AT&T is dumping their ad campaign and is rebranding

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AT&T just doesn’t know what the hell to do anymore.

On a new story on Business Insider, they say that “AT&T is undertaking an ambitious rebranding effort under the banner “Rethink Possible” that includes a redesign that updates its trademark logo.”

AT&T is pulling in the big guns on this, using Omnicom Group’s BBDO ad agency for this project. I worked with Omnicom a loooong time ago, and I know firsthand they’re an awesome company, so expect some slick ads and PR for AT&T coming soon.

But despite all this, AT&Ts service still sucks. Their horrible service is the core problem they either will not or can not address. Until that core problem is fixed, all this new and improved imaging will just be burning money. Because when Consumer Reports labels you as the “worst carrier in the US”, and hundreds of bloggers (like me!) go out of their way to mention how horrible the cellular service is and keep as many new customers away as possible, I predict AT&T is will *not* see a lot of new subscribers regardless of how awesome the new ads are going to be.

I also predict AT&T will see a big “churn” this year (customers leaving their sorry service), as the first generation iPhone customers will finally be free to leave their cellular contracts without a financial penalty.

Hey AT&T, you’re a lot like the punk fighter who talks a lot of smack but gets knocked out in the second round by the champ. Saying you’re awesome means nothing. Do you want people to take you seriously? Want to be the champ? Quit talking trash and show us something. Spend 3/4 of that “rebranding” budget on substantial network upgrades so your own customers will notice and freak out at how awesome things are now that their calls don’t drop every two minutes and they get more than one bar of signal on their phone. Make your service so wonderful people recommend you to their friends.

As Craig Ferguson would say, “Ah hah hah! Made myself laugh!”

Here’s the link to the story on Business Insider.

AT&T Fail Logo No 2

AT&T Fail Logo No 2

Dear Apple: plan on iPhone OS 4 getting jailbroken because of the iAd system

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Apple just announced their new iPhone 4.0 OS will come embedded with a new addition called iAd.

According to Macintouch, “a new “iAd” advertising system that Apple is building into OS 4 for in-app HTML5 ads with “emotion + interactivity” to the tune of 1 billion ad impressions per day.”

What? Seriously?

The idea behind this, according to the story on Engadget, is “…to keep users in the apps to see interactive, “emotional” ad content as often as once every three minutes — not to “yank” them out… — while developers are rewarded with a 60 percent cut of the revenue.”

Do I mind developers getting money? Absolutely not! That’s why I have paid for 100% of the apps on my iPhone. Every single icon has a receipt from either iTunes, Rock or Cydia.

Which is exactly why I have a tremendous problem with the iAd being implemented in the core iPhone 4.0 system.

I paid for the iPhone device, I pay for cellular and data service to the iPhone, and I paid for every app on the iPhone. Why, exactly, am I going to see ads on this device? Why should the bandwidth I am paying for be diverted to the downloads of advertisements I do not want to see? What more do I need to support since I already will have paid for the device itself, the service it runs on and any apps I wanted?

The iAd is nothing more than a overt cash grab by Apple. Saying the developers will be “rewarded” with “60%” for their work is just a diversion from the remaining 40% Apple will drop straight to their bottom line.

Apple has an interesting use of the word “rewarded” in their press release. The developers invested their own time and money to make the apps in the first place, so shouldn’t they get something along the lines of 80% of the iAd revenue for their work? 70% even? “Rewarding” them with little more than half of the income they will get from people using their product is a touch greedy.

I bet the iPhone 4.0 OS will be jailbroken soon after it will be released to disable the iAd system. You watch.

Besides, the iPhone 4.0 is just catching up to what I have already been able to do with my first generation iPhone that’s been jailbroken for over a year!

  • User-defined wallpaper? Got it. (Winterboard)
  • Multitasking? Got it. (Backgrounder)
  • Spell check? Got it. (Inspell)
  • Folder filing? Got it. (Categories)
  • Video Recording? Got it. (Cycorder)
  • Book sync? Got it. (Kindle, Stanza & eReader)

Plus, my iPhone has things the 4.0 OS still doesn’t!

