Hekate180 - It was like that when I got here !

Blue Screen of Jeff | You damn Canadians! Too much semen!

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British Telecom - Game over for A gamer.

Its about March this year about and I am looking at my xbox and feeling betrayed, once again I can hear everyone in the party and no one can hear me.

I speak to a xbox friend DHX who informs me its probably my ISP thats the issue, some fierce cursing and google searches reveal I am not alone in my torment.

The time has come to move on, until then I have been using my dad's internet connection who lives in my house, this no longer serves the purpose.

I use my broadband to do my websites work from home and most importantly my Xbox live, Xbox has been growing more and more important for a few reasons.

It is the place I go to relax, I am getting more and more involved and have been moving on - I am in the ambassador program (SWEET !) and am now more than ever involved in sharepoint and also the connect testing program for several microsoft products and test groups.

It cant be trusted, added to this the stuff I see on my dad's pc when I go to fix it is the kind of thing I dont want to and cant afford to be associated with on an ISP or IP basis.

NO REALLY its bad.

 

So I start looking for a broadband provider, "HEY" says 80's/90's Andy "BT have an awesome rep for internet and customer service pick them" I do HUGE MISTAKE.

I call them up and sort out my package questions are asked.

• No I dont download films.
• I write do email and game, I am a gamer safe to say I am online when I am not asleep or at work (this should have been a clue to them on my usage).
• I watch films online streaming on live and download demo's and games from Xbox live.

All done they reccomend the basic package, "Really" I say "I would worry I will go over the limits (very low)" !

They tell me in a calm voice that it doesnt matter as they never do anything and not to worry, the days of speaking to a UK call center are long gone by the way - we are in outsource town population (me) Gulp!

I am signed up and 1 week later the problems start, no phone arrives, outsource sally forgot to include my free net phone, outsource Frank wants me to pay for one - and so it begins, OH to add its a week and they are annoyed as I am over the low limit set and threaten to throttle me ! (sounds painfull).

 

By kicking up a huge stink we manage to get me my phone only when I manage to speak to someone from the @BTCare team on twitter who is from the same side of the planet.

It was no hassle for them and left me wondering what the issue was.

 

Issue 2.

I am being billed 3 times the amount quoted each month sets me back over 100 pounds as opposed to the 20-30 quoted, this takes 10+ phone calls to resolve, I am starting to know the outsource team on a first name basis.

So far 1 has swore at me and 2 have hung up, I later find out on my notes they have stated I am hanging up on them, at this point I am not suprised by this.

 

Issue 3.

My card is stolen, every other company change the Direct debit details and no issues.

I call the team again, hey its my pal outsource sally (JOY) - your ahead she tells me I dont need a payment now you in advance call me at the month end and I will set up a new DD for you.

Problem being before this happens a charming young man who sounds just like APU from the simpsons calls me up in the middle of the night to tell me he is about to cut off my broadband unless I pay the full amount right now, not the monthly payment the whole quarter.

My installation fee my quarter the whole kazoo, at this point I go mental - this leads to a supervisor speaking to me who agrees to call me on payday but wants it all, they promise not to restrict my line.

Something does not feel right so I contact @BTCare again, they promise to call me at a specific time on payday and take a partial amount of what she wanted. - they check my line ..... OUTSOURCE APU LIED, they have restricted me this would have seriously effected my ability to work.

 

Payday arrives, the call from BTCare doesnt come and the manager from the outsource center calls for the full amount they want or will cut me off, I am now caught I am trapped and being blackmailed by the outsourcer.

I ask for an hour to contact the uk people, she is annoyed I dont trust her but agrees, DESPERATE now I tweet and tweet to BTCare -...... nothing.

With no option and caught between being cut off and the outsource blackmail tactics I have to pay the whole amount in full in advance...

BTCare finally respond the next day, they are sorry that they didnt call, I want to cry ......................

 

 

Final issue.

 

Random drop outs - (The saga of liar liar pants on fire)

 

My broadband is randomly dropping out the hub lights go from healthy blue to orange, but AHAA I have learned from my outsource Woe and go straight to BTCare.

I tell them I am getting drop outs and disconnections I give specifics, they ask me how I connect.

My day job is its support so I answer.

I use ethernet to the hub I have tried 3 leads I have also used wireless to test and remove possibility of net ports.

I have refreshed my DNS and IP and reset the router I even did a rest to the default settings and reset it up from scratch.

 

A day goes by - It happens again, I ask btcare, they ask me ... they ask me.... "they ask me how I connect."

Aaaargh.

I go through the whole thing again and I am told this -

This goes on for a while with me insisting I drop out them insisting I dont, when someone tells you something is happening and you say "you have been fine for 2 days" if you think you are or not, basically your saying.

"LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE"

 

in the end I lost it and here is what happened. -

=====================

hekate180 andy (Hekate180)

Hey @BTCare know how I keep telling you broadband down and you say been up 3 days basically sayin lying . Bite me http://yfrog.com/15457umj

----------------

Thats right my army of faithful attack gnomes I had to prove it with a picture using my iphone, (bangs head on desk)

So an engineer is sent out, I have to take time off work, he is in the exchange and hour and informs me

in the time I was there it dropped out 17 times................... 17 TIMES.

