Janet Wilder wrote:

> Blinky the Shark wrote:
> > Janet Wilder wrote:
>
> >> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>
> >>> For the record, my primary ishttp://news.individual.net(10 euros (about
> >>> $14US) a *year*), and I presume you are referring to that. *It's
> >>> excellent. *I've been testing - and it seems solid - the free server shown
> >>> in my sig. I guess I'll change that line to reflect that it seems okay..
>
> >>> Two other good freebies arehttp://news.motzarella.organd
> >>>http://news.datemas.de-- but the only GG-killer I know of is the one in
> >>> my sig. *(For datemas, ignore the "temporarily suspended" note.)
>
> >> I use astraweb. If you don't do binaries, it's $10 for life.
>
> > How's it for spam filtering?
>
> I set my own filters in my newsreader. I never heard of a news server
> that filters it for you????


There's a small outfit here in Chicago that is now filtering out
*everthing* posted from Google...I'm not surprised, many are tired of
Google, a grwoing trend.

I notice today that when I post from Google they are asking for
"verification", e.g. "please type the characters you see in the
picture below..." before posting. Maybe it's a "response" of sorts to
the spam problem?

I just now signed up for the server that notbob mentioned a whiles
back, it's something like "usenet-news.net". For eight bux I bought a
block of 20 gigs worth of space, should last a whiles.

In other Usenet nooze, the aioe.org free server is apparently dead...


--
Best
Greg

sf wrote:

> On Mon, 19 May 2008 20:04:23 -0700, isw > wrote:
> >I chewed them out not only for not being competent to fix the problem in
> >a timely way, but also because they had *no idea* of when it might be
> >fixed.
>
> >Then I asked why *anyone* would pay money for telephone service with
> >this kind of reliability.
>
> If you were getting email and the web, the problem probably wasn't
> just comcast. *I think they took the heat though. *They subcontract
> with Giganews for Usenet. *Giganews is a giant, so if something went
> wrong between two giants, I can't be sure it was human error.
>
> At least the *kid* I was dealing with had the honesty to admit upfront
> that she didn't know what Usenet was. *Sure, *we* scoff at that... but
> the truth is that Usenet is dying. *A bazillion unknown people access
> rfc once or twice through a web site (many exist) or some sort of
> "group", but not directly by Usenet. *Are you one of them?


99.99% of computer users out there have *no* idea what Usenet is, even
most of the computer geeks don't. Usenet is a *very* small club, and
getting smaller...


--
Best
Greg

"Gregory Morrow" > wrote

>Nancy Young wrote:

>> Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
>> I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
>> yesterday!!
>
>> Talk about bad timing.


>Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
>is *very* relevant, lol...

Actually, I don't have any complaints. I understand that occasionally,
something's going to go wrong. I just wish there was somewhere on
their website to check that would say (there's this problem) so I don't
go crazy trying to figure out if it's me. I'm still fixing this and that on
my
new pc, so naturally I thought I must have broken my Usenet link.
Somehow.

nancy

Andy said...

> sf said...
>
>> On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
>>
>>>AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
>>>I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
>>>of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!
>>>
>>>Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.
>>
>> Oooh great! I'll sic hubby on that tomorrow. He's good for that kind
>> of stuff.
>
>
> Oh brother, did I catch hell for that post from Comcast!!! They didn't
> like the idea of everyone asking for credit for the outage and sent me a
> spam alert and blocked that email address. Might've cost them a few
> cents.
>
> I was only kidding!!!
>
> Can't wait to see my next Comcast bill. LOL!!!
>
> Andy


To Comcast:

You're asking me to sue you!

I just ****ed Comcast off with my freedom of speech post about my perceived
lack of Comcast's lack of knowledge/response time in fixing the connection
with giganews and mentioning a monthly refund on google's usenet!

Freedom of speech. Gotta have it!!!!

Mess with me more and you'll pay. More than a month of service I promise.
Gonna bring this to the local TV networks.

RSVP.

Andy


Haven't heard a word back but look forward to some. I can't wait for my day
in court. Will keep me off the internet for awhile and I'll come out richer
for it. LOLOL!

I will NOT be intimidated and I'll prove it.

