In case you weren’t aware, AT&T recently discontinued their “unlimited” data plan and introduced a tiered model.  Under the new model, they’re offering 200MB for $15 a month and 2GB for $25.  People with the existing unlimited plan will be able to keep their unlimited data plan.  The stated reason for this was to require heavy users to pay more for their impact to the network.  According to AT&T the “heavy users” take up around 2% of their customers.

While this sounds like a solid idea in theory, AT&T is facing a pretty substantial backlash.  People see the unlimited option being taken away and instantly cry foul.  Since you can remain grandfathered in on the unlimited plan, the users AT&T are looking to control with this pricing will not be impacted.  They can just continue to use as much data as they like for $30 a month.  So the net-net is AT&T gets negative press AND they don’t fix the problem they were supposedly trying to do.  From a marketing perspective, this was a really bad move.

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I admit, the switch to the iPad 3G data plan a month after release does stink a bit of “bait and switch”.  Part of the draw of the 3G data plan was that you could stop and start it at any time and get unlimited data for $30.  They’ve now changed their pricing.  This seems unethical and leaves a bad taste in my mouth towards AT&T.

Realistically though, I will most likely switch to the $25 a month plan, since according to the usage statistics on my phone, I have used a total of 1.5GB of data in the past year and my on my iPad, 300MB this past month.

I have no problem with the changes they made, it just really should have been handled better.  I expect a little bit more from the marketing department of AT&T.  They’re supposed to be professionals.

I had forgotten about this funny webcomic about movies called “Joe Loves Crappy Movies“.  It’s pretty self exlanatory.  He likes crappy movies!  Anyway, while catching up on the comics I have missed, I came across this gem:

Meet Sackboy, the star of the upcomming game LittleBigplanet.  A game that revolves around user created content and a sense of community.  How can you not love this little guy?  Right now, Sony might not feel a lot of love for the adorable scamp.

On Thursday the 16th, a person (who had obtained the game before the initial release date) made a post on the Playstation forums saying that the background music of one level contained two verses of the Koran in it.  He further went on to say that “as a Muslim” he was deeply offended by this and asked Sony to release a patch that removed the music from the game.  Sony’s reaction?  They immediately recalled every disc of the game they had shipped and rushed to print new copies.  So now the game that was supposed to be in stores tomorrow will not see the shelves for another two weeks.

On the surface, this isn’t that big a deal.  Sure people will have to wait another couple weeks for one of the most highly anticipated games of the year.  Not that big a deal.  What I find troubling is the underlying issue:  Sony’s alarmist reaction to the complaint.

In 2007, the Church of England took offense to Sony using the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.  This was a huge issue for the church and it was even discussed in the British Parliament.  Sony’s ultimate response?  Basically they told the church to shove it.  So now, a year later 1 person complained “as a Muslim” and they are falling all over themselves to correct the “issue”.  So what’s the difference here?  Did Sony learn a lesson from the troubles they had last year?  Or is it another case of over reaction because someone said the “M word”?

I find it offensive as a rational, thinking human being that we’re so quick to be tolerant of intolerant acts.  Everyone is so afraid of offending anyone that everything is becoming watered down on the off chance we might hurt someone’s feelings.  When do we start passing out the soma?

Is Sony actually concerned about offending a religious group?  The Church of England issues would indicate that isn’t a concern.  Are they actually more worried about violent outbursts by “Muslim extremist”?

I think as a society we are slowly hanging ourselves with a rope of political correctness.

Update

M. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the non-profit American Islamic Forum for Democracy said, “Muslims cannot benefit from freedom of expression and religion and then turn around and ask that anytime their sensibilities are offended that the freedom of others be restricted.

“The free market allows for expression of disfavor by simply not purchasing a game that may be offensive.”

Good for him to make a public statement about the issue.  Of course, I really don’t think this will change any of the ridiculous behavior we have seen and will continue to see around over-accommodation for Muslims.  But it’s a start.

The other day, I was driving around in our ridiculously overpowered family car, listening to some Soundgarden and it got me to thinking about the path I’ve taken during my lifetime.  I almost had a Talking Heads moment of “well, how did I get here?”.  I can’t imagine that when I was 19 or so and originally listening to this music I would have thought my life would turn out the way it has.