  • Terminal access to the root of the device and to outside sources.
  • Firewall for controlling what apps can access the network
  • Custom lockscreen(s) with upcoming appointment information and weather stats
  • Printing through Bluetooth or WiFi
  • File transfers through bluetooth
  • Google Voice
  • Grooveshark
  • Custom animated backgrounds, ringtones, and custom icon sets.
  • Custom routing of calls based on CallerID
  • Custom fonts throughout the device
  • Full icon control (5 x 5 layout on an infinite-scrolling page)

Apple also announced the iPhone 4.0 OS won’t run on my first generation device, which is perfectly fine with me since I already have all of the 4.0 benefits without any of the wasteful overhead.

So thanks, Apple, but I’ll pass on the cash grab.

Imagine how far ahead of the game Apple would be if it actually had the nerve to truly open the iPhone to all 3rd party developers. Opening the app store to all the jailbreak apps on Cydia and Rock would not only give them a much higher income source than anything the iAd would generate, but also push their marketshare far, far ahead of the newcomers.

Return to Falfurrias Overpass [PHOTOS]

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While driving around south Texas last week, I saw there was some more progress on that overpass in Falfurrias.

Return To Falfurrias Overpass 1

Return To Falfurrias Overpass 1

The wiry strands from my last visit are now encased in pillars of concrete, and horizontal support beams for the overpass are now in place.

Return To Falfurrias Overpass 2

Return To Falfurrias Overpass 2

The “downtown” area of Falfurrias is directly behind me where I took the photos. If you take the road going straight past the Burger King, you’ll get to Kingsville in about 40 minutes. To the left where the overpass is pointing is North and will get you to Alice, Texas. To the right going south about an hour is McAllen.

Return To Falfurrias Overpass 3

Return To Falfurrias Overpass 3

The overpass project is moving pretty fast. Since Falfurrias is the first town past the inspection checkpoint, I wonder if they’re going to run the overpass all the way south to meet it?

DOJ and FDA pop Guidant for failures of three models of its implantable defibrillators

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If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now. The FDA is awesome. On the occasions when the FDA tag teams with the DOJ? Watch out!

The FDA and the DOJ just popped Guidant LLC for $296 million. Their crime was withholding information about “short-circuiting failures of three models of its implantable cardioverter defibrillators: the Ventak Prizm 2 DR (Model 1861) and the Contak Renewal (Models H135 and H155).”

“The devices, once surgically implanted, constantly monitor the electrical activity in a patient’s heart for deadly electrical rhythms and deliver an electrical shock to the heart in an effort to return the heartbeat to normal. If they fail to operate properly when needed, a person can die within minutes.”

Nice company.

This $296 million fine is also “the largest criminal penalty ever imposed on a device manufacturer for violating the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act”.

Maybe nailing companies with $200 million dollar fines will get them to be a touch more responsive to things like this!

If you know someone that has an implanted defibrillator, have them check with their doctor to see if it happens to be a Ventak Prizm 2 DR (Model 1861) or either of the Contak Renewal Models (H135 and H155). You just might save their lives.

Here’s the link to the FDA/DOJ announcement.

Survivor Tree [Photos]

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While I was on the road trip I took last week, I saw this tree for the first time on the side of the freeway.

Survivor Tree 1

Survivor Tree 1

Somehow this tree lost half of itself, but kept on growing.

Survivor Tree 2

Survivor Tree 2

The withered, sun-bleached remnant was stretched on the ground beside the living tree, still wrapped along its’ roots.

Survivor Tree 5

Survivor Tree 5

Standing midway between the treeline and the freeway, it really was a striking sight.

Survivor Tree 6

Survivor Tree 6

AT&T has a plan! Charge you more to fix their horrible cellular service!

