I’ll focus on just one bakery item at BJ’s, but our investigation indicates that this is a common practice in their bakery department.

Pita bread. Specifically Joseph’s Bakery “Original” Pita Bread, UPC code 0 74117 12121 7 . Love the stuff. But how fresh is it, really? The wrapper proclaims FRESH, AUTHENTIC, HEALTHY, yet we have consistently noticed the production date on the wrapper to typically be one or two months prior to the purchase date. For example, one recent purchase was produced on July 15th, 2025 (production code 25-196), yet the (store-affixed?) label says 09/02/25, which is exactly seven weeks after it was baked. Not exactly what we would consider “fresh”.

Further investigation confirmed that BJ’s gets the pita bread, as well as many of their other bakery items that seem to be fresh, shipped to them frozen. They thaw (or sometimes partially thaw) the items prior to offering them for sale. Nowhere in the Club, and nowhere on the items, have we ever seen anything to indicate that the products were previously frozen. Quite to the contrary, as is in the case with the pita bread, it specifically says FRESH. Is this misleading? We think so. Does it violate the law? We don’t know. It might depend on where it is offered for sale. With other foods, and we are thinking about things like fish, it looks like Federal regulations require a disclaimer such as “previously frozen” on the label.

It just seems to be misleading to us. We don’t mind buying a food item that was handled safely and is still wholesome, but just be honest with your customers. The situation strikes us as being a sin of omission, BJ’s style.

So please, BJ’s and everyone else, come clean and tell your customers when fresh doesn’t necessarily mean fresh. The following definitions come directly from the FDA’s website…

Frozen: Frozen foods should be prominently labeled as “frozen.” This deters deceptive practices such as thawing frozen foods and offering them as “fresh.” It also serves to “flag” goods as requiring freezer storage.

Frozen Fresh: Foods which were quickly frozen while still fresh may be labeled “frozen fresh” or “fresh frozen.”

So, it would seem to us that this practice violates FDA rules, since the pita bread is not labeled FROZEN, FROZEN FRESH, FRESH FROZEN, or as we would prefer, PREVIOUSLY FROZEN. Indeed, it is labeled FRESH.

Don’t get us started on items that retailers sell, claiming to be BAKED FRESH DAILY, but which come to the store as raw, frozen products, that are merely thawed and baked on-premises, rather than being made from scratch, or even made from a prepared mix. How about labeling items “baked fresh using prepared, frozen product”. Not as appealing, I guess.

Maybe this story would have had a different ending if we ate there and complained, but we brought our order home.

We are going to concentrate this post on what was supposed to be the fried pickles… at least I think that’s what they were supposed to be.

What we got was beyond disgusting.  Totally inedible, dessicated, brittle, hollow, greasy, dark little hockey pucks, about the size of a quarter, that were empty shells.  Where there was once a pickle slice was now only a void with a dried up hint of what previously occupied the space.

These little charcoal briquettes (and I believe there were only six of them, which was a blessing in disguise) broke into carbonized greasy crumbs when handled.

What century were these things prepared in?  How long were they fried for?  We should have submitted them for carbon-14 dating before throwing them in the trash.  How could anyone with the gift of sight and a conscience have sold these abominations to a customer?   Is there ANY quality control, common sense or supervision at KFC franchises?  Does anyone even care? How could a Manager who was not comatose allow this to pass as acceptable.  Is there even a Manager? And if the fried pickles could be this bad, we wonder what other nightmares are lurking behind the counter.

As if to add insult to injury, the charcoal briquettes were provided in a container meant  for chicken nuggets. We received no dipping sauce, despite our receipt showing the order included “Comeback sauce”. But that really didn’t matter, since we had nothing to dip. Just a complete disaster, in every respect. You couldn’t screw things up more if you tried. Maybe they should call it “don’t comeback” sauce.

Don’t worry… We won’t.

So, Colonel Sanders and Yum Brands, you’ve lost a customer, who, to be honest, always had reservations about the quality and value of the food you dish out.  Perhaps our gall bladder and cardiac arteries are better off now.

