This past September, to the delight of many, Brighthouse turned on four new HD channels — HGTV HD, TBS HD, The History Channel HD and Food Network HD. Over the last 2 months, they have been sending out flyer’s to it’s customers talking about the addition of Discovery Channel HD, Animal Planet HD, TLC HD, Science Channel HD and National Geographic HD on February 1st. Unfortunately, what a large community of Brighthouse Customers found, was that instead of adding 5 new channels, they had lost four (Or Nine if you include the new ones).

What is rapidly turning out to be a PR Nightmare for Brighthouse, they decided to disable these channels to all Cablecard users — Which include owners of Tivo’s, HDTV’s, and Media PC’s that choose not to use the craptacular equipment that Brighhouse charges it’s users for.

The original thought for the reason that these channels had been disabled was that Brighthouse had enabled SDV [Switched Digital Video] — A technology that is not supported at this time by cable cards. However, after the sleuthing of the Tivo Community Brighthouse employees admitted that Brighthouse has not switched to SDV, and have purposely chosen to disable these channels specifically for Cable Card users.

[Note: The press release says nothing about changes to Cablecard Users — or that the change is only for Brighthouse Equipment Users]
“Bright House Networks Added Five High Definition and Two Digital Channels on Fri., Feb. 1, 2008, at No Additional Cost to Subscribers”

Oh really? Seriously? They why are you telling us to pay more to upgrade to Brighthouse Equipment?!?!.

Despite as an “olive branch”, Brighthouse offered me a complimentary cable box, if I choose to keep my cable cards I need to keep paying $2.95/ea (keep in mind, they took me 4-weeks to get) and also pay $9.95 for their DVR Service (which is horrible since TiVo controls all the usability patents). Also, until a solution for cablecard SDV support is released, Brighthouse now has a feather in their cap to keep people from purchasing any 3rd Party equipment. This means they now collect the hardware rental fees, and DVR subscription fees that pads their pockets and keeps their network a nice proprietary money making machine.

Futhermore, Third party hardware users have additional media delivery options beyond what you get with Brighthouse’s equipment. I can rent movies from Amazon, stream MP3’s, share media with family, Watch TV I recorded on my computer, view digital photos, etc. All of these services are either better or directly compete with Brighthouse’s premium services ie. Video on demand, Digital Music, Pay-Per-View — All of which you pay extra for, so by having such a device, users can minimize their bills.

So, to simplify. Brighthouse Networks is forcing customers to pay upwards of $20 additional to receive channels that there is not a single reason why they can not receive with their own hardware and a $3 cablecard. They have also removed my premium features I get with my Tivo — And now, instead of buying a movie from amazon and having it delivered to my Tivo, the comperable solution is to use Brighouses PPV. Instead of streaming Music from my computer, the comprable solution is to subscribe and use Brighthouse’s music channels. And on top of all of the additional fees, they have now managed to launch a slander campaign against 3rd Party Technologies like Tivo. [That’s right! Because now, when someone asks me (Or any Cable Card User) if they should buy such a device, we now need to say “Well, only if you don’t want to be missing 25%+ of the HD Channels.” ]

*Clap* *Clap* Well Done Brighthouse. At least your J.D. Power customer service award was fun while it lasted.

Details around the Web:
Orlando Sentinel
EngadgetHD
TivoCommunity

UPDATE!
Within 30 mins of publishing this. 3 Seperate IP addresses within the “MyBrighthouse.com” domain have hit this blog post. I know you’re out there Brighthouse! There is a comment form below. Use it — I’d like to hear what you have to say.

 

I was reading the weekly Pets Smart Emailer last night, and the wording of this just cracked me up. Apparently, “Poo”, is the name of a Dog, not what you may think it is.. ;)

Regardless, Jaime and I are huge supporters of our local Petsmart Charities, and try to shop at Petsmart exclusively due to the support they give sheltered / homeless animals (Not to mention their very impressive Charity Rating @ only costing $0.07 for every $1 they raise)

Even better, if you go to any PetSmart on on a weekend, they will have their adoption center open. You don’t need to adopt a pet to help — just ask what they need — most times you can buy a case of food for 10$, or a bag of treats for 5$. It’s really a small price to pay to give a pet a second chance.

 

After over eight years of dating, and a year and a half of planning, everything came together, and two of Jaime and I’s closest friends finally tied the knot this weekend.

Some quick shout outs:

1. Kyles Father and Katherine… You Both gave and amazing speeches during the reception. I hope you both know how much your words meant to everyone — and more importantly — to Kyle and Samara.

2. Samara’s Moms and Dads… Y’all are some of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of spending time with in a long time. It makes me so happy to see a family open their hearts and homes so much for two of my closest friends.

3. Samara’s “Little” Sister Alexa… Thanks for making me look good during the ceremony! And Thanks for walking with me despite my Tux smelling like Dead Guy and Moth Balls!

4. To everyone that stopped saying “When are you and Jaime getting married?!?!?” that are now are saying “YOU’RE NEXT!” — I hate all of you. ;)

5. Kyle & Samara.. Congrats to the both of you! Have fun on your Honeymoon! Make sure you take pictures of the bathtub full of Pasta.

