The oldest form of piracy…
By Brian | January 18, 2006
If you’re of my generation, the first thing you did that even resembled piracy was taping songs off the radio. I can remember putting the tape recorder right next to the speaker (no audio in/out in those days), and insisting that everyone in the house/room be quiet during the song.
Well, technology has improved far beyond the presence of audio in/out, and now (digitally) taping something off the (satellite) radio can score you a professional quality CD.
So guess what? The RIAA is trying to make it illegal.
Why am I not surprised?
Categories: Political Rantings, Tech Talk, Words about Music | Comments Off on The oldest form of piracy…
JPMorganChase – Not-So-Free Checking
By Brian | January 14, 2006
I’ve had bank accounts of one kind or another since I’m a kid, and this is the first time I’m genuinely pissed off at my bank. Seriously pissed off. As in “will seriously considering closing my accounts and going elsewhere after 11 years of hassle-free service” pissed off. Here’s the scoop:
I have Checking and Savings accounts with JPMorganChase, but I prefer to use Quicken for online banking, rather than their online banking site. In late November, I received an e-mail telling me that they were replacing their online services vendor with an internal Chase system, and I needed to make a few changes within Quicken to accommodate them. The instructions they sent me, while detailed and well-formatted, left out several major steps and left my online banking environment unstable for several days while I dealt with tech support on numerous occasions to get it right.
But that’s not why I’m so pissed off.
The only noticeable impact of the change on my end involved the way Quicken processed online checks. Before the change, if I told Quicken to send Mastercard a check for $500 on January 17th, a debit entry appeared in my checkbook register on January 17th, and Quicken would wire the money so that it arrived at Mastercard on (or very near) that date. At that point (on or near January 17th), the money would come out of my checking account and go into some account at Mastercard. Which, of course, is exactly how I expected it to work.
Not anymore. Now, if I tell Quicken to pay $500 on January 17th, the debit entry appears in my checkbook register for January 12th. This reflects the date Chase will send the check/wire-transfer to the vendor (a wire transfer takes 3 business days to process, and there’s a three-day weekend in there.). When I saw this, I called tech support back and asked about it. They assured me that Mastercard would still receive my check on the 17th as I instructed. Quicken was just recording a different date in the register. This was mildly annoying, because it meant I couldn’t just glance at my account balance and know how much money was in the account. I had to mentally move the checks down to when they’d reach their vendors and recalculate.
This is also not the reason I’m so pissed off.
Here’s the reason: I found out today (a date between January 12th and January 17th) that the January 12th date actually is important. When I instruct Quicken to send Mastercard $500 on January 17th, Chase actually TAKES THE MONEY OUT OF MY ACCOUNT ON JANUARY 12TH!!! EVEN THOUGH MASTERCARD DOESN’T RECEIVE THE MONEY UNTIL JANUARY 17TH!!! They’re basically holding the money for 5 days (and, no doubt, earning interest on it at the same time).
Meanwhile, the reason I dated the check January 17th was that my direct deposit paycheck arrives on January 13th. So because of this new policy, I came very, very close to bouncing a check (another vendor didn’t cash a large check they received last week, so I got lucky).
But wait – it gets worse! The due date on the Mastercard bill is January 18th. So even if I were willing to play math games in my head, and figure out that I need to date the check January 20th in order for the debit to occur after my paycheck hits, I’m still screwed, because in that scenario, Mastercard gets its check late and hits me with a late fee and a finance charge.
This is no longer a checking account. It’s a debit account. The checks I write online are being treated like cash that I stuff in an envelope and mail to people (as soon as I mail it, I no longer have the cash). The whole point of checking accounts is to allow you to hold on to your money until the other person gets it. In other words, had I written a good old fashioned paper check, dated it January 17th, and sent it to Mastercard, Chase would have left the money in my account, right where it should be, until Mastercard cashed the check – on or after January 17th. That’s how checks have worked for decades. It’s how online checks worked until a month ago.
