Sprint Employees Get Class Action Status

This may be of interest to anyone who has worked at Sprint (myself included). WirelessWeek is reporting that a federal judge has cleared the way for class action status on an employee lawsuit. The current and former employees are alleging that proper commissions were not paid. Sprint apparently had chalked this up to a "computer glitch" but the employees say otherwise. Check out the article here.

One in Five HDTV Owners Don't Know the Difference

Is this a surprise? In a recent study by the Leightman Research Group, 18% of HDTV owners couldn't tell the difference between the two. Given the public's confusion over 1080p, 1080i, 720p, et. al., it is not difficult to imagine someone who has spent the money for the better set only to realize they needed to subscribe to HD service.

Another interesting thing about this survey is it was done over the phone. Might we assume that today's higher tech consumers (pro-sumers) would not be reachable using this method? I wonder what the median age of the 1,302 households were.
HD or Standard Def? One in Five HDTV Owners Don't Know the Difference - PC World
One in five can't tell Standard Def from HD-Gizmodo

OMG! I'VE BEEN PUBLISHED!

BREAKING NEWS: Those who know me are aware of my unusual sense of humor; some call it "dry-wit". Others call it "stupid", "childish", etc... Today, I feel a bit vindicated. How? You may recall my post on October 29: "This Piano is for Entertainment!" where I took a photo of (what I thought, anyway) as an amusing sign. Well, the good folks at Passive Aggressive Notes agreed with me and PUBLISHED THE PHOTO ON THEIR SITE!! I'm so happy, I don't know what to say except thank you, thank you. See Mom, I DO have a normal sense of humor!

Dining and Dancing in Bloomington

Here I am again in Bloomington, Indiana! Like any good college town, there is usually something interesting off the beaten path. Tonight I found a fascinating spot called The Player's Pub. Their claim to fame is that they have live music every night. This evening featured an eight piece swing band consisting of slightly pre-geriatric but happy band members. These guys obviously play strictly for the fun of it and that shines through their music. Everyone in the place feels comfortable dancing, which adds to the sense of cool. This joint has a friendly, laid-back atmosphere that make it all the more charming. The food's not bad, either. Player's Pub, 24 Walnut street Bloomington Indiana between 2nd and 3rd streets

The Best BBQ in Texas?

Here is an interesting article brought to my attention by my Aunt Claire: Calvin Trillin writes in The New Yorker this week about the best barbecue in Texas. He discusses Texas Monthly's pick of Snows in Lexington, TX. This was an unusual pick, and has been covered by, among others, NPR. Nevertheless, Trillin is an excellent and funny read, and is likely worth your time.
Dept. of Gastronomy: By Meat Alone: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Who watches TV on TV anymore?

A very interesting question, indeed. This was posed by Rich Karpinski, one of the editors of Telephony, recently. He overheard his teenage daughter watching Gossip Girl on her laptop when this question was asked of viewers - and it was apparently a serious one.

Is IPTV, You Tube, Hulu, etc. growing at a rate that could surpass TV very soon? It doesn't seem likely but I've been wrong before.
Who watches TV on TV anymore?

Circuit City files for bankruptcy

How unfortunate. Not that I am a fan of this company, somewhat the opposite. but I do feel bad for the folks who will lose their jobs in a poor economy. Corporate mismanagement has once again taken its toll.

What's that you say? How can he blame management when he also said the economy was poor? Even though credit was more difficult from vendors, fewer buyers, etc., other companies seem to be doing OK in the same space. How else would you account for the success of Best Buy? Here's the article from CNN Money.com:
Circuit City files for bankruptcy - Nov. 10, 2008

The gentle telco/cable war

Today's Telephony Online editorial details why telcos need not fear the growth of cable broadband. Even though Comcast posted big gains in customer growth over Verizon & AT&T, according to Ed Gubbins, (Editor), "although telcos appear to be losing the war against cable providers, one analyst says to cheer up; it's more accurate to say both sides are winning.'The telco impact on cable is being more than fully offset by the deteriorating fortunes of the satellite operators, yielding the startlingly counterintuitive conclusion that things in the pay-TV market are becoming less, not more, competitive as time goes on.'"

Wow.
TP_Telephony Online Update_: The gentle telco/cable war