AT&T Landline Dispute Resolved

This morning I tried the AT&T landline and it finally works! Last night when I tried it, even after the status was changed to Order Completed, there was still no dial tone. However, now that the status had changed, I was now able to call AT&T Repairs 24/7 phone number. They were able to tell it wasn't working and said that we would be billed for any inside changes, but before 8AM this morning, the phone line was active.

This seems like a very complex process when you can activate a new cell phone within minutes. That said, I did want to thank Molly at @twitter/ATTCustomerCare, AT&T's Social Media Customer Care Guru. Molly you rock! And of course AT&T Executive Services (Thanks Eric!) Using Twitter for Customer Service, I had much better luck at finding an escalation path at AT&T then when calling the AT&T Customer Service Department!

This matter is now resolved!

A Dispute with AT&T Work Management Scheduling in Aventura, FL

An AT&T Installer arrived on Thursday, March 25, 2010 to install a land line. He left without the phone being activated. Through my attempts to escalate this issue, someone at the AT&T Work Management Department in Aventura, Florida must have made this issue personal because the phone is still not active. The new install date is Thursday, April 1, 2010. I guess when it comes to an AT&T landline, the old copper wire technology, these AT&T phone guys will install it when they want to.

That's not the level of service that AT&T's customers expect and rightfully deserve!

What Camera Do I Use? - An car in the bay on NE 35th ST in Miami.

In the early morning on NE 35th ST in Miami, Florida, a car went in to Biscayne Bay. I grabbed for the first digital camera I could find. The first thing I noticed was that it was very difficult taking photos in low light. Even with the night light setting with my Sony, the pictures were still blurry. It was also very difficult to find the night setting on some of the cameras because this isn't a feature I use that often. As you can see, as soon as the Sun came out, the pictures are much better.
















xx

ATTCustomerCare on Twitter.com

Interesting, I just heard from Molly at http://twitter.com/ATTCustomerCare She is the lead in AT&T Customer Care team focusing on Social Media.

AT&T Award Winning Customer Service?

I am a very loyal AT&T Customer but after this experience, I feel I need to start looking at alternate vendors. The Customer Service was horrible.

This week I tried to get a simple land line installed for a family member and had to experience AT&T's proclaimed Award Winning Customer Service. After placing the order, the Rep told me that the phone line would be activated on Monday of this week. On Friday of this week, the phone line is still not activated.

This morning, I spoke to 5 different representatives from their Awarding Winning Customer Service Department:

Answer 1: The appointment was logged as a missed appointment, the customer needs to reschedule (The AT&T guy was at the location twice yesterday and left without activating the service).
Answer 2: Due Today - the service is due to be activated today.
Answer 3: The service should have been activated yesterday.
Answer 4: I will contact the work management department and find out why it was coded as a missed appointment.

I asked to speak to a supervisor several times and received several different outcomes:

1) I was placed on hold for 20 minutes and no one came on.
2) I was transferred to the repair service, who told me the status but said I would have to call Customer Service on a Pending Order.
3) I had to give me my phone number and a supervisor would call me back.
4) I was transferred back into the Customer Service phone queue.
5) I successfully reached a Supervisor who was able to reschedule the appointment.

Finally, as a loyal AT&T customer Why not get it all from one company? The answer is that unlike companies like American Express, AT&T does not give you any extra service for being a loyal customer. They treat all customers with the same way regardless of their level of loyalty...Maybe that's the new definition of AWARD WINNING CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Notes: Reps I spoke to: James, Judy, Mrs. Freeman - refused to transfer call to a Supervisor.

2010 Oscar Movies On Netflix, OnDemand, on DVD, on Comcast

With the number of On Demand movies from cable services, airplane flights, hotels, Netflix, Blockbuster and the Amazon Video on Demand Service, there are so many ways to view the 2010 Oscar Winner Movies. Here's my list as of March 2010 of where to watch the 2010 Oscar Winner Movies including those movies on Netflix. Also, I think Netflix is a great deal for $8.99 per month + tax (1 DVD at a time). Here are the reasons:

• You can currently rent 5 2010 Oscar Winners on DVDs including the 2010 Best Picture, The Hurt Locker
• 20 Oscar Nominees including Precious, Up in the Air, The Cove, Inglorious Bastards and Up.
• You can even watch 3 Oscar Nominees instantly on your PC or on your TV if you have a Roku box or other Netflix device. These movies include Food Inc, Paris and Il Divo.

