Peter's Reviews - Rants

Peter's Facebook Rant

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:08:25 -0700

Facebook has helped me connect with a lot of my friends but one thing keeps happening over and over:

Message to Peter - Hey, how have you been? Tell me everything you've been up to.
Me - Well I've been (sums up the last 15 years of my life). How have you been?
*crickets*

Yes, the SOBs or DOBs make me write an essay of what I've been up to since the last I saw them and rarely do they respond back. What shitheads. I wish I could reach through the computer and sock them in the eye. If you're one of these people, you better write back before I punch you in the neck...

Spay & Neuter Your Pets!

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:40:47 -0700

Why? Because I just heard a statistic that Los Angeles animal shelters got 7,000 cats in a week. IN A WEEK! We need to get the pet population under control or many of these animals will be put to sleep. If you need a pet, adopt from a shelter or rescue and don't support the puppy mills and bad pet stores.

Collectors Buy Newspapers

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:04:57 -0700

With our new president, Barrack Obama now in office, collectors are buying up newspapers with the hopes of preserving a piece of history and possibly cashing in. Let's face it, collecting is pretty much dead. The reason people used to get huge amounts for the first issue of Superman or a mint Babe Ruth card is because no one collected them in those days and they were rare. Now, everyone collects EVERYTHING! If you're a collector it might be time to give it up. I have a box full of mint comics that are worth probably less than I paid for them 15 years ago. There are other saps who have a closet full of worthless Beanie Babies. I remember a naiive friend of mine saying his collection was his retirement plan. Now it's worth less than Sirius stock. If you choose to collect anything, make sure it means something to you because it most likely won't mean anything to anyone else.

Hope You Didn't Bother With Circuit City

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:04:53 -0700

There were a lot of people who were thinking they'd get a great deal on a big TV or computer yesterday at Circuit City. The location near me had a big sign on it promising huge sales but I wasn't fooled. With our poor economy I'm always torn whether to mourn the death of a huge business or be happy because the existing businesses will thrive but when does it ever work that way? Best Buy should thrive and improve but the most likely scenario is that they'll continue to have underpaid, untrained and rude staff members that threaten customers like I witnessed at a recent trip for a car stereo.

Back to Circuit City. Never be fooled by the closeout sales because any of the good stuff was already taken and their "discount" prices weren't any better than you could find in many stores or online. And don't forget that if you have any problems with the merchandise, there are no returns or customer service. So pretty much you're paying full price with the risk of wasting money if your purchase breaks. Stay home, go to NewEgg which I love or heck, even go to Best Buy but don't believe the hype of a closing store, they're not really cutting you any deals after all.

Road Runner Internet - Massive Fail F-

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:12:52 -0700

I have Time Warner cable so that means if I get internet service through them I'm really going through Road Runner. My connection has been so bad lately that I had to call in and boy does their customer service suck. I'm incredibly polite on the phone so I calmly explain what's going on. The first operator seems annoyed from the start, clearly not believing that I have any problem. He almost accused me of lying because everything on his end looked good. After a while, he was convinced I was telling the truth and his tone changed.

I understand that doing customer service with grandmothers and computer newbies is frustrating but clearly the attitude should be one of first believing the customer actually has a problem and doing what it takes to guide them through the troubleshooting process. So finally the first guy admits that there's something definitely wrong on their side and that they should send out a guy to swap my modem which is the last thing that these guys want to do because I'm sure that they're told that that's the last, last, last, last resort. So he says he's going to transfer me to another guy that will take care of me. Instead he transfers me to another customer service rep with an accent that I can't recognize or understand and we start over. In fact it didn't really sound like an accent as much as it sounded that he was so lazy he couldn't bother with saying full words or enunciating properly.

Road Runner customer service "Dere is no problem, it's your computer"
Me "The last guy on your end confirmed the problem"
RR "Cik on stard 'n choose wun"
Me "Pardon?"
RR - silence, then "Stard meneww 'n choose wun"
Me - "Oh, Click on start and choose run... OK."

Then 20 minutes of the exact same diagnostics the first customer service guy did with me only with me asking this guy to repeat stuff because I can't understand a word he's saying.

RR - "OK you computer fixed, no more problems"
Me - "Uh, no my computer still isn't connecting to the internet"
RR - "What website you trying to do"
Me - "Time Warner's"
RR - silence "Your computer is broken"

At this point I realize that this guy isn't going to be any help so I thank him and hang up vowing to call back the next day and hope I get a better customer rep that will send a guy out. Better yet, it's time to go FIOS for less money I'm paying for their crap cable internet. So I guess I have to access my internet at a few minutes at a time since it keeps cutting out every 5 minutes. Road Runner, you suck.

