the air

How many of you are truly satisfied with your mobile wireless carrier? I’ve been with Cingular (now AT&T) for the past two years and although I don’t have any issues, I feel as if I’m not getting the most out of my wireless carrier. In fact, I spend almost $110 per month for services that would cost much lower if I were in Europe or Asia. Finally, a company in the US is stepping up to the plate and doing something beneficial for the consumer.

Google vs. AT&T, Verizon & the FCC

Coming soon is a bid for the 700 MHz being held by the FCC. This spectrum was previously used to deliver analog TV signals, but they have since been switched over to digital signals. Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, sent an open letter to the FCC outlining Google’s plan for the spectrum and their commitment to the bid by offering at least $4.6 billion. So what does Google’s plan entail?

1. Open applications: Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire
2. Open devices: Consumers should be able to utilize a handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer
3. Open services: Third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms
4. Open networks: Third parties (like internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee’s wireless network

And That Means What?

To put in plain English, Google wants you to be able to access any website or call anyone using any service or device you want. They don’t want to restrict the consumer in making any choices. For example, T-mobile is not allowed to have their customers use the GSM 850 MHz band in certain markets because AT&T is the exclusive owner of that frequency. Hence, it is possible that certain T-Mobile customers may not be able to enjoy service where GSM 1900 does not exist. Google’s plan would change all that and allow any service provider to operate within the 700 MHz frequency.

Google’s plan is designed with the consumer in mind. Google already offers many of their services free of cost because they are able to rake in billions through online advertising. If Google wins, they will add another source of revenue and enjoy even more money. It’s about time a company stood up for consumers and won. It’s time we let the FCC know that we want more choices and more freedom than what we have right now.

Source: TechCrunch

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For the first time, the FDA has approved a drug that can actually help you lose weight. Unlike many other “weight-loss” pills that are loaded with caffeine, ginseng, and some other “natural” herbs, Alli actually prevents a certain amount of fat from being absorbed by your body. According to early reports, Alli is a great tool to help you lose weight but will not work if you fail to have a proper exercise and diet plan to supplement it.

Don’t Poop Your Pants

Here’s the catch with Alli:

the main side effect occurs when you eat a meal with too much fat while taking alli. If so much fat is blocked that your stool can’t absorb it, you might have side effects. Because they are not harmful, we call them “treatment effects”. They include loose or more frequent stools, an urgent need to go to the bathroom, or gas with an oily discharge. The excess fat that passes out of your body is in no way harmful. In fact, you may recognize it as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza. Treatment effects can be lessened if you stick to reduced-calorie, low-fat meals that average 15 grams of fat per meal.

Many users of Alli encourage other would-be users to take an extra pair of clothes to work or even wear diapers so that embarrassing moments can be avoided. The main thing to remember with this drug is that you should not use it if you are not committed to weight loss. You can easily forget about eating pizza, fries, burgers, KFC, and much more. The effects of this pill will force you to do two things:

1. Stop using it
2. Change your eating habits

Do you really need it?

This really is a tough question to answer because this pill does require a serious amount of effort on your part. I’m about 179 pounds and at 5′10″, I’m not really overweight so it would not make sense for me to use it since I would probably lose too much weight or not much at all. This is a great pill for those who have tried dieting and exercising and they are not seeing realistic results that were to be expected. The most important thing to remember is an effective exercise/diet plan will undoubtedly help anyone out. Whether you take a pill or not is up to you, however, a pill isn’t necessary to lose weight unless you really need the extra help.

Source: MSNBC

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Everyday we wake up and enjoy many of the technologies that make our lives easier and enjoyable. Sometimes, we curse those advances in technology for the added annoyances, but we remain relatively supportive of the technology surrounding us. However, don’t you say to yourself how things would be better if companies weren’t trying to screw you over? Haven’t you ever wondered why companies who market their services to help your life actually create more nuances for you? It’s time businesses changed their practice of squeezing your wallet and move towards helping you out.

Dump the damned 2-year service agreements

NEVER sign up for two year service agreements just so you can get your hands on a new phone for little to no cost. Some careful research will show that you’re only saving an additional $50 or so if you sign a two year service agreement versus a one year service agreement. Companies have you sign those pesky two-year service agreements so that they can lock you in and shove stiff penalties up your ass if you decide to leave before your agreement is over. Check out the Consumerist for ways on how you can take advantage of cellular service and only be stuck for a year with that company.

Ever wonder why SMS isn’t popular in the Americas?