Andy

Andy wrote:

> Andy said...
>
>> sf said...
>>
>>> On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
>>>
>>>>AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
>>>>I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
>>>>of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!
>>>>
>>>>Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.
>>>
>>> Oooh great! I'll sic hubby on that tomorrow. He's good for that kind
>>> of stuff.
>>
>>
>> Oh brother, did I catch hell for that post from Comcast!!! They didn't
>> like the idea of everyone asking for credit for the outage and sent me a
>> spam alert and blocked that email address. Might've cost them a few
>> cents.
>>
>> I was only kidding!!!
>>
>> Can't wait to see my next Comcast bill. LOL!!!
>>
>> Andy
>
>
> To Comcast:
>
> You're asking me to sue you!
>
> I just ****ed Comcast off with my freedom of speech post about my perceived
> lack of Comcast's lack of knowledge/response time in fixing the connection
> with giganews and mentioning a monthly refund on google's usenet!
>
> Freedom of speech. Gotta have it!!!!
>
> Mess with me more and you'll pay. More than a month of service I promise.
> Gonna bring this to the local TV networks.
>
> RSVP.
>
> Andy
>
>
> Haven't heard a word back but look forward to some. I can't wait for my day
> in court. Will keep me off the internet for awhile and I'll come out richer
> for it. LOLOL!
>
> I will NOT be intimidated and I'll prove it.

Andy, I think it's proabably time to step away from the crack pipe.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

sf wrote:
> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
> settings or done something else just as bad.





I had problems for three days and even this AM got "very weak signal"
message. Right now things are back to normal. Dialup was horrible in
comparison, but at least it was consistent.

gloria p

Nancy Young said...

>
> "Gregory Morrow" > wrote
>
>>Nancy Young wrote:
>
>>> Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
>>> I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
>>> yesterday!!
>>
>>> Talk about bad timing.
>
>
>>Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
>>is *very* relevant, lol...
>
> Actually, I don't have any complaints. I understand that occasionally,
> something's going to go wrong. I just wish there was somewhere on
> their website to check that would say (there's this problem) so I don't
> go crazy trying to figure out if it's me. I'm still fixing this and
> that on my
> new pc, so naturally I thought I must have broken my Usenet link.
> Somehow.
>
> nancy


nancy

There is, at www.comcast.net but it's tucked away amongst the
advertisements and crap, and it was conveniently broken during my attempts
to get a report. I just tracerouted the problem, which tech support and the
supervisors couldn't accomplish. 1st grade tech support, imho.

Best,

Andy

"Andy" <q> wrote

> Nancy Young said...

>> I just wish there was somewhere on
>> their website to check that would say (there's this problem) so I don't
>> go crazy trying to figure out if it's me.

> There is, at www.comcast.net but it's tucked away amongst the
> advertisements and crap, and it was conveniently broken during my attempts
> to get a report. I just tracerouted the problem, which tech support and
> the
> supervisors couldn't accomplish. 1st grade tech support, imho.

Thanks, Andy, I'll look more closely next time.

nancy

Blinky the Shark said...

> Andy wrote:
>
>> Andy said...
>>
>>> sf said...
>>>
>>>> On Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>AND call your comcast company tech support and demand a month credit.
>>>>>I did and they said but you can surf, to which I replied I spend most
>>>>>of my internet time on usenet. They gave me credit for the month!
>>>>>
>>>>>Stick it to 'em!!! Do it!!! They're the lazy BUMS!!! We're not.
>>>>
>>>> Oooh great! I'll sic hubby on that tomorrow. He's good for that
>>>> kind of stuff.
>>>
>>>
>>> Oh brother, did I catch hell for that post from Comcast!!! They didn't
>>> like the idea of everyone asking for credit for the outage and sent me
>>> a spam alert and blocked that email address. Might've cost them a few
>>> cents.
>>>
>>> I was only kidding!!!
>>>
>>> Can't wait to see my next Comcast bill. LOL!!!
>>>
>>> Andy
>>
>>
>> To Comcast:
>>
>> You're asking me to sue you!
>>
>> I just ****ed Comcast off with my freedom of speech post about my
>> perceived lack of Comcast's lack of knowledge/response time in fixing
>> the connection with giganews and mentioning a monthly refund on
>> google's usenet!
>>
>> Freedom of speech. Gotta have it!!!!
>>
>> Mess with me more and you'll pay. More than a month of service I
>> promise. Gonna bring this to the local TV networks.
>>
>> RSVP.
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>> Haven't heard a word back but look forward to some. I can't wait for my
>> day in court. Will keep me off the internet for awhile and I'll come
>> out richer for it. LOLOL!
>>
>> I will NOT be intimidated and I'll prove it.
>
> Andy, I think it's proabably time to step away from the crack pipe.


