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Vincent Ferrari talks to Matt Lauer about Cancelling AOL (VIDEO)

Alex — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 04:43:22 +0000

Here is a follow up to the post I created about Vincent Ferarri; the guy who tried to cancel his AOL account. Wow. This has hit the big time. Matt Lauer interviewed him about his ordeal with AOL. After watching the video, I think Vincent presented himself very well. It definitely seemed like he felt comfortable talking to Matt Lauer as well as being on camera. I was, as probably many other people were, to learn that it took Vincent 21 minutes to acutally cancel his account. I think that was about 20 minutes too long.

I hope AOL and other large corporations learn from this… you can’t push your customers around. They are your customers. They pay you for a service. And in today’s compu-world, anyone with a connection to the internet can voice their opinion(except people in China — Sorry guys…) and let everyone else in on the dirt.

Now, if we could only get the government to stop spying on us….

read more | digg story

New 3D Way to Desktop

Alex — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:53:01 +0000

This is some amazing technology. I saw this and I was in awe of what this guy has done. Simply stunning.

Reading the comments on Digg and YouTube, I get a sense that many people think that this is a waste of time. What they don’t know is that this is a step towards the future. Desktop OSs are so lacklustre in performance. I kept thinking to myself while watching, “Now if this was the desktop manager that came with Windows Vista, I would buy it.”

While this may not be true 3D, it’s much farther from the pictures on a wall style desktops we have now. And it is a step in the right direction towards true 3D computing.

This video shows you a new way to display and organize your desktop. It’s 3D, physics-ruled environment looks more like your actual desktop, which may force users to clean and organize it more often.

read more | digg story

Ever try to cancel your AOL account?

Alex — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:41:44 +0000

Ok, so I came across this on Digg. Originally, it was an mp3 of a guy trying to cancel his AOL account. It started out simple enough… he called up John at AOL Customer Service and asked to cancel the account. Somewhere along the line, John thought it would be a good idea to try to convince Vincent to keep the account because it was still in use. Check out the MP3 or the transcript below.

<>
Customer Service Representative: Hi, this is John at AOL. How may I help you today?
Vincent: I want to cancel my account.
CSR: Sorry to hear that. Let’s pull your account up here real quick, can I have your name please?
Vincent: Vincent Ferrari
CSR: K Vincent, and as privacy and security, can I have the last four digits of your payment method please?
Vincent: <>
CSR: Alright, thank you very much. Ok. You’ve had this account for a long time.
Vincent: Yep.
CSR: This is quite a bit. What was the cause of you want to turn this off today?
Vincent: I just don’t use it anymore.
CSR: Do you have a high speed connection like the DSL or cable?
Vincent: Yep.
CSR: K. How long have you had that? The high speed?
Vincent: Years.
CSR: Ok. Well actually, I’m showin’ a lot of usage on this account.
Vincent: Yeah, a long time ago. Not recently.
CSR: Well, the ?BossFerrari? account was on 71 hours since the 24th of last month.
Vincent: No he wasn’t. He doesn’t even have the AOL software installed on his computer. You’re looking at AIM usage probably.
CSR: No, it’s- AIM usage doesn’t come off of this.
Vincent: He doesn’t have the AOL software installed on his computer.
CSR: Well, this is your father then?
Vincent: Yep.
CSR: Ok. Well, I’m lookin’ at this account…
Vincent: Either way, whatever you’re seeing-
CSR: Well what’s causing you to want to turn this off today? I mean obviously- I mean-
Vincent: I don’t use it and he doesn’t use it, so we’re cancelling it.
CSR: Ok-
Vincent: I’m telling you he doesn’t use the account. The software isn’t even installed on his computer. So.
CSR: Well… Ok. I mean is there a problem with the software itself?
Vincent: No. I just- I don’t use it. I don’t need it. I don’t want it. I just don’t need it anymore.
CSR: Heh. When you use this, I mean, you use the computer I’m sayin’, is that for business, or for school?
Vincent: What difference does it make? I don’t want the AOL account anymore. Can we please cancel it?
CSR: Upp, on June 2nd, this account was signed on. Its been on for 72 hours. On June 2nd.
Vincent: I don’t know how to make it any clearer-
CSR: Last year was 54- Last month was 545 hours of usage.
Vincent: I don’t know how to make this any clearer, so I’m just going to say it one last time. Cancel. The. Account. Please.
CSR: Well explain to me what’s- wha- why-
Vincent: I’m not explaining anything to you. Cancel. The. Account.
CSR: Wha- what’s the matter ?ranso?- We’re just- I’m just trying to help here.
Vincent: You’re not helping me. Helping me would be-
CSR: I am tryin’ to-
Vincent: Helping me- Listen! I called to cancel the account. Helping me would be cancelling the account. Please help me and cancel the account.
CSR: No it wouldn’t actually.
Vincent: Cancel my account!
CSR: Turning off you account-
Vincent: Cancel! The! Account! Ca-
CSR: would be the worst thing that-
Vincent: Cancel! The account.
CSR: Is your dad there?
Vincent: My dad? I’m the primary paying- I’m the primary person on the account. Not my dad. Cancel the account!
CSR: K, ’cause I’m just tryin’ to secure-
Vincent: CANCEL THE ACCOUNT! I don’t know how to make this any clearer for you. Cancel the account. The card is mine, in my name. The account is mine, and in my name. When I say cancel the account, I don’t mean figure out how to help me keep it, I mean cancel the account!
CSR: Uh oh… I’m sorry, I don’t know what anybody’s done to you-
Vincent: You’re annoying the shit out of me! That’s what you’re doing to me. Cancel the account please.
CSR: Oh, well that goes both ways my friend.
Vincent: Good. Could you please cancel the account.
CSR: All I’m- alright. Someday, when you calm down, you’re gonna realize that all I was trying to do was help you, and it was actually in your best interest to listen to me-
Vincent: Wonderful! Ok yeah, great-
CSR: Problem that this pissing happens and just give us a call back that’ll be fine-
Vincent: Wait!-
CSR: As I process your cancellation request, I have to tell you about a free benefit available for valued members like yourself. We’ll continue to provide you with some features available through-
Vincent: Don’t want it! I know the drill, I don’t even want it. Don’t even bother.
CSR: If you want me to cancel this account, you’re gonna let me speak, and give this paragraph. Ok? ’cause if not, we can star you all day. I really don’t care to be honest with ya. But, you’re gonna listen to me if you want this turned off. So. Can I speak now?
Vincent: Go right ahead.
CSR: Thank you! Appreciate that. As I process your cancellation request, I’d like to tell you about a free benefit available to valued members like yourself. We will continue to provide you with some features of the AOL service even after the membership has been canceled. At AOL.com, you can keep your existing e-mail, buddy-list, address book and more at no cost for as long as you like. There’s no catch, this is AOL’s way of keeping our relationship with you. We know you- we know you want to keep your same e-mail. So go to AOL.com, login with your screenname and password. An e-mail confirming the cancellation will be delivered to your free e-mail account within 24 hours to complete this cancellation which contains a whole lot of important details. Please hold while I connect.
<>