 

Perhaps I should reconsider this…

You never think about what levels of service you ‘agree’ to sometimes, until that service screws you.

I ordered some Nitro RC parts yesterday, and had them Overnighted to me so that I can race this Sunday.. I paid extra (quite a bit extra) for shipping so I would have them Friday.

Well, long story short, they never came — So when I checked the tracking number, this is what I found:

Status:  	 Exception See description below
--
LOUISVILLE, KY,  US 	01/04/2008 	6:01 A.M.
THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY CAUSING THIS DELAY

I figured “No Big deal… It’ll just be delivered Saturday Morning…” — So, I called to verify.. Apparently, this is not the case.. Pretty much was told that “delivery will be Monday at best..” but to “Keep checking the tracking, and if I see any changes to call..”

Just freaking Awesome…

So, out of curiosity, I decided to see what guarantees I purchased when I upgraded my shipping..

The following are all from the UPS Terms and Conditions

UPS guarantees on-schedule delivery of shipments shipped via UPS Next Day Air Freight, UPS 2nd Day Air Freight, UPS 3 Day Freight, and UPS Express Freight services where such services are available. (“Guaranteed Service”). Guaranteed Service does not apply to UPS Next Day Air Freight NGS, UPS 2nd Day Air Freight NGS, UPS 3 Day Freight NGS, UPS Air Freight Direct, or UPS Air Freight Consolidated. Guaranteed Service is not available to or from some beyond points. Information on availability and description of Guaranteed Service delivery times, designation of pickup and delivery locations, and applicable rates and charges, can be found at www.ups.com, is available upon request, and is subject to change without prior notice. Guaranteed Service may be suspended or revoked without prior notice. “Ontime” or “on-schedule” means, subject to the terms of this Section XVIII, delivery is attempted within the UPS guaranteed delivery schedule.
…
The following shipments are not eligible for Guaranteed Service:
1. Residential pickup or delivery.

So, There you have it… If you’re a residential customer, you now have ZERO guarantees with UPS. In fact, if you keep reading, technically — as long as they sooner or later (being 1 day, 1 month, 1 year) deliver your package — they have fulfilled their end of the deal.

Sorta Sucks, but I guess I have to just deal with it. I guess it’s just something good to know. I’m just upset since I made some exceptions from what I really wanted to make sure they were here in time to race. Had I of know, I would of shopped around and picked up some better deals and different parts instead of using a single store that had the parts I needed, not the ones I wanted… :(

I guess now I know.. This is what I get for waiting until the last minute.

 

Yesterday one of my buddies/neighbors Ian (aka. Lil’ Bitch) called me and asked if he could barrow “a Pot and Guitar Hero…” … I’ll guarantee that of the 1000’s of phone calls world wide a day that involve ‘Pot and Guitar Hero’ — This is the first one ever to actually mean ‘Pot’ in the form of that of which you cook food in…

I guess either way he’s still baking something…

I for one welcome our new alien overlords… But apparently, this alien spider wants to keep us out of space… What are they hiding from us!!!

Story and Video Here.

*Update* Apparently, it wasn’t a giant alien spider, but in fact just a spider crawling on one of NASA’s live feed camera. I’m a little disappointed… But I guess I can cancel my order for a giant shoe.

I recently read something that said that Florida had not only the rudest drivers, but then saw a news report that said ‘Floridians’ complain that the people here are the rudest in America. I finally experienced that first hand this weekend…

The Story:
( Feel free to jump to the conclusion if you don’t care about the story… )

What sparked me writing this is… “The Jaime” and I started our Holiday shopping yesterday. We are both extremely polite people (Which is hard, considering I hate everything). And we don’t ask that people are the same — We realize that not everyone is brought up the same way. But, all we ask for in return are the basic Please, Thank you, Sorry, Wave, and respect others personal space. Yesterday both “The Jaime” and I were treated so horribly by people that by the end of the day even we were about to stab each other in the eye. People pushing… Slamming doors in our faces… Blocking isles with strollers/carts left horizontally… (Which were not moved with an ‘Oh! I’m sorry…’ But with eye rolls and sighs…)

At this point, we had decided to just call it a day… When “The Jaime” suggested we swing by Target, and pick up our Toys for Tots gifts. Every year we both donate toys to any business that supports Toys for Tots that we frequent… And we also decided this year, that what ever we’re spending on Toys for Tots, we will also spend the same on animals at the local animal shelter. (Which we are both big supporters of and thought was a great idea since neither of us have time to volunteer) We figured if we get this out of the way now, we had a chance of salvaging the day — and not killing each other. Which almost happened. Target had some great sales going on and we ended up with almost twice the amount of toys we usually get. In fact, we almost filled a cart despite a minor argument over whether or not a Sock Monkey would scare kids… (Personally I think they are pretty rad… And are more than a toy, but a symbol of ingenuity) — So we were in much better moods by this point.