They intimidated me and they have yet to come forth with a response. My
mail accounts are in full force.

I don't need a crack pipe. Tell THEM what you told me.

Best,

Andy

Gregory Morrow wrote:
> Nancy Young wrote:
>
>> "sf" > wrote
>>
>>> Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
>>> moment? I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
>>> minutes so far. Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
>>> but did on retry. Does anyone know what's going on? I hate to talk
>>> to them because they act like it's my fault. They assume I've changed
>>> settings or done something else just as bad.
>> Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
>> I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
>> yesterday!!
>>
>> Talk about bad timing.
>
>
>
> Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
> is *very* relevant, lol...
>
>
> --
> Best
> Greg
>
>
I think this is accurate:

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi...t=newsmichigan

"George" > wrote in message
...

> I think this is accurate:
>
> http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi...t=newsmichigan

A must-read for Comcast survivors. And this excerpt is a must-read for Andy:

"Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"

Felice

Felice said...

>
> "George" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> I think this is accurate:
>>
>> http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi...siness-16/1211
>> 257165113620.xml&storylist=newsmichigan
>
> A must-read for Comcast survivors. And this excerpt is a must-read for
> Andy:
>
> "Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
> hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>
> Felice


Felice,

OH NO!!!

I'm a mild mannered superman.

Best,

Andy

On Tue, 20 May 2008 17:22:57 -0700, Blinky the Shark
> wrote:

>Andy wrote:
>
>> To Comcast:
>>
>> You're asking me to sue you!
>>
>> I just ****ed Comcast off with my freedom of speech post about my perceived
>> lack of Comcast's lack of knowledge/response time in fixing the connection
>> with giganews and mentioning a monthly refund on google's usenet!
>>
>> Freedom of speech. Gotta have it!!!!
>>
>> Mess with me more and you'll pay. More than a month of service I promise.
>> Gonna bring this to the local TV networks.
>>
>> RSVP.
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>> Haven't heard a word back but look forward to some. I can't wait for my day
>> in court. Will keep me off the internet for awhile and I'll come out richer
>> for it. LOLOL!
>>
>> I will NOT be intimidated and I'll prove it.
>
>Andy, I think it's proabably time to step away from the crack pipe.

i'm sure comcast is quaking in its ostrich-skin boots.

your pal,
blake

On 2008-05-21, Felice > wrote:


> "Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
> hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"

While admire her hutzpuh, I wonder if that GM had broadband before Comcast.

I'm not here to sing Comcast's praises, but I had Comcast before moving to
CO. In the 10 yrs I had that same cable feed, it was owned by Viacom, TCI,
@Home, and AT&T and every single one of them couldn't even come close to
providing as fast and reliable a service as Comcast did the last 2-3 years
they had it. Yes, Comcast has its flaws, as does the industry as a whole,
but in comparison to the other stewards of that feed, it was by far and away
the best.

Now, for the usenet thing. Comcast takes a really crapy view of usenet, as
do all major ISPs. It's overhead with no return on value. Comcast takes an
even more bizarre logic spin on it. They figure usenet (newsgroups) is
being provided to you, the customer, as a free service. Since they provide
it gratis, they feel they have no obligation to support "it" on the
customer's behalf. Customers should be grateful they get it at all. So,
any bitches you have about newsgroups is falling on deaf ears at Comcast.
Also, remember that most other major ISPs do not provide usenet at all.

One last word about support. If any of you people ever spent 1 day in the
same shoes as those poor folks, you wouldn't be bad mouthing them. They do
what they can with what they have. I will tell you right now that most of
them provide only the service they are aware of, the support and knowledge
they are themselves provided with. If you do run into a good support
person, more than likely it's because he/she is self-educated far above any
knowledge provided by the company. Be very grateful you lucked onto that
person.

nb ....BTDT

In article >, sf <.> wrote:

> On Mon, 19 May 2008 20:04:23 -0700, isw > wrote:
>
> >I chewed them out not only for not being competent to fix the problem in
> >a timely way, but also because they had *no idea* of when it might be
> >fixed.
> >
> >Then I asked why *anyone* would pay money for telephone service with
> >this kind of reliability.
>
> If you were getting email and the web, the problem probably wasn't
> just comcast. I think they took the heat though. They subcontract
> with Giganews for Usenet. Giganews is a giant, so if something went
> wrong between two giants, I can't be sure it was human error.
>
> At least the *kid* I was dealing with had the honesty to admit upfront
> that she didn't know what Usenet was. Sure, *we* scoff at that... but
> the truth is that Usenet is dying. A bazillion unknown people access
> rfc once or twice through a web site (many exist) or some sort of
> "group", but not directly by Usenet. Are you one of them?

