Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Now the News for Wed. May 4th

Yes, I am an employee of AT&T and the following is my opinion... (legal stuff)

     Wow, there is a lot going on.  We've got the great story about the Navy's elite Seal Team 6, sneaking in ninja style, then engaging in a tremendous firefight with armed guards for Bin Laden.  One the guards holding Osama's wife as a shield while shooting with an AK-47.  Then Seal Team 6 killing them all, removing Osama Bin Laden's body for DNA testing.   No seal team member was injured in the fracas...   BECAUSE it seems now that none of the guards were armed!?!  Pakistani security forces entering the area reported there were no weapons!  What??  Our very own President Obama was watching on a super hi-def spy TV, and he can't get his story straight?  Yes, that is correct and the White House has changed their story accordingly.
     It seems now that Bin Laden was unarmed, his wife was shot in a different room - so no human shield.  The million dollar mansion turned out to be an un-airconditioned block house with a wall...  Seal Team 6 took out a housefull of unarmed people.  Wow, that took skill.   One of the super high-tech choppers wouldn't start when it was time to leave(no jumper cables?).  So Seal Team 6 blew it up.   We trusted our allies so much(Pakistan) that they blew up the helicopter?  Couldn't we have just asked for it back the next day?  Aren't we Allies??  Pictures are here.
     I'm not dismissing the accomplishments of the seal team.  I support them wholeheartedly!  I do not support the politicizing of wartime events.  Our military is top notch and could have taken everyone down weapons or not. 
     Now, with all the story changes, can your believe your own government?  Did we really get him this time?  Or, was the old-old  story true that he actually died in December of 2001 at Tora Bora.  There is a good article on that one here.
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     We haven't heard much from Japan lately.  Japantoday has a story about work beginning Sunday to install a new reactor cooling system.  They plan to judge early next year if evacuees can return home.  The Tokyo Electric Power President Masataka Shimizu toured the area and knelt down in front of about 150 evacuees, saying, "I apologize from deep in my heart.  We'll do our utmost so you can go back to your hometowns."  I like that humble attitude.  American corporate managers could possibly learn something from his example...  like in poor customer service - REPEATEDLY!!!

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     I somehow missed the annoucement that AT&T will cap internet usage on home DSL.  That happened in March of this year.  I came across the story on the company home page in a forum format.  It was funny that the moderator was having trouble defending the charge and that almost every employee who chimed in was against it.  Again, don't take it out on the employees, management doesn't listen to us either.  Supposedly, one of the theories is that the cap will slow the proliferation of companies like Netflix from competing with Uverse service.  
      The cap is set at 150-250 Gig/month and most of us won't have a problem with it... right now.  Later on, as high quality movies and all those plans to move everything to the "cloud" take place, watch out!  We signed up with Netflix recently and plan to eventually disconnect Direct-TV when the contract is up!  I built an antenna for the attic so we can recieve all but one of the Birmingham stations with a digital receiver.  Everything else we can stream with Netflix.  Our quality isn't great, but that is because my AT&T DSL limit is only 1.5M/sec.  Our neighborhood is served by an older(15yr?) fiber to the curb(ONU).  It is outdated and an expensive system to upgrade.  Had they just put old fashioned copper, we'd be okay!  Uverse will not work through it either.
     If you would like to read more about the cap in speed, there is a good article here.
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     I haven't been on storm restoration for the last two days.  I've been working mostly DSL installs in our own turf.  I still have a problem with that because it just doesn't make sense.  Service Technicians normally work installation orders with the small trucks that can get in and out of residental areas easier.  They are also rated much cheaper in the truck/tool/benefit costs.  I may be wrong, but I believe a Facilities Technician with bucket truck is priced somewhere in the range of $170/hr.  But THEY know best!
     Our group of repair technicians was told by management that we were not even supposed to be in the storm areas yet!  Those areas have to be "released" for us to start repairs. I started to ask if I should go by and disconnect the few I had opportunity to repair...   But THEY know best!

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