It’s also how online checks work at other banks.
JPMC seems to have forgotten just how unimportant the actual bank is to the process of banking these days. I never walk into the bank anymore – I do all my banking through Quicken and ATMs. One visit to a different bank and a few clicks of a mouse are all I need to do to make the change. Apparently, the right relationship isn’t quite everything (as they claim in their ads).
But wait! What would a story like this be without an ironic epilogue: When I called them today, the customer service rep had absolutely no idea why it worked this way, and transferred me to technical support. The technical support person told me they changed the policy because too many people were post-dating checks and not managing their money properly, causing them to bounce checks. So this policy is to prevent check bouncing. Using as much self-control as I could muster, I pointed out to her that this “anti-bouncing” policy just came within inches of causing me to bounce my first check in eleven years. She agreed to log my complaint in the customer service database. Thank God for small favors…
Categories: Money Talk | 1 Comment »
A Warning and a Test
By Brian | January 13, 2006
Just in case there are a lot of squirrels reading this blog, here’s what happens if one of you gets caught at Mike’s house:
(More honestly, this is basically an experiment to see if Google’s “Put on site” link works in a blog.)
UPDATE: It works! Cool!
Categories: The World Wide Weird | 2 Comments »
Really?
By Brian | January 12, 2006
Senator Ted Kennedy has a children’s book coming out called “My Senator and Me: A Dog’s-Eye View of Washington, D.C.” It’s the story of a “a full day in the Senator’s life, but also explains how a bill becomes a law” as told by Senator Kennedy’s dog, Splash.
Seriously? Ted Kennedy has a dog named Splash?
<forehead smack>
(via Michelle Malkin)
Categories: Political Rantings, The World Wide Weird | 1 Comment »
Lileks on rites and rights
By Brian | January 9, 2006
Today’s Screedblog entry from James Lileks covers two topics: faith and George W. Bush. He better watch it – this kind of thing could catch on…
On faith, he quotes a Sunday Strib editorial (not available online) which suggests that:
Regular formal worship really does seem to improve a family’s economic outcomes, increased children’s chances of graduating from high school and reduce the likelihood of getting divorced or going on welfare.
I think the most useful thing I learned in my freshman year’s Statistics 101 class was the difference between causation and causality. Comes up all the time. To wit: Has this study proven that religious people are richer, smarter and more happily married? Or has it proven that rich, smart and happily married people are more likely to be religious? Or, perhaps, it proves that folks who meet certain other criteria (not studied here) are richer, smarter, more happily married and more religious as a result.
None of which matters, of course, unless someone is trying to suggest that becoming more religious will make you richer or smarter or solve your marital problems. There’s no control group for that kind of statement.
On Bush, Lileks flames those who worry more about the government trying to spy on us than the terrorists trying to kill us:
If President Clinton had used the same tools as President Bush, intercepted communications between McVeigh’s associate and, say, Philippine Islamist cells, and this nifty intel operation thwarted the OKC bombing, most Americans of all political stripes would have nodded approval, turned the page and forgotten about it. (Just as most forgot about the 1993 WTC attack.) That’s what we pay you guys for! Nice job.
First of all, as an unwilling participant in the 1993 WTC attack, I’m not sure what he means by “most forgot about” it. That certainly doesn’t go for folks around here, but maybe things are different in Minnesota.
As for government spying, I think most people would have been fine with them catching McVeigh talking to Terry Nichols, even if he wasn’t a Philippine Islamist. It’s not much of a leap to point out that folks are in favor of actions that prevent terrorist attacks.
On the other hand, this isn’t an either-or proposition. When successful spying operations raise questions about constitutional freedoms, the system is working. We’re having (or should be having) a healthy discussion about the pros and cons of an approach, and finding a way to maintain effectiveness while retaining our civil liberties.