If it's me you're asking, well, I've been reading the news -- including
r.f.c -- for 20 years, and never via the "web".

Isaac

In article
>,
Gregory Morrow > wrote:

> Nancy Young wrote:
>
> > "sf" > wrote
> >
> > > Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> > > moment? *I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> > > minutes so far. *Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> > > but did on retry. *Does anyone know what's going on? *I hate to talk
> > > to them because they act like it's my fault. *They assume I've changed
> > > settings or done something else just as bad.
> >
> > Can you imagine me? *New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
> > I get to newsgroups??? *What did I screw up? *It was working fine
> > yesterday!! *
> >
> > Talk about bad timing.
>
>
>
> Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
> is *very* relevant, lol...

I've had a cable modem since about 1998, first via @Home, and then ATT,
and then I forget who, and now Comcast. It does have its problems, but
mostly it works very well. You're probably unlikely to get equivalent
speeds using DSL.

Isaac

In article >,
notbob > wrote:

--snippage--

> One last word about support. If any of you people ever spent 1 day in the
> same shoes as those poor folks, you wouldn't be bad mouthing them. They do
> what they can with what they have.

When I call, I make it very clear that I'm not annoyed with the person
I'm talking to, but with the company they work for (and that *doesn't
work* for me, or I wouldn't be calling).

Isaac

In article >,
"Nancy Young" > wrote:

> "Gregory Morrow" > wrote
>
> >Nancy Young wrote:
>
> >> Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
> >> I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
> >> yesterday!!
> >
> >> Talk about bad timing.
>
>
> >Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
> >is *very* relevant, lol...
>
> Actually, I don't have any complaints. I understand that occasionally,
> something's going to go wrong.

The telcos are pretty much obligated by law to have less than five
minutes *per year* of unavailability to customers. The cable providers
wheedled ($$$) the government into exempting them from that requirement
-- or any reliability requirement at all, for that matter.

And users lose because the government caved in yet again to "business
interests".

Isaac

On Wed 21 May 2008 10:14:45p, isw told us...

> In article >,
> "Nancy Young" > wrote:
>
>> "Gregory Morrow" > wrote
>>
>> >Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>> >> Can you imagine me? New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
>> >> I get to newsgroups??? What did I screw up? It was working fine
>> >> yesterday!!
>> >
>> >> Talk about bad timing.
>>
>>
>> >Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
>> >is *very* relevant, lol...
>>
>> Actually, I don't have any complaints. I understand that occasionally,
>> something's going to go wrong.
>
> The telcos are pretty much obligated by law to have less than five
> minutes *per year* of unavailability to customers. The cable providers
> wheedled ($$$) the government into exempting them from that requirement
> -- or any reliability requirement at all, for that matter.
>
> And users lose because the government caved in yet again to "business
> interests".
>
> Isaac
>

That sure as hell was true with Qwest's phone line DSL service. When it
was my only choice, I would sometimes be out of service for hours at a
time, multiple times per year. So much for obligation.

Since I've had Cox cable, I have only experienced one outage and it was a
"planned outage" for upgrading to optical cable. Total time was about 2
hours.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 05(V)/21(XXI)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Countdown till Memorial Day
4dys 1hrs 45mins
-------------------------------------------
A friend in need is someone to avoid.
-------------------------------------------

On Wed, 21 May 2008 11:03:53 -0400, "Felice" >
wrote:

>
>"George" > wrote in message
...
>
>> I think this is accurate:
>>
>> http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi...t=newsmichigan
>
>A must-read for Comcast survivors. And this excerpt is a must-read for Andy:
>
>"Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
>hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>
>Felice
>

the saga was fully covered in the *washington post*:

Sometimes truly American virtues arise in outlaws who -- by dint of
heroic but questionable endeavors -- display the mettle of the
national character.

For instance: The Dillinger Gang, robbing banks (and destroying
mortgages) when banks were foreclosing on the poor. Stephanie St.
Clair, matron of the numbers racket during the Harlem Renaissance,
striking a (dubious) blow for both gender and racial equality. Junior
Johnson bootlegging liquor during Prohibition (the benefits of which
were self-evident).

