INeedAttention.com

Sen. Morahan,

I am pleased to say that this is my first time writing to you as long as you have been my state Senator. I wanted to write because lately I have heard about some disturbingly frivolous pieces of legislation proposed by your colleagues. I am mostly concerned with two proposed bills, S1640 Sabini and S2698 Kruger. These bills are titled, “Prohibits the use or sale of hubcaps which contain parts designed to continue moving when the motor vehicle to which they are attached is not moving” and “Restricts the use of an electronic device while crossing a crosswalk in a city with a population of one million or more” respectively. [Read more →]

Tonight I volunteered to be a sober driver for some friends that wanted to go out but were clearly in a state unsuitable to drive by New York State’s standards. It was a good thing they didn’t drive, since it started snowing quite hard during the twenty minute ride from Troy to downtown Albany. Albany’s gritty streets welcomed us with all their icy and illicit fury. Approaching the bar my friends were headed to, near Quail St and Western Ave, we were stymied by a police activity, apparently arresting some man for some unknown reason – taking him away in an unmarked grey Chevy Tahoe. There were three marked patrol units on the scene, and it was our misfortune that one – a Ford Taurus police car – was parked such as to leave just barely too little room for anything but a Suzuki Swift to pass. [Read more →]

The other day, I was near Times Square, and I desperately needed to check my email account so that I could get the phone number of a person I was meeting. I didn’t have my laptop on me, so the free wireless in Bryant Park (or open wi-fi elsewhere) was out of the question. I thought the New York Public Library might have internet access, and indeed they did. Unfortunately, the room with public internet terminals was fully packed, even at 2PM on a Tuesday. The librarian said I’d need to register for a library card, and that once I received it, there’d be a 90 minute wait to use the public PCs. I didn’t have 90 minutes, so I had to get more creative. Fortunately, I noticed there were some other PCs closer to the lobby that had Internet explorer icons on their desktops. These PCs blacklisted Gmail and almost every other service I could think of – except one.

0. Install LogMeIn Free on a PC and leave it connected to the Internet. If you’re like me, you already had this, or something similar, set up so that you can access you’re stuff while you’re on the road.

1. Go to NY Public Library at 42nd & 5th. This may also work at other public libraries. This may also work at your school, or your job. Please note, however, that if you get arrested, expelled, fired, shunned by friends and family, or beaten with reeds, that I cannot be held responsible.

2. On third floor, room 315, there are research and database computers. These computers are like electronic card catalogs and journal indices. They are networked, they have internet access, and they do not require a user to authenticate themselves with a library card or otherwise. As an aside, you can use these terminals to perform serious research rather easily, since you can access the full texts of a number of peer reviewed journals.

3. On the desktop, there is a shortcut to Internet Explorer that has been named “Databases”. Open the “Databases” shortcut, which launches a locked-down Internet Explorer window, sans address bar, toolbars, and other basic functionality.

3a. For cover, open something in one of the research databases. This step is optional. Seeing as how it seemed like homeless people were sleeping at the terminals next to me, this may be completely unnecessary.

4. Hit the “F1” key to launch Internet Explorer help. If you’re a l33t h4x0r that regularly is involved with pwning or using pwn3d machines, you’re probably thinking either: a) I know exactly where this is going, or b) I didn’t even know Internet Explorer help could possibly be useful for anything.

5. Click the yellow “?” and paper logo in the upper left corner of the help window. For the n00bs reading this, you’re clicking the icon on the left in the title bar of the help window. The title bar is the (typically blue) bar at the top of the window that also includes minimize, maximize, and close (“X”) buttons on the right hand side.

6. Select the curiously placed “Jump to URL…” command. If you’ve never used this feature of HTML help, well, you’re not alone. I’d never heard of it until I read about an unrelated Windows XP escalation of privilege exploit. A commenter wrote that it was possible to use “Jump to URL…” to launch a command prompt window on machines without a Start … Run capability. This alone is a useful hack on its own, so be sure to try it the next time you encounter a locked down PC. If you’ve used “Jump to URL…” before, you’ve probably pwn3d plenty of PCs already. Note: if you’ve used “Jump to URL…” for some legitimate purpose, please comment on this and let everyone know what the reasoning for having this feature might be, aside from allowing exploits like this.

7. In the “Jump to URL…” dialog box, enter: https://secure.logmein.com/

8. The LogMeIn homepage appears in the right pane of the help window. Drag the left pane’s border to resize the left pane and make it small, if you wish. Now you can log into your LogMeIn account.

