I recently posted my first videos to YouTube. Less than a week later I’ve received my first spam mail from another YouTube user to my YouTube account. I can block that one user, but there is no way that I see to let YouTube staff know that one of their users is spamming. Argh! Is this an example of YouTube staff not eating their own dogfood?

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Verizon has added a new fee to their DSL customers. They’ve removed an ancient tax, the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) and added in an almost identical new fee, a supplier surcharge. Don’t most stores simply charge their expenses for their services in something known as a price? Verizon advertises the price of DSL in Virginia (I assume the price may vary in other states) $14.95/month or $29.99/month. Then the fine print says:

Additional surcharges, taxes, and other fees apply. These include, but are not limited to, a tax recovery fee which varies by state (where applicable), and a supplier surcharge of $1.20 per month for 768kbps plans and $2.70 per month for 3Mbps plans, which is not a tax or government imposed fee.

This new supplier surcharge is ridiculous. Can’t they simply call the price the price??? It should be advertised as $16.20/month or $32.69/month. I suggest you call the Federal Communications Commission and file a complaint about Verizon’s false advertising. A supplier charge is BS. The FCC can be contacted at email: fccinfo@fcc.gov or call 1-888-CALL-FCC. I also suggest filing a complaint with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, but they say to talk with the supplier first. So I’ll do that Monday morning, and then file my complaint with them on Monday.

Here is the email Verizon sent me nearly at 10:17pm on the day the new fee is active, a Saturday.

Dear Valued Verizon Online Customer,

Effective August 14, 2006, Verizon Online will stop charging the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) recovery fee. We will stop being assessed the fee by our DSL network suppliers. Therefore, we will no longer be recovering this fee from our customers. The impact of the FUSF fee is as follows: for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 768Kbps, the fee eliminated is $1.25 a month; for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 1.5 Mbps or 3Mbps, the fee eliminated is $2.83 a month (based on current FUSF surcharge amounts). On your bill that includes charges for August 14, 2006 you will see either a partial FUSF Recovery Fee or no FUSF line item at all, depending on your bill cycle.

Starting August 26, 2006, Verizon Online will begin charging a Supplier Surcharge for all new DSL customers, existing customers with a DSL monthly or bundle package, and existing DSL annual plan customers at the time their current annual plan expires. This surcharge is not a government imposed fee or a tax; however, it is intended to help offset costs we incur from our network supplier in providing Verizon Online DSL service. The Supplier Surcharge will initially be set at $1.20 a month for Verizon Online DSL customers with service up to 768Kbps and $2.70 per month for customers with DSL service at higher speeds.

On balance your total bill will remain about the same as it has been or slightly lower.
For more information, see the Announcement in the Help section of Verizon Central, located at http://central.verizon.net

We regret the need to add this Supplier Surcharge, but we thank you for choosing high speed Verizon Online DSL. We appreciate and value your business.

Sincerely,

Verizon Online
Broadband Customer Care Team

Interesting. Information about the FUSF fee removal and the supplier surcharge are on the same page at Verizon. So is Verizon admitting the FUSF was not a tax but instead a revenue source?

• Addition of Supplier Surcharge: http://netservices.verizon.net/portal/msa/bookmark?announcement&id=FUSF
• Elimination of Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery Fee: http://netservices.verizon.net/portal/msa/bookmark?announcement&id=FUSF

Verizon DSL pricing information

Also note that Bellsouth has dropped their equivalent fee.

I was cleaning out some old files in an ancient file cabinet at my office and found some receipts for purchases of some Apple equipment. Think what you could get for that money today.

Apple Powerbook 5300cs/100. 8MB ram, 500MB hard drive: $1,999

16MB Memory Module: $408.95

Global Village Platinum Pro PC Card (28.8bps fax/modem 10MB newtowrk PCMCIA (PC Card) card): $484

Total: $2,891.95 (purchased Sept. 17, 1996)

PowerMac 7200/120, 16/1.0. 4x CDRom: $1.985.00

- PowerPC 601 processor running at 120Mhz
- 16MB RAM, and 1GB hard disk
- Quad speed CD ROM and 256K level II cache

PowerMac 7200/120, 16/1.2. 8x CDRom: $2,245.00
- PowerPC 601 processor running at 120Mhz
- 16MB RAM, and 1.2GB hard disk
- Eight speed CD ROM and 256K level II cache

PowerMac 7600/132, 16/1.2. 8x CDRom: $2,945.00
- PowerPC 604 processor running at 132Mhz
- 16MB RAM, and 1GB hard disk
- Eight speed CD ROM and 256K level II cache

Multiple Scan 15 Display: $500

Multiple Scan 20 Display: $2,000

In Where Do Displays Go From Here? James R. Stoup asks about our first and current computer monitors. My first monitor was a 9 inch amber CGA screen, 80×25 characters of text on an IBM Portable (30 [thirty] pounds) PC. My current machine is a 15 inch Powerbook screen with an external 19 inch LCD.

