Chopstork

The time is here. 5 years in the making … er, 5 years in the dreaming and we haven’t made the chopstork yet (the eating thing, not this website). It’s time to mobilize. The chopstork NEEDS VOTES.  http://www.quirky.com/projects/10

If it wins, they’ll actually make the thing!!! Get on it! Create a Quirky account and vote for the Chopstork. Only have 2 days!

Um, that’s a good question. Let’s see….

The meeting place:

We will meet at the corner of 3rd St. and Howard St. at 8:15 am Sunday to join the “race”. Note this is not the official starting area. Make sure you have a couple cell phone numbers to find people in case you’re late or things don’t go as planned. If you need my number, email me.

Alternatively, feel free to come up the night before and spend the night, or come to our place early Sunday and take the MUNI light rail to the race with us. We will leave our place no later than 7:45am to catch a train from the Van Ness Station to the Montgomery Station. See Googe Transit for details and other travel options.

Getting stuff together:

We’ll be fixing up the carts Friday around 2ish and Saturday around noonish at Courtney’s Place in Noe Valley. Maybe we’ll put some food together (aka order take out from Eric’s) Saturday if you wanna come over. Oh, and we’ll need to test and mix up batches of “punch”. Give me a call or shoot me an email if you plan on coming over to help out.

The Theme:

If you haven’t heard yet, our theme this year is Under the Sea.  Also, remeber to bring beer and snacks. Do not bring glass bottles or coolers (won’t fit in the cart).  Also, please respect the new B2B guidelines so we can do this all again next year. Register, don’t pee on strangers property or strangers, and pick up after your self.  Read more about the new guidlines here.

Lastly:

Invite your friends!

This blog suffers due to the popularity of Facebook as our friends’ online destination. It’s so much easier to post 160 characters of nonsense than to write a whole paragraph too.

Brilliant. This is why they get free gourmet food, dry cleaning, fancy buses, and the big bucks.

Mail Goggles in Gmail

The Washington Post just printed an article dubbed “The Power of Political Misinformation”.  I found this article ironic and depressing.

I found it ironic because *perhaps* the last third of an article about the power of misinformation is misinformation itself.  Of course being a sissy liberal, I am predisposed to take these printed words as correct.  Ironic indeed.

“…a series of new experiments show that misinformation can exercise a ghostly influence on people’s minds after it has been debunked — even among people who recognize it as misinformation.   In some cases, correcting misinformation serves to increase the power of bad information.”

“…a paper approaching publication…[suggests] that Republicans might be especially prone to the backfire effect because conservatives may have more rigid views than liberals: Upon hearing a refutation, conservatives might “argue back” against the refutation in their minds, thereby strengthening their belief in the misinformation.  [Researchers] did not see the same “backfire effect” when liberals were given misinformation and a refutation about the Bush administration’s stance on stem cell research.”

I found it depressing because if this article is accurate, then it is just one more reason why our public discourse and debate is so abysmal and dysfunctional.  I am tired of distractions such as flag lapels, bridges to nowhere, and secret Muslims running for office.   Instead, give me spirited debate on real issues such as off-shore drilling, health care, taxes, the economy, terrorism, climate change, and education.   I am tired of one-issue politics such as abortion, gun control, global warming, and Creationism in public schools.   These are all important issues, but we should *not* take them so fundamentally that we sacrifice other equally important problems and lose sight of the greater contexts.

Unfortunately, too many Liberal *and* Conservative Americans alike have been displaced by the “creative destruction” of our economy, culture, and technology.  Unfortunately, too many of the Displaced have turned to fundamentalism for solace, simplicity, and identity.  Unfortunately, too many politicians, pundits, and preachers are more than happy to exploit and encourage the fundamentalism of the Displaced in self-serving so called “culture wars”.

Anyway, as pointed out in an article by the Economist this sordid affair is mostly the Republican’s fault.

“In the past two weeks, while banks have tottered and markets reeled, the contending Democrats and Republicans have squabbled and lied rather than debated.  Mr. McCain’s team has been nastier, accusing Mr. Obama of sexism for calling the Republican vice-presidential candidate a pig, when he clearly did no such thing. Much nastier has been the assertion that Mr. Obama once backed a bill that would give kindergarten children comprehensive sex education. Again, this was a distortion: the bill Mr. Obama backed provided for age-appropriate sex education, and was intended to protect children from sex offenders.”

Now we have learned that the very debunking of these slurs by a fiscally conservative publication may actually reinforce them.

Depressing, ironic, and dysfunctional indeed.

After years of hard work and tireless effort, I am pleased to hear that my former employeer has blocked Chopstork. This is a sure sign that Chopstork has hit the mainstream.

Pretty cool.  Details here.

Wow.

