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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."  -Aristotle

About Me

I am a co-founder of Notches, an early stage startup currently based in NYC. We are building a free, open reviews network that anyone can participate in and anyone can build on top of. You can find out more on our official blog.

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  • T-Mobile doesn't know how to treat its customers

    It looks like T-Mobile dropped their data plan from $29.99/mo to $19.99/mo. I originally thought this was related to the new unlimited rate plans and losing the Starbucks account , but it was actually back in September (on my birthday no less). I must have missed it at the time, given that whole wedding thing. And worse, it turns out you have to actually ask for the new rate . After reading Kevin's post, I logged in to My T-Mobile today to adjust my plan. To add insult to injury, check out the options I'm presented with. For the past 5 months, I've been paying $10 more than I should have for this service. T-Mobile should have adjusted this for me automatically (as Kevin said, you can be sure they would if the price went up). At the very least, they could have told me about it via a pamphlet or during the time I spent talking to a T-Mobile representative as I was trying to get my phone unlocked for the honeymoon. They did neither, and were quite happy to let me pay $10 more a...
  • CIGNA Sucks!

    Jason explains why ( via Jesse ). (Yeah, I'm late on this one).
  • When will the NFL Network standoff end?

    Like so many others , I was furious when I couldn't watch the Packers-Cowboys games a few weeks back. The NFL Network is only carried on satellite which is simply not an option for many of us in urban areas like NYC. For those who haven't been paying attention, there's been a long-running standoff between the cable companies and the NFL network. (ComCast carries it at a premium, but neither Time Warner or Cablevision offer it, free or otherwise). To sum up: The NFL wants its network carried on basic cable packages with channels such as ESPN or CNN, where it can reach the broadest possible audience. Cable companies including Time Warner Inc. say it belongs on a sports package, or tier, where its audience would include only those fans willing to pay extra. I am a huge fan of the NFL and would certainly subscribe in a second. Much like the issues with net neutrality, the problem is that we're not dealing with a perfect market. If Time Warner doesn't offer me the ability...
  • Rest In Peace, Marc Orchant

    I just learned that Marc Orchant passed away over the weekend as a result of the massive coronary he suffered last week. River gonna take me Sing me sweet and sleepy Sing me sweet and sleepy all the way back home It’s a far gone lullaby sung many years ago Mama, Mama, many worlds I’ve come since I first left home Goin home, goin home by the waterside I will rest my bones Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul Rest in peace, Marc - you will be missed.
  • Marc Orchant suffers massive coronary (updated)

    Oh my. I just learned that Marc Orchant suffered a massive coronary over the weekend and is in critical condition in an Albuquerque hospital. I got a chance to meet and chat with Marc back when he was writing for the Weblogs, Inc. blogs about tablets and productivity and he's just a wonderful guy. My thoughts and prayers go out to Marc and his family and best wishes for a full recovery. Update : The original post has been removed, but from Loren I learned that Oliver Starr has set up a page for updates on Marc's condition . As of 4:14 AM PST on Dec 5th, Marc was still unconscious but is making baby steps towards recovery, with his oxygen levels and heart rate improving. Keep praying.
  • Taking on WestLaw and LexisNexis

    Carl Malamud is taking on WestLaw and LexisNexis . Carl Malamud has this funny idea that public domain information ought to be... well, public. He has a history of creating public access databases on the net when the provider of the data has failed to do so or has licensed its data only to a private company that provides it only for pay. His technique is to build a high-profile demonstration project with the intent of getting the actual holder of the public domain information (usually a government agency) to take over the job. Carl's done this in the past with the SEC's Edgar database , with the Smithsonian , and with Congressional hearings . But now, he's set his eyes on the crown jewels of public data available for profit: the body of Federal case law that is the foundation of multi-billion dollar businesses such as WestLaw. There's not much content there yet, but this would be such a welcome development if it takes off. The prices that WestLaw and LexisNexis charge are...
  • The Hypocrisy of Live Earth

    I'm with Fred on this one - the Live Earth is disgusting and self-serving. As Arctic Monkey drummer Matt Helders said, "Especially when we're using enough power for 10 houses just for (stage) lighting. It'd be a bit hypocritical." The hypocrisy doesn't end there. How many people are going to stay home today in their air conditioning to watch the live telecast on TV? Oh, and did you see all the plastic cups? It's not a free event for raising awareness, it's actually a ticketed event but it's not a fund-raiser either. (Wait, how many tickets did they print? That can't be good either). These few paragraphs perhaps put it best : But there’s dissonance, if not hypocrisy, in using a monstrously oversize concert as a vehicle to combat CO2-emission-fueled global warming. (Particularly one that’s being put on at the Meadowlands, which is famously difficult to access by public transportation. I’ll be getting there the same way as most everybody else: by car...
  • The Sopranos Series Finale

    I never thought we were going to get closure, but perhaps the issue was that we got too much of it. A lot of it just felt, for a lack of a better word, cheesy to me. Complex story lines that were developed over several years were tied up with amazing ease, especially the whole feud with NY. (They went from being on high alert camped out in some safehouse to not looking over their shoulders incredibly quickly, didn't they? Wouldn't you have been just a bit more cautious especially with Phil still out there?). I predicted that Tony would win, but lose something important in the process. I thought that "something important" was someone in his family, but really it was a sense of security. As Agent Harris said, "we won" the battle, but the war is far from over - and the end could come at any moment, whether in the form of grand jury testimony or a shady looking dude coming out of the bathroom. A lot of people are very upset at the final scene, but my real problem was that the way we got there...
  • Refocusing Net Neutrality

    Awhile back, I echoed the electricity analogy : the problem is that the "telecoms are threatening to charge a premium for how the utility is used, instead of how much of it is used." Someone from the Hands Off the Internet Coalition commented on that post. Tim, the analogy is flawed and doesn't make sense. Unlike electricity, the internet and e-commerce sector is growing exponentially. It seems that the telecoms are already implementing some of Lessig's points on usage but our entire internet's infrastructure must undergo a series of major upgrades that net neutrality laws will slow down, further relegating the US the slow lane (no pun intended). Net neutrality is simply a distraction. I work with the Hands Off the Internet Coalition and I don't think we should be adding rules and regulations to fix a problem that doesn't exist. More recently, Andrew pointed to a rebuttal by David Cowan : ISPs are not public utilities; they are businesses whose owners–including individual investors and...
  • Blogs are "definitely not reputable news sources"

    Jawn Murray, a columnist for AOL's Black Voices and a regular personality on the Tom Joyner Morning Show , had this gem in the latest Giant magazine. Blogs are online diaries written by your average Joe - people who don't work in the entertainment industry and have no formal journalism training. They report arbitrary gossip, things they hear in hair salons and barbershops or read on message boards. They lift content and take photos from other Web sites without permission. Blogs should have a disclaimer that says, 'For entertainment purposes only', because as entertaining as they may be, they are definitely not reputable news sources. ( Read the full article ). The terms "journalist" and "blogger" are not mutually exclusive things. Blogging is really about a platform that enables us everyone to have a voice - some use that voice like journalists , and some use it to pass along "things they hear in hair salons". Mike Arrington and his staff at TechCrunch have proven to be incredibly reliable...
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