I can’t help but feel that this is exactly what would be happening, if not for hysterics on both sides. The political left and the MSM have jumped all over the costs of this program, completely ignoring the benefits. Folks like Lileks, in turn, react by focusing on the benefits and minimizing the costs. Much to everyone’s chagrin, both exist and both need to be weighed.
Oh, and in case anyone thinks this is new, here’s something I wrote almost four years ago that hits on the same themes.
Categories: Political Rantings | 7 Comments »
Billy Joel plays the oldies…
By Brian | January 9, 2006
My wife and I have tickets to see Billy Joel in Madison Square Garden on Jan 23rd. We originally saw him together in Philadelphia back in 1989, and have long considered it one of our “first dates” (thanks, Heidi, on the off chance you’re reading this, for getting a stomach ache that night & giving up your ticket). At any rate, we got the tickets to this one, primarily for nostalgia purposes, although we both agreed we’d probably we disappointed with a 56-year old recovering alcoholic trying to recapture his (and our) youth.
Well, the tour opened last night in Florida, and check out this setlist (via SleepingPoliceman).
Laura? Sleeping with the Television On? Where’s the Orchestra? She’s Right on Time? ZANZIBAR?!?!?
This seems to be the show all the die-hard fans have always wished Joel would do – eschewing the pop hits for some of the more musical (and more obscure) selections in his vast catalog, and throwing in a few standards for old time’s sake.
Suddenly, I’m very much looking forward to this show…
UPDATE: I see from my server logs that over 500 of you have read this post. God Bless Google! In any case, welcome to my blog. Here’s a review of the show I posted the night of the concert. Also, if you like what you read here, please feel free to leave a comment and/or look around a bit.
UPDATE #2: Readership on this post has now passed 1,000 users. Glad you stopped by! If you liked what you read, please feel free to look around. Billy Joel enthusiasts might appreciate my reviews of the My Lives box set (Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3, Disc 4) in particular. Or, just check out the main page and go from there. Enjoy, all!
Categories: Words about Music | 2 Comments »
I Hear They’re Considering Using Computers Too…
By Brian | January 3, 2006
InternetWeek is reporting that the NSA’s website has been caught “placing files on visitors’ computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them.” These insidious little files are called “cookies.”
All together now….<forehead smack>
Six paragraphs in, the article mentions that “Cookies are widely used at commercial Web sites and can make Internet browsing more convenient by letting sites remember user preferences.” Of course, it then goes on to mention the recent New York Times flack regarding the NSA and the warantless phone call tapping. How many millions of people do you think will read this somewhere and take it as absolute proof that the government is spying on us through their websites?
Now, to be fair, persistent cookies on federal websites were made illegal in 2003 (session cookies are not). The NSA got a software upgrade and the software installed with persistent cookies defaulted on. When alerted to the problem, they turned them off. Sounds legit to me. But Daniel Brandt, the privacy activist who found the cookies says, “mistakes happen, ‘but in any case, it’s illegal. The (guideline) doesn’t say anything about doing it accidentally.'” That’s right Daniel – let’s throw ’em all in jail for persistent cookies. Maybe they’ll even start calling it “cookie-gate.” Sheesh…
Categories: Political Rantings, Tech Talk | 4 Comments »
The Geeky side of a Disney Vacation
By Brian | January 3, 2006
One more word on the disney trip, but this time for the select few people that I know read this blog with some regularity: the things my family & friends would find bizarre if I brought up in a “What I did on my vacation” conversation:
- As some of you know, I have an iTrip attachment for the iPod that lets me play the thing through the car radio to keep the kids entertained on car trips. Turns out, when we hit the hotel room & have a few hours to kill, I was able to do the same thing with the crappy little clock radio in the room, and prevent the standard “veg out in front of the TV until we hit the theme parks” mode that I assumed would happen. Kids were amazed to hear their own music in the hotel room, too. I was very proud…