See the below list of the Oscar movies you can watch on Netflix as well as other services including Comcast, Dish and Amazon Video. I have also included the estimated DVD release date which gives you a general idea of when you can expect to see these movies on the various On Demand services.

Where to Watch The Oscar Winners and Nominees

Netflix DVD Rental Service (includes Watch Instantly Service)

• The Hurt Locker* (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Ajami (n/a - July 2010)
  
• A Serious Man (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Avatar* (Netflix DVD: n/a - April 2010)
• The Blindside* (DVD: n/a 3/23/10)
  
• Brightstar Netflix (DVD: Now Available)
  
• Burma VJ (n/a June 2010)
• China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (n/a)
  
• Coco Before Chanel (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Coraline (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
  
• The Cove* (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Crazyheart* (n/a - April 2010)
• District 9 (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• The Door (n/a)
  
• El Secreto de Sus Ojos* (n/a)
  
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (n/a - 3/23/10)
• Food Inc. (Netflix Watch Instantly, DVD: Now Available)
• French Roast (n/a)
• Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (n/a)
  
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
  
• Il Divo (Netflix Watch Instantly, Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• The Imagination of Doctor Parnassus (n/a - 4/27/10)
• Instead of Abracadabra (n/a)
  
• In The Loop (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Invictus (n/a - June 2010)
• Ingloroius Bastards* (Netflix DVD Now Available)
• The Lady and the Reaper (La Darma y la Muerte) (n/a)
  
• The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (n/a)
  
• The Last Station (n/a - June 2010)
• The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant (n/a)
  
• Logorama* (n/a)
  
• The Lovely Bones (n/a/ - 4/20/10)
• A Matter of Loaf and Death* (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• The Messenger (n/a 5/18/10)
  
• The Milk of Sorry (n/a)
• Miracle Fish (n/a)
  
• The Most Dangerous Man in America (n/a Sep 2010)
• Music by Prudence* (n/a)
• The New Tenants* (n/a)
  
• Nine (n/a DVD: May 2010)
• Paris 36 (Netflix Watch Instantly, Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Precious* (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
  
• The Princess and the Frog (n/a - 3/16/2010)
  
• Rabbit a la Berlin (n/a)
• The Secret of the Kells (n/a - Aug 2010)
• A Serious Man (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
  
• Sherlock Holmes (n/a - 3/30/2010)
• A Single Man (n/a - May 2010)
  
• Startrek* (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Transformers: Revenge of the fallen (Now Available)
  
• Up* (Netflix DVD: Now Available)
• Up in the Air (Netflix - DVD Now Available)
• Un Prophete (n/a July 2010)
• Which Way Home (n/a - May 2010)
  
• The White Ribbon (n/a Jule 2010)
  
• The Young Victorian* (DVD: n/a - 4/22/2010)

*Oscar Winner

Best Picture

• Winner: The Hurt Locker
• Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (DVD - Now Available)
• Comcast on Demand

Other Best Picture Nominees:

• Avatar (April 2010)
• Up (DVD Now Available)
• A Serious Man (DVD Now Available)
• Ingloroius Bastards (DVD Now Available)
• An Education (3/30/10)
• District 9 (Now Available)
• The Blind Side (3/23/10)
• Up in the Air (DVD Now Available)
  

Actor in a Leading Role

• Winner: Jeff Bridges
• Crazy Heart
• Where to watch:
• DVD Release Date: April 2010
  
• Netflix (DVD - not yet available)
• Comcast on Demand (not availabe)

Other Actor in a Leading Role Nominees:

• George Clooney, Up in the Air (DVD Now Available)
• Colin Firth, A Single Man (DVD ETA: May 2010)
• Morgan Freeman, Invictus (DVD ETA: June 2010)
• Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker (DVD Now Availalble)
  

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Winner: Christoph Waltz
• Inglourious Basterds
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (DVD - now shipping)
• Comcast on Demand

Other Nominees:

• Matt Damon, Invictus (DVD: June 2010)
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger (DVD: May 18, 2010)
• Christopher Plummer, The Last Station (DVD: June 2010)
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones (DVD: April 20, 2010)
  

Actress in a Leading Role

• Winner: Sandra Bullock
• Movie Title: The Blind Side
• Where to Watch:
  
• DVD ETA: 3/23/10
  
• Netflix (DVD - Not available)
• Comcast on Demand (Not available)
  