Fear not, fellow Americans! In these dark days of war, pestilence and
Paris Hilton, a new hero has arisen. She is none other than
75-year-old Mona "The Hammer" Shaw, who took the aforementioned
implement to her local Comcast office in Manassas to settle a score,
and boy, did she!

(more at:

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html>
)

your pal,
blake

On Wed, 21 May 2008 17:30:32 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-05-21, Felice > wrote:
>
>
>> "Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
>> hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>
>While admire her hutzpuh, I wonder if that GM had broadband before Comcast.
>
>I'm not here to sing Comcast's praises, but I had Comcast before moving to
>CO. In the 10 yrs I had that same cable feed, it was owned by Viacom, TCI,
>@Home, and AT&T and every single one of them couldn't even come close to
>providing as fast and reliable a service as Comcast did the last 2-3 years
>they had it. Yes, Comcast has its flaws, as does the industry as a whole,
>but in comparison to the other stewards of that feed, it was by far and away
>the best.
>
>Now, for the usenet thing. Comcast takes a really crapy view of usenet, as
>do all major ISPs. It's overhead with no return on value. Comcast takes an
>even more bizarre logic spin on it. They figure usenet (newsgroups) is
>being provided to you, the customer, as a free service. Since they provide
>it gratis, they feel they have no obligation to support "it" on the
>customer's behalf. Customers should be grateful they get it at all. So,
>any bitches you have about newsgroups is falling on deaf ears at Comcast.
>Also, remember that most other major ISPs do not provide usenet at all.
>
>One last word about support. If any of you people ever spent 1 day in the
>same shoes as those poor folks, you wouldn't be bad mouthing them. They do
>what they can with what they have. I will tell you right now that most of
>them provide only the service they are aware of, the support and knowledge
>they are themselves provided with. If you do run into a good support
>person, more than likely it's because he/she is self-educated far above any
>knowledge provided by the company. Be very grateful you lucked onto that
>person.
>
>nb ....BTDT

yes, but i seem to recall at least one tech was discussed here who had
no idea what usenet *was*. i think comcast should at least include
that on the little cheat-sheet they provide these people, and possibly
one or two people who actually know something about it. it *is* part
of teh intertubes, after all.

the thing that bothers me about tech support is that while i realize
they deal with their share of clueless people, they seem to think that
*every single person* they talk to is an idiot. *that* ****es me off.

your pal,
blake

"blake murphy" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 21 May 2008 11:03:53 -0400, "Felice" >
> wrote:

>>"Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
>>hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>>
>>Felice

> the saga was fully covered in the *washington post*:
>
> (more at:
>
> <
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html>

Oh, great reading, Blake! Laughed myself silly over that one. Mona is an
example to us all.

Felice

On 2008-05-22, blake murphy > wrote:


> no idea what usenet *was*.

This reflects net denizens as a whole. Most folks have no clue what usenet
is. In fact, the majority of people who use "newsgroups" don't really know
what usenet is. Only one person who I know who frequents the net is aware
of newsgroups/usenet, and he's a 6 figure sysadmin. I suspect the number of
people calling support about usenet is small, hence the number of support
people who are aware of it is also small.

> the thing that bothers me about tech support is that while i realize
> they deal with their share of clueless people, they seem to think that
> *every single person* they talk to is an idiot. *that* ****es me off.

You may be taking it the wrong way. After ten yrs of calling cable
broadband support, I find the majority of support people to be idiots. Most
have only a rudimentary knowledge of the net and how it works. So, what you
perceive as them treating you like and idiot is usualy just the opposite.
They do not know how to troubleshoot a problem, so they fall back on a
predetermined step-by-step script provided by Comcast. "Have you tried
unplugging your modem for 3 mins?" "Did you try rebooting your computer?" I
realize this is maddening, as you've no doubt already done all this 3 times.
But, the sup/tech doesn't know any better, so they are sticking to the script.