9. Select the computer you wish to connect to. You will be prompted to install the Remote Access Components ActiveX control. These PCs allow you to install this particular ActiveX control. I suspect that the ActiveX control runs in the same permission level as the user, which is pretty locked down. However, the Remote Access Components control that LogMeIn uses doesn’t require Administrator privileges, so it seems to work. I don’t recall, but it may also be digitally signed by Microsoft, which could fully explain why this works at all.
10. Log into your PC and enjoy! At this point, using my home internet connection, I was able to check my email, sign on to AIM, and waste forty minutes surfing the web before my meeting.

Don’t go getting into trouble with this. NYPL: time to update your proxy server’s blacklists – it should only take a few seconds!

I recently returned from a vacation to Florida. Being the bargain hunter I am, I shopped around for cheap airline tickets using a couple of tricks. First, I was willing to fly out of whatever airport was cheapest, at whatever time was cheapest. My dates were also somewhat flexible. Flying in the middle of the week, as opposed to a weekend, is generally cheapest, so I preferred two Wednesday flights. Next, I checked prices about a week or two prior to my expected travel date, although savings are usually best given one to three weeks notice.

So considering those basic points, I started seeking price quotes from the well-known bargain travel sites: Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, Priceline.com, and Travelocity.com. I entered my information identically across all four sites, and compared their prices. Continental Airlines and American Airlines were consistently less expensive than other airlines across those four sites. All four sites gave approximately equal quotes for the same route, which was cheapest when flying from LaGuardia airport in New York to Palm Beach International airport in West Palm Beach, Florida. The total cost, as advertised by all four sites, was approximately $134 to $165 before taxes and fees for the roundtrip, non-stop airfare – not bad in the first place.

On another note, I was to receive an additional 6% rebate on the entire transaction. First, Discover Card‘s “Get More” cash-back promotion was advertising 5% cash-back on travel charges such as airfare, train tickets, hotel stays, and rental cars. The other 1% was through my Upromise account. Upromise is a brand loyalty program that gives you a miniscule rebate, typically 2% or less, when you buy certain things. Upromise makes money because retailers pay to be Upromise branded, and those vendors make up the miniscule amount paid to you since you are more likely to buy more of their typically over-priced merchandise. I essentially abuse Upromise by not using it myself – for example, while I have my own grocery card and credit card registered with Upromise, my family shares my grocery card account and thereby generates rebates unknowingly as they buy things the way they normally would. In any event, Priceline.com is a Upromise vendor and so I logged into my Upromise account, which then led me to Priceline.com.

And such was the next trick up my sleeve: Priceline.com’s “Name your own price” system. Priceline.com advertises that you can save between 20 and 40% off regular price airfare if you name your own price. So I took the $134 quote, the lowest advertised elsewhere, subtracted an additional 20%, and entered in a price of $108. Note that I could have possibly saved more, but considering that other “bargain” sites were making the offers they were, I considered it fair to pay $54 per direction without trying to save more (although I don’t know if I could have saved more).

Within two minutes, Priceline.com accepted my offer and emailed me a confirmation. I would be flying on American Airlines, and after taxes and fees I paid approximately $135. My flights in both direction were on-time, relaxing, and comfortable. A rather good looking flight attendant at least ten years my senior gave me her phone number in New York, free drinks and M&Ms – so no complaints on that flight. Interestingly, she began conversing with me because she said it was “strange” that I would be seated where I was – at the tail of the plane, next to the engine, in a row by myself, in an otherwise fully packed aircraft, next to her flight attendant’s seat. Anyway, the return flight was less eventful but also comfortable. All-in-all, the flight portion of my experience with Priceline.com was positive. My flight attendant friend was shocked about the price I paid commenting, “We [American Airlines] are probably losing money on that.”

But in this joke, the positive airfare experience is only the setting of the stage for the punch line. After I received my email confirmation from Priceline.com that my offer was accepted, I was directed to return to Priceline.com to complete my transaction. After completing the steps, I was presented with other related offers: discount hotel reservations and car rentals. I didn’t need either since I was visiting friends, who had ample space to put me up for the week. However, since I had a separate experience renting a car only two weeks earlier, I decided to see how much Priceline.com would rent me a car for.

I was shocked when I was offered a price of $19 per day for a Premium vehicle – a “Crown Victoria or similar” according to Priceline.com. The terms clearly stated that an under 25 fee would apply. I decided that for the $19 a day, a rental car would be fun to tool around in, and considering the cheap airfare, it was within my budget for the trip. I decided to accept their offer, and I was given a receipt on which $65 in “fees” were added, however, there was no itemization of fees. The car rental agency was National Car Rental, and the total was $204. So given that the fee amounted to almost 50% of the cost of the vehicle, I figured the under 25 fee was assessed here. Without an itemized receipt, however, it was impossible for me to ascertain that there was yet another fee waiting for me. But this is also not the only surprise that was waiting.