So, once we were done checking out at Target, as we were heading out… This little kid running around ran right in front of our cart and I literally missed him by millimeters… If I had even the slightest bit of distraction I would of clobbered the kid. So, there I stood, standing on my tippy toes, clutching the cart to my waist on the largest inhale I have taken in years, watching the mother watch everything that was happening… And nothing.. No ‘I’m sorry’, No discipline, no acknowledgement from the parents standing 5 feet away… Not only did she not care to apologize, she clearly didn’t care about the safety of her kid, who kept on running… At this point - I broke character — and all I could do was shake my Head… I had finally lost all faith in my community and the people that live in it… This action triggered a blow up from the kids mother ” HOW DARE YOU SHAKE YOUR HEAD!! HE’S JUST A LITTLE KID!!!!” — (Now looking at her husband) — “YOU SEE THAT! HOW F—ING RUDE!!!” …

Perhaps it was a little rude, but because of the ignorance of this woman she couldn’t understand that I was shaking my head at her, not the kid… Kids will be kids.. I understand that — but it’s the responsibility of the parents to make right on these situations. In her mind, she had put me in a Loose/Loose situation. Had I of hit the kid she clearly would of gone off on me.. And apparently, since I didn’t hit the kid — It was also my fault and his actions were acceptable from her lack of response from the situation — of course until my catalyst where she put the blame on me and the kid — not her or her husband.

So, the day had now officially gone to shit. Jaime (she too was pretty upset so she was no longer ‘The Jaime’ at this point) just said — “Lets head to Publix and I’ll get our grocery shopping done… And you can head over to the bar, grab a beer, and watch some football…” (There is a bar next to our community Publix) Upon entering, where someone held the door open for me, no less than 5-6 people said ‘Hi’ to me (Just face acquaintances, not really first name basis type people).. The ‘regulars’ at the bar started busting my chops about the Steeler Game.. And I ran into some really close friends and sat down for some chit-chat.. I was finally being reminded that there are awesome people in my community…

That’s when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a couple complaining that the only seats left weren’t booths, that the football crowd watching the Giants/Bears game was too loud (Yet they were in a sports bar at 5:00 on a Sunday), and finally how long they needed to wait when they came in for someone to help them (Despite the sign that clearly says ‘Please seat yourself’) — The waitress came up and he ordered a Gin & Tonic — And was told they only have Beer & Wine… They then proceeded to get up and leave and the guy mumbled “Can’t even get a drink in this f’n town…” …

When it finally all made sense to me:

The Conclusion:

True Floridians have learned to be very patient people. All of us have lived through community growing pains, state wide ridicule and embarrassment, and even worse many-many natural disasters.

I love being a Floridian, and other Floridians are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. The majority of us are immigrants from all over the country, and all over the world. And once we get over the pride of who we were, and accept the fact of who we now are — We realize that for every 2 bad neighbors we have, we have at least 1 great neighbor. We all came here to survive based off of promises and dreams of a tropical gold rush. And those of us that have learned that we need to help and be polite to each other because our current community (and not the one you came from) is what supports our standard of living and contains the people that we see and depend on every day — are the ones that make Florida such a great place to live — And benefit greatly from living here.

The rest of the people are not yet ‘Floridians’… They don’t care about the community, or the people in it. They don’t see the need to be polite, nice, curtius, or even happy for that matter, because they don’t consider Florida their “Home” yet, and don’t give a shit about the people who do. Florida is literally just some transient microcosm they are stuck in until something better comes along. And you can tell these people by when you ask them “Where are you from?” — Floridians will respond with ‘Here’ or ‘Originally…‘ — Non Floridians simply — ‘‘…

So, what can we do? Treat everyone with the same respect no matter what… Florida is on the top 10 growing states every year, so it’s just going to get worse… I learned this weekend, it’s not worth stooping to their level and from now on I’m just going to tolerate and kill them with kindness… Because if they don’t realize the value of their community and how awesome the people are all by themselves, they’re going to be the miserable ones with high blood pressure… Not me…

This past Friday Jaime and I had the pleasure of attending what might be one of the greatest social events on the face of the earth… If you live within 100 miles of Orlando, you need to make sure the next time that Orlando Speed World puts on Crash-a-Rama — That you’re there… Period… There are no excuses…

Anyways, this weekend — I was truly proud to be an American. Because only in America can you find this level of entertainment. And on top of that, I think this is the most fun I have ever had East of the Mississippi River and West of the Atlantic… (And by the Mississippi River, I mean Chuluota Rd. — And by Atlantic I mean the sign that says “Welcome to Christmas” ) ;)

“Endurance Race”

“Redneck skiing” - This is where they take front wheel drive cars — remove the rear tires — and weld the hubs in place… And then race around an oval..

“Define ‘Global Warming’ “

“School Bus Figure 8 Race”

“School Bus Figure 8 Race Full Speed fly by”

A few months ago there was a post on CNET about a kids eye view of designing laptops. A few more of the examples of what happens when 8-9 year olds design laptops for their “Laptop Club” popped up on the Internet today..

This One design specifically caught my eye..

Notice the Misspelling of “Famely” and “Freinds” — But the proper spelling of “Google” and exact qwerty layout. So, honestly, what are we REALLY teaching kids these days?