nb

blake murphy wrote:
> On Wed, 21 May 2008 11:03:53 -0400, "Felice" >
> wrote:
>
>> "George" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> I think this is accurate:
>>>
>>> http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi...t=newsmichigan
>> A must-read for Comcast survivors. And this excerpt is a must-read for Andy:
>>
>> "Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
>> hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>>
>> Felice
>>
>
> the saga was fully covered in the *washington post*:
>
> Sometimes truly American virtues arise in outlaws who -- by dint of
> heroic but questionable endeavors -- display the mettle of the
> national character.
>
> For instance: The Dillinger Gang, robbing banks (and destroying
> mortgages) when banks were foreclosing on the poor. Stephanie St.
> Clair, matron of the numbers racket during the Harlem Renaissance,
> striking a (dubious) blow for both gender and racial equality. Junior
> Johnson bootlegging liquor during Prohibition (the benefits of which
> were self-evident).
>
> Fear not, fellow Americans! In these dark days of war, pestilence and
> Paris Hilton, a new hero has arisen. She is none other than
> 75-year-old Mona "The Hammer" Shaw, who took the aforementioned
> implement to her local Comcast office in Manassas to settle a score,
> and boy, did she!
>
> (more at:
>
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html>
> )
>
> your pal,
> blake

Comcast is actually prepared for attacks. This was previously an
adelphia area. After that family looted the company they declared
bankruptcy and Comcast bought part of it. When adelphia operated it the
local office was a normal office with service counters just like any
other office. You could bring stuff back or pick stuff up by going to
the counter and the person there would either hand you the item or take
the one you brought back.

A few months after Comcast took over they remodeled the office. You now
walk into a small brightly lit hallway that has a think, bulletproof
glass wall. There are cameras all over. They have large steel sliding
drawers with flaps. You put the item in the drawer and the person on the
other side of the bulletproof wall pulls the drawer into their side to
retrieve the item and vice versa if they give you something.

You actually wonder what image this company is trying to project. I
asked about it and the customer service person said a lot of people ask
that but it is their standard office setup.

isw wrote:

> In article
> >,
> *Gregory Morrow > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Nancy Young wrote:
>
> > > "sf" > wrote
>
> > > > Am I the only one who can't log into usenet via comcast at the
> > > > moment? *I've gotten a "502 access denied" error message for about 20
> > > > minutes so far. *Email is fine, I didn't get the web on first try -
> > > > but did on retry. *Does anyone know what's going on? *I hate to talk
> > > > to them because they act like it's my fault. *They assume I've changed
> > > > settings or done something else just as bad.
>
> > > Can you imagine me? *New pc and all, trying to figure out WHY can't
> > > I get to newsgroups??? *What did I screw up? *It was working fine
> > > yesterday!! *
>
> > > Talk about bad timing.
>
> > Well, I was *this* close to getting Comcast broadband so this thread
> > is *very* relevant, lol...
>
> I've had a cable modem since about 1998, first via @Home, and then ATT,
> and then I forget who, and now Comcast. It does have its problems, but
> mostly it works very well. You're probably unlikely to get equivalent
> speeds using DSL.


Comcast via cable modem is also another option for me, I've got their
cable teevee and their digital voice phone service; I've never
encountered any big problems, their customer service has been okay to
good. Even got the installation disc for internet when I got their
'info pack' when I got the phone a year ago. Might as well sign my
life over to Comcast, lol...

I'm about the *last* person I know with dial - up, but I'll miss that
$7.95 monthly unlimited dial - up I get from Earthlink (or probably
not)...

I don't blanche at paying a hundred a month for cable teevee, don't
know why I get an attack of "the cheaps" when it comes to the internet
service...go figure.


--
Best
Greg

George wrote:

> blake murphy wrote:
> > On Wed, 21 May 2008 11:03:53 -0400, "Felice" >
> > wrote:
>
> >> "George" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> >>> I think this is accurate:
>
> >>>http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi.../business-16/1...
> >> A must-read for Comcast survivors. And this excerpt is a must-read for Andy:
>
> >> "Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
> >> hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>
> >> Felice
>
> > the saga was fully covered in the *washington post*:
>
> > Sometimes truly American virtues arise in outlaws who -- by dint of
> > heroic but questionable endeavors -- display the mettle of the
> > national character.
>
> > For instance: The Dillinger Gang, robbing banks (and destroying
> > mortgages) when banks were foreclosing on the poor. Stephanie St.
> > Clair, matron of the numbers racket during the Harlem Renaissance,
> > striking a (dubious) blow for both gender and racial equality. Junior
> > Johnson bootlegging liquor during Prohibition (the benefits of which
> > were self-evident).
>
> > Fear not, fellow Americans! In these dark days of war, pestilence and
> > Paris Hilton, a new hero has arisen. She is none other than
> > 75-year-old Mona "The Hammer" Shaw, who took the aforementioned
> > implement to her local Comcast office in Manassas to settle a score,
> > and boy, did she!
>
> > (more at:
>
> > <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR200...>
> > )
>
> > your pal,
> > blake
>
> Comcast is actually prepared for attacks. This was previously an
> adelphia area. After that family looted the company they declared
> bankruptcy and Comcast bought part of it. When adelphia operated it the
> local office was a normal office with service counters just like any
> other office. You could bring stuff back or pick stuff up by going to
> the counter and the person there would either hand you the item or take
> the one you brought back.
>
> A few months after Comcast took over they remodeled the office. You now
> walk into a small brightly lit hallway that has a think, bulletproof
> glass wall. There are cameras all over. They have large steel sliding
> drawers with flaps. You put the item in the drawer and the person on the
> other side of the bulletproof wall pulls the drawer into their side to
> retrieve the item and vice versa if they give you something.


