Bell, Telus and Fido (Rogers) offer an hourly rate, Bell $7.50, Telus $10, and Fido at $8. Rogers offers $0.15/minute which works out to $9 for an hour. For greater usage, Bell, Telus and Fido offer daily/24 hour rates of $13, $15 and $15 respectively. Rogers continues at $0.15/minute, for $216.
Now in their defense Rogers does offer a $4/month subscription, for 90 minutes, and $0.10/minute after. But, this is a very weak defense, it doesn’t take long for Rogers to become more expensive than Bell, Telus and themselves (Fido).
Rogers also offers monthly subscription for $24/month which nets the user 600 minutes and a per minute rate of $0.10. However both Bell and Telus offer an unlimited month for $25 subscription.
Telus and Fido both go a step further and offer a pay per use week of $25, and a month for $40. Neither of these requiring a monthly subscription.
One key point to remember here, other than the billing system, the 3 (4) providers are using the same infrastructure, with the same costs.
Hotspot Rates:
Couple years back CTV did a story on GM vehicles that had were experiencing intake gasket problems. It included pretty much all cars/vans built between 1995 and 2003. There were several internal memos where this problem was acknowledged but GM would do nothing about it (there are several class action suits in progress). At the time my car was experiencing the problem and noting the van was also on the list, I called GM to complain.
They logged my complaint about the car, plus my concern that a couple months after the warranty on the van was up, the intake gasket would blow and I’d have to foot the bill yet again. They said they couldn’t repair something that isn’t broken, but they’d keep a record of my concern and should the time come, something would be done.
So I called and sure enough it was logged just as I said it would be, and the woman who took my call said she’d look into it and get back to me.
She later called me back and said they were doing everything they could and no further action would be taken. I informed her of the fact that I’d already expressed concern over this issue 3 years ago, and that I’ve paid for the same issue 3 times previously. That them not handling their quality assurance problems is not the customers fault and I should not be paying for it. She didn’t agree.
At this point I made sure she documented the fact that I would never be buying another GM built vehicle. That in fact my last vehicle purchase had been a VW to avoid the shoddy workmanship and general lack of quality in GM vehicles.
The part that kills me, is GM is wondering why more people are buying imports. Willing to pay more than what a GM vehicle sells for.
Today I came across Top 100 best open source mac software. The biggest find in this batch was AppFresh.
AppFresh searches your hard drive in all the usual places (unusual places can be added in the preferences) for applications. The application list is compared against the application list at iusethis.com, checking for updates. Each application lists the current version number, the last time it was accessed (doesn’t seem to work that well), the up to date status, and if the version is not current, and its iusethis.com.
The iusethis.com integration allows you to see what is offered in the newer version, how many other people are using this application, plus, if you configure your iusethis.com profile, you can update your profile from within AppFresh.
While most of the software I use does automatically check for updates, it’s not always running, nor do I launch all the software daily or even weekly. Having one central place to check for all application updates is well worth the download.
The software is useful, it is still rough around the edges, but still worth installing.
My father recently purchased a game from his provider (Bell Mobility) for his phone. The game itself cost $3.99, the data transfer for the game cost him $45. Upon receiving his monthly bill, he quickly cancelled all but the most basic of services on his phone.
When Rogers introduced AOL Instant Messaging on their phones, I was all excited. Being able to contact people on their computers not just on their phones was a big plus to me. After receiving a $10 charge to sign onto AIM, and send a simple “Hi I’m on my phone” message to a friend, I quickly disabled that service.
Now my father, and I have learned our lessons, but I’m betting the wireless providers have not. They’re in it for the quick buck now, not the long haul. They need to start providing sensible data plans, that will keep people subscribed to them. That encourage downloads and open up different venues of revenue.
Sadly, I don’t see any of the current wireless providers catching a clue, affordable mobile internet access may just be a pipe dream.
More to come….
I purchased the basic cleaning kit from Copper Hill Images on Trush’s recommendation (ordered on for him too). Then it sat, while I was too afraid to attempt the cleaning. The warning messages on the package and website are enough to scare anyone. A recent discussion with (Thomas Hawk)[http://thomashawk.com] helped over coming some of those fears.
Like everything in life, left for the very last minute, so today was the day. I read the instructions a couple of times through before I started. Sat at the kitchen table in the best possible light we have in the house and proceeded as instructed. First attempt, left some dust in 2 corners and little in the middle. A second attempt left less dust, but clumped together into one side of the sensor. After 6 more attempts there is still dust in the bottom right hand corner. The problem seems to be that I’m not making it right to the edge when removing the sensor swipe.
It’s not perfect, but it is a lot better than it was, and I feel more confident the next time I clean it will be better.
As mentioned ealier this past Saturday was spent building a shed, amount other things. The shed is now 99% complete (lacking an external window), and I’d promised I would post a picture of it when it was done. Well, close enough to done.
This also marks my first upload to Zooomr Mark III
Welcome to Shawn Sorichetti.I am hide.