Other Nominees:

• Helen Mirren, The Last Station (DVD: June 2010)
• Carey Mulligan, An Education (DVD: 3/30/10)
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious (DVD Now Available)
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia (DVD Now Available)
  

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Winner: Mo'Nique
• Movie Title: Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
• Where to watch Precious:
  
• Netflix (DVD - Now Shipping)
• Comcast on Demand (now available)
  
• Dish Network ($4.99 3/10)
• Amazon Video on Demand ($4.99 HD, $3.99 SD)

Other Nominees:

• Mo"Nique, Precious (DVD: Now Available)
• Penelope Cruz, Nine (DVD: May 2010)
• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air (Now Available)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart (DVD: April 2010)
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air (DVD: Now Available)
  

Animated Feature Film

• Winner: Up
• Pete Docter
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (DVD - now shipping)
• Comcast on Demand (now available)
  

Art Direction

• Winner: Avatar
• Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg (Art Direction); Kim Sinclair (Set Decoration)
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (Not Available)
• Comcast on Demand (Not Available)
  

Cinematography

• Winner: Avatar
• Mauro Fiore
• Netflix (Not Available)
• Comcast on Demand (Not Available)
  

Costume Design

• Winner: The Young Victoria
• Sandy Powell
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (Not Available)
• Comcast on Demand (Not Available)
  

Directing

• Winner: The Hurt Locker
• Kathryn Bigelow
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (DVD - now shipping)
• Comcast on Demand (Available)

Other Nominees:

• James Cameron, Avatar (DVD: April 2010)
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Bastards (DVD: Now Available)
• Lee Daniels, Precious (DVD: Now Available)
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air (DVD: Now Available)
  

Documentary Feature

• Winner: The Cove
• Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• Where to Watch:
  
• Netflix (DVD - now shipping)
• Comcast on Demand (Available)
  

Documentary Short

• Winner: Music by Prudence
• Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• Where to Watch: (selected movie theaters in selected cities only)
  

Film Editing

• Winner: The Hurt Locker
• Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• Where to Watch:
• Netflix (DVD - now shipping)
  

Foreign Language Film

• Winner: The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
• Argentina
• Directed by Juan José Campanella
• Where to Watch
• In selected Theaters.
  

Makeup

• Star Trek
• Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• Where to watch:
  
• Netflix (DVD - now shipping)
• Amazon ($4.99 HD)
• Comcast on Demand (Now Available)
  

Reference:
Videoeta.com

Gogo iPhone Internet Speed

I flew back to Fort Lauderdale from LAX on Virgin America today. Using
Gogo Internet, the download speed was 902 kbps and 264 kbps upload.

Use Gogo Inflight on two devices

How to Use GoGo Inflight on your laptop and iPhone

After signing up for the GoGo Inflight Wi-Fi 30 day plan, I wanted to
know if I could use two devices for my account. So instead of throwing
a dart and testing it, I used their Live Chat service. Here is what I
was told:

1) You can't use two accounts simultaneously.

2) You can log-off one device by going to: http://airborne.gogoinflight.com
such as your laptop/Macbook.

3) After a sucesful log-off, you can log-in with the other device such
as an iPhone or Smart Phone.

In my case I added the URL http://airborne.gogoinflight.com to my
iPhone home screen.

After I power-off my MacBook Pro, its nice to be connected. This
includes on trips to the front or back of the plane --you get the
benefit!

Why I dislike the Class Action Lawsuit Against Yelp.com

I recently read that there are new Class Action Lawsuits against the company Yelp.com filed by several law firms in the name of a handful of businesses claiming that advertising sales representatives at Yelp.com offered to investigate and or take down any negative reviews if the company purchased an online yellow page ad. Yelp.com is one of my very favorite sites and I'm really disappointed to hear of any class action law suits against this company. Here are my issues with this situation:

• Sales Puffery -- I wonder if this claim was merely sales puffery by an over eager sales person stating that if the customer signed up for an ad, then the sales rep would do everything possible to personally investigate the authenticity of any negative reviews? The sales rep probably had not authority to take down any reviews.
  
• Litigants -- Did any litigants actually pay for an ad and have the negative reviews removed or did they merely speak to a sales representative?
• Bad Service -- In the cases in which any potential litigants wanted a negative review removed, were the businesses possibly guilty of providing questionable service? And if the reviews were legitimate, why didn't the business try and personally contact the Yelper through Yelp's free service and offer the Yelper an apology, and an invitation to try their businesses or service again and change their review.
  
