In case you missed my rants about Globat, it started here.

After my email confirmation with Edward Gaa, their VP of Sales and Marketing, AND a conversation over the phone with their customer service rep, that they will no longer have me on this rediculous opt-out list, I felt this was finally resolved.

But I noticed a new link in the administration screen of my account that would let me opt-out of their mailing programs. Sure enough, it showed that I was still on ALL 4 of their mailing lists.  What a joke.  No matter.  I calmly clicked on all 4 choices and opted out of all of them.  Nice.  Problem solved.  So I thought.

Keep reading. Yes, it’s hard to believe, but after all the complaints, changing the settings on their website, and calls I’ve gone through over the last year with Globat, they have the balls to send me yet another opt-out upgrade program for $49.95 for an online website WYSIWYG editor that I would never use in a million years.

But this time, it comes with the following message:

= = = Important: This Is an Automatic Upgrade = = =

Since we began our upgrade program, we have received lots of feedback from our customers who only heard about these upgrade promotions too late or through a friend. Many customers then suggested that we utilize an automatic upgrade process along with some form of an additional incentive to initiate these upgrades. Well, we have listened to your feedback and we are acting on it!

It’s impossible, I know. They are actually trying to convince me that their customers are knocking down their doors for this opt-out automatic upgrade program that they continue to use to rip off their customers.  Is this not illegal?!  If not, it should be.

To me, this is like a robber, trying to convice me that other people convinced him that we all wanted to be robbed. It’s so disingenuous on so many levels, I don’t even know where to start.

First off, let’s see those feedbacks from customers who wanted this feature. I want to see them. All of them. With the names of the people and their email addresses. Oh, you don’t have it available? No, kidding.

Hey! But what about those settings I set in my online account with Globat? What happened? Take a look.

WTF!!!??? As you can see, somehow ONLY the “Marketing E-mails” and “Automatic Upgrade Program” opt-out boxes are no longer checked. Isn’t that just amazingly convenient that just those 2 options are now checked off.

It would have been a little less creepy if all the 4 boxes were checked off. Then, I might have thought their database “accidentally” got cleared out. But when only the top 2 are checked off, then I know it was on purpose. Bastards. I hate them. I hate them with a passion.

No, it didn’t cost me anything (this time). Yes, it was just a few minutes of my time to read the stupid email and opt-out of the useless upgrades for $49.95. But that’s not the point.

The point is, Globat is ripping their customers off and I’m sure many of them don’t even know it,  Moreover, they have no understanding of what customer service is about.

Well, I’ve already opened a new account at 1and1.com. I have until May to move all my data over. It’s a lot of work to move.  But there’s no way in hell I’m giving Globat another penny. Not one penny. That would be rewarding them for running their business so badly.  And I surely don’t want to do that.

Have you ever lost your cell phone and lost all your contact information?  This seems to happen to a lot of people.

Verizon Wireless has an auto backup feature that is free.  No, they don’t go out of their way to tell you about it, but it’s been there for years.

Before you start, you must already have a “Get It Now” enabled phone from Verizon.  If you don’t have a compatible phone, you are SOL and it’s time to updated your phone.  If you’re not sure, you can go to verizonwireless.com to find out or call them.

So now, to get the backup feature for free, go to verizonwireless.com and create an account.  To do this, you will need your Verizon account information.  Next, login to your account.  Click on “Tools and Applications.”  At the pull down menu, select your phone.  To the right of that pull down, there’s another pull down labled “Jump To.”  Select “Business/Tools.”

Now, look for “Backup Assistant.”  Click on the link.  There will be a message there explaining that it costs $1.99 per month.  If you read the entire text, it tells you that if you are a “My Account” customer, the fee is waved and so it’s FREE!

Other than having your contacts automatically backed up, you also have access to the information via your Verizon account online.  Also, when you get a new phone, you don’t have to go down to the local office to have the numbers transfered for you.  You can do it yourself by using the restore feature on your new phone.  You can even “restore” a number that you have accidentally deleted from you phone.

If you’re a Verizon customer and you aren’t using this free feature, you should sign up right now.  Otherwise, you really shouldn’t even be reading this blog.

As Ashley “Kristen” Dupre brings down NY Governer Spitzer, she’s also going the way of Devine Brown by using her 15 minutes to jump start her music career.  Reports are that her first single has been downloaded 3 million times, and her second single, “Move Ya Body” moved up to a maximum 98 cents on AmieStreet.com. She’s got a music video out already to promote her music.