Then I started wondering what I would have thought at age 19 if I met my current self.  Would I have nodded approvingly and said “yeah, that dude’s got it going ON”?  Or would I have instead shaken my head and thought “man, what a tool, what’s he trying to prove?”

I took my question to my loving wife and she asked, “would you really put any stock into what 19 year old you had to say?”.  Whereas I am sure 19 year old me had good taste, I guess since I don’t really care what most people think (that sounds a lot more harsh than I mean it), I probably wouldn’t.

Ultimately I think the question becomes whether or not my ideas as to what makes a good life have changed over the years.  Certainly there are aspects that have changed dramatically.  The importance I place on family being chief among them.  When it comes down to it, I guess we all probably have aspects of our world view that stick with us for years to come.

On reflection, I seem to have settled into a particular groove around 26 or 27.  Luckily that groove included a classic dress style of jeans and black t-shirts that have always been around, so I don’t really feel out of place.  I’m still finding new music to listen to (Duffy, Psapp, TV on the Radio) while keeping my favorites from earlier in my life (Soundgarden, The Cure, Faith No More, Prince) in regular circulation.

I’m guessing this is part of what evolving as a person is about.  You find the things that worked in the past and mix those in with new tricks.

I know, quite the ramble, but it’s been on my mind for a couple weeks now.

Did anyone else here grow up watching the GI Joe cartoons? I remember them being awesome as a kid, but I imagine now that if I watched one I would severely disappointed. With the exception of Issue 21 of the comic (still considered a prime example of the comic medium), GI Joe didn’t offer us much of lasting value. That is, except for the public service announcements at the end of each episode. In each of these, some Joe would find themselves stumbling upon a scene of some kids being stupid. Actually, some of these kids were definitely wearing floaties in the gene pool. One I remember involved some kids setting up a ramp to jump over a downed power line! I did some dumb things as a kid, but that’s just plain stupid. Sure enough though, whatever Joe was doing community service hours for his drug habit or drunken brawl would come up and save these kids from themselves.

Did I learn a valuable lesson from these PSAs? No, I learned that anytime someone says “Now you know” the immediate required response is “And knowing is half the battle!”.

Curse you Joes for your brainwashing techniques!

If you’re interested in some bizarre dubs of those famous PSAs, take a look here, they will mess with your head: GI Joe PSA Remixes

I arrived into Tel Aviv without too much trouble, finding a very friendly cab driver to take me into town. Once I got to the hotel, things changed. It seems the careful people at Bank of America found it odd that I was using my card in Israel. I got to the check in desk and my card was declined. Having just traveled 14 hours by plane, this was very troubling to me. The people at the front counter called the number on the back of my card, which apparently doesn’t accept calls from out of the country. Then the manager came forward and said “well, we can charge you for one day and then you can get it all sorted out with your credit card company”. Of course, this didn’t matter, my card was locked. They tried and as expected, it didn’t go through. Luckily I had my laptop with Skype loaded up, so I asked “is there an internet connection I could use” to which the person at the desk said “no, I’m sorry, only guests can use it.” This made me rather annoyed, but I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my cool as I asked if there was somewhere nearby I could use for a connection. Luckily there was a bar in the hotel that had free wireless and I was able to duck in there and use that connection.

Naturally, it wasn’t as simple as calling a single number and getting the lock lifted. I went through about 25 minutes or so of getting bounced around from one customer “service” representative to another only to find that no one could do anything since my card was based in California and only a California “rep” could help me. One problem with this side of the the equation, customer service in California didn’t open until 7am PST, or 5:00pm in Israel, so that meant I had to sit around for another half hour to finally get someone to help. A very rough start to the trip.

One of my fellow co-workers (we’ll call him “Alan”) likes the video games as much as I do (maybe a bit more) and I walked up on the tail end of a conversation he was having. Alan was being asked by another of our co-workers (we’ll call her “Thundercat”) how he “found the time to play video games”. Seeing me walk up, Thundercat said “well, at least Bruce’s wife can stay at home, so I can see how that works”. This was a really weird thing to say for a number of reasons. Let’s explore them, shall we?