• Negative Reviews -- In my 4 years of writing reviews, I've never had one of my reviews taken down without my knowledge. If I wrote a negative review about the company that I felt very strongly about and a Yelp representative asked me to remove it and I saw a plethora of other negative reviews about that same business, I would probably stop writing reviews on Yelp.
  
• Organizations like the Better Business Bureau - In my eyes, Yelp provides a service like the Better Business Bureau except that the information is public. With the information public, I think it's much more valuable to the consumer.
  
• Class Action Law Suits -- I really hate to see the lawyers get involved in class action law suits like stock securities.
• Yelp, Google, Other Review Sites -- Other than Yelp, there are so many sites on the Internet in which a disgruntled customer could post information about their experience with a business. It really must be the growth of the Yelp community that really makes this a news story but it's really sad to see Yelp singled out in a situation like this.

Also, I would be shocked if there are a large number of businesses out there that actually did buy advertising on Yelp in exchange for getting negative reviews removed. It could have happened but certainly not widespread enough as is implied in the media. I really hope the media doesn't provide too much free promotion for this story!

Finally, here is a link to one of the Class Action Lawsuit litigants:

Yelp Class Action
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cats-and-dogs-animal-hospital-long-beach

Facebook iPhone Application working again!

AS of Saturday February 20, 2010 11:48 a.m. PT, my iPhone Facebook App is working again. It now allows me to login. I wonder if the Facebook login server prevented me from logging in due to a maximum number of unsuccessful iPhone login attempts? Or was their API just down due to the reported server issues? It would be nice to know the answer to these questions the next time FB iPhone App crashes.

Facebook Site and Iphone Issues - Sat Feb 20

The first official acknowledgment from Facebook in Palo Alto was posted to their Twitter page just after 10 a.m. Pacific Time (http://www.twitter.com/facebook). According to their message, some people are having trouble accessing Facebook and site features because of an isolated server issue.










The company did not acknowledge that for iPhone Facebook Application users -- it's all users since the Facebook API appears to be completely down.

When issues like this occurs, I think companies should be open and honest with their users. With the Facebook iPhone Application, the service no longer remembers your password so users most likely will re-enter it. When they receive the error message below, they will probably think they forget their password or will re-enter it multiple times which can't possibly be good for the Facebook "isolate server". I noticed on Twitter that some users deleted and re-installed their Facebook iPhone App which I admit that I thought about until I went to my Mac and logged on successfully to Facebook. What is probably the most frustrating that when Facebook is experiencing a serious incident like this, they should at the very least have a single Technical Support page on their website that users can go to for updates ... go back to the basics of software or application technical support. What would be even better is a Technical Support number that users could call before wasting their time and energy on this....

Facebook iPhone App Cant Login

It appears that the IPhone Facebook App is currently down and will not
allow users to login according to tweets from many Twitter users.

Some iPhone Facebook users are reporting the App freezing at the login
screen beliw while others are receiving the error message:

Login Failed, Unable to connect to Facebook. Please try again later.

I was able to login to my FB account on my Mac although I did receive
several Opps Something went wrong. We're working on getting it fixed
as soon as we can dialog boxes.

I wish Facebook had a technical support blog to keep their users
informed.

iPhone 3.1.3 Software Update

I finally installed this update today. On one of my PCs, the iPhone update always seems to fail and I need to attempt the restore multiple times. When this occurs, I always ending having to re-synchronize my apps, music and photos. For whatever reason, the restore process loses those items but does not lose my phone call, voice mail and text message history as well as my calendar. Unfortunately, it takes several hours to restore these items as well as manually backup my restore files from the following PC directory:

c:\Documents and Settings\User_Name\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

• Improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS
• Resovles issue where third-party apps would not launch in some instances.
• fixes bug that may cause an app tocarash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard.

http://support.apple.com/manuals/iphone

Spam or Phishing Email - Check the Spelling

I received this spam or phishing email today. Check the spelling and grammar if you are unsure if a message is Email SPAM or not! You should not open this email attachment and should delete it.

FROM: ICS Monitoring Team
SUBJECT: Your internet access is going to get suspended
ATTACHMENT: report.zip

SPAM MESSAGE

Your internet access is going to get suspended

The Internet Service Provider Consorcium was made to protect the rights of software authors, artists.
We conduct regular wiretapping on our networks, to monitor criminal acts.

