Having a tornado demolish her home was bad enough. But when Ann Beam received a $2,000 cable bill a few weeks later, she was floored. “I just couldn’t believe it,” Beam said. “I was like, ‘What are they thinking?’”

Time Warner Cable billed a number of Wheatland residents for equipment destroyed in the Jan. 7 twister that struck the southeast corner of the state. Beam’s bill covered five cable boxes and five remote controls.

She immediately called the cable company, but a man who identified himself as a manager said there was nothing the company could do.

Tornado victim billed for cable devices - Yahoo! News

I am not sure what’s odder in this story.  That the person in question had 5 cable boxes or that they are $400 dollars each.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: WhenBureaucracyAttacks, WTF?, TimeWarner

Apple has postponed the release of the Apple TV software update by a week or two, saying it needed more time to finish the upgrade that would let people rent movies directly from their televisions.

In delaying the Apple TV upgrade, the company said the software wasn’t quite finished. “Apple now plans to make the free software download available to existing Apple TV customers in another week or two,” the company said in a statement. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had said during his Macworld keynote that the software would be ready by the end of January.

Apple Delays Apple TV Software Update — Apple — InformationWeek

Blogged with Flock

Tags: DamnYouApple!, IWantMyATV, Apple, AppleTV

The wireless data network operated by AT&T Mobility had returned to service for most customers by Thursday afternoon, a company spokeswoman said, and should be working for the rest of the customers by evening.

“Service for our Edge and 3G networks was disrupted for customers in the Midwest and Southeast, but our technicians have begun to restore service,” said Meghan Roskopf, an AT&T spokeswoman.

Cause of the outage, which was discovered about 5:30 a.m. Central Standard Time, is still unknown, she said.

AT&T says Edge data network is back up — chicagotribune.com

Blogged with Flock

Tags: AT&T, Edge, Noooo!, MyiPhoneIsBroken!

Large swathes of Asia, the Middle East and north Africa had their high-technology services crippled Thursday following a widespread Internet failure which brought many businesses to a standstill and left others struggling to cope.

Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparently caused by a cut undersea cable.One major telecommunications provider blamed the outage, which started Wednesday, on a major undersea cable failure in the Mediterranean.

India’s Internet bandwidth has been sliced in half, The Associated Press reported, leaving its lucrative outsourcing industry trying to reroute traffic to satellites and other cables through Asia.

Reports say that Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain are also experiencing severe problems.Nations that have been spared the chaos include Israel — whose traffic uses a different route — and Lebanon and Iraq. Many Middle East governments have backup satellite systems in case of cable failure.

Internet failure hits two continents - CNN.com

Blogged with Flock

Tags: Internet, Nooooo!

The way people interact with computers is going to dramatically change in the next five years, Microsoft chief Bill Gates has told BBC News.

He predicted that the keyboard and mouse would gradually give way to more intuitive and natural technologies.

In particular, he said, touch, vision and speech interfaces would become increasingly important.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Gates hails age of digital senses

Blogged with Flock

Tags: Microsoft, Bill Gates, YeahOnAMac

U.S. video game industry sales growth is expected to slow in 2008 as accelerated demand for software is tempered by a decline in hardware revenue, the Consumer Electronics Association said on Saturday.

Overall U.S. industry sales are seen rising to $17.9 billion in 2008, up 13 percent from an estimated $15.8 billion in 2007, the CEA said. That compares with a 22 percent increase from 2006 to 2007.

U.S. video game industry growth seen slowing: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Blogged with Flock

Tags: VideoGames

New Hampshire GOP withdraws support from Fox News debate for excluding candidates, such as Internet favorite Ron Paul.  This is despite a strong showing in Iowa and record fundraising last quarter.  Dr. Paul is best known for his large Internet following.

The NH GOP released the following statement on their website.

“The first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary serves a national purpose by giving all candidates an equal opportunity on a level playing field. Only in New Hampshire do lesser known, lesser funded underdogs have a fighting chance to establish themselves as national figures. Consistent with that tradition, we believe all recognized major candidates should have an equal opportunity to participate in pre-primary debates and forums.

“This principle applies to tonight’s debates on ABC as well as Sunday’s planned forum on FOX. The New Hampshire Republican Party believes Congressmen Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter should be included in the FOX forum on Sunday evening. Our mutual efforts to resolve this difference have failed.”

“While we understand that FOX News continues to move forward it is with regret, the New Hampshire Republican Party hereby withdraws as a partner in this forum.”

New Hampshire Republican State Committee - Home - NH REPUBLICAN PARTY WITHDRAWS AS FOX FORUM PARTNER

Blogged with Flock

Tags: Election2008, GOP

CES 2008 runs all this week from Las Vegas. If you can’t be at CES this year, then follow the action online.

CES 2008 Coverage at Engadget
Veronica Belmont’s Daily Coverage
Official Audio and Video Podcasts
Official Blog of CES 2008
CES on the (You)Tube

Blogged with Flock

Tags: CES2008

A new battery/case product to extend your iPhone’s battery life will be shipping in a few weeks.  The unit will set you back around $100.

The Juice Pack is a colorful soft-grip case for cushioning and improving the gripability of your iPhone. Inside, there’s a rechargeable lithium-ion battery capable of providing enough juice for an additional 250 hours of standby time, 24 hours of audio playback or seven hours of video. Upshot: Go ahead and take the iPhone with you on your next camping trip.

iPhone Case Includes Battery Extender | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

Blogged with Flock

Tags: iphone, batteries

Microsoft admits to having some trouble over the holidays with Xbox Live, the online service it offers for users of its Xbox 360 video game console. To make amends the company will offer Xbox Live users a free game from Xbox Live Arcade.

In a statement posted to the service, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten said that the problems with Xbox Live downtime were caused by an influx of new users who had gotten an Xbox 360 over the holidays. It’s been a record-setting season for Xbox Live.

PC World - Microsoft Offers Free Game for Xbox Live Holiday problems

Blogged with Flock

Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live