As for the comeback that KFC and parent Yum Brands is attempting, with promotions and new menu items to reverse declining sales, its sort of like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  It won’t make a difference.

In summary, there was no Comeback sauce, and we doubt that KFC will make a come back, either. Quite the shame. An iconic American brand being run into the ground because nobody seems to be minding the store, or understanding why their brand is dying, in our opinion.

Rest in peace, Colonel.

We’ve read reports that the Colonel is looking more serious as of late. I think I know why The Colonel isn’t smiling any more. Probably for the same reason Yum Brands’ investors aren’t smiling.

Oh, and one last thing… Colonel Harland Sanders did indeed serve in the U.S. Army, but he never rose above the rank of Private. “Colonel” was an honorary title. I guess Private Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken doesn’t sound nearly as impressive.

Have you recently purchased a new cellphone ? Perhaps a shiny new Samsung Galaxy phone, running Android 15 ? My shiny new Samsung Galaxy A16 5G (2025) still had that new cellphone smell, but I was ready to return it to sender, because it’s Wi-Fi wasn’t working. More specifically, it wouldn’t see any available networks unless you were standing right next to a router or access point. It seemed to be as deaf as my dearly departed stepfather. Yet, phone calls and Gigabytes of cellular data were flawless.

All my other devices saw tons of networks, both mine and my neighbors, and I suspect even from a hotspot on the orbiting International Space Station, but my cute new Samsung A16 would have none of it. Several calls to Samsung’s crack support team were an exercise in frustration. At least I wasn’t suffering in silence, because I found other unhappy campers posting their frustrations while sitting around the campfire at Camp Samsung, who were suffering along with me. Misery loves company.

Some of the unhappy campers were blaming their problems on recently upgrading from Android 14 to 15, or on upgrading the Samsung One UI from version 6 to 7. I speculated that all Galaxy A16s might have a hardware issue affecting Wi-Fi range. While I have oodles of experience with cellphones, Wi-Fi and networks of all pedigrees, this was my first Samsung phone. While my lactose intolerance takes some of the fun out of enjoying VANILLA ICE CREAM, my first encounter with this flavor of Android was causing stomach pain of it’s own.

It now appears that the loss of Wi-Fi connectivity was indeed caused by a software update pushed out to phones by Samsung. The fact that two calls to Samsung technical support could not correct, or even identify the cause is disappointing, to say the least. I suspect this issue is or will impact many, many Samsung phones, unless to is addressed in a future software update.

I wear a lot of hats, professionally, and on my days off . So, I reached for my network administrator’s hat and dug in, prepared for a late-night debugging session. This recalcitrant microwave miscreant was about to meet it’s match. I like a good challenge, and Samsung threw down the gauntlet, so to speak. I was up to the challenge. Fun fact: Your microwave oven and the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band operate at the same frequencies. The difference is that you don’t place your microwave oven against your head and turn it on for half of the day, every day. Food for thought, when deciding if you should put that call on speakerphone.

Since I doubt you have as much free time on your hands as I do, here’s the executive briefing on how I solved my Samsung Galaxy A16 5G (2025)’s Wi-Fi issue. Buyer beware… The settings menus might be somewhat different on other phones, or on different versions or updates of Android, or on other Android devices;

Go to SETTINGS

Select CONNECTIONS

Select Wi-Fi  (tap on the word, not on the on/off button)

Tap on the three dots in top right corner of screen

Select INTELLIGENT Wi-Fi

Select CONNECTIVITY LABS at bottom of page

(Please note: If CONNECTIVITY LABS is not showing immediately below INTELLIGENT Wi-Fi, tap on INTELLIGENT WIFI 7 times in rapid succession, and the hidden Labs option should be displayed. If so, go ahead and select CONNECTIVITY LABS.)