After booking my “Premium” vehicle with National Car Rental, knowing that different companies use different fleets of vehicles, I called National Car Rental to determine if they indeed had Ford Crown Victorias in their fleet. As an aside, if you’ve never driven a “police car”, consider trying it sometime. I guarantee you’ll notice a significant increase in the patience and prudence of other drivers – a sad testimonial to the effect that the thought of surveillance has on human behavior. Anyway, the National Car Rental agent said that they used GM vehicles typically, but that a “Premium” vehicle meant either a Buick LeSabre, Buick Lucerne, Dodge Magnum, or Dodge Charger. Obviously, I wanted the Dodge Charger, even if it only had a 6-cylinder engine.

Upon arrival in West Palm Beach, I marched excitedly to the National Car Rental counter. The agent behind the counter was friendly, and as much as I would have loved to spew obscenities at him for the chaos that was about to ensue, he was only doing his job and was trying earnestly to keep me satisfied. So what happened, exactly?

First, the Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger were not available at all. Not just at that location, they were virtually not available at all. The agent said they come in “sometimes” which, based on his squinting and perseverate deep breath, I took to mean “almost never”. I asked what was available in the Premium class, and he advised me that only the Buick LeSabre and Buick Lucerne were available. Granted, they’re “full size” cars but calling either a premium vehicle in the first place is a bit of a stretch, in my opinion. I asked what other vehicles were available in other classes, and let him know I’d be willing to pay extra for the next class up. With a great sense of futility, he tapped the keys on his computer terminal to check, finding a Cadillac CTS and Hummer H3, both for an additional $20 or so per day, which would have doubled the price I was paying. In response, imagine me making a puckered face of dissatisfaction. I agreed to take the Buick Lucerne.

“Alright,” he said, “now if you can just sign here.” Drawing my eyes to the signature box, I then looked around, grabbed a pen nearby on the counter, and prepared to put my mark on the page. My eyes grew wide with shock as I noticed the paper was not the rental agreement – it was an invoice. “This says I owe you almost $300,” I pointed out. “Oh yes, that’s what it says you owe in the computer.” I returned, “What for? I pre-paid through Priceline.com.” The agent then explained, “Yes, but you’re under 25, and there is a $39 per day fee, plus tax, for underage renters.” He advised me to call Priceline.com with questions, citing that the reservation was made through them.

Priceline.com’s customer service was completely useless in resolving this issue. Not only did they insist that I had not paid an under 25 fee, they admitted that, “[I] did pay taxes and fees, but those fees couldn’t be broken down individually.” Priceline.com’s customer service agents repeatedly insisted that there was nothing they could do – no full refund, no prorated refund, no credit for another time. I asked if they were ever able to help people, and they said yes. I asked, for future reference, what situation would warrant a refund or credit – and the agent refused to give a square answer! Seems like it’s not much of a service to customers to have customer service agents that are only there to tell you, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do!”

I might be crazy, but when a fee is literally twice the advertised price, it’s not much of a fee anymore – it’s a big freaking difference. It’s false advertising, it’s deceptive, it’s price gouging, and it’s probably very profitable.

After all, if I really needed a rental car, there’s a good chance I’d accept the gouged price upon arrival. How would you leave the airport without your ground transportation? Fortunately I had my friends to call and ask for a ride. They were working at the time, but were willing to pick me up after their shift. So after waiting at the airport like Tom Hanks in a short version of “The Terminal“, I was out of the airport and started a fun week of relaxing and taking in the weirdness that is the state of Florida.

There was yet another surprise waiting for me, though. I attempted to use my Discover Card in a liquor store in Port Saint Lucie, and was declined on a $9 transaction! When I called Discover, their automated system advised me that my available credit was $0, thanks to guess who – National Car Rental who put the $295 charge to my credit card, maxing it out completely, despite that I refused to sign the invoice or take receipt of the car. This charge was reversed by National Car Rental when I advised them that I hadn’t signed the invoice and had declined the rental as a result of the fee in the first place. When National Car Rental was issuing this refund, they said they couldn’t refund the original $204 charge because I booked it through Priceline.com, and so I’d have to deal with them. “Well, isn’t Priceline.com going to pay you that $204,” I asked. “Only if you actually take the car,” the National agent said. He did say, however, that if I had booked the rental directly that they would have refunded me fully – a claim I can’t disprove but that my gut says is probably untrue based on the whole experience.

