March 2011 – Jason Clock's Blog

2011-03-312021-01-26

Dumb Comcast Commercials

Hopefully you don’t have Comcast, but if you do, you have probably seen their large number of Ads. What I think is really funny is that they run so many ads on their own network! Perhaps to get those watching at a bar to sign up when they get home, but honestly, this is the reason I don’t watch TV. You pay a fortune for cable only to see tons of commercials.

Getallthefacts.com

Hmm….I wonder if the Comcast site will give you pros and cons to both Verizon FioS and Comcast Xfinity. Seriously doubt it. I do have to say these comercials, especially the one where the salesman is in the hot tub with a couple and another where he is stuffing a doughnut into his mouth.

Bottom Line…Don’t let commercials influence you…there are always asterisks, super small print or quickly spoken language that makes them all the same 🙂 Do like State Farm Insurance recommends….ask your family and friends and check out reviews from “real” people.

Actors

Hopefully you did not think Comcast employed a Verizon tech to star in a commercial, but you would think the US Postal Service would take some of their massive workforce to star in their own commercials instead of paying the same actor who is the FioS dude in Comcast commercials.

I just thought it was funny to see the actor in both of the commercials 🙂

Bottom Line…

Dump your cable provider, save some money, and watch free over the air digital TV and your other favorite shows and sporting events online 🙂

2011-03-252021-01-26

Tmobile Gets iPhone!

Kinda…

After many years of waiting, I can finally get an iPhone from Tmobile! Okay, so not really, but if AT&T buys Tmobile and dissolves its identity which seems to be common in the wireless industry, but less common in Banking (Wachovia…a Division of Wells Fargo), then indeed my plan will become AT&T and I will be able to get an iPhone.

Anti Trust or Network Congestion?

Apparently their is worry that the bandwidth used by smartphones will not be adequate enough and become too expensive for consumers to meet their needs. The solution to network congestion seems to be, “raise the price until fewer can afford it.” Seems like a good plan as I would drop my data plan if it cost me more than $10 a month.

In a recent article, it seems that AT&T may indeed be using this bandwidth notion to help the Government overlook the fact that if completed, the merger would make AT&T the largest holding more than 50% of all subscribers. Verizon would be a close second. By combining the two networks, there will be fewer networks competing for the bandwidth.

Grandfather Plan

According to my recent trip into the local Tmobile store, a “Grandfather Plan” will be offered and as long as you don’t make any changes, you won’t be affected by the typically higher service prices of AT&T.

Tmobile in Trouble?

I too do miss seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones as the spokeswoman, but really, will the good rates and coverage, was very surprised to hear that Tmobile was in financial trouble. Apparently the US wing of Deutsche Telekom has not been doing well and the German company is looking to chop off an arm and sell.

Either way I still use an iPhone

Regardless of the Government ruling, I am just glad that AT&T and Tmobile use similar technologies so I can still use my friends old AT&T iPhone with my Tmobile SIM 🙂

2011-03-232021-01-26

Review: Red Riding Hood

Watching the preview you may ask, is this movie about the fairy tale we all know? The answer is yes, only it has been enhanced to make it a feature length film.

Setting

Rustic village in an undisclosed location, the community lives in fear of a Werewolf that comes on every full moon night to feast on either an offering or individual of the community.

Synopsis

Werewolf kills community members, they decide to go hunt it and end up killing a regular wolf when a priest comes to save them. Lots of killing happens and finally the werewolf is killed. There are lots of references to the fairy tale we grew up with in the movie which makes it more interesting for sure. There are several love stories in the movie to get the young crowd engaged.

Impression

I really did like the movie, though last night there were only 8 others in the 107 seat theatre when the movie only came out a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, like most movies today, either it has to be sure to have the sexy actor, or has the likeness of another successful movie to make big bucks at the box office. I would have to say this movie is a cross between “Twilight,” you will know what I mean certainly when you get to the end, and “The Village.” I would have to say it very closely resembles the The Village as far as dress, setting, and behaviors.

Criticism

Besides the similarity to “The Village,” I would have to say that the actors are a bit too well kept for the environment they are living in. Maybe I say that because I had a hard time keeping my clothes and skin clean back in my Boy Scout camping days, but to see the actresses so clean all of the time and their brightly colored clothes free of dirt, I found the setting a bit hard to believe. I will need to watch The Village again as I may have the same issue with that movie, but think they did get dirty from time to time wandering through the forest.

See it

So if you liked that type of movie, give this one a try. At the very least, add it to your Netflix queue when it comes to DVD.

P.S. – You would think that you should pay less for a movie in a small theatre with a smaller screen, but next time I think I will just call and ask before getting tickets 🙂

2011-03-202021-01-26

24 Years to Go!

It has been a long time since I updated everyone on my progress to reaching 1000000 people during my volunteering. I just added up my numbers and have the following to report 🙂

145542 Contacts Since 3/2007

112593 Air and Space
30203 Zoo Interpreting
42 Zoo Tours
2704 Other (Mostly WABA Bike Valets)
1068 Hours
$75 in zoo tour tips which get donated to the zoo 🙂

This goal had originally been 35 years and was reduced to 27 years at the current rate. With the Cherry Blossom Festival approaching and now that I no longer have a part time job, I am hoping to increase my contacts this year. When I started out I had no idea it would take so long, after all $1000000 is really nothing to billionaires. The zoo gets close to 2 million visitors annually and the Air and Space Museum is the most visited museum in the world, so my odds should be good. 🙂