Scroll down and select. CUSTOMIZE Wi-Fi LIST SETTINGS

For RSSI FILTER*, slide selector all the way to the right (for show more)

(*RSSI = Received Signal Strength Indicator)

Below that, turn on USE FILTER MENU as well as SHOW BAND INFO

Below that, change SORT BY to RSSI

Your love of Wi-Fi might increase if you also change the following setting:

Go back one screen, to CONNECTIVITY LABS

Scroll down to, then select Wi-Fi DEVELOPER OPTIONS

Select CHANGE SCAN INTERVAL

Select OFTEN

Now, exit out of settings, check your available networks, and feel the love.

You should now see all but the weakest networks listed when you go into CONNECTIONS, then Wi-Fi. It seems that the Intelligent Wi-Fi RSSI FILTER was hiding all but the strongest signals. Sort of like wearing earplugs when you are using a leaf blower.

If this helped you, just call me your Android Advisor. Your Samsung Savior. Your Microwave Mench. Your Settings Savant. Your Wi-Fi Wonder Boy. Your Networking Know-It-All. Your Cellphone Companion. Your Frustration Fighter. Your Galaxy Guru.

As I said, I wear a lot of hats.

Also, if this information helped you, and you think it might be useful to other Samsung cellphone users, please link to this blog entry on YOUR blog, website, on forums or social media, etc , so that search engines will be more likely to show it in search results.

Corelle Vitrelle was the perfect product. American made, extremely durable, and a marvel of material science, it was the embodiment of affordable, understated elegance, practicality and simplicity. Brought to you by the same folks that gave you Pyrex glassware, CorningWare and Visions cookware. It was an American classic, coming to a kitchen near you straight from Corning, New York, USA. Here’s a scientific explanation as to why the classic three-layer Corelle plates are as indestructable as they are, thanks to The Corning Museum of Glass. And here’s a Youtube video of the Corelle production line at Corning.

Even when we weren’t shopping for glassware or dinnerware, we would always stop to look at the flip side of dinnerware on display at whatever store we found ourselves at, just to see where a product was made. It was so reassuring to always find MADE IN USA on the bottom of Corelle products, when almost no other plates or bowls were made here. Even “That Internet Guy” sang the praises of his made-in-USA Corelle dinnerware on his YouTube channel!

But from the never-say-never school of thought, and in the interest of full disclosure, this can be the result of dropping a Corelle plate.

Well, it’s time to publish an obituary for another American classic. We recently began seeing Corelle products labeled MADE IN CHINA. Is nothing sacred?

It is unclear to us whether most Corelle products are made here or in China these days. Within the last few years, there were news reports that their Corning, New York plant was being modernized. On the other hand, the Corningware factory store in Corning, New York was reportedly closed in January, 2022.

This excellent 2014 “Built In America” video takes you inside the Corning, New York factory where all Corelle products were manufactured, before production was moved to China. As one of the employees in the video proudly states, “It’s sold worldwide, but every piece of Corelle comes out of Corning [New York]”. Sadly, that is no longer true. We wonder what the dedicated workers in the video are doing today. If you are in the market for Corelle dinnerware, we suggest you look closely at where it was made, before making your purchase. As Sy Sims used to say, “An educated consumer is our best customer”.

To add insult to injury, we noticed that the warranty on the made-in-China Corelle dinnerware (or what it’s manufacturer refers to as “livingware”), has been reduced to only one year. Perhaps a tacit acknowledgment that it is not as durable as it once was?

We understandably go crazy over a Chinese balloon, whether of the weather or spy variety, being spotted flying 50,000 feet over America, yet China has all but taken over the United States, one consumer product at a time. If you flipped a switch that made all Chinese goods magically disappear from America, store shelves would be bare, you would be naked and starving, and the computer we are writing this blog post on (and probably the device you are reading it on) would disappear. Welcome to The People’s Republic of America.

You have much more to worry about than whether TikTok is installed on your Chinese-made cellphone.

At Routing By Rumor’s world headquarters, we use a lot of alkaline batteries. We’re pretty fussy about quality, and until recently, our battery of choice was Duracell. We were willing to pay a premium for a high-quality, dependable product that creates jobs for Americans. That’s until recently.