But since Priceline.com also refused to issue me a refund for the rental car service which was never rendered to me, so I’ve had no choice but to dispute the charge through Discover Card. I may get my money back, I may not.

Priceline.com, and National Car Rental: if you decide you want to give me a refund after all, I’ll gladly take it, and update this story accordingly to let readers know that you may not be as bad as you’ve been to me. But based on your inability to do anything for me, and your lack of willingness to show that you could do anything for me in the first place, especially when I was in a jam, I really doubt that will happen. One of the Priceline.com agents even went so far as to say it was “my fault” and that he’d bet that I’d “read the terms more carefully next time” – despite that I had read the terms and believed to be complying with them in good faith.

You can be sure I’ll never use your car rental services again. And if at least one reader here decides not to use your services, I’ll be satisfied. The $204 you defrauded from me may ultimately be yours to keep, but the sales you may lose are hopefully worth far more.

In summary: Priceline.com’s cheap airfare is enticing, but decline their tie-in offers unless you like being royally screwed and stuck at an airport for hours with $500 charged to your credit card for services never received. As for National Car Rental, I hope that if you use them that you like Buicks, but don’t believe the hype about getting something actually desirable like a Dodge Charger.

UPDATE – 04/03/2007: Discover Card finally resolved their investigation into this charge.  They ruled in my favor, and issued me a refund for the full $206.30 in dispute!  The text of my dispute letter surrounded the use of “taxes and fees” in the Priceline.com agreement, which implied that the total I was charged originally should have included “all taxes and fees”.  Since they tried to slap a $400 fee on top of the price they quoted me, Discover agreed that the total did not include all taxes and fees, and subsequently, that I was not liable for that charge!  Eat that, Priceline.  It pays to Discover! (R) (Note I am not affiliated with Discover).

Portugal. The Man,

I share MP3s with a lot of family and friends, and someone gave me your album. Well, I’m glad they did because it was amazing from start to finish. I was driving earlier this evening, and your album “Waiter: You Vultures!” came on my playlist. It was a seriously psychedelic experience. When I got home, I found your Purevolume page and it linked to the YouTube video for “AKA M80 The Wolf“. It made the entire album experience that much more amazing.

So I bought your album new on Amazon.com. The MP3 copy I had was illegal, but I think it was said best in Escape from LA: if freedom is outlawed, only outlaws have freedom. I never would have heard of you without MP3 sharing, because I don’t like listening to commercial radio or watching TV. I wish there was a different way to support artists that didn’t involve buying the CDs or a broken MP3 from iTunes. First, I know labels can be pretty gay about paying artists and are just dirty in general. Sony even put computer viruses on teeny bopper CDs, I mean what was with that? And second, even though most people say iTunes is fair enough, there are still people like me that just don’t want Apple to say what’s fair. I don’t have or want iTunes or QuickTime which they force on you if you use iTunes. But I do still want to support artists like you. So I bought the CD, even though I’ll probably only use it to rip it again into MP3 with a higher bitrate.

Now I’d like to ask, what do you think the best way to support artists today is?

I hope you write back, and if you do, I’ll post it on my blog, where I’m going to post this letter, with some links to your material.

Sincerely,

Pete, INeedAttention.com

—

UPDATE: January 5, 2007

Unlike other letters I’ve written to certain politicians *COUGH* Senator Hilary Clinton and Senator Chuck Schumer *COUGH*, I receieved a response to this letter. Many thanks to Portugal: The Man for taking the time to acknowledge their fans. The content of the responses really goes to show that these guys are the real deal. See below, and enjoy!

—

pete,

thanks for the love buddy. first off, thanks for buying our record. these days it’s hard to get people to do that. it’s so easy to get it for free, most pepople don’t bother. i’m guilty of that as well. on the other hand, we have no problem with anyone downloading our shit. we’d rather you have it than not. we don’t want to waste anyone’s money. steal it….. if you really like it, pick it up for the artwork. that way we know anyone who buys it is a fan. cool with us.

bands will surely have to adapt to the age of file sharing, but it’s not impossible. you might have to dump some extra money into expensive and original packaging and art for the cd’s. that always makes me want to have a legit copy. there obviously isn’t a whole lot of money in music anymore, but i think it makes the music better, or at least more real. not many do it for the money. now it’s for the love.

to answer your question, you can still support your bands by going to the shows, picking up a shirt, and saying hi. we love what we do. we’ll keep having fun as long as anyone is there to listen. thanks for the support and come say hello to us if you see us coming through your town.

-zach