Not too long ago, Verizon took aim at AT&T’s spotty 3G coverage with a clever add:
As an AT&T customer who lives in one of the 10 most populous metros in the United States, I found it amusing because my coverage — even inside the perimeter — is fucking atrocious. There’s really no reason that, standing just a few miles from the center of the metro area, I should have to wander around a house trying to find the spot where I can actually get a signal. That’s absolutely absurd, and I am seriously considering switching to Verizon (or anyone else) when my 2 year term is up.
Well, AT&T didn’t like the ad. So they went out and bought a bunch of new towers and expanded their network!
Ha! No, not really. They sued Verizon and asked for an injunction prohibiting Verizon from running the ads because they are, apparently, “misleading”. That any wireless company can allege that another is running misleading advertising with a straight face is pretty funny, but I guess it makes sense, since companies don’t have faces.
Anyway.
AT&T didn’t get the injunction, so they decided to run a counter-ad:
Okay, okay. So let’s assume, arguendo, that the above is true. That AT&T has the fastest 3G network. That they have the best phones. That you can talk and surf at the same time. Assume it’s all true.
What good is that if you can’t get a signal??
Seriously, AT&T: quit bitching about the ads and build a better wireless network.
Tags: Advertising, AT&T, Cell phones, Verizon, YouTube
- Trying #hundredpushups again now that ulty's over for a while — week 1 day 1: 6/6/4/4/15 #mefitclub #
- I still don't think Blount ought to be reinstated. Trying to go up into the stands? Yeah, he should be done. Take that garbage to the NFL. #
- Not even that big of a soccer fan, but bringing the World Cup to Atlanta would be awesome. Sign the petition:http://bit.ly/14ndHN #gousabid #
- RT @FakeAPStylebook: "Video Cassette Recorder" on first reference, "VCR" on second, "We're still talking about these?" thereafter. #
- Ate muscles last night to see if it helped with day 2 of #hundredpushups. Results? 6/8/6/6/18 — Inconclusive. #mefitclub #
- Doc. Saturday sure did get his self-righteous condescension on w/r/t the Ole Miss chant, didn't he? Jesus. #
- A pellet gun and a prius? Li'l Wayne might be reconsidering his street-cred-inducing shout-out this morning. #
- RT @FakeAPStylebook: The antecedent for "she" in "that's what she said" is generally understood to be "your mom." #
- Day 3 of #hundredpushups with #mefitclub — 8/10/7/7/18 — feeling the burn, but having a tough time keeping the number on that last set up. #
- Dear SEC Coaches: Please continue to wear black jerseys to pump up your teams when you're playing Alabama. They work really well. For us. #
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Anyone who was raised by my mother learned a lot of lessons, whether they knew it or not, about quiet strength. My siblings and I handle things in vastly different ways, but it is impossible to deny that we all picked up a good bit of Mom’s durability and resolve along the way.
Four years ago today, we were tested to see how well we had learned those lessons when my father — after years of struggling (mostly in silence) with PTSD — committed suicide somewhere in Arizona.
Of course, people are supposed to out-live their parents. They’re supposed to have been equipped by that point with the mechanisms they need to cope with the loss. Our loss came a lot earlier than it “should” and it came with the added difficulty of suicide to spice things up a bit.
We all seemed to have been prepared to handle it. My sister, easily the most emotional of the four of us — and a consummate daddy’s girl, gave a wonderful eulogy at the funeral and did so with more composure than I’d expect of anyone in that situation. My baby sister, who was barely old enough to drive at the time, weathered the storm, too, and came out the other side no worse for the wear. R.J. had to come to terms with some unresolved disagreements, but in the end used the blow to get his some aspects of his life pointed back in the right direction that had somehow gone askew.
This isn’t to say that any of us did it alone — nothing could be farther from the truth. We did it together, and we also each had our own support networks to hold us up. The law school really buoyed me on the rough days and many wonderful friends scattered throughout the country sent thoughtful reminders that life goes on.
Still, so much of the grieving and mourning happens internally. It has to — that’s where it hurts. If you can’t endure that and come to terms with it, no amount of external support is going to save you.
I learned a lot about my family in the days that followed Dad’s passing and gained a great deal of admiration and respect for those kids who used to drive me right up the wall (and still sometimes do).
November 13th isn’t a day I mark on the calendar. It’s not a day that I dread or look forward to. But it always ends up being, at least in pockets and parts, a more somber and reflective day. It’s that way much like all milestones are (and probably will be for quite some time). It’s a good reminder that lots of cliches actually mean things. Like “life is short.” Often it’s shorter than we’d like and sometimes tragically so. It’s a good reminder that you won’t always have a “tomorrow” to procrastinate to. It’s a good reminder that as well as we might think we know someone, we probably don’t know them as well as we think.
But it’s not an unhappy or depressing day, necessarily. Dad was always a coach and a teacher. Even in death he taught us things, and I think that’d have made him pretty happy.
Still, and I guess this is the very essence of losing someone, there are always going to be things I wish I could tell him.
Semper Fi, Pops.
- Dear @crispycracka, please stop being funny. You're going to break my 'favorite' button. Love, @toomcuhpete. #
- Definitely taking advantage of this RT @grouponatlanta: Pay only $10 for $25 Worth of Wine and Small Dishes at Cellar 56 http://bit.ly/GWdkD #
- I think some Florida fans might have forgotten what a "late hit" is. St. Tebow got hit well before the whistle blew the play dead. #
- Or officially AWESOME RT @mattschuh: Hosting a party with a baked potato bar tonight, I think that officially makes me an adult. #
- Started in Atlanta, ends in Atlanta. #bama #rolltide #
- Bring on the LSWho officiating whiners . . . After all, the refs couldn't tackle Julio either. #
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I’m busy digesting the meat-splosion that resulted from the programmer’s weekly trip to the Brazilian BBQ near the office. We tried a new venue today which was alright, but I think we’re going to stick with the old standard in the future. I also have to prepare myself for Mexican Food Night1.