You’ve probably seen this check to Verizon in an email before. It was written by the comic xkcd in response to George Vacarro’s discovery that Verizon can’t tell the difference between 0.002 cents and $0.002. The whole story is at that link, but this recording of the call says it all (it’s 27 minutes long, even though the player says over an hour). Very much worth the listen. Mind boggling!

I was reading about how text messages are a ripoff, and I noticed that the AT&T excerpt says, “.20 cents per text message.” That’s for the iPhone. For the rest right now it’s even cheaper at .15 cents per text! Really? Why am I paying $5 a month for 200 messages when I can get them for $0.30?

Here is the conversation that ensued with AT&T customer service. I asked—Jessica J. did not work at Verizon before. Amazing…AT&T are idiots too!

Thank you for your patience! An AT&T sales representative will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with Jessica J., an AT&T sales representative.
Jessica J.: Welcome to AT&T online Sales support. How may I assist you with placing your order today?
A.J.: Hi. I was wondering what the price for text messaging is if I do not get a text plan.
Jessica J.: The standard rate for a text message is .15 cents a message sent or received.
A.J.: The automated “chat” said .15 cents. Is that true???
A.J.: 0.15 cents per message.
Jessica J.: We also have different packages available also
Jessica J.: Messaging 200 is $5.00 and includes 200 Text, Video, Picture or Instant Messages.
Jessica J.: Messaging 1500 is $15.00 and includes 1500 Text, Video, Picture or Instant Messages.
Jessica J.: For $20.00 a month, you have the freedom to message any way, to any one - text, picture, video and IM - without worrying what each message costs. That means every message counts the same. You can send and receive any combination of messages.
A.J.: I currently have a plan and I have the 200 messages for $5 package.
A.J.: Can I drop that package and get 0.15 cents per message?
Jessica J.: Do you feel that the 200 is enough?
A.J.: If, without a package, text messages are 0.15 cents each, then I would rather do that.
A.J.: Will I get the same rate even though I am an existing customer?
Jessica J.: Yes How many messages do you send a month?
A.J.: About 200.
Jessica J.: It will save you money you keep the plan
A.J.: Not at 0.15 cents per message.
A.J.: That comes to 30 cents for 200 messages.
A.J.: I would rather pay 30 cents a month than 5 dollars a month.
Jessica J.: Actually the price would be $30.00 a month without the messaging plan
A.J.: You said 0.15 cents per message, right?
A.J.: 0.15 cents multiplied by 200 is 30 cents.
Jessica J.: Correct
A.J.: So it would be 30 cents a month if I sent 200 messages right?
Jessica J.: It would be $30.00 you are saving $25.00 a month on the messaging
A.J.: May I ask if you have ever worked for Verizon?
Jessica J.: No I have not worked for them
A.J.: Oh, sorry, something reminded me of someone that worked for Verizon. Anyway…
A.J.: I am having trouble understanding, if each message is 0.15 cents, how does it cost $30 for 200 messages?
A.J.: Are you sure you do not mean that each message is 0.15 dollars?
Jessica J.: One message equals .15 cents so you multiply .15 by 200 and you get 30.00
A.J.: 30.00 CENTS
A.J.: think about it
Jessica J.: give me one second
A.J.: sure
[this wait lasted a good 3 minutes]
Jessica J.: A.J. what I would recommend is you keep the $5.00 messaging package because if you decide to remove the package you will be charged .15 cents a message sent or received which you send about 200 messages a month then your bill would be $30.00 a month
A.J.: I still don’t understand.
A.J.: Are you sure you don’t mean that each message is 15 cents. As in 0.15 DOLLARS. $0.15???
Jessica J.: That is correct
A.J.: Please tell me again how much each text message costs.
Jessica J.: The cost for each individual message is $0.15 cents a message
A.J.: Wait… $0.15?
A.J.: or 0.15 cents?
A.J.: or both? 0.15 dollarcents?
Jessica J.: Both the amount equals the same
Jessica J.: If you make 200 messages at 15 cents per messages it comes out to be $30. With out plan for 200 messages it will only be $5 a month. This will help you save money.
A.J.: How much does a soda cost? 50 cents right?
Jessica J.: Correct
A.J.: If I send you a soda, will you send me $50?
Jessica J.: If you want you do not have to keep a messaging plan. If you wanted to get ride of that plan all you would have to do is call customer service and take it off your account.
A.J.: Ok, so according to the last thing you wrote, each text message is 15 cents. Not 0.15 cents. Is that correct?
Jessica J.: That is correct.
A.J.: Thank you for the clarification. I will keep my current package.
A.J.: Please advise your supervisor to update your materials.
Jessica J.: I apologize for all the confusion today. Is there anything else I can assist you with /
Jessica J.: ?
A.J.: 0.15 cents per message is a lot cheaper than $0.15 per message.
A.J.: Nope, thanks. Have a good afternoon.
Jessica J.: Thank you for choosing AT&T. Have a great day.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0617081secrets1.html