I can’t imagine getting a screen much larger, although if I had another external LCD I could easily put it to the left of my machine for a total of three screens. Until I do that, I won’t know for sure if I really could use a third screen. The second screen really is a necessity, especially in Photoshop, or when I’m designing a web site.

Over at Spamroll Test your ability to avoid spam, Michael Gracie asks how people did when they take the SiteAdvisor Spam Quiz. Basically, look at different sites, read their privacy policies, and decide which of the two sites is trustworthy. I got 100%, 8 out of 8 correct. Then again, I’m the webmaster for the Center for Democracy & Technology, so I would be worried if I had missed any.

That said though, Joe or Jane User out there is not going to actually read the legal contracts that are privacy policies. A helpful guideline that almost works for this quiz: Look at the ads on the site. If they are in your face, show lots of flesh, mention Paris Hilton (or any other “singer”), or the site has pop-ups (or pop-unders) the site is not trust-worthy.

Also, I always use a unique address to register at any web site. See http://f79f65a2ea59016f063cb987424ed7b2.PlanetMike.com for an example address.

I live in the 703 area code, which is Northern Virginia, the area near Washington DC. Sometimes when I call a 703 number, I have to dial a 1 before the 10 digit phone number. Sometimes I don’t. There is no rhyme or reason to when I need the 1.

Area code 571 is generally cell phones in Northern Virginia. You don’t need a 1. If you remember that 571 is “local” to 703. How do places like New York City handle all these area codes? Remember Elaine from Seinfeld in area code 646?

Area code 540 is central and Southern Virginia. Some regions of 540 need a 1, some don’t. Unless I know in advance where in 540 the number is, I don’t even know enough if I should guess with the 1 or not. 540 near 703 does not need a 1. Isn’t all phone switching done with computers nowadays? Why is this even necessary? Either always require a 1, or since it’s a computer, let the system figure it out. If the 10 digits I just dialed needs a one, have the computer system add it in, and then redial. If I added in a superfluous 1, have the system take it out. Making me hang up and redial is ridiculous.

In Mac Server Series: Initial Set Up Brian shares the first steps in a video on setting up a Mac as a server. He works for a web host that lets you send them a Mac Mini, and then you can run your web sites and email off of it. I priced it out, and it is definitely cheaper (and less expensive) then my current hosting provider, Rackspace. I think using a video to show the steps is a wonderful marketing idea.

In iTunes MP3 Conversion the steps are given to convert audio files to MP3. I’d love to know why iTunes can’t import or manage aiff files. Anyone?

While clearing out the spam that has accumulated on one of my blogs (and been successfully caught by WordPress’ Akismet spam filter) I saw this gem:

Bush’s ties to Israel go back to debt consolidation and reduction

WASHINGTON If there’s a starting point for George W. Bush’s attachment to Israel, it’s the day in late 1998 when he stood on the hilltop where Jesus is thought to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and, eyes brimming with tears, read aloud from his favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace.” “He was debt consolidation and reduction emotional. It was a tear-filled experience,” said Matthew Brooks, a debt consolidation and reduction Jewish Republican who

The underlined portions were links to some idiot spammer’s web site. It came from IP address: 70.84.176.58. I found several other similar attempts, from the same address.

Danish star delights Birmingham City boss

Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce was pleased with his poker betting signing, striker Niklas Bendtner after his poker betting goal in the opening Championship game of the season, just days after joining on loan from Arsenal.

Aaron Adams in The value of AppleCare gives a great example on why Applecare pays for itself.

I agree, AppleCare is invaluable if you have a portable. I’m not as sold on AppleCare for desktop machines though. Desktops aren’t subjected to the same torture of being lugged around in bags, being dropped, being carried by one hand, etc… My office now has AppleCare on every laptop we buy, and I think well over half of our laptops have had to go back to Apple at least once in their three year coverage period. The iMacs and Emacs are running along fine, no AppleCare on them.