Yup...our Comcast offices here in Chicawgo are like that, akin to
currency exchanges in bad nabes...


> You actually wonder what image this company is trying to project. I
> asked about it and the customer service person said a lot of people ask
> that but it is their standard office setup.


If you've worked in front - line customer service for any length of
time you'll eventually come to think that such a set - up is a GREAT
idea. Peeps today can get pretty nutty, and that includes reaching
over the counter to physically assault the hapless employee. Heck,
years ago I was in the hotel bizz and back then I thought it would be
a great idear for hotel front desks (had people reach over to grab me,
another employee was shot at - this was in a big city "luxury"
hotel)...these days airline employees think similarly.


--
Best
Greg

Gregory Morrow wrote:

> I'm about the *last* person I know with dial - up, but I'll miss that
> $7.95 monthly unlimited dial - up I get from Earthlink (or probably
> not)...
>
> I don't blanche at paying a hundred a month for cable teevee, don't
> know why I get an attack of "the cheaps" when it comes to the internet
> service...go figure.

The day I threw in the towel and ditched dialup for cable internet,
I never looked back. My dialup connection was a huge hassle, I
was dropped continually, and when I wasn't, their news server would
be down. Never mind the painfully slow speed, like those comcast
commercials with the turtles.

I don't know why I'm so cheap sometimes. What I spend a month
above dialup has saved me far more in aggravation.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:

> Gregory Morrow wrote:
> > I'm about the *last* person I know with dial - up, but I'll miss that
> > $7.95 monthly unlimited dial - up I get from Earthlink (or probably
> > not)...
>
> > I don't blanche at paying a hundred a month for cable teevee, don't
> > know why I get an attack of "the cheaps" when it comes to the internet
> > service...go figure.
>
> The day I threw in the towel and ditched dialup for cable internet,
> I never looked back. *My dialup connection was a huge hassle, I
> was dropped continually, and when I wasn't, their news server would
> be down. *Never mind the painfully slow speed, like those comcast
> commercials with the turtles. *
>
> I don't know why I'm so cheap sometimes. *What I spend a month
> above dialup has saved me far more in aggravation.


Yep, and as websites have become more content - rich it's REALLY
frustrating to sit and wait, some sites are useless or just about.

I use high - speed for work, time for me to do the same for home use.
I'm calling Comcast this weekend, see what kind of "sweet deal" I can
get. Currently they are offering $19.95 for six months, maybe I can
get that for a year or something. Heck, it's not that much money in
any case, just buy a coupla less DVD's per month, lol...


--
Best
Greg

On Thu, 22 May 2008 16:50:09 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-05-22, blake murphy > wrote:
>
>
>> no idea what usenet *was*.
>
>This reflects net denizens as a whole. Most folks have no clue what usenet
>is. In fact, the majority of people who use "newsgroups" don't really know
>what usenet is. Only one person who I know who frequents the net is aware
>of newsgroups/usenet, and he's a 6 figure sysadmin. I suspect the number of
>people calling support about usenet is small, hence the number of support
>people who are aware of it is also small.
>

yabbut, this is supposed to be their *business*.