We read labels. Lots of labels. So, we were more than a little upset when we started noticing that Duracell battery packaging no longer said Made In USA or Assembled In USA, but rather referred you to the country of origin on the batteries themselves. Surely Duracell isn’t hiding something, are they? Does “The Oracle of Omaha” know about this? (Duracell has been owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 2016.)

Try as we might, we could not make out any country of origin info on the batteries while they were sealed in their retail packaging, despite the crystal clear plastic tray they came packed in. So, we purchased the pack of Duracell AA batteries, hoping for the best. Big mistake.

Even after we removed the cells from the packaging, we still could not find anything that indicated their country of origin. Bright lighting and a magnifying glass gave us the unfortunate answer we were afraid of, “MADE IN CHINA”, as well as some Chinese characters, printed in 2-point type, in dark grey on a black background. So, perhaps they ARE trying to hide the fact that they have moved production, at least for (some of ?) the cells they are selling in the USA, to China. Why the dark grey, nearly invisible, two-point type? The rest of the wording on the cells is printed in a larger font, IN WHITE INK!

If Duracell is concerned that consumers will refuse to purchase batteries that say MADE IN CHINA, we think their fears are justified . They have lost at least one loyal customer. One that always thought that Warren Buffett was a genius.

Now, these Chinese-made batteries may be just as good a product as the previous Duracell batteries we’ve insisted on for years, but we will have no part of it. In our mind, they have cheapened an iconic brand, shipped American jobs overseas, and underestimated their loyal customers’ outrage. We fear that another American institution has bitten the dust. Shot down like so many spy balloons.

We feel betrayed. We feel like fools, for decades of supporting a brand that has apparently placed quick profits over American jobs, brand loyalty and long-term value.

I think the rabbit died.

…and while we’re on the subject of how to destroy iconic American brands, we’ll be blogging about what happened when we went shopping for another American classic, Corelle dinnerware, recently. Is nothing sacred? Stay tuned.

Question #1… If George Santos says he is telling the truth, should you believe him ?

Question #2… If George Santos says he is lying, should you believe him ?

If you are breathing a sigh of relief, now that the United States Air Force has shot down that Chinese spy balloon that had the nation transfixed for the past week, I have bad news for you.

Our nation has been invaded by millions more Chinese balloons, and they’ve been here for years. They’re everywhere. In plain sight. Walmart. Amazon. Your local dollar store. Everywhere. Just try to buy a bag of balloons for your kid’s next party that aren’t made in China. Go ahead. Try.

Planning on celebrating next July 4th with fireworks? What could be more American than a fireworks show. Guess where those fire crackers, bottle rockets and sparklers come from. China.

Worried about TikTok? Well then, you’d better start worrying about your cellphones, televisions, the shoes on your feet, your clothes on your back, the raw ingredients used to make your pharmaceuticals, the COVID masks you’re wearing to protect you from the Chinese virus (thanks, Mr. Trump), the parts your cars are built from, even the pumpkin seeds you top your salad with. It’s all coming from China. China leads the World in the production of chemicals. Chances are that the packets of artificial sweetener you added to your coffee this morning contained Chinese-made chemicals. Even those hard-to-find products that say “Made In USA” usually contain a substantial percentage of Chinese materials.

Just look what happened to the supply chain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We couldn’t bring the containerships packed with Chinese-made goods to the United States fast enough. There weren’t enough cargo containers, container ships or ports-of-call to accommodate the volume of goods we were buying from China.

Personally, and as a nation, we long ago surrendered and capitulated to Mainland China, when we gave up on trying to buy only American-made clothing and shoes. Had we not caved in, we would be walking around naked and barefoot today.

So, the concern about a single Chinese balloon, spy or otherwise, might make for great headlines, but the fact is that China has successfully invaded the United States without firing a single shot, and we welcomed them with open wallets. Besides, they can gather much more intelligence using Google Earth, than their over-inflated party balloon will ever provide.

The Chinese Are Coming ?

The Chinese Are Here.

