Auto Cool [not]
What a cool idea! What a lousy product! The Auto Cool is a solar-powered fan that’s supposed to keep your car cooler inside when parked in the sunshine. It mounts atop the side window. Here’s what’s...
View ArticleFrequent Flier Games
I went on the US Airways web site to use some of my frequent flier miles on a trip to Albuquerque 3 months from now. Although their brochure says you can get round trip flights for 25,000, the web site...
View ArticleFox News for Stupid People
As a rule I don’t watch Fox News because every time I do, I get insulted. I get insulted because every time, they insult my intelligence by some sort of propaganda track to mislead me. Last night I was...
View ArticleReplacing 2007 Prius hatch opening switch
I am one of the many victims of the defective Prius 2007 hatch opening switch. After 4 years the rubber cover turned to tar. I bought a new switch assembly and thought I’d change it myself. These...
View ArticleDeath to robocallers
I got angry today, after the 7th recorded political phone call from Mitt Romney in just 2 days. I called the campaign and I gave them a piece of my mind. Romney, while the most egregious robocaller, is...
View ArticleCharter Communications: monumental stupidity
It is not illegal for Charter Communications to telemarket its existing customers who are on the National Do Not Call Registry, but to do so is monumentally stupid. People put their names on the...
View ArticleSony slips in my estimation
Without a lot fanfare, the TV Guide™ On Screen feature on my Sony TV stopped working. It took a while to track down the information, but the fact is that this service for broadcast TV is going away,...
View ArticleDealing with telemarketers
Here’s some plain talk about telemarketing. Lots of web sites offer advice, but it’s mostly useless. About the only thing you can do in the US is to register with the National Do Not Call Registry....
View ArticleLunarpages web hosting: avoid
I’ve been a customer of Lunarpages for a very long time, so long that I can’t really say how long. I know it’s been since 2006 because of date stamps on some files, but I think it’s really since the …...
View ArticlePayPower Travel Card: Powerful bad idea
I thought it was a good idea, get a prepaid debit card for my trip overseas. If it’s lost, nobody can get a hook into my regular credit card accounts. I looked around and found one called the PayPower...
View ArticleWhy are parts so expensive?
I have a Whirlpool dishwasher that’s about 12 years old. The racks that hold the dishes are corroded and broken. The jagged edges are a hazard to users of the machine. The dishwasher works well: the...
View ArticleAAAAA and AAAAA are not 2 guesses
I have a large number of beefs about authentications systems, but one of the stupidest things that they all do is to miscount password guesses. Let’s say that my password is aaaaa and that I am trying...
View ArticleAn open letter to the FCC
Tom Wheeler, Chairman Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 Dear Mr. Wheeler: The Federal Trade Commission called “Rachel from Cardholder Services” public enemy...
View ArticleCanon SX280 HS low battery indicator problem
I’ve used a variety of Canon products over the years, and it’s a name I have come to trust. It was with a bit of a shock that I discovered the controversy about the low-battery indicator for the Canon...
View ArticleWhy I will never buy another computer from Dell
I may buy another Dell computer, but not from Dell. I go way back with Dell. I can’t count the number of Dell systems I’ve had over the years. I know there are three Dell desktops in the house, two …...
View ArticleDon’t order online from Pizza Inn
I get email offers from Pizza Inn from time to time, and some of the coupons are pretty good. Today I clicked to order online and the order for two pizzas was $3 more than what it said on the …...
View ArticleBad bot
My web sites don’t get a lot of traffic. One of them dealing with the birther movement was getting 40,000 unique visitors a month, but after I stopped publishing new articles, that dropped sharply....
View ArticleCriminal fundraising
Lee called. He said he was raising money for a police charity; I told him to leave me alone. A couple of days later Lee called again, from a different number; I think I yelled at him. A couple of …...
View ArticleWhere’s the beef?
[Reprinted from my post at Quora.com] Last month ago I bought a Boston Market frozen entree, Swedish meatballs and noodles. This is a photo of the package, highlighting “Oven Roasted MEATBALLS.” And...
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