I’m sure all of us have read articles on how Europeans and Asians text message like crazy. There is no doubt that text-messaging, or SMS for short, is on the rise in the Americas, but it is nowhere near the levels of Europe/Asia. In fact, those kids over there are more into picture messaging and video messaging than we are. Why? Two reasons: price and technology. Here, we spend about $0.10 per sent or received text message. In India, all incoming texts are free and outgoing only costs Rs. 1, a fraction of a penny in US dollars. In terms of technology, both Europe and Asia are accustomed to high speed data networks that rival broadband. In fact, in India, you can enjoy speeds faster than EDGE, which is predominant across Cingular’s network. The best part is that all of these things are enjoyed at very little cost. I’ve noticed that companies in Europe and Asia are more willing to absorb costs and invest in long term strategies than their American counterparts. Look at Cingular. They charge me $9.99 for 400 sms/mms/video messages (both incoming and outgoing) and only give me 1 MB internet/GPRS access. For the same price, I can enjoy unlimited internet and unlimited messaging in India with faster rates and more value.

College books are just crazily priced

Have you looked at those college book prices lately? To me, they seem to increase every year with no breaks in between. As a student, I can easily expect to spend anywhere from $300 to over $500 per semester in textbooks. At the same time, students in the UK enjoy lower rates because of subsidized costs. Publishers argue that these subsidies are necessary to encourage developing countries to learn and give under-priviledged children a chance. My argument is how can they expect a college student to pay these abhorrent rates? Sure, some students are wealthy, but I certainly can tell you how hard it is for me to pay for my books. Generally that means weeks of ramen noodles and nothing else. So what do I do? I buy international editions even though publishers “say” that it is illegal. After doing my homework, I know that it is not against any law but the law of the publisher. So damn them all!

What do you think are some ways that American businesses can change or should change? If you could, what would you change? It’s time for some changes, so let’s make sure our thoughts are spoken.

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As you may remember, I recently opened an online savings bank account with ING Direct. The biggest advantage of having an online savings account is the high APY. Unlike traditional banks, most online banks offer upwards of 4% APY - compared to a measly 0.5% APY at brick-and-mortar banks.

So how do they do it?

Unlike brick-and-mortar banks, most online banks that offer high-interest rates do not have any physical stores to deal with. You, as a customer, do all your transactions via the web and if need-be, you can call customer service. However, Washington Mutual does offer online savings accounts linked with a traditional checking account. I do know that you can approach a brick-and-mortar WaMu bank to deal with your online account, but I don’t know if there are any extra charges. Since there is extremely little overhead, the feasibility of an online savings bank increases.

All Systems Go

One of the reasons why I signed up with ING Direct was for their speedy system. Although ING Direct does not offer as high an interest rate as iGoBanking - iGoBanking offers 5.30% APY whereas ING Direct offers 4.5% APY - they offer exceptional customer service. I just opened my account this past Monday afternoon and just today, my account is all set to go. I opened it with $50 but I won’t have access to any of those funds for another six business days since ING Direct requires a 10 day holding period for the initial deposit and five business days for all subsequent deposits. Time to start saving!

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I took the plunge

After talking to Jennifer Lynn and reading her blog for some time, I finally decided to go for an online savings account. Now that I am working (i.e. an internship), I really want to save my money and not spend it on trivial things. Hence, I went ahead and signed up with ING Direct.

Why ING? They have a pretty lousy interest rate of about 4.5% APY

I spent quite a bit of time reading up on both iGoBanking and ING Direct. In fact, I was even looking at other companies such as FNBO Direct as well (they were offering 6% introductory APY). Ultimately, I settled on ING Direct for the following reasons:

• Excellent customer service
• Veterans of the market
• Sign-up process

This was easy

While doing some research on ING Direct, I learned that they have one of the best customer service experiences of any competitor. This really made my day because this is my first foray into online banking, I really wanted to make sure I can talk to a normal human and have any of my questions answered. So did I call customer service? To be honest, no I did not. But just knowing that I can turn to them and have my answers quickly is a comforting thought.

ING Direct has also been around longer than most others. Although that may not mean much today, it does serve to show that they are experienced and know how to handle their customers. At least I hope. Additionally, the sealed deal is the signup process. Unlike iGoBanking, where they use snail-mail to send you your password to your site, ING Direct simply lets you do it all online. Although it still takes a few days for your account to be active (i.e. till you can do anything), they don’t rely on the USPS. The entire signing up process took about 15 minutes to complete including a soft credit check. That basically means they did not ask for my ENTIRE credit report from the agencies, but they did just ask for a quick overview. This prevents my credit to be affected in a negative manner.

Not all is lost with 4.5%

I realize that ING Direct is not paying me a competitive interest rate, but it is better than any brick-and-mortar bank which average just about 0.5%. I’m sure once I am comfortable with everything, I can always switch over to a new bank and enjoy higher earnings. So far, I just dropped $50 into this thing, so hopefully they won’t steal my cash. If you have not started a savings account, stop being so lazy and go open one NOW! And if you already have one, who is it with and how has your experience been?

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