Is Target Corporation targeting your personal data ? Will a data breach make you a victim of identity theft ? (image linked from angrywhiteboy.org)

You might have found this article after asking…

Why did Target scan my drivers license, or

Why did Target swipe my drivers license, or

Is Target collecting personal information from my drivers license, or

What is the Target stores ID policy, and what if I refuse to give them my drivers license,  or

Did a jury award  South Carolina Target shopper Rita Cantrell $3.1 million in a libel case, after she was wrongly accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at Target ?

Maybe Eric Arthur Blair was right (you’ll probably know who he was, even if you don’t recognize his name).

We very rarely shop at Target, but happened to find ourselves in a Target store recently.  While our order was being scanned at the register, even before we decided how we would pay, the cashier asked for our drivers license.  When asked why they needed to see our drivers license, they told us that it was because we were buying a package of over-the-counter cold medicine.  Since we are closer to retirement age than we are to the age of majority, we can’t remember the last time a clerk or cashier “proofed” us.  But since we want to do our part to make sure that no minors can get relief from their cold or flu symptoms, we graciously handed the cashier our license.  We quickly regretted complying with their request, when, to our horror, the cashier scanned the barcode on our license with their barcode reader, before we realized what they were doing, and before we had a chance to stop them.  It is worth noting that the last time I checked, this was still America, and there was absolutely no legal requirement for a retailer to scan or swipe your drivers license, or any other form of ID when purchasing medications, alcoholic beverages, etc.  Target appears to have adopted this misguided policy to protect themselves, and to possibly make their job easier (but at your expense).  What’s next ?  Scanning a barcode tattooed on your forehead by the State, or scanning you for the mandatory RFID chip implanted under your skin at birth ?

It seems to us that Target might be capturing at least some the information embedded in the barcode of your drivers license.  If not, then simply having the cashier confirm the date of birth printed on the license would suffice, and scanning the license would serve no purpose.   This makes us wonder what they might be doing with the data.  How long are they retaining the data ?  Do they sell the data, or use it for marketing purposes ?  Will they provide the data to the government, either voluntarily or in response to a subpoena or a National Security Letter ?

As (now very wealthy) South Carolina Target shopper Rita Cantrell can attest, Target can’t distinguish real currency from counterfeit.  Likewise,  we have little confidence that their employees, POS scanners or computer systems would be able to tell a fake drivers license barcode from the real thing.

Are you wondering what information Target (and other retailers) can capture from your drivers license barcode, in this post-9/11, “Homeland Security” driven world ?  The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (aamva.org) publishes the standards that the individual states follow when designing their drivers licenses.  This AAMVA document (in .PDF format) lists 22 mandatory and 23 optional data elements that are encoded into the PDF417 barcode that is used on U.S. drivers licenses.  Did you know that items such as a driver’s race/ethnic group and social security number can be embedded in the barcode ?   The individual states are free to add additional data elements that are not included in the AAMVA standard.

We suspect that Target would be happy to sell cold medicine to this fellow, as long as he allows them to scan his drivers license.

Even if Target Stores does not have any ulterior motives, the fact that they are able to capture any or all of the data embedded in your drivers license barcode exposes their customers to the threat of identity theft.  The fact that their name is Target doesn’t help the situation either, if you catch our drift.  I mean, just look at their stores… they put a big red bulls eye right on the front of every store !  If that isn’t taunting all the hackers out there, I don’t know what is.   Maybe we would be less concerned if their name was “Fortress” or something along those lines, and their logo was a bank vault, rather than a bulls eye.  Even their cute mascot, Bullseye, looks like he would rather lick you to death than defend the company’s customer data.  Retailers, credit card companies, banks and other businesses are constantly making headlines because their networks are hacked into, their data stolen, and their customers or employees personal and financial information  compromised.  Sometimes it’s a hacker breaking into a computer network.  Sometimes, it’s a rogue employee inside a company or at a vendor that has access to a company’s systems.  Sometimes, it’s a laptop computer containing sensitive information that is lost or stolen.  Sometimes, backup tapes are lost in transit to an off-site storage location.  There are many ways that customer data can be put at risk of theft.