- Disney technology is an absolute marvel. Quick example: the electrical (nighttime) parade through Magic Kingdom is about 25 minutes long. We were sitting about 20 minutes into the parade route. There are speakers hidden all throughout the park (I couldn’t find them even though I periodically looked for them). At fifteen minutes past the posted parade start time, I hand’t heard a peep and them – whammo! trumpet fanfares and an announcement from Jiminy Cricket that the parade was starting in five minutes. We got the entire experience (music & characters) just like the folks at the beginning of the route got, and there was nothing to indicate that the sound was moving along with the floats. I’m told the floats actually have RFID devices on them, so that the speakers react to the actual position of the floats (rather than running on a timing routine). That way, if the parade has to stop for whatever reason (technical difficulty, kid runs out in front of Mickey’s float), the appropriate music stays with the approrpiate character/float. Awesome stuff & highly effective…
- For $30 in Epcot, I took a one-hour Segway class. Got to ride one for about 45 minutes, ask a bunch of questions, etc. Quick review: it’s not as effortless as it was made to sound when it came out. You need to practice a bit to get the hang of it. After the 45 minutes, I was pretty good at generally moving around, but going up & down hills (especially down) was still a little uncomfortable). Also, you use a dial on one of the handlebars to turn, so you really can’t have both hands free for any length of time while riding it. Finally, something that hadn’t occurred to me until I was on one: if you’re walking around for 45 minutes, your leg muscles are getting exercise. If you’re on a Segway for 45 minutes, your legs are basically standing still for that entire time. When I got off the thing, I had some significant cramps/soreness. Odd for a device I would have thought would be a pleasant alternative to walking around all day. The instructor told me they’re working on a four-wheeled version that you sit in, rather than stand on. In any case, I still stand by my original assessment from years ago: if they cost $200, there’d be millions of them all around the country. At $3,500+, they’re mildly interesting for postmen, security guards, etc., but they’ll never catch on.
Categories: Tech Talk, The Disneyverse | 2 Comments »
The Disney Family Vacation
By Brian | January 3, 2006
WARNING: SERIOUS GUSHING ABOUT DISNEYWORLD AND ALL THINGS DISNEY FOLLOWS. THOSE WITH WEAK CONSTITUTIONS, PLEASE MOVE ON…
My wife & I and are two kids just returned from a week in the Disney theme parks followed by a three-day Disney cruise. I had extremely high expectations for this trip, given how much I love the whole Disney experience, and how psyched the kids were about it. I’m happy to report that the trip met every single expectation and exceeded many of them.
The secret to the whole trip wasn’t just the 67 rides we went on across four theme parks in six days. Nor was it the thirty plus Disney characters we met, took pictures with and received autographs from. It was Disney’s ability to take their considerable array of well-known characters, stories and music, and create a well-insulated world for the entire family to live in. When you’re in these parks (or in the hotels, or the restaurants, or the cruise ship, or even on the public transportation between sites), you’re in an environment where everyone is in a good mood all the time, and they all believe to their core that the most famous celebrity in all the world is Mickey Mouse. Despite their almost constant presence, sightings of Mickey & his many, many friends are treasured. The kids go nuts for them. They get autographs. They hug & kiss them and tell them about their trip. The parents take pictures and video. The kids hug the parents & thank them for bringing them to DisneyWorld. It’s an incredibly well designed positive reinforcement loop, and it works even when you know exactly what’s happening & why. Bravo, Disney. Bravo.
At any rate, our entire trip is documented here: http://www.familygreenberg.com/disney. I’d humbly suggest that anyone planning a Disney trip take a look through it – it’s a pretty complete chronicle of what we did and how everything looks.
Categories: The Disneyverse | 4 Comments »
iBaby: Encouraging bad behavior
By Brian | January 3, 2006
OK, way back in August, I blogged about this.
Now, they’re running contests for it.
Look for the action figure next…
Categories: The World Wide Weird | Comments Off on iBaby: Encouraging bad behavior