We are aware of your illegal activities on the internet wich were originating from

You can check the report of your activities in the past 6 month that we have attached. We strongly advise you to stop your activities regarding the illegal downloading of copyrighted material of your internet access will be suspended.

Sincerely
ICS Monitoring Team

Apple iPad - Who wouldn't want one of these?

Apple iPad - Apple's new tablet

Okay, who wouldn't want one of these for reading your magazines, watching movies and playing games?

iPhone Battery Usage Pct - How to enable the percentage

Here are the steps to enable the iPhone Battery Percentage in the
upper right corner of the screen.

Haiti Text 4636 - +447624802524 - Report Earthquake Incident

Here are some resources for reporting a Haiti Earthquake incident for individuals in Haiti. The Ushahidi website is a first class website for this type of information gathering and reporting. The site was done in partnership with the U.S. State Department.

http://haiti.ushahidi.com

Haiti Earthquake Report Incident - Send Text Message
4636 (Digicel Customers)

Haiti Earthquake Report Incident - Sent International Text Message
+447624802524

New Yelp 4.0 iPhone App Rocks! Many new features!

Key New Features

• Yelp 4.0 Profiles -- You can now view member profiles and their photos.
• Yelp 4.0 Check-In -- A new Check-In feature allows you to notify your friends or other members of the Yelp community the restaurant, bar or store you are at. You can also elect to receive Push Notifications (default setting is on) where your friends are at.
  
• Yelp 4.0 New Main Menu -- There is a new Yelp 4.0 menu menu with the menu items: Nearby, About Me, Bookmarks, Feed, Check In, Friends, Talk, Recents and Settings.
  
• Yelp 4.0 About Me - You can now edit your profile and view your Yelp statistics including: Elite status, number of friends, quick tips, bookmarks, check-ins, friends, quick tips, local photos, reviews, compliments.
• Yelp 4.0 Find Friends - There is a Find Friends feature that will search through your iPhone contacts.

What's still missing? The Yelp 4.0 App still allows you to Draft a Review only. This is most likely an anti-spam or security issue. That said, you can always log-in through the iPhone Safari browser and submit your review.

New Yelp 4.0 App Screen Shots

Yelp 4.0 Main Menu















Yelp 4.0 Check-In Screen














Yelp 4.0 Check-In Settings















Yelp 4.0 Find Friends

Haiti Hotel Montana - Facebook Group - Here is the link.

If you are searching for the Haiti Hotel Montana Facebook Group for information for friends and family of guests that were staying at the hotel, here is the link.

Haiti Montana Hotel Facebook Group - Hotel Montana in Haiti
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haiti-Earthquake-Hotel-Montana/245595172631

Note: The above Facebook group is a perfect of example of the benefits of use of social media and user generated content. This site provides the friends and family of guests that were staying at the Hotel Montana with minute-by-minute updates from members of the group.

The true test of the platform is the respect the Internet Community shows for the friends and family of the guests that were staying at the Hotel Montana during the Haiti Earthquake. Let's hope that everyone uses good netiquette in joining and posting to this group as family members and friends use this site for minute-by-minute news on the Hotel Montana situation in Haiti.

Best List of Twitter Users in Hati - Earthquake 2010

Twitter Users in Haiti - Live Tweets from Port-Au-Prince

If you are looking for more in-depth coverage of the Haiti 2010 Earthquake, check out this Twitter List of Twitter users tweeting from Haiti (Hati 2010 Earthquake).

Live-From-Haiti Twitter List
http://twitter.com/georgiap/live-from-haiti

Haiti Users on the List
Carel Pedre - A popular radio & TV Host in Hati. http://twitter.com/carelpedre
Yael Talleyrand - Blogger in Haiti http://impurple.wordpress.com/
Frederic Dupoux - Blogger and Photographer in Hati http://www.zaboka.net/
Troy Livesay - Missionary and Blogger in Hati. http://www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/
InternetHati - The Multilink Haiti Twitter account. Here is a link to their Facebook Page.
Firesideint - Fireside International, a non-profit organization http://www.firesideinternational.org/HOME.html

Journalists in Hati
Jacqueline Charles - Caribbean Correspondent for the Miami Herald
Rodrigo - Journalist and VP of BNO News
AndersonCooper - CNN Broadcast Journalist
Ann Curry - NBC Broadcast Journalist