Now we’re wondering if we will pick up the newspaper one day, and see the headline “Target Stores Targeted By Hackers,  Personal Info From 50 Million Customers Stolen”.  Think it can’t happen ?  Think Again.  It has happened to other large retailers, banks and credit card companies.

How can consumers protect themselves ?  Well, it’s nearly impossible in the age of  The Internet and when “plastic” has largely supplanted the use of cash.  But nothing says that you have to shop at a retailer that unnecessarily places your personal information at risk, even if its only a potential risk.   We doubt that we will be shopping at Target stores again, but if we do, and we are asked for our drivers license in the future, we will refuse and walk out.  If collecting our personal data is more important to Target than keeping us as a customer, we will gladly take our business elsewhere, and patronize a business that does not unnecessarily expose us to the threat of identity theft.  Speaking of Target, we think that letting retailers scan and capture the data stored in your drivers license barcode is a lot like placing a bullseye on your back.

We are normally happy to accomodate a  merchant’s request to provide suitable ID, especially when the transaction involves payment by check or credit card, or we are returning an item, but Target’s policy is unacceptable, and we believe, simply wrong.  And we’re not the only one who feels this way.  This article at informationweek.com echoes our concerns about Target’s policy.  From a purely practical standpoint, we suspect that draconian policies such as the one put in place by Target will backfire, with (even more) people simply deciding to steal the medication.  OTC pharmacy items are already the most frequently shoplifted items (see this list of the 50 most frequently shoplifted items).   And isn’t it just a bit ludicrous (not to mention, rude) to ask a senior citizen buying cold medicine to prove they’re 18 years old ?

As far as we know,  Target customers concerned about identity theft can still do their shopping at Walmart without having to show them your drivers license when buying cold medications.  If you are very obviously over the age of 18, and asked for your drivers license at a Target store, we suggest that you decline.   If they persist, simply tell them that under the circumstances, you have changed your mind and don’t wish to purchase anything.  It won’t take Target very long to realize that their policy is costing them business, and that they need to change it.  They might not enjoy having to put all your stuff back on the shelves after you walk out without buying it, but at least your personal data will be safe.

– Routing By Rumor

From Murrow To Mediocrity…

The Fall From Grace At CBS

Legendary CBS broadcasting giants, including Edward R. Murrow,  Walter Cronkite and Ed Sullivan must be turning over in their graves as a result of their “Tiffany Network”, the Columbia Broadcasting System, having its image tarnished by scandal in recent years.  The latest (sex) scandal to hit CBS involves David Letterman, his staff, and a CBS Producer named Robert Halderman.

Executives at CBS must regret the day they lured David Letterman away from NBC.  And the venerable Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, where CBS tapes the Letterman show, has been forever sullied by the scandal that hit the news Thursday.  CBS began broadcasting from CBS-TV “Studio 50” in 1936, and renamed it the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1967.  The Ed Sullivan show was broadcast from there during it’s 23-year run, from 1948 thru 1971.

In the 1970’s, about the time that David Letterman was a weatherman on an Indianapolis, Indiana television station, we were working for a company in New York City that sold equipment to broadcasters.  They did business with CBS, and on one occasion our work took us to the Ed Sullivan Theater.  We entered that building in awe.  We felt extremely privileged to be in that space, where some of the most historic broadcasts in the history of television originated from.  Today however, we would be embarrassed to be seen entering  the studio where the Beatles made their U.S. debut, and where virtually every notable performer or group from that era appeared,  many of them multiple times.

Ed Sullivan would cringe if he heard what David Letterman admitted to this past Thursday, while standing on the same stage that Sullivan’s shows were broadcast from.  Ed Sullivan was so squeaky clean that it was commonplace for him to ask performers to change objectionable lyrics in the songs they performed on the Ed Sullivan show.  Performers that refused to clean up their lyrics would not be broadcast, and those that reneged on their promise to sanitize their lyrics (remember that this was live television), were never invited back to the Ed Sullivan show again.