Grocery Store Etiquette

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:39:52 -0700

I went to the grocery store just a little while ago and I have to say that people are jerks. From the lady who stood in the middle of the aisle blocking it with her cart instead of moving to the side to the people who push their cart right in front of yours, it makes me want to use my years of kickboxing training to kick them into the freezer. But even worse was the guy with talking way too loud on his cellphone and when he got cut off his phone would ring with the sound of a truck horn as a ringtone. Man, I wanted to cram that phone right up his... But the worst was the slow woman buying the ice cream in front of me (she really didn't need it) that didn't have the common courtesy to put the grocery divider on the conveyor belt so I could unload my groceries. I did so anyway and made sure that I put a divider behind my stuff for the person behind me. Then she stood there putting away her change for a couple of minutes blocking me from the credit card reader while the cashier was trying to ring up my purchases.

Now I'm the most friendly and polite person you'll ever meet so I guess I expect people to be the same and that just isn't so in most instances. I can only remember one positive interaction where a guy with a whole cart full of stuff let me go in front of him because I only had a few items. I thanked him when I left and took some of the small grocery baskets to the front of the store (which I do from time to time to help out the workers) and I heard the cashier remark about us being so nice that it was like one of those TV commercials where one good deed inspires another. Too bad more people couldn't be friendly and polite when out in public.

My Thoughts on American Idol 2007

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Thu, 24 May 2007 09:07:26 -0700

Even though American Idol 2007 had a nice, sweet ending it had a feel that it was also very controlled. If you're going to have a reality TV show, you have to really let it be reality. I don't for a second believe that Sanjaya Malakar went from being the top vote getter to getting voted off the very next week. It was obviously planned by FOX to get rid of him before the big charity event since sponsors were giving according to the number of votes. They didn't want Sanjaya's votes to affect their sponsors in a negative way and I can just picture their sponsors seeing the show being turned into a joke and saying they might pull out if it went that way.

This whole year seemed too corporate, not that last year wasn't. The special guest spots seemed to go to people who were friends with the show and not the most current artists. That's the only way we can explain Lulu and Peter Noone. Let's have some current stars and some real rock legends come on next year. At least they had Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez on but both of them weren't necessarily great coaches. Jon Bon Jovi did a pretty great job with the contestants and I'm not even a fan of his.

Going back to the whole Sanjaya thing, this is exactly what killed the UK version of Idol. Fans started to vote on things other than voice and skill and instead of letting it make interesting TV, they stopped the show and started the X-Factor which allowed the judges to pick. I think reality TV starts to suck when the producers try to steer the outcome of a show like this year's American Idol. I can understand that they don't want their shows to become a mockery but you can't fool the audience for long. After a while, the show will become overly predictable and plain and viewers will drop off. There were drops in viewers after Sanjaya and Melinda were off the show. You see, people aren't idiots, they can smell something fishy but they're just not as suspicious as I am. Yet.

So the producers will evaluate this year's show and make changes for next season. Will they try to rule out any Sanjaya's early or will there be more. We'll have to wait and see but I'm predicting a more bland, sterile American Idol in 2008.

Beware of the Cingular SIM Card Upgrade!

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 07:11:29 -0700

If you're a Cingular customer, you've received mail and text messages telling you to upgrade your SIM card at a nearby Cingular store. The good news is that in the two stores I visited, neither pushed new plans on me which I figured was the "real" reason behind the upgrade. Instead they were nice and moved my information over. But if you're going to do this beware! There are a couple things you should absolutely know before you do this!

Your saved text messages will not be transerred.
Your saved voice dialing audio will not be transferred.
Really, it only looked like the raw telephone numbers & names were transferred and nothing else.
Here's the real one to look out for - if you're the owner of an older phone, the new SIM card may not be compatible with it!

My phone is no longer capable of receiving incoming calls! My friend told me that when he calls me, my phone is just dead. No ring, no voice mail, nada! If I turn my phone off, at least incoming calls will go to voice mail. I'm pissed at Cingular for not warning me that this could be a possibility. When I went into another Cingular store, they didn't believe me but I let them test out the phone. They told me that they couldn't/wouldn't downgrade the SIM card and that it was my phone's fault. That's when they tried to sell me a new phone. After that, they told me to go to the original store.

When I called customer service they didn't believe me either and after 15 minutes of convincing them plus a 15 minute wait to talk to them, they were stumped. It looks like this is a forced upgrade.

