Q. What messages am I billed for?
A. AT&T bills for all messages whether sent or received, read or unread, solicited or unsolicited. Also, any message sent or received that is longer than 160 characters will be delivered as multiple segments of up to 160 characters each. Each segment is billed as a separate message.
In addition to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon charge for the incoming text messages as well despite what actions you take after receiving the message on your phone. I wasn't able to find anything on Sprint's website regarding how incoming text's are handled, but I spoke with 2 customer service representatives who both told me if the text is deleted before being opened, the end user will not be charged.
This is a glimpse into how cellular service companies can really push the customer around however they want, and AT&T is perhaps the biggest culprit. With the iPhone on their side, people have no choice but to sign up with the cell phone giant who nearly went bankrupt before Apple came along and saved them. The AT&T iPhone exclusivity contract expires at the end of this year and AT&T is doing everything it can to keep the iPhone from leaving the carrier in the dust. Analyst predict that were Apple to break free from AT&T and stretch across multiple carriers, their profits would continue to soar as its former exclusive carrier would lose a large percentage of its business and iPhone service plans would become much cheaper. #KeepYourFingersCrossed
So let me know if you are interested. Also, if you know how to play any instrument, that'd be helpful too. I can write out music for pretty much anything. Guitar, flute, french horn, a pair of spoons, anything. We don't really have to be good, it's all just for fun. Leave me a comment if you live in the Atlanta area and are interested.
I recently saw Watchmen (a little late, I know, but hell, it was only 75 cents) and I have got to say I was bored out of my mind for nearly the entire movie. I made some observations about not just Watchmen, but the the entire movies, television and video industry in general. When I was younger, I used to cling onto every minute of a movie and feel disappointed when the end credits started rolling. Yet lately, I find myself constantly wondering "How much longer is this going to take?". In fact, there aren't many movies I have seen in the past year that I didn't think could have been trimmed down a little. I would wonder is this just something that comes with age, but my parents don't seem share the same feelings. What seperates my recent lack of attention span from their own?It's not just movies. I constantly find myself sitting through television shows wishing Tivo had the ability to speed it up, maybe just 20 percent faster, or god forbid, the crew cut out some unnecessary parts and just fill in the rest of the time slot with commercials or something. Nothing annoys me more than a lingering pace, much like the one I saw in the nearly 3 hour Watchmen - much of which could have been pushed into a montage or the opening credits (much like Wolverine's opening credits - Perfect!). Even YouTube videos that exceed about a 7 minutes mark tend to have me moving on to the Related Videos or More from this User panel.
Not until I started going to bed last did I find a possible answer as to what has triggered this Video-A.D.D. I've acquired as I started watching [adultswim]. A large majority of this station's programming is fulfilled with a collection of scenes no longer than two minutes each. In fact, some of their shows are barely over 10 minutes total running time such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Frisky Dingo to name some of my favorites. Even the flagship of the station, Family Guy cuts up its scenes and kicks the pacing into 5th gear by splicing flash backs and reference videos about every other minutes or so. And Robot Chicken, well, that's the pot of gold for people like me. Was that sketch funny? Doesn't matter, it was only 5 seconds long. On to the next one!
[adult swim] is not alone in fueling this condition. YouTube plays probably just as big of a role in my developing habit. With the information super highway at my fingertip, I'm not shooting through videos like fruit at the grocery store. If it doesn't grab my attention within the first 10 seconds, I skip to the middle. If nothing interesting is happening at the random point I drop my mouse, so much for that video and on to the next.
And how about that Smart Phone? It doesn't matter if you have an iPhone or a BlackBerry, not matter what you cannot stand in a line alone anymore without playing with it. Facebook, Twitter, Chat, Email, the World Wide Web available anywhere in the world. I don't even need a newspaper anymore, I can get everything I need from this little 4 oz computer that I carry with me at all times, not to mention, most of the headlines have to grab my attention in 140 characters or less.
If you haven't lost interest in reading this blog yet, then chances are you've got a longer attention span than myself. Let me know what your thoughts on it.
Some of you may know that last November Adam, Jessica, Holden and I attempted to revive the President Evil concept that Jay and I made in college. We filmed three episodes and then Adam moved to Dubai, but he came back and we finally got episodes 2 and 3 off his computer.
President Evil is a web series about a zombie that becomes President and two men who find it their duty to kill the new leader of the free world, President Grogg.
The idea began in 2004 during the George Bush / John Kerry election season. "President Evil: The Beginning" was entered into the Mercer University Halloween Film Festival and won 1st place. Heroes Chip and Jim feel their patriotic duty to slay this surprisingly effective new President to save mankind from zombie...kind
Four years later, while Obama and McCain led campaigns, a new set of heroes found themselves fighting against the zombie executive branch after a re-election keeps President Grogg in office. After saving the economy, balancing the nation budget, mending foreign affairs, and saving the country, President Grogg is still just a zombie to Nick and Mack who are fed up with brains on their pizza in "President Evil: Re-Election Day".
Nick and Mack hit the road bound for Washington DC and with a little help from their friends, they aim to take down the zombie empire with guns blazing.
Episode 1: "Re-Election Day"
Episode 2: "Campaign Strategies"
Episode 3: "Right To Bear Arms"
And, in case you've never seen the original one that Jay and I made in 2004, here it is. As a fair warning, we only had one night to write, film, and edit it. Plus, it ran longer than expected, so we had to cut it short (film festival had a 6 minute limit)
Episode 0: "The Beginning"
Cities this map covers:
I might just cut out sleep for the next 2 months, that should help me get more of these things accomplished. I would estimate that within the next 60 days, I should be able to cap off at least half, if not 3/4 of these To-DO items.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
First I'd like to thank everyone who voted on the poll or expressed your preferences to me in one form or another for the upcoming music video shoot this weekend. As we are drawing closer to the call time, I've been working on getting a script together / picking a song to use.
Oddly enough, I'm now drawn to a song that wasn't even in the voting. It's called "That's Not My Name" by a band called "The Ting Tings". It's a fun goofy song that's got a good beat. The concept will be centered around a softball field, which is perfect for Saturday. We can shoot the video, then play dodgeball. Perfect sunny afternoon.
In addition, we can film a "How To Play Dodgeball" video for our new and future players. Not 100% on the "That's Not My Name" video yet, but it's the only one I've got an idea for and I'd really like to email the plot to my dodgeball peeps and start casting for the vid by tomorrow night (wednesday night). Adam's working on some of his own ideas as well. Might be able to film two videos this weekend. w00t!