This past Thursday, in what can only be described as one of the most bizarre broadcasts of the Letterman show (or any television show, for that matter), Letterman delivered his mea culpa, admitting to his sexual indiscretions, to an audience of people who were laughing like hyenas.  Apparently, the audience didn’t know what to make of the confession, and assumed it was part of his comedy routine.  Here’s an article published by the New York Daily News on Friday, which identifies a woman who worked for David Letterman, who they believe is involved in the scandal.  In any case, Letterman’s broadcast confession certainly gives a whole new meaning to the term “Worldwide Pants”.  You can probably find the confession on YouTube and elsewhere, but we aren’t going to link to it, since it seems that CBS has been asking YouTube to pull any excerpts people have been posting from the show, due to copyright infringement, and, no doubt, severe embarrassment.  Ya know, maybe CBS should have never broadcast it in the first place.

In the 1970’s Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon had his infamous 18- minute gap on the White House tapes.  Similarly, in the Letterman scandal, CBS has redacted the ten-minute mea culpa segment of David Letterman’s monologue from the official copy that CBS posted on YouTube (read this NY Times article about the missing Letterman segment).

As an aside, we think it’s worth noting that technology like cellphones, digital cameras, the VCR, DVDs, computers, the Internet and websites like YouTube have a way of  changing the status quo, and making existing law moot in many cases.  As many individuals and corporations have learned over the last few years, it is largely an exercise in futility to try and have something that has been posted on the Web taken down.  The harder you try to quash something, whether a photo, a video, an MP3 file or a point of view, the faster it propagates.  Remove it from one website, and it springs up in 100 other places.  The battle to protect intellectual property (IP) has been made infinitely more difficult as technology has made it a trivial matter to make high quality copies of materials such as music, movies, photos, etc.  Two events in particular stick out in our mind;  The introduction of VCRs in the late 1970’s, which had the entertainment industry scared to death about illegal recording of television shows, and the advent of music sharing websites such as Napster.  Blogs, personal websites, and the fact that virtually everyone can now have a “printing press” in their home has changed the publishing and newspaper businesses forever.  Organizations have learned that a different mindset is necessary to survive.  If you can’t beat them, join them.  As an example of this consider the fact that every major U.S. daily newspaper that has managed to survive also has a website.  Newspapers have even begun scrapping their paper editions, becoming Internet-only news outlets, a la The Huffington Post (see this NYTimes article about The Seattle Post-Intelligencer going Internet-only).  But we digress.

If we were running CBS, the Letterman show would be pulled faster than you can say “Top Ten List”, but for financial reasons, we doubt CBS will pull the show.  Moral and ethical standards are simply not what they were when William S. Paley was running CBS.  Certainly not at CBS, and not anywhere else in broadcasting, or society in general.  If Letterman can continue to do well in the ratings, his job is probably secure.  But we expect to see CBS getting hit with lawsuits from Letterman staffers, who will say that his conduct created a hostile work environment.

And of course, the “Top Ten” lists have begun to appear on the Web, in response to the Letterman scandal.  A fellow WordPress blogger posted “The Top Ten Reasons Why David Letterman Should Be Fired”, while this conservative Christian website posted their own Top Ten list.

– Routing By Rumor

P.S. – According to this article at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, “From Murrow To Mediocrity” was the title of a scathing 1987 New York Times op-ed piece written by CBS newsman Dan Rather.

T-Mobile is milking us dry, and that's no bull !

T-Mobile USA’s (aka Deutsche Telekom AG) catch phrase used to be “Get More”, before they dropped it (like so many dropped calls) for their “Stick Together” campaign.  Well, now it seems that their next advertising slogan might just be “Pay More”.

We know times are rough.  T-Mobile is probably hurting just as much as the rest of us.  Evidence the bad news they’ve included in customer’s bills over the last few months.  First, they made the decision to charge customers who wanted to continue to receive their call detail on each month’s bill.  I believe they are charging $3.00 a month for the privilege of seeing what they are charging you for.  Then they decided to charge an additional $1.50 a month for the privilege of getting a paper bill in the mail each month (isn’t it nice to know that T-Mobile is saving the lives of innocent trees).  After what must have been a torrent of subscriber defections to other carriers and complaints from customers who didn’t bolt, they dropped their plan to charge for paper bills (but they’re still charging customers who want to see the call detail on their bills).  Apparently, T-Mobile decided that trying to milk their customers with yet another new monthly charge was going to cost them more than they would have realized in additional income (see “T-Mobile Customers Demand Traditional Paper Bills” at dailyfinance.com).