Point 1: “How do you find the time to play video games?”  I really have never understood this kind of questioning.  My usual response is “How do you find the time to watch TV?”.  I wonder what people do with their lives that keeps them busy from 6-12 pm every night.  Do people think video games can only be played in 8 hour sessions?

Point 2:  “At least Bruce’s wife can stay at home”  Ok, this one kills me.  I mean, I guess the implication is that if Maryanne is home all day, then nothing needs to be done at night?  I guess, but if someone is at home all day doesn’t that mean there are more things that will need to be cleaned up?  If Maryanne and I were only active in the house for 4 hours a night, we would certainly have less stuff to clean up than if someone was active in the house for 14 hours.   I know, it doesn’t exactly work out that way, but I think you get the gist.

The BIG issue I have with this comment though is the “at least Maryanne can stay at home”.  Like we’re so well off that it doesn’t matter.   I know for a fact that Thundercat makes more money than I do.  I would be willing to bet that her husband makes at least the same amount.  Thundercat is working, not because she needs to, but because she wants to and had made that decision in her life.  I don’t begrudge her that choice, but really if she wanted to stay at home to raise her children, it’s completely doable.  I have some simple advice for people living in this area that feel they have to have dual income:  DON’T SPEND OUTSIDE YOUR MEANS!  Pretty simple.  You don’t need that Lexus or that BMW (no offense Grant, we know you bought the car to get chicks and that’s cool).  You can live in a smaller house or commute.  You’ve chosen the life you live, so don’t make excuses.

Sorry, had to rant.

…not just for the comics, but for the amuzing rants that would take place there. Unfortunately, it seems that over the past few months, the writing for the site has become more and more out of hand. Its not that they have become more vulgar or something, not in the least. It just seems like now the writer of the site needs to use $50 words where a $1 word would do just as well. While I appreciate a well turned phrase or thought, the writing on the site has become so convoluted that its not enjoyable to read at all. In fact, I pretty much just skim the lengthy paragraphs for the one or two sentances worth of information and then read the accompanying comic.

Here’s a prime example from a few posts ago:
“All the news about Nintendo’s newest “thiing” is on the table, and now – with great consternation – the Internet responds. We obtained a digital audio recorder to make recording podcasts for you a straightforward enterprise, and I think we’re close, but our extended meditation on today’s facts and figures was somehow devoured by the machine I have just described. So, I’ll try to remember the stuff that stood out.”

Translation: All the info about the latest Nintendo console has been released. We were going to do a podcast, but couldn’t figure out our recorder.
The reason I pick this particular post is because further down in this post the writer, referring to another review said the following:
When reading it, it may help you to know that “ceteris paribus” is Latin for look how *$#&%ing smart I am.

Seems a little bit like the pot calling the kettle “producing or reflecting comparatively little light and having no predominant hue”

At least the comics are still funny.

Ok, so my loyal and dependable Blazer doesn’t get a lot of use these days.  With gas prices being what they are, I tend to drive the tC to work and everywhere else.  Of course, this means that ole Blue Eyes sits in its parking space for long stretches of time.  Of course, this causes dust to collect on the car and as always, dusty cars attract kids who want to write on the car.

I can’t really be all that mad.  I mean, kids can’t help it.  Keeping a kid from writing “Wash Me” on a dirty car is like trying to keep insane ramblings from taking place in a political “debate”.  It’s just not possible.  So really, since I haven’t reached the “crazy old man” phase of my life, I just shrug and accept the inevibility of the situation.  Its part of life really and you shouldn’t get worked up about it.

Yesterday I saw something that made me shake my head sadly.  I came out to hop into the Blazer and on the hood was written “Wach Mea”.  Even more sad was the fact that there was something rubbed out in another spot on the hood, like they had mispelled it and wanted to start over.  If “Wach Mea” is the best they can do, what was originally written, “Wanff Tuba”?

Children of the world, I implore you…if you need to write on the hood of someone’s car, AT LEAST LEARN HOW TO SPELL!!!

A camel is a horse built by a committee.

I heard this saying today, and it is so true.