>> the thing that bothers me about tech support is that while i realize
>> they deal with their share of clueless people, they seem to think that
>> *every single person* they talk to is an idiot. *that* ****es me off.
>
>You may be taking it the wrong way. After ten yrs of calling cable
>broadband support, I find the majority of support people to be idiots. Most
>have only a rudimentary knowledge of the net and how it works. So, what you
>perceive as them treating you like and idiot is usualy just the opposite.
>They do not know how to troubleshoot a problem, so they fall back on a
>predetermined step-by-step script provided by Comcast. "Have you tried
>unplugging your modem for 3 mins?" "Did you try rebooting your computer?" I
>realize this is maddening, as you've no doubt already done all this 3 times.
>But, the sup/tech doesn't know any better, so they are sticking to the script.
>

my favorite is 'you may have to re-install your
browser/email/operating system.' um, no, i don't think so.

usually when i have problems (other than access problems), i just
search with google or google groups.

your pal,
blake

On Thu, 22 May 2008 12:22:16 -0400, "Felice" >
wrote:

>
>"blake murphy" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Wed, 21 May 2008 11:03:53 -0400, "Felice" >
>> wrote:
>
>>>"Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
>>>hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>>>
>>>Felice
>
>> the saga was fully covered in the *washington post*:
>>
>> (more at:
>>
>> <
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html>
>
>Oh, great reading, Blake! Laughed myself silly over that one. Mona is an
>example to us all.
>
>Felice
>

there was a lot of back-and-forth on that one. apparently she, um,
struck a chord with many people. others thought she should have been
clapped in irons.

your pal,
blake

On Thu, 22 May 2008 14:37:20 -0400, George >
wrote:

>blake murphy wrote:
>> On Wed, 21 May 2008 11:03:53 -0400, "Felice" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> "George" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>
>>>> I think this is accurate:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michi...t=newsmichigan
>>> A must-read for Comcast survivors. And this excerpt is a must-read for Andy:
>>>
>>> "Comcast, whose service so infuriated a Virginia grandmother she took a
>>> hammer to a local Comcast office ,,,"
>>>
>>> Felice
>>>
>>
>> the saga was fully covered in the *washington post*:
>>
>> Sometimes truly American virtues arise in outlaws who -- by dint of
>> heroic but questionable endeavors -- display the mettle of the
>> national character.
>>
>> For instance: The Dillinger Gang, robbing banks (and destroying
>> mortgages) when banks were foreclosing on the poor. Stephanie St.
>> Clair, matron of the numbers racket during the Harlem Renaissance,
>> striking a (dubious) blow for both gender and racial equality. Junior
>> Johnson bootlegging liquor during Prohibition (the benefits of which
>> were self-evident).
>>
>> Fear not, fellow Americans! In these dark days of war, pestilence and
>> Paris Hilton, a new hero has arisen. She is none other than
>> 75-year-old Mona "The Hammer" Shaw, who took the aforementioned
>> implement to her local Comcast office in Manassas to settle a score,
>> and boy, did she!
>>
>> (more at:
>>
>> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html>
>> )
>>
>> your pal,
>> blake
>
>Comcast is actually prepared for attacks. This was previously an
>adelphia area. After that family looted the company they declared
>bankruptcy and Comcast bought part of it. When adelphia operated it the
>local office was a normal office with service counters just like any
>other office. You could bring stuff back or pick stuff up by going to
>the counter and the person there would either hand you the item or take
>the one you brought back.
>
>A few months after Comcast took over they remodeled the office. You now
>walk into a small brightly lit hallway that has a think, bulletproof
>glass wall. There are cameras all over. They have large steel sliding
>drawers with flaps. You put the item in the drawer and the person on the
>other side of the bulletproof wall pulls the drawer into their side to
>retrieve the item and vice versa if they give you something.
>
>You actually wonder what image this company is trying to project. I
>asked about it and the customer service person said a lot of people ask
>that but it is their standard office setup.

sounds like a ghetto liquor store.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy wrote:

>
>
> my favorite is 'you may have to re-install your
> browser/email/operating system.' um, no, i don't think so.
>
> usually when i have problems (other than access problems), i just
> search with google or google groups.
>

I have occasionally problems with my news group provider. I send them email and
they tell me to check my settings. I write back and tell them everything was
working until a certain time. They write back and ask for particulars about the
problem. Then they say they are unaware of any problems in the system. Then all of
a sudden everything gets caught up and starts working again without me making any
changes.

blake murphy wrote:

> there was a lot of back-and-forth on that one. apparently she, um,
> struck a chord with many people. others thought she should have been
> clapped in irons.
>
> your pal,
> blake


I'd say she struck more than that! When I had my own three days of
Comcast service outage, if I'd been asked, I think I would have joined
her. Desperate times require desperate measures.

You go, Mona girl!!!

gloria p