I hate Comcast

I hate Comcast with every last fiber of my being.  Their HD service is overly compressed and pixelated, their service offerings are overpriced, and their customer service is atrocious.  Unfortunately, since my apartment building isn’t wired for another provider and the landlord doesn’t allow satellite dishes to be mounted on the building, I’m stuck with this horrible monopoly.

Recently, I wanted to make a couple changes to my account and while I can pay my bill through their website I can’t do anything else of any value.  How hard would it be to let me manage everything through their website.  Certainly it would be cheaper than staffing live operators.  Just a suggestion, Comcast.  But I digress.

At Comcast.com, I notice there is a Live Chat option.  I figured that would be faster/easier than calling support.  Below is my chat transcript:

user Fredrick_ has entered room

Fredrick(Thu Aug 28 13:00:04 CDT 2008)>Changes to services

analyst Tony has entered room

Tony(Thu Aug 28 13:00:08 CDT 2008)>Hello Fredrick_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Tony. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Tony(Thu Aug 28 13:00:22 CDT 2008)>How may I assist you today?

Fredrick_(Thu Aug 28 12:00:50 CDT 2008)>I would like to get a 2nd public IP address and also remove cable guard from my account.

Tony(Thu Aug 28 13:02:12 CDT 2008)>What I would suggest is to transfer you to a sales to assist you in this matter Fredrick

Fredrick_(Thu Aug 28 12:02:19 CDT 2008)>ok

Tony(Thu Aug 28 13:02:31 CDT 2008)>One moment please.

Tony(Thu Aug 28 13:02:50 CDT 2008)>Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst

analyst Kaycee Gail has entered room

Kaycee Gail(Thu Aug 28 13:03:00 CDT 2008)>How are you today?

Fredrick_(Thu Aug 28 12:03:03 CDT 2008)>Good

analyst Tony has left room

Kaycee Gail(Thu Aug 28 13:03:28 CDT 2008)>So, how may I help you today, Fredrick?

Fredrick_(Thu Aug 28 12:03:32 CDT 2008)>I would like to get a 2nd public IP address and also remove cable guard from my account.

Kaycee Gail(Thu Aug 28 13:05:07 CDT 2008)>Thank you for telling me that, Fredrick. I really wish to help you with your request today but for you to get a second IP address and cancel your Service Protection Plan is to call 1-888 COMCAST.

Kaycee Gail(Thu Aug 28 13:05:23 CDT 2008)>They are the only one who can access and do it in your account.

Kaycee Gail(Thu Aug 28 13:05:42 CDT 2008)>I can stay on the line while you will be calling them.

At the completion of this useless chat I was directed to an online survey.  Below is how I answered:

“All you can eat baby!”

I’ve been trying to learn a screen capture application lately so I decided to practice by creating a screencast of an incredible poker hand I was recently involved in. 

I recommend clicking the video and watching it directly from viddler.com.  The embedded video is difficult to see.

That kind of night

Last Friday I caught The Faint at the The Vic with some ex-coworkers from closerlook.  The night started with RBV and ended with a burrito, good times.

Reding + Gay = #1 on Google

Apparently, I’ve got some new visitors to my site.  My blog is the first link when you search for Redgay.  I’m not sure what I want to do with this “power” so feel free to make recommendations.  I’m sure H8R will be the first to comment.

30 going on 60

I’ve been a Nutrisystem customer for about two years.  I don’t really follow the plan as prescribed; I just use the packaged food as replacements for microwaved meals.  They are convenient if you don’t want to or have the time to cook.  Recently, I received another shipment of food but this time there was something extra, something that I didn’t order.  Apparently, the folks at Nutrisystem are trying to tell me something.

Party in the Hamptons

Last weekend I attended an extravagant Hamptons themed party in Chicago.  Enjoy!

Computer Love

That last thing I want to do when I leave work is mess with my computers.  Let me clarify, that last thing I want to do is “fix” computers.  I’ll be the first to admit that I spend way too much time in front of a computer screen but that’s because I’m either playing poker or viewing the latest celebrity vagina sighting.

Last week, one of my computers died on me and I spent hours trying to troubleshoot the root cause.  I finally narrowed it down to a bad motherboard which required me to replace most of the internal components.  I was tempted to go OfficeSpace on it.

The Curse continues

Usually when I see Nate something bad ends up happening to me.  However, last weekend in Oregon all seemed well.  I headed for the airport and left PDX thinking, “Whew, the curse is broken.”  But on Sunday when I went to my car I found another shattered window.  Seriously, this is getting ridiculous.  I have nothing in my car but apparently the hidden contents of my glove box are just too enticing.  The thieves made off with a few ancient burnt CDs – hope you like Kelly Clarkson douchebags.

Oh, my starry eyed surprise…

I’m seeing Stars, I’m seeing Stars.

I’ll be in Oregon tomorrow thru Sat.

Stop trying to infect me RedGay.

This is the second time that Jeremy has tried to infect my computer.  Actually, what has likely happened is that Jeremy’s computer is already infected and it’s now trying to propagate through “drive-by-downloads.”  I haven’t analyzed this particular website but most of these sites host malicious scripts that attempt to exploit insecure browsers (i.e. unpatched browsers).  Usually, a fully patched system is not vulnerable to these attacks but your safest bet is to avoid suspicous looking URLs or better yet, just place RedGay on your blocked list.