Games are for Children

Even corporations play games - just look at Comcast

nospam@example.com (Steve) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:18:59 -0700

While most of the articles here pertain to dating, I thought I would post this tale about my experiences with Comcast, which is by far the worst company I've ever dealt with.

I ordered Comcast High Speed Internet in December 2007, taking advantage of their 16/2Mbps offer, the highest tier of speed. I paid significantly more for this high-speed upgrade. I play a lot of games online through XBox Live, and my brother plays games on the PC. I download all sorts of content to the XBox, and my brother buys all his games online. The games can be as large as 10 gigabytes for a single installation, and that isn't counting the bandwidth necessary for voice chat. I also have a paid subscription to the music service Napster, which I always have running while I'm making dinner and cleaning and working.

Comcast called on June 3 with a "high priority message," instructing me to call back ASAP. When I did so, a technician told me that I was using too much bandwidth and that I had to reduce bandwidth usage in order to remain being serviced by Comcast. I pointed out that they never pointed out limitations in their usage in their advertisements and that I had paid a significant amount for a higher-bandwidth connection. When the technician refused to back down, I thought I would find out what the bandwidth limit was so that I could see if the policy was reasonable. I asked for a definite figure as to how much usage I was permitted. The technician, rather rudely, wouldn't say, stating that I only had to "significantly reduce" my usage to remain in compliance with this under-the-radar policy. If I didn't, I would be disconnected.

I sent a letter to Comcast's CEO, and got a call from someone who told me that "excessive use" was defined as "13 million E-Mails per month." They forgot to mention that an E-Mail could be as small as one character, or could contain attachments of hundreds of megabytes each. They completely refused to tell me what the limit is.

In response, I reduced my service level to the lowest possible amount of bandwidth (6/384 in this case). What's the point of having a higher bandwidth rate if you will go over their invisible cap by using it? Comcast engages in deceptive advertising by touting their no-frills Internet service, and then buries in their terms of service somewhere a clause that allows them to harass their customers over bandwidth usage. I can understand that Comcast needs to keep its network operating at full capacity, but what I cannot understand is why I could not obtain from a technician the exact limit that I should abide by. How am I supposed to adhere to a policy when I don't know what it is?

Because I don't know what the limit is, it's only a matter of time until Comcast disconnects my service. Until Comcast decides to end its unethical business practices, I suggest you avoid their game-playing as much as possible. If you have Internet service through them and have a reasonable alternative, switch providers. For TV, almost everyone can switch to satellite TV, even if you live in an apartment (the landlord is required to allow you to install the dish, but (s)he can dictate where it is placed). I sold my stock in Comcast and hope that it continues its current slide.

It will be interesting to see how Comcast does in light of the complaints that continue to mount against it for this policy. Game-playing like this generally goes unpunished in the social world, but my prediction is that someone will soon sue Comcast and Comcast will publicize its limits. Now, if only one had an outlet to get that kind of action in the social world.

A workable system of government for AWTeen

nospam@example.com (Steve) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 07:40:00 -0700

This post has been moved to AWTeen Reborn at http://shoemakervillage.org/awteenreborn/index.php?/archives/4-A-workable-system-of-government-for-AWTeen.html#extended, where it is more relevant. Look back in the archives on October 26, 2007.

Social Proof

nospam@example.com (Steve) — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 16:02:00 -0700

The seduction community frequently simplifies the concepts taught by many of its members into one- or two-word slang terms. There's a lot of this slang floating around in books and Internet forums; the Fast Seduction site lists a dictionary of hundreds of such terms. Since most of the discussion on the forums frequently refers to the same concepts, it's helpful to have a sort of dictionary to reduce the number of words in posts.

However, there's a funny thing about slang: it becomes so commonplace that it loses its meaning and, for lack of a better word, intensity. For example, the word "kino" is thrown around the forums as if it's just another step in a process. But when you look at how people are acutally using the term, we find that "kino" can mean anything from holding hands to foreplay. Certainly, the term fails to accurately convey the emotion behind the latter. One could argue that it fails to convey even the former.

So it is with another term, "social proof." Social proof is basically a synonym for being "popular;" if a lot of other people like me, you will probably like me too. It's a concept that I believe is a poor judge of character, because there are a lot of jerks who make more and more friends simply because they already have a lot of friends. Regardless of my opinion, however, the concept does exist, and I encountered a powerful demonstration on Friday, June 16.

