Baaad mutha

It may be "fibre optic" service (disclaimer: I am actually very happy with my Virgin connectivity), but the billing system behind this broadband juggernaut canceled my direct debit payments for no good reason in June. According to the call center operator, this seems to have coincided with a billing system consolidation/migration exercise. The old jokes are always the best...

(UPDATE: I neglected to mention that my friends over at VoiceSage have some slick routines for dealing with these sorts of scenarios, keeping the customer informed and engaged, rather than shocked and annoyed.)

I am... already bored

Unspeakably large billboard at the corner of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road/Tottenham Court Road. The future was once bright, now it's just baffling and silly...

My fortune cookie today

Macabre sense of humor, these Chinese waiters...

The way we were

If, like me, you find yourself with a bit of time on your hands, and, like me, you also spend some of that time pondering the erosion of American economic hegemony in the world, you might like to take a bittersweet journey through the outstanding Prelinger Archives, one of my favorite stops on this Interweb thingy. Thrill to swinging futuristic commercials, fascinating history lessons, cutting-edge technological innovation, and hard-hitting exposes of life in other cultures. Enjoy.

We interrupt this silence to bring you breaking news...

Mega-uber value readers of the world (if there are any of you left out there), following 15 months of dormancy, EuroTelcoblog (and little brother Chaotica) will soon be making a comeback. There are some outstanding logistical issues which make a precise date impossible to define at this point, but please watch this space for more info as it becomes available. The best is yet to come, I hope...

While you're on hold, please enjoy these audio nuggets from a happier bygone era in telecom:

Nortel corporate musical, circa 1996 - 27 minutes and 46 seconds of pure torture - my favorite is "I Want an OC192 for Christmas"

Female employee chorus of KPN, late '60's - they really rock Hava Naguila!