I expect a free replacement phone or SIM card downgrade. Until then, leave me a message or call me at home. If Cingular really wanted to make this up to me, I'd get a new Motorola SLVR L7 or Treo 650! Seriously, I just want a SIM card downgrade or maybe it's time to shop for new plans.

How NBC Screwed Up Their Olympic Coverage

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 23:17:00 -0700

Everyone knows that figure skating is a hot event. Knowing this, NBC could've really set the stage for a great TV show that highlighted the final showdown last Thursday night but they didn't. Let's face it, NBC has really dropped the ball on the whole Olympic broadcast. They needed real schedules, not just dropping in bits of this and that around the clock. The shows were delayed anyway so why not group them together in a specific time. People AREN'T going to sit around all day for a glimpse of Sasha Cohen. NBC, you blew it! The biggest event of the winter Olympics and it went by with no fanfare. They should've produced a show with hosts, put it on at 9:00pm right after American Idol and spent the 8:00pm hour with back stories on all of the skaters.

I've wanted to produce the olympic games for TV for ages. I'd hype all of the athletes 6 months before so by the time the games roll around, every competitor is a household name. People still remember Dan & Dave from years back and that's what I'd seek to do. Create memories. It's not about if they win or lose, it's about people's lives.

So next Olympics there needs to only be a few things added:

Backstories on all the American athletes and a few top ranked foreign athletes.
A solid schedule. People want to know exactly when events are happening so they can plan their night.
Professionally produced events. They have so much time to produce custom graphics, intros etc... We want things in 1/2 or 1 hour increments and we need them to look as good as other sports events or TV shows.
Promotion. Everyone should know when every event is on. Let different companies promote and produce different events.

Doing these few things will guarantee a great show! It couldn't be any worse.

Is Asbestos Dangerous Or Not?

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:04:48 -0700

A while ago I reported on a story that implied that asbestos wasn't necessarily dangerous. The topic recently came up in conversation with some friends who are contractors. I remember when I was removing asbestos from an attic and I'm sure I inhaled some. Should I be worried? I don't know. I've heard some people say that it was mostly hype, like the avian flu is now.

OK, so I just went on a web site that looks up medical conditions and a search for asbestos brings up the following: Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Cancer Causes, Larynx Cancer, Pleurisy (Pleuritis), Pulmonary Fibrosis and Kidney Cancer. That's not what a hypochondriac like me wants to see. And what the hell is Mesothelioma anyways? Wasn't that just after the Paleozoic Era? Nah, it's some form of lung cancer. Upon reading more, I'm starting to panic because of the following - From Medicinenet.com: How much exposure does it take to get mesothelioma? An exposure of as little as one or two months can result in mesothelioma 30 or 40 years later.

Yikes! What now? In 25 years I could get mesothelioma? Now is where I have to start thinking about the odds to stay sane. The chances are less than I'll go down in a plane crash. Wait, that didn't make me feel better. Let's try again. The chances are less than winning the lottery. Hmm... I'm actually planning on winning the lottery so maybe I'd better try one more time. The chances of me getting some sort of asbestos related cancer are less than Rob Schnieder winning an Oscar. There, I feel better now.

The thing that sucks, is that I couldn't even sue anyone if this happened. The fee to retain an attorney would be more than the guy who's asbestos I removed from his attic makes in a year. So no lawyers, no lawsuits no nothing. Hopefully no cancer. But that's just me being paranoid. Just thought I'd share.

South Park Episode Pulled From Air

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 15:11:22 -0700

By now everyone has heard that the controversial "Bloody Mary" episode was pulled from airing on Comedy Central. This brings up interesting questions. No one will argue that this episode wasn't offensive. If it wasn't offensive, they wouldn't have done it. But just because it's offensive, is it funny? Not necessarily. Should it have been pulled from airing? In my opinion, absolutely not!

I'm a true believer in free speech and shows like South Park, The Family Guy, The O'Reilly Factor, any FOX show and others are going to push the limits of good taste. The FCC has successfully taken Howard Stern off the air but should we sit by and let them take ALL material that they don't like off the air? Some may think that we can make things a bit safer for kids. That's lame. Who wants to live in a world where all entertainment is at an 8 year-old level? OK there are some that would argue that entertainment is already is at that level but you know what I mean.

As an adult, I want my ideas on humor, politics and other things to be constantly challenged. I want to be offended. It's only by this that we know we HAVE free speech. I'm telling you, it starts with Howard Stern and ends up censoring anyone who speaks out about our government or the war.

So for those who hate South Park, turn it off. For those who don't like Stern, get XM instead of Sirius or don't get any satellite radio at all! You have a choice in what you and your children watch so stop screwing with controlling what everyone else watches and listens to!