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AT&T just delivered another brilliant plan to fix their busted-ass antiquated network.

Starting their new project in San Francisco and New York, they intend to install a mini-cell tower in homes that are connected to their internet service to boost the homeowner’s cellphone signal.

But wait! There’s more! Since this is AT&T, they intend to charge $150 for installing and using this mini-cell tower, and will also charge additional minutes for cell phone calls that come in over this device!

AT&T is so damn stupid and incompetent, it’s amazing how they stay in business day to day.

Like one of their customers said in the article… ““They want to find a new way to make money off me, versus actually servicing me for the money I pay already… They’re trying to find a way to profit from their weakness.”

Here’s the link to the article on the New York Times.

Adventure Time! Then and Now.

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I’ve been slooooowly unpacking things as time permits these last few months. In one of the old trunks I found my original Atari 2600.

For those of you who don’t remember (or know) what the 2600 was like, brace yourself and click on the movie below…

That was “Adventure”. And that was one of the better games, too!

And now? Playing an Xbox 360 game on my HDTV?

Just slightly more fun.

I’ll make a followup post in another 30 years when the Xbox 360 is getting hauled out of storage!

Strange: FDA now requires device manufacturers to include information on pediatric populations

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The new FDA requirement that’s described in this press release is a bit odd.

As of now, the FDA requires that “manufacturers now must include a description of any pediatric subpopulations that suffer from the disease or condition that the device is intended to treat, diagnose, or cure. Manufacturers also must include the number of affected pediatric patients.”

Lemme make sure I understood this… the FDA wants to know what diseases and conditions a manufacturer’s product is designed to treat? And a real quantifiable number of how many kids are affected by the disease that their product intends to treat?

Hmmm.

The press release also says… “Very few devices are developed or assessed specifically for use in pediatric patients, those 21 or younger at the time of treatment or diagnosis. This effort will provide a better understanding of which devices developed for use in adults should be assessed or modified for use in pediatric populations. The requirements, contained in the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, will also improve the agency’s ability to track the number of approved devices for which there is a pediatric subpopulation who could benefit and the number of approved devices labeled for use in pediatric patients.”

Anything that tries to fly under the banner “we’re doing it for the kids” is an automatic suspect in my book.

Is there anything wrong with this request? Not that I can see. But is it a strange request? Most definitely.

Here’s the official FDA press release on the new requirement.

Recall: Stud Capsule for men

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Stud Capsule For Men is being recalled by the FDA because it has been “adulterated with Sildenafil, an FDA approved drug used in the treatment of Erectile Dysfunction(ED).”

I like how the FDA sneaks in words like “adulterated” in press releases like this. You can’t really use that word much outside of scrabble and in general character insinuations.

Anyhow, this drug is “…sold as a blister pack containing one capsule per unit of use 24-packs in a Box…consumers who have Stud Capsule For Men Lot 060607-01/060108-01 Exp 6-2010 in their possession should stop using them immediately.”

OK, seriously, if you’re taking something labeled and marketed as a “stud capsule” you really should re-evaluate some of your goals. Just sayin…

Here’s the link to the official FDA recall notice.

Recall : Whole Foods Market Yellow fin Tuna Steaks

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Whole Foods Market is recalling their Whole Catch Yellow fin Tuna Steaks because they’ve got a good chance of giving people scombroid poisoning due to high levels of histamine in the fish.

The press release from the FDA says the recall is for the Tuna Steaks “with a best by date of Dec 5th, 2010” and is “sold in twelve ounce bags with Best by Date: exp 05 DEC 2010 with Lot Code: 4853309157A and displays the following UPC code: 0-99482-42078-9 Whole Catch Yellow fin Tuna Steaks (Frozen) 12 oz.”

Scombroid poisoning isn’t any fun. This will kick in within minutes after eating the fish, and will give you “…tingling or burning sensation in the mouth, facial swelling, rash, hives and itchy skin, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.”

Fun!

Here’s the link to the FDA article.