International Space Station gets Battle Droids

Alex — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 02:01:04 +0000

Dude!! This is wicked sweet! MIT undergrads made tiny satellites, about the size and shape of a volleyball and sent them into space. The satellites, called SPHERES, will be dummys for developing multi-satellite manuevering software. Damn, that’s some hardcore stuff.

I wish I could work on sweet robot projects like that. I’m takin’ an Artificial Intelligence class next semester, but we’re definitely not going to do anything cool like that. We’ll probably just mess around with the oversized coffee can that the CS department has now. GRRR!

read more | digg story

How to preload your Windows desktop before login!

Alex — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 06:59:36 +0000

This little tip is totally and completely useful. I hate having to wait for the computer to boot, then login, then wait for it to bring up the desktop. This trick bypasses this Windows fault by setting up a registry startup item that automatically locks the computer after it automatically logs you in. Sweet.

How would you like your computer to load all of your startup items before you ever have to enter your login password? You could press the button to power up your system and go get a cup of coffee. Five minutes later, you come to your desk and type in your password. BAM! Instantly dropped to the desktop!

read more | digg story

Pirated-sites Aaargh!

Alex — Tue, 31 May 2005 04:13:18 +0000

Pirated-Sites.com showcases side-by-side comparisons of web sites that are suspected of borrowing, copying or stealing copyright-protected content, design or code without permission.

Thank god there is a site for exposing this problem. If you look over their archives, the stuff is incredible. People pass off other’s work as their own… over and over and over!

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Defiant.ws in the face of the MPAA

Alex — Tue, 31 May 2005 03:44:33 +0000

Having tired of the problems users face with Torrent search sites, a former Torrentz.com developer has created a website he promises will provide a better customer experience, Defiant.

Finally a place to download torrents that is open about the crunch from the MPAA.

read more | digg story

Ever wonder how data recovery companies recover data from dead hard drives?

Alex — Mon, 30 May 2005 23:45:12 +0000

Here’s a great article at Tom’s Hardware about the process Data Recovery Services go through in order to get data back off of hard drive even if it won’t power on. Very interesting.

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Digg Upgrades / Digg 2.0

Alex — Mon, 30 May 2005 23:43:53 +0000

To address Gregd’s recent post “I love Digg but it’s slow!”, we have just purchased 3 Sun Fire V20z Dual Opteron servers. We hope to have these installed and live within the next 2-3 weeks. Also get ready for Digg v2.0, packed with tons of new user requested features we know you’re going to love.

read more | digg story