T-Mobile’s latest bills have included a strangely vague warning to their customers that they may be paying more for minutes used beyond their calling plan’s allowance.  But they don’t tell you how much more they are charging per minute. If you are a T-Mobile subscriber, and you decide to dial 611 to ask them about the rate increase, better do it during the day.  T-Mobile used to provide customer service 24 hours a day, but now,  if you try calling T-Mobile at night, you’ll get an announcement telling you to call back during the day.  That brings to mind another possible advertising slogan T-Mobile might consider… “Pay More, Get Less”.

Why the lack of specifics regarding their rate increase ?  (they tell you to check out their website for details)  Well, it seems to us that T-Mobile, just in time for Halloween,  is trying to scare subscribers into moving to more expensive monthly plans.  Is it really necessary to raise what are already exhorbitant per-minute charges if you go over on your plan’s minute allotment.  We believe those per-minute charges were already in the range of 40 cents to 60 cents per minute, even before their recent increases.

Those folks at T-Mobile must also think their customers are a bunch of idiots.  Here’s how they broke the good news to customers, via an insert in their bills titled “An important message about your additional minutes”…

“T-Mobile is committed to providing you the coverage you need at the price you want.  Therefore, it’s important to tell you about a change to ensure you are on the plan that best meets your needs.  Starting on September 1st, the price for the minutes you use over the minutes included in your plan will increase for some rate plans.  Those rates apply to all additional minutes, including calls to voicemail and call forwarding.”

Don’t you love it how companies always begin their notices of price increases on an upbeat theme ?   How about leveling with the customer and starting off with something like “We have some bad news for our most loyal customers” ?

When we first spotted their billing insert, we thought that perhaps T-Mobile was increasing the number of minutes in their calling plans, or perhaps that they were lowering their charge for additional minutes.  Unfortunately, it was nothing or the sort, but it is certainly reassuring to know that T-Mobile is so concerned about us.  Why then all the secrecy ?  Why not just say how much they’re charging for additional minutes, right there on the billing insert ?  And the fact of the matter is that they can’t legally raise their rates without notifying their customers.  We guess that T-Mobile figures that this indirect method of notifying their customers of a rate increase fulfills their obligation to notify their customers.  How lame can you get ?

We wonder what little bit of good news T-Mobile might be planning to stuff into the envelope with your bill, next month.  How about charging a fee for speaking with a customer service rep, or charging you $1.00 every time you check how many minutes you have used up.  There’s probably dozens of ways they can come up with to squeeze more out of their customers every month.

Long time T-Mobile subscribers might remember the pre-T-Mobile days, and perhaps even the pre-Voicestream days.  The T-Mobile U.S. cellular network started it’s life as “Omnipoint”, circa 1996.  (Does anybody remember Fred, the Omnipoint parrot ?  See Fred in this Omnipoint TV Commercial on Youtube.)  One of Omnipoint’s selling points was “No Contract Required”.  As any T-Mobile customer can tell you, that is not the case with T-Mobile.  But for T-Mobile customers who have fulfilled their contract (and maybe even for those who haven’t), all of  T-Mobile’s recent attempts to nickel and dime their customers to death might signal that it is time to move your mobile number to a different network, one that is more customer-friendly, and one that gives it’s subscribers a little more credit for being able to see through a thinly veiled attempt to increase profits.  According to this article at cellphonesignal.com, T-Mobile’s decision to increase their per-minute overage charges means that subscribers who are under contract can opt to terminate their contract without incurring an early termination fee (ETF), which just may be the silver lining in this network’s cloud.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject, when is T-Mobile going to bring back Jamie Lee Curtis as it’s spokesmodel ?

– Routing By Rumor