Click here to read more at BoingBoing.net about South Park's show being pulled

Bluetooth Mumbo-Jumbo

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 11:21:15 -0700

A lot of people love Bluetooth, but for those of us who have been following BT promises by companies over the years, we're less impressed. BT was supposed to be what WiFi is today but that never happened. It was supposed to give us wireless connectivity between everything and that hasn't happened. What has happened? A few BT accessories. Is it too late? Almost. I'm just tired of hearing all the hype over every little BT headset that comes out. We should be waaaay beyond this by now. Here's what I want and this is just to start.

BT headphones that are small in-ear style with a tiny wire to connect both (or no wires at all). The right headphone should have a tiny microphone with noise-reduction and protection from wind. Now these should connect to both your music player AND phone and when you pick up the phone it should mute the music. This SHOULD be easy. Hey, I'd settle for a wired headset that could do this so if you guys know of any, please let me know.

BT is also touted as a "safer" alternative to using your cell phone. But the jury seems out on whether or not BT has any sort of radiation problems. I wonder if BT will get its act together before the next wireless fad comes out to replace it?

Click here to visit the official Bluetooth web site

Rant - Ordering By Phone

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:27:00 -0700

I like ordering through the internet. It's easy, fast and usually cheaper than buying local, but this year my Dad wanted this special golf accesory, The Butch Harmon Laser Trainer. I looked online and it was sold out everywhere. So my last resort was to call the company from the infomercial. Now I hate the "3 easy payments of 19.99" deal. Man, just round it up to $60 and give me my damn golf toy. I'm already expecting to have to call my credit card company to complain when they double-bill me.

So I call up this golf place. They seem shady. The guy on the phone has a thick Indian accent and I wonder if this is a call center in another country. He sticks to the script and trys to sell me magazines, subscriptions to some shopping service, batteries and other things. Every time I politely say, "no thank you", this guy keeps going and going trying to sell me other stuff. I was about to lose it when he finally gave up and concluded my order. I'm not sure how much extra crap they can get people to buy but I wonder if it's worth the business they'll lose from people NEVER wanting to buy from them again.

This is why the Internet will be the future place for all commerce. People hate dealing with other people! They'd rather just do their business, give a credit card number and be done. No more dealing with pushy salesmen or crowds. Thank you Al Gore for the internet.*

*Yes I know Al really didn't invent the internet.

Hung Jury In VIOXX Product Liability Trial

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 02:38:00 -0700

The question is, "Are Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex and other similar drugs harmful?". There are many who are claiming that Vioxx is dangerous, in one case causing a heart attack. Celebrex is currently available but with a new warning label. And we all have seen these drug ads on TV where the side effects are pretty scary. I just think we need to start breaking our dependence on so many drugs. Let's stay healthy because there probably aren't any drugs out there without side-effects.
Ah, side-effects.
Here's where the lawyers come in. But the drug companies know this. They have their own attorneys to protect them after they get sued. It seems that this is the price of business. So a drug company puts out a drug like Vioxx or Bextra and someone who takes it might have a reaction or possibly just suffer a stroke or heart attack that's completely unrelated to the drug. There are law offices that will have attorneys that will represent the guy who suffered the "side-effect" and then they go up against the drug companies' legal staff that will dispatch their top attorneys to defend them.
My question is, "does anybody just die anymore?". Any time someone has a heart attack or stroke or accident, it has to be someone's fault and then the lawyers appear. But I'm not one to say that lawyers are bad. They're necessary to protect us at times and defend us too! But somewhere, something went wrong. Now there are just too many lawsuits. Maybe, it's time we stop blaming drug companies like Merck and just reduce our dependence on drugs like Vioxx. If you're healthy now, stay healthy. Don't take a drug to lower your cholesterol, just eat better and exercise. Don't get your stomach stapled, go on a diet. C'mon people, let's try to take some personal responsibility for things and not feel like we have to hire a lawyer for every little thing. Some lawsuits are just but don't hire a lawyer if your clumsy ass falls down on someone's property.
But that's just my opinion and I might not know anything.

Halloween Costume Advice - Girls Don't Be A Slut For Halloween

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 11:23:04 -0700

I think it was in the movie "Mean Girls" where they talk about Halloween being an excuse for all the girls to dress like hookers. What is it about Halloween that makes everyone, including guys, dress like sluts? Be creative for a change. Be abstract. Be funny. At least TRY to be original. I know it's hard but give it a shot.

Need other ideas? Read this article in the Village Voice.