Larry Flynt is reported to have offered $1 million for Dupre to pose naked.  Dupre could “prostitute” herself and take up his offer or wait longer to cash in from Penhouse or even Playboy.  Better yet, she could have a reality show about her budding music career, or NY escorting.  The later would certainly be a big hit.  I’d watch it.

While looking for pictures of Dupre, I found some on the New York Post website.  They have pictures of Dupre, her family, and a few sexy pictures of her as well.  During my search, I came across chickipedia.com which has a few picture of Dupre also.

Chickipedia is exactly what you think it is.  It’s wikipedia, but for hot chicks.  Their database contains over 2,400 chicks and over 24,000 images of chicks.  For the most part, it’s pretty cool but they do have the exact same problems as wikipedia with clowns putting in erroneous information.  One example is Alicia Keys’ hips being listed as 51 inches.  Come on now.

One technically cool AJAX code they use is as you’re typing your text in the search box, it will show a list of matching names.  However, as far as I can tell, there’s no way to sort the database by, let’s say, largest breast to smallest.  You can find a list of everyone with a specific breast size, or height, but no sorting.  It really doesn’t matter because the physical size information doesn’t seem to be all that accurate anyway.  And yes, Jenna Jameson is there, but no hardcore stuff.

They also have videos of your favorite hotties.  Their cover page currently features Olivia Munn, who is the co-hostess of “Attach of the Show” on G4 TV.  Technology and hot girls.  My favorite combination.

After being charged for an upgrade that I didn’t want, I emailed globat and Edward to complain about it, and got the following email from globat:

Dear Valued client,

Thank you for contacting Globat.com.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Please be advised that the upgrade was already canceled and refund will be to post within 48-72 hours. Thank you for your patience.

Should you have any further billing questions, please do not hesitate to email us at billingdesk@globat.com.

Regards,

Lailani
Globat Billing Support
www.Globat.com Web Hosting Made Easy®

I really like the “Dear Valued client” opening to this email. It’s a step above “Dear Sucker.”  We’ll see if the refund really comes or not.  I see exactly what globat CEO Ben Neumann is talking about when he says “customer service is the most important factor influencing your success.”  How true his words are.

I’ve already found an alternate hosting company called 1and1.com which has the same features that I need.  Unfortunately, my godaddy.com account doesn’t have what I need.  Otherwise, it would be even easier to switch.

They finally did it.

After complaints, emails, and calls telling this company that I want to be taken off their opt-out list, they finally automatically upgraded me to a hosting account that I don’t want or need, and charged my credit card $49.95.

In case you missed my previous complaints, see nightmare part 3.

Edward from globat had previously contacted me via email regarding this blog and offered to take me out for a drink to talk about it.  I declined but I guess I should have taken him up on it if that’s what it takes to save myself $49.95.

I love the way this email starts.  “Congratulation!”  Yeah.  More like congratulation to globat for stealing $49.95 from me.  And the closing: “We appreciate your business.”  What a joke.

Even after the last time they tried this, I was still willing to give them another chance and keep my account.  But this is clearly the last straw.  It will be a pain in the ass to move my account but I’m not going to take this sitting down.  Bye globat.

Congratulation! As per our previous notices, today we have upgraded your hosting account for [domain redacted] to the new TeraByte Ultra Plus(tm) plan and processed your invoice 3860032 in the amount of $49.95 through your credit card account on file.

You now have the best Web hosting package we’ve ever offered! You have also qualified to receive three free months of Web hosting. To claim your free months please go to:

https://order.globat.com/newOrder/nop_givemonth.pl?m=[actual link redacted]

and enter the following coupon code

FREEMONTH

into the field provided. Then hit the “Add My Free Months” button. Upon completion of this step, your free months will automatically be added to your current account renewal date and you can view your next renewal date at:

https://login.globat.com/cp2/account.php

or view your receipt for this transaction at:

https://login.globat.com/cp2/account.php?page=invoices

using your GCC (Globat Command Console) username and password.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this transaction, please contact us at anytime by e-mail at tsupgrade1@globat.com or call us between the hours of 7:00am and 5:30pm PST at

(323) 874-9000 Option #2

We appreciate your business.

