turns out, its about as annoying as you think it would be. Meet Michael. His address is 914½. This problematic little fraction causes AT&T to completely freak out for two months.
FCC Chairman Says Comcast "Violated Our Principles" By Arbitrarily Blocking Internet Traffic
By 7.11.08
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told the Associated Press yesterday that Comcast had “violated our principles” when it came to managing their network. He accused Comcast of arbitrarily blocking internet traffic and failing to disclose to consumers that it was doing so.