I show him the tweets on my screen how can they not be seeing that then look what they have been saying, he looks embarrased - "I ... I cant really say why they said that there is no way you could not see the equipment was dropping it out. I cant really comment".

I ask " so the test software is pretty worthless they have then eh is it just a magic 8 ball, he looks embarrased at how I have been treated.

"I am really sorry"

He looks genuine and I can tell he has had this conversation before.

so far BT have offered me a free month, a free month for all this hell....

And that it my merry tale, I havent touched on the awesome virus software they sent me MCafee when they had that massive vulnerability this year that trashed my data and meant I had to download everything again, or the fact that because of this my usage was high and they would "Throttle me" again.

OR any other of the wonderful interactions with them.

message here

BT is not the choice for gamers, hell its not the choice for anyone - avoid my attack gnomes.

Here is a site that will help you find better and cheaper anyway I found. http://www.uswitch.com/

Now if I could just get out of this damn contract, sadly the one thing they seem to be good at is not letting you leave.

 

 

 

Kinect + Super Secret Squirrel = Happy Hek

Hello my army of attack gnomes

So first of all let me apologise to those of you who over the last 2 months have sent me a party invite or voice message and met static air or not been answered fully.

I have been testing Kinect for microsoft for some time now, part of this meant I had no voice or party unless you where in the program.

It has been a most Awesome experience and I am humbled by the trust by letting me do this, becasuse of this I felt honor bound to not say a smidge about it as per the NDA.

It has been such a trial to not speak out when seeing the misinformation all around the net and even on here at one point

All the above said lets get to business, Kinect is AWESOME ! no really it is world changing.

When microsoft do new tech it always changes the way the Tech world is and will be, this will be no exception – Think of the impact of DOS, Windows and Xbox live, these things really shaped parts of the world and Kinect is no exception.

Some of the videos out there at the time and even E3 did the brand no favors, the lag is non existant first of all, during all my play time I have only experienced an issue once and to be honest that may have been more (me/whiskey) based as an issue.

the first time you say – Xbox, kinect, Zune hub….. suggest a movie and it starts to pull suggestions up for you – “next, next… PLAY”  or if that doesnt float your boat how about moving through the movie menu’s minorty report style.

One thing to mention as well is video kinect, one of the other people in the test with me was Fayko and man did we put this to the test

Let me paint you a picture -

Its saturday morning GMT, I am in my living room drinking some Jack & Coke, on the TV is Fayko, Half way around the world chilling with me, having a drink and jamming on the guitar while we shoot the breeze and just relax on a saturday morning – With zero lag and perfect sound.

We dont have headsets on, because well hell like the rest of it the Kinect is taking care of Business and doing its thing.

Change scene, Its a weekend My mom and stepdad are over this is cool my mom doesnt stay at the house enough.

She is the kind of Mom we all want, international lady of mystery sold her house and went to live off the land in a bulgarian village for 2 years growing her own food and learning the language.

Now she is living near to me for a bit in a mobile home on the seafront (Lethal Weapon 2 anyone).

So anyway back to scene mom is over, we are all having a drink and a blast, table tennis is the order of the day as my stepdad hands me my ass in many many rounds (volleyball too) mom steps up to bowl and bowls a 200+ game decimating us.

At the end of the evening mom turns to me and says, “We want to get an xbox tomorrow” … WE WANT TO GET AN XBOX, – BEST   MOM   EVER !!

suffice to say I rushed out the next day and hooked them up, what kind of an ambassador would I be to let that slide, HELL I would probably have had my geek card revoked by the king of geeks Wil Wheaton if I had not immediatley gone to the store at 9am with them.

As you can see, I more than hooked them up !

The games in the image are some of the ones he snagged for a five a pop from the pre-owned bin, well except Fifa 2011, I made sure he left with a handful of games from my shelf as well

This to me shows one thing about Kinect that it did one thing Microsoft said, “It brings the family together to game” hell it makes them hungry for more.

10/10 MS , well done !

Want some more inspiration ! check out this link VERY moving and awesome article

Child with autism connects with Kinect

- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40138734/?gt1=43001

To sumarise and I know I am sounding like some Raving fanatic here I cannot reccomend it enough, you owe it to yourself to at least try this in store.

Put your pre-judgments aside and go in to the store and just let your inner Geek/child/gamer peek over your shoulder, I am willing to bet She/He will want to “jump In”

The Things He Carried - Magazine - The Atlantic

Also see:"When the TSA Touched My Genitals" What happens when a flyer opts out of the imaging scan"Pilots Revolt Against TSA" Pilots are not allowed to carry onboard pocket knives and bottles of shampoo, but they're allowed to fly enormous, fuel-laden, missile-like objects over American cities."'Are Any Parts of Your Body Sore?" One obvious technique the TSA is using to funnel passengers through the back-scatter imager is to waste their time.

via www.theatlantic.com