While we’re talking about food, it’s worth noting that today’s GroupOn deal is pretty sweet. $10 for $25 worth of wine and tapas? Yes, please! Actually, GroupOn in general is pretty awesome. The idea is that every day they have a deal — some big discount on some kind of good or service — and it only actually happens if enough people commit to buying in. I’m not sure I’ve seen one that didn’t happen, though, as the deals are great and the minimums are pretty low. If this sounds awesome to you, go check it out through my referral link, and if you ever buy in on a deal I get $10.
So there’s a lot going on this weekend, too. Tomorrow morning is the AFDC fall league end of season ultimate frisbee tournament. That should be a good way to kick-off my weekend of dehydration. I’m not sure how many games we’ll win, but it’ll be a good time. After that is the ‘Bama/LSU game, which happens to be the only football game worth a damn on this weekend. If ‘Bama wins, they clinch the SEC West and a rematch against Florida. If not, we have to pray that Ole Miss or Arkansas can beat LSU to put our boys back in the mix. If you want to get fired up for the game, you may watch this video, but I cannot be held responsible for damage you do to your surroundings when Nick Saban works you up into a frenzy:
Sunday will consist of a corn maze2 and a “Friends & Family” dinner at a new restaurant/bar that’s opening in Midtown soon. Because it’s a limited opening, they are exchanging free food for our opinions on the menu and service.
This is why capitalism works, my friends: specialization! I have specialized in forming opinions and this restaurant has specialized in making tasty food. Because they want opinions and I want tasty food, we can trade our excess to each other and both end up better off — brilliant!
You are hereby required to share your amazing weekend plans in the comments below. If your plans are not amazing, you may make something up. Ready? Go.
During which you are required by law to consume more margaritas than you do solid food.
Very likely to be a-maize-ing.
Tags: AFDC, Alabama, Capitalism, GroupOn
This bothers me a bit every time I hear it. It seems that every auto insurance company has been trumpeting a relatively useless statistic. “Drivers who switched to _____ saved an average of…” and then they give some large-sounding number.
You want to save hundreds of dollars, right? Of course you do. Who doesn’t?
The claim is somewhat silly, though, isn’t it? I mean, the implication is that everyone who switches would save lots of money. The reality is that switching insurance carriers is a bit of a hassle, so you’re probably not going to switch to save $20 a year, and if your insurance isn’t very high to begin with, you’re probably not even going to be shopping around.
In some ways, it reminds me of the saying “You always find something in the last place you look for it.” Well nooooo kidding. If you keep looking for it after that, you’re a moron. The number of people who would switch insurance carriers to one that would charge them more is negligible at best, so of course the people who switch are going to be saving money, and probably a non-trivial amount of it, to boot.
Don’t get me wrong, I guess it’s a clever marketing strategy, because unless you actually think critically about it, it sounds pretty neat, but I still roll my eyes when I notice it.
Tags: Commercials, Insurance
This week’s required reading is as follows:
New Ocean Forming in Ethiopia — Mother Nature’s contingency plan for melting polar ice caps.
In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial.
Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world’s oceans, and the rift is indeed likely the beginning of a new sea.
(Via Kristin)
Kissing Evolved To Spread Germs, Not Feelings — Doing a fine job of it, too.
Cytomegalovirus, which lives in human saliva, is generally innocuous, but when introduced during a pregnancy it can be extremely dangerous, killing unborn babies or causing birth defects like deafness or cerebral palsy. However, if cytomegalovirus is introduced to a woman in small doses before she conceives, she will build an immune resistance to it. Optimally, kissing the same male for six months prior to pregnancy gives the woman’s immune system the practice it needs to render cytomegalovirus impotent.
Could a Human Beat a T. Rex In Arm Wrestling? — Who doesn’t love a good dinosaur article?
“First, we’re assuming that the T. rex won’t just eat the person, right?” asks Jack Conrad, a vertebrate paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Right. This is a sanctioned match, and killing your opponent is strictly against the rules. Who’s coming out on top?
Also from the article: “There are dozens of hypotheses about what the T. rex used its arms for . . .,” one presumes that seizing the boy has been ruled out.
Tags: Dinosaurs, Global Warming, Required Reading, Science!
This might be a terrible idea, and it might be something the FTC would really, really frown upon. It struck me when I was watching one of those ridiculous Axe Body Spray commercials where some guy was being attacked by a horde of women who simply could not control their desire for him on account of his delicious scent1.
So what if you went to some major metro’s mass transit system with two actors. One of them gets on the train and just acts like a regular commuter. A few stops later, a guy gets on the train and after a minute or two, the woman looks up from her newspaper/magazine/book/iPod/whatever and strikes up a conversation with him loud enough for plenty of people nearby to hear, they (obviously) hit it off and eventually get off the train together or exchange numbers or something.
Oh, sure, it would probably be really expensive, and the reach would be limited, and you run the risk of the same person seeing the same scenario multiple times and ruining it, but it seems like it would be interesting if nothing else and if you did it big enough, it might make some noise in the news.
Note: Axe Body Spray actually smells like crap.
Tags: Advertising, Bright Ideas
- 50th RT!!! RT @tacojohn: Tweet milestones are not something to announce. That's like saying "This is the millionth word I've spoken." #
- 25% packet loss from Comcast. I call, it goes away. 10 minutes later it comes back. I wish they had competition. #
- Dear gmail, please get your out-bound mail servers off of the goddamn spam blacklist. Thanks. #
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