Regards,

Edward Gaa
VP of Sales and Marketing
Globat.com
(323) 874-9000 Option #2

According to gotoquiz.com, Cochinoman looks like a Democrat. 

73% Hillary Clinton
71% Barack Obama
69% Rudy Giuliani
69% Chris Dodd
68% John Edwards
68% Bill Richardson
63% John McCain
62% Joe Biden
57% Mike Gravel
56% Dennis Kucinich
56% Mitt Romney
53% Mike Huckabee
43% Fred Thompson
37% Tom Tancredo
30% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Computer users don’t seem to be flocking to switch from Windows XP to Vista.

There are a lot of reasons for this.  It’s slower.  It has none of the big promised new features.  It’s not compatible to some of the biggest software applications.  Many hardware drivers don’t work.  Hardcore games that work on XP crash and freeze.

Other than that, it’s apparently great.  Especially the new Aero GUI that looks fantastic.

Oh. And one more thing.  When you’re installing your new legit copy of Vista, you get this error mesage, basically accusing you of stealing Vista.  Nice.

In reality, this is just a trick to get you to register your copy of Vista online.  But why make it sound like there’s something wrong with your computer.  Does Microsoft want even more people to call their customer service line?  Microsoft is on it’s way to being the next IBM.

Most people have seen these automated checkout machines at their local grocery store.  This one pictured is called “U-SCAN” and is at my local 24 hours Ralphs.  I love that it’s open 24 hours, and it’s also right next to a Best Buy.  Perfect.

If you’ve never seen one, it’s basically a bunch of checkout stands that the customer can operate on their own.  You scan your items over the bar code reader, the same way that the “professional” cashier does it.

You use the touch screen (shown here) and follow the instructions, including using your credit card, ATM card or cash.  You can even use coupons.  Of course, there’s a employee watching to make sure you don’t cheat and put stuff into your bag without scanning them.  I’m sure some people have figured out how to cheat this setup but for me, I use it because it’s fast.

Today, I noticed yet another Windows XP pop-up message on this particular checkout machine.  This one was closed for obvious reasons.

Click on the picture to see a close up of the error message.  It’s kind of a weird one (hope the hard drive is okay), and not as cool as the “blue screen of death,” but still worth this post to remind all of us how nicely Windows XP works for imbedded applications like this.

Since we are officially in the Christmas shopping season, I though I’d share my shopping pictures with everyone.

During my trip to the Westside Pavilion, I noticed that one of the plasma driven advertisement had a pop-up window on it so I took this picture.

It looks like the computer is on Windows XP and it got disconnected from the Internet or something.  Something else that I noticed was that although there was another plasma on the other side, they must have been connected to different computers because the same error didn’t show up on the other screen.

To me, this seems like overkill.  Why can’t one computer drive 2 screens.  I don’t understand why they need 2 computers to drive 2 screens that are back to back.  Maybe they have too much money and not enough engineers.

I assume new ads are being downloaded via the Internet to these ad displays, so if this one is disconnected, I guess it’s showing the same banner.  Hopefully, they have some type of watchdog process that will send a message to them telling them of the error… oh, they’re disconnected.  Well, maybe a watchdog process on the server side.

Here’s a bigger picture of the error pop-up screen in case you’re a hacker and want to see the IP address.

It’s not as cool as those monster sized billboards with the “blue screen of death,” but it’s still fun to see that Windows is being used even for a simple application like this.  I just don’t understand why imbedded applications like this don’t use Linux.

At least we’re one step closer to living in the world of the “Blade Runner.”  More ads like this with video all over the city and we’re there.

In a past blog entry, I mentioned seeing Steve Case’ Flexcar.com being advertised on the bus in Los Angeles. Well, now I’ve seen it actually in the wild in downtown Los Angeles in the parking structure at 333 Alameda.  At this location, there were 2 cars (Mini and Toyota?) and some signs promoting the service.  In Los Angeles, it’s $5 per hour to use these cars, and that includes insurance.  Not a bad deal for students who need to use a car for a couple of hours.

One thing I didn’t realize before was that the cars have a prominent logo on the doors, so if you’re a college student wanting to trick some girl into thinking you have a car, foget it.

On the window of the Mini, there was an ID number and some type of electronic device that looked very interesting.  It seems to indicate that there’s some type of wireless remote device to activate the car.  Maybe all members have one and it’s somehow matched with the ID number via the website.

You can click on the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the pictures.