Here is a copy of my complaint to Iomega for their useless support:Allowing your people to trouble shoot more than one brand of burning software would have been useful.

The main issue though, was that with every step, rather than trying to eliminate issues, your tech support would attribute blame to something arbitrarily. Such as one support person reccomending I use TDK media. And the very next person telling me that i needed to use Verbatum or Imation instead, despite the inconsistency. Do you really expect your users to stock a sample of every DVD brand in fucking existence? I also do not appreciate the hard sell for software. They could have supplied me with a download link for the demo software (which is available on the third party's site) so they might troubleshoot the issue using your recommended burning software without hassling me with semantic games. I found the link myself no thanks to your people who would only argue with me and try to sell me this crappy software instead of being helpful.

Then the conclusions they reached such as "Well it appears your drive needs to be replaced" was completely without ANY form of trouble shooting evidence. When I asked what the cause might be (thinking that this guy MUST be psychic), he replied that there must be a problem with the internal laser. When I pressed as to why it was still able to burn CD's (just not DVD's) there was a long pause. After which he told me the only thing i could do was use another computer. That is totally ridiculous. How many computers does one need to own to get competent customer service from Iomega??? I had to jump through hoops to get the software these techs guaranteed was necessary for troubleshooting this device, I get it, and they don't use one damned feature of this super-software. And instead of using the cop out that my software was not good enough to receive support, they now tell me that my computer is no good either. Ever see the monty-python cheese skit? A long drawn out sequence of asking the clerk if they have various types of cheese, and the clerk keeps replying, "No!, Not today, Sorry, we're out of that, etc." Until the person asking finally asks in frustration "well do you in fact have any cheese???" to which the clerk replies "No sir, I was deliberately wasting your time." That Is what your tech support is like. Even at the end, your person told me that i could call their support line on Monday. And then doesn't give me the number. It wasn't until I told him how helpful that info was without a number, did I get one.I have dealt with tech support for various products over the years, from various companies, with various problems. But in the end, there has always been a satisfactory conclusion. Your support could not reach one which makes it the most inept and useless I have ever dealt with. I am very dissatisfied.

Do not buy Iomega. Iomega Tech Support is the Reason Why We Outsource to India.

I carry a blog--yes. Is it funny to you?: Do not buy Iomega

Your Senator Needs an iPod

Last week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation held a hearing on the "Broadcast Flag" and "Audio
Flag," a set of proposals by the MPAA and RIAA that would stifle
innovation by giving content holders a virtual veto over new
technologies and existing user rights.

But Senator Stevens, the 82-year old committee chairman from Alaska,
surprised the
audience by announcing that his daughter had bought him an iPod, and suddenly Stevens had a
much greater understanding of the many ways innovative technology can
create choice for consumers. Content industry representatives at the
hearing found themselves answering much tougher questions than they
typically receive.

That's why we think all Senators ought to join Stevens' esteemed
company as iPod owners. Rather than wait for every Senator's daughter,
we're taking matters into our own hands and buying a video iPod for the
campaigns of Senators who work on legislation affecting technology.
Plus, we're going to pre-load each one with examples of the cultural
richness made possible by sharing and collaboration - public domain
content, Creative Commons content, and audio messages about the
importance of balanced copyright policy. It will be engraved with the
words "listen to the people." And it will arrive at each Senator's
campaign office with a letter of explanation and a list of all the
people who helped pay for it.

Help us supply more Senators with their own iPods for their
campaigns. Each Video iPod costs $324.42, and you can buy a whole iPod
or chip in a portion of the cost. We'll take care of the rest.

Contribute to the iPod fund

IPac - Your Senator Needs an iPod

Former Doctor Who actor Tom Baker is to be the voice of a talking text message service for three months.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Actor Baker becomes voice of text

Here's where the reality meter goes into overdrive. VeriSign is also the company that sells about half of the net's SSL certificates for "secure ecommerce [4]." These SSL certificates are what presumptively protect connections between consumers and merchants. It is claimed that a certificate that is signed by a certificate authority (CA) can protect against the man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack and also domain name spoofing.

A further irony is that VeriSign also runs the domain name system for the .com and the .net domains. So, indeed, they do have a hand in the business of domain name spoofing;

The point here is that, on the one hand, VeriSign is offering protection from snooping, and on the other hand, is offering to facilitate the process of snooping.

It's not just SSL certs and the .net/.com domains VeriSign is being trusting with anymore. The ability to tap mobile phone calls is on the slate now too. VeriSign is a wolf in wolf's clothing. I can't think of any reason to trust them, and they are positioned in a way where there is no choice or recourse other than to deal with them. They are a perfect example of a(n even more) major problem waiting to happen.

Financial Cryptography: VeriSign's conflict of interest creates new threat

The agreement requires 30-year-old software designer Bram Cohen to prevent his Web site, bittorrent.com, from locating pirated versions of popular movies, effectively frustrating people who search for illegal copies of films. BitTorrent must remove Web links leading to illegal content owned by the seven studios that are members of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Warrenellis.com � MPAA/BitTorrent Follow-Up: Cohen Sells Glickman A Lemon

The Aquada is a revolutionary showcase of High Speed Amphibian
(HSA) technology.
This radical new breed of vehicle has been precision engineered
to the most exacting standards. It has undergone an extensive safety
testing programme and complies with appropriate marine and road
safety regulations.
Entry to the water is via beach, boat
ramp, slipway or directly from the water's edge. Once afloat, the
transition from road vehicle to High Speed Amphibian (HSA) is effortlessly
achieved.

Gibbs Technologies

The US government has unveiled a "non-lethal" laser rifle designed to dazzle enemy personnel without causing them permanent harm. But the device will require close scrutiny to ensure compliance with a United Nations protocol on blinding laser weapons.






The Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response (PHASR) rifle was developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, US, and two prototypes have been delivered to military bases in Texas and Virginia for further testing.

New Scientist Breaking News - US military sets laser PHASRs to stun

Take each letter of the alphabet, rotate it in 3D space, and then take the resulting blob and use *it* as the letter. One way of doing a substitution cipher, I guess . . .

3D Alphabet

We generate money by serving Google text advertisments on
our hidden web-sites and our show-case site GWEI.org.
With this money we automatically buy Google shares via
our Swiss e-banking account. We buy Google via their own
advertisment! Google eats itself
- but in the end we will own it!

Everyone needs a hobby.

GWEI - Google Will Eat Itself

Here's an appealing thought: an mp3 breast implant which will allow surgically-enhanced girls to store and play back their entire music collections from their 36DD assets.

Pirate Booty.

Coming soon: the mp3 breast implant | The Register