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Let's hook Karen up!

nospam@example.com (Steve) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 07:55:47 -0700

Karen, recently, has been posting about how her love life is going nowhere. The string of rejections has been stretching on since February or even earlier. She's tried speed dating, but nobody indicated they were interested. She responded to a guy on the radio, but he eventually ditched her for someone else. And she's even walked her dog to meet men, but saying hi and talking about dogs is as far as it goes. It looks like, unless we provide some "expert" assistance here, Karen might meet someone when she turns 70, and even then the odds won't be good.

Therefore, I suggest that we take matters into our own hands and hook Karen up ourselves. I'm going to create a new category, "Karen's Endless Search," where we can post all about Karen and her myriad faults. Hopefully, a guy will be lovestruck by Karen's warm personality and caring heart, and will decide to arrange a date with her. Everyone wins: I'll have something to write about once again, the blog will get more page impressions, and we can talk about how women attract men (most of the discussion here seems to be the other way around). But I think the end goal is much more important: Karen will actually be able to enter a relationship that lasts longer than five minutes.

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Creative ways to meet men

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 22:11:57 -0700

I have a new job as a travel agent (really enjoying it, it's going great.) :-) I was informed this week that should I be able to bring a date to the company Christmas party for free, it's going to be my longtime best gay friend. (I've gone to quite a few of his office Christmas parties as his "girlfriend".) I've joked more than once about how there seems to be a disproportionately high number of gay men working in my company (in the industry?), and he figures a company party is a great place for him to meet men.

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How it went - the radio date

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 21:30:00 -0700

Like I said in last week's entry, I went into a local radio station to meet a guy who was on the air and revealed he was a 29 year-old virgin (he sounded very nice). We set up a dinner date, which we had just this past Thursday. He was really terrific and I liked him a lot.
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Try New Things

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Mon, 29 May 2006 20:25:52 -0700

So, I got up early enough, found a passable outfit to wear, and didn't chicken out (always a looming possibility.) There's a series of zany fast food commercials playing now with the slogan, "Try New Things". Well, today I tried a zany new way of meeting someone.

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Stay tuned...

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Sun, 28 May 2006 22:38:05 -0700

Provided I can get up when my alarm clock goes off and I can find an appropriate outfit to wear, later on this morning I'm going to attempt an unorthodox way of meeting someone. (Regardless of my success in getting out of bed, finding an outfit, or actually meeting someone, I'll give you the scoop tonight.)

It is better to dump than be dumped

nospam@example.com (AdamK77) — Sun, 28 May 2006 13:18:28 -0700

I'm a selfish man.

I hate not being in control.

I decided to end the relationship, so I ended it. As I said, I did not end it because I did not like her.

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The Dating Culture Gap

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Mon, 22 May 2006 10:17:14 -0700

Of all the reasons to be a tourist in New York, I never imagined "to try the dating scene" would be one of them!

I had brunch yesterday with one of my classmates, who is a Torontonian by upbringing but just got back from working a few years in New York. We are both Sex-and-the-City-philes, and eventually our conversation turned to comparing our respective dating experiences.

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What's acceptable behaviour?

nospam@example.com (eek) — Tue, 09 May 2006 03:56:00 -0700

What's acceptable behaviour in a dating or friends situation? Just this morning I ditched a girl over her behaviour, and was classified as "weird" and "glad to find out already" for reacting the way I did.
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The Peccadilloes of Friends

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Mon, 08 May 2006 00:17:12 -0700

I read an interesting saying in a book, once: to make a friend, close one eye. To keep a friend, close both. I thought it was amusing, but on a deeper level I’m not sure it jives with what I perceive as what a good friend should be: someone you like AND respect.
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The Dating Resume

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 21:39:00 -0700

At a speed dating event I was at, one guy I was chatting with told an anecdote about another speed dating event he attended, where at the very beginning one guy handed all the women a “dating resume” for himself. It gave his “vital stats” as well as what he was looking for in a partner. “Interesting,” I commented. Cut straight to the chase. My kind of guy. I asked if this tactic went over well with the women; my conversation partner said no, not at all. Well, why not?

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When love just isn't enough

nospam@example.com (AdamK77) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:24:30 -0700

I’ve done something that I didn’t think I would or could ever do. I was head over heels over the girl I was dating. She was cute, had great legs, educated and employed – I thought I had finally found someone to finally take up space in my heart.

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Does it get harder to meet someone as you get older?

nospam@example.com (Karen) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 22:55:48 -0700

It's been years since we discussed such things, but my mom used to advise me that women wanting to marry should find a husband before they turn 30. After 30, she used to say, you lose your looks. Well, I haven't reached 30 yet so I can't judge the accuracy of that prediction on my own situation, but I've started noticing other things I think make it harder to pair up as you get older (for both males and females).
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