SGTMcClain dot Net

Well I didn’t think a part two to this post would come this soon but I have been made aware of something special thanks to the wonderful The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Subject: Operation Chokehold
On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. The idea is we’ll create a digital flash mob. We’re calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power!

If you are an iPhone user or just happen to be on the AT&T network I encourage you to participate, lets show AT&T that we they can have our iPhone data when they pry it from our cold dead hands!  I personally will be streaming Sirius/XM or some other radio station, wait… I do that already, LOL… I guess its time for me to purchase the Slingbox App!!!

Ok I am probably the biggest AT&T and the iPhone, but if this news I just read becomes true I will be turning my back on AT&T forever.

They are saying that they may put a clamp-down and raise prices on people who use a lot of bandwidth on their iphone’s, well I know I am easily a target, because I use my iphone so much that I need two different backup batteries during the day. 

But last I checked I paid for an unlimited data package.

Now if I am not mistaken, unlimited means no freaking limit, not a limit so high that most people would never get to it.  I am already painfully aware of the 5GB CAP that they (AT&T) has already.  I know that this isn’t just an AT&T problem its a wireless provider problem and if people don’t start letting their wireless companies know that its a problem they will continue to keep these dishonest practices.

The funny thing is that I believe that they may be using an All-You-Can-Eat restaurant mentality about data consumption.  However, while a restaurant can cut you off for over consumption it is still against the law to charge someone more than the posted price for all you can eat.

Needless to say, the day this goes into effect I will argue that my contract is null and void and leave AT&T once and for all… I hate to do it but I have to draw the line somewhere. 

So if their are any readers out there that do use something other than the iPhone and AT&T tell me what you have and how you think its better than the iPhone.  I don’t wanna leave but I think this may be the only way.

BTW – I am thinking of getting a droid, and a myfi from verizon so that I can still use my iPhone, but more on that if and when it happens.

This isn’t mine, I received it in an email and I just wanted to share it with everyone.  Enjoy!

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
THEY LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN’T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
“SANTA DON’T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.”

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.

I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, “CARRY ON SANTA,
IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.”

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT,”

I know I am late with this, but I am currently watching “Steal this film” for the first time if you haven’t seen this movie please take the time to watch it when you have a free hour or so. However you don’t need to watch it to understand this post so I will save it for the end.

First of all I want to say, I don’t pay for cable or satellite TV anymore. I watch all of the TV I am going to watch over the internet… well I take it back I do have a slingbox hooked up at my fathers so that I can watch the Redskins (yeah I’m hurting right now) games. My point though is that I personally think that the way that we have traditionally consumed media is coming to an end soon, and traditional media will have to come around…

The domino’s are already falling, traditional over the air broadcasters… CBS, ABC, FOX are all streaming their shows online for free. However Movies Studios are still slow to come around to this model… and this is why people still download movies illegally. I argue that if more movies were made available online for a nominal cost then people would pay to see these movies.

I think Hollywood is getting greedy. Have you seen the cost of a movie ticket these days? $10 at least to view a movie in a crowded movie theater where you have to sit in relatively uncomfortable chairs around people you don’t know, and heaven forbid you drink too much of you 5 dollar bladder buster soda because its not like you can pause the movie and come back to it, you are captive to your money spent, and to see the part you missed you now either have to pay another $10 just to see the part you missed. Mind you that I and many of you have a more comfortable higher quality theater set up in the comfort of your home.

I have an idea that could fix this for the studios that would save them a bunch of money and make a bunch of money at the same time. Why not offer the movie in a stream and the 1st week that it comes out it cost $50 to access the stream, this way people can have movie parties at their house, kind of like pay-per-view fights (who by the way make millions from their products) then after the first week or month you take $10 or $15 off the cost of the movie, then after about 3 months you release the DVD’s, Blue-Ray, or download for between $10 or $20. I understand that this would kill the movie theater business, though it doesn’t completely have to because they could still distribute their movies in the streaming fashion and people that just wanted to go out to a movie could, though it would greatly reduce the amount of movie theaters around… Or are they “too large to fail”? This model of distribution would save the studios money in distribution and advertising because it cost very little to offer these streams over the internet.

I argue that the people who download movies and music weren’t going to pay for it anyway in most cases and in the other cases its all about access. There are people that are in places where they can’t get to a theater but they have access to the internet. I am sure that these people, if given the option to buy a movie at a high quality when the movie comes out would gladly pay for it, but they don’t have the access. So when they get the opportunity to obtain a movie that they wanted to see at low quality for free or very low cost they will get it that way just because its available.

I hope that the studios learn what the over the air television studios have learned and the music industry is starting to learn, the information age is about availability, if you can reach your customers they will gladly pay a fair price for your product, but if you make it hard to access or make it too expensive your customers will find other (free or really low cost) methods of getting your product, and its not because they are thieves or “pirates” its because you have placed your product out of their reach.

Please enjoy the movie below, its runtime is about 1 hour.

BTW – Thank you hulu for allowing us to view and repost your content anywhere legally!!!