I finally received an invite to socialthing last week and went through the new lifestreaming service over the weekend. The service is currently invitation only, however you can request an invite by visiting the website. Currently the service only utilizes Firefox to access and use the service. However, I do not think it will be long before they support Internet Explorer and other web browsers.

The beta is limited currently to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LiveJournal, Pownce and Vimeo services. Other services will be added as the beta nears end. They do have a voting system in place for members to vote on additional services and also they are taking suggestions for not listed services.

Setting up services is simple and straightforward. One thing I would like to see though, is a "post" to window on the lifestream page (feeds) rather than on a separate tab.

services - click for larger image

lifestream (feeds) - click for larger image

post items - click for larger image

socialthing currently doesn't have a lot of features available to users. However, what is visible does work rather nicely.

As they add services I will cover socialthing in a bit more detail.

Related

socialthing! social aggregator coming in march (fvrit.com)

Zigtag is a new bookmarking service that is currently in private beta (you can sign up for a invite though). Zigtag utilizes a sidebar for tagging and sharing. Currently only Firefox is supported, however I am told that Internet Explorer support is coming soon.

Zigtag combines bookmarking and social networking into on site. While similar to del.icio.us and StumbleUpon, zigtag takes an entirely different approach.

From the zigtag website

Zigtag is an intelligent social bookmarking tool. It allows you to save your favorite websites by tagging them with keywords, which you can then use to retrieve the pages again at a later date. This makes it easy to categorize and organize any number of bookmarks, and is more manageable than your browser's built-in favorites tool.

The social aspect of Zigtag is that you can search not only your own bookmarks but also those of your friends or the entire Zigtag community, and you can share your own favorites with others if you choose. You can also create and join groups which are dedicated to sharing content about various subjects, allowing you to constantly discover new pages that are interesting and relevant to you.

The intelligence aspect is that our tags have defined meanings, so when you tag a page, you are assigning it a definition rather than a simple word that could have multiple meanings. Having defined tags is what sets Zigtag apart from other social bookmarking web sites.

The primary difference between Zigtag and other social bookmarking websites is that our tags have defined meanings. This makes the system very intelligent in a number of ways.

First, it solves the tag selection problem, which arises when there are multiple ways to express the same idea. Suppose you want to tag a page about New York City–what word(s) should you use? A number of options are available, such as "New York", "New York City", "NYC" or even "The Big Apple". Different people will choose different tags, and even the same person may choose different tags at a different time. In a traditional social bookmarking tool, all these tags would be unrelated and there would be no simple way to group their pages together, even though they're all describing the exact same thing. The Zigtag system understands that all these tags are describing the same idea, so it doesn't matter which you choose–they are completely equivalent. You can tag a page with NYC, defined as "the city", and retrieve it by searching for New York City, also defined similarly. No other bookmarking tool or search engine offers this capability.

Below are several images depicting zigtag features.

initial welcome screen
(click to view larger image)

Sidebar installed in Firefox
(click to view larger image)

member profile
(click to view larger image)

tagging a website
(click to view larger image)

explore tags on zigtag profile
(click to view larger image)

recommended links
(click to view larger image)

 
zigtag share items with friends and groups
(click to view larger image)

I must say zigtag is easy to use and is not overcomplicated. The features, both the sidebar and website, are straightforward and very intuitive.

I can see zigtag becoming very popular as more social web users discover the service. I for one will make good use of the service. I will post more on zigtag as time allows.

If you are into social bookmarking/social networking you will enjoy what zigtag has to offer.

You know Iminta does Twitter, right?

It doesn’t take five million dollars in funding to push items to Twitter. I am curious as to why FriendFeed is getting so much attention from the A-list bloggers. It is an aggregator for heaven’s sake, not a profound new technology from the distant future.

I have nothing against FriendFeed, however it isn’t the only cool aggregator on the block either. In case no one has yet “discovered” this, Iminta allows you to post to Twitter from your profile as well as several other features.

Iminta Features you may not be aware of

Bookmarklets – It allows you to add anything you want without posting it on Digg, del.icio.us, etc.

Get Inta It – You can copy items from a friends "inta" lists to you own without having to go through another service (aka clipping), it also displays the attribution of whom it was copied from.

Editable Titles and Descriptions – Fix typos that the original poster may have made.

Comment follow-ups via email – you have the option of being notified when someone replies to comments you make on your friends items.

Post Twitter replies back to Twitter

I wonder if the A-listers have tried Iminta, or are they running around in circles doing what the other A-listers are doing? (I was going to use the “dogs sniffing other dogs butts” analogy but decided to be nice).

I would like to see more discussion on Iminta versus FriendFeed. What do you like/dislike about either?

This week is a busy one. However, I am experimenting with a different approach to the weekly social news in a nutshell posts and I think you will enjoy it a bit more than simple headline lists.

There is quite a stir regarding Twitter this week from Twitter spamming to FriendFeed allowing comments to be sent to Twitter. Spam problems will eventually become a problem for any service whether it is social or not. Robert Scoble has a great post on the secret to Twitter that is well worth the read. Spamming on social networks is not new. Orkut has had a spam problem in the discussion area for quite some time. Even on Facebook discussions, the spam problem rears its ugly head occasionally.

Over the last week, I have been fighting zombie pingback spamming on several blogs. It appears that spammers are using proxy servers to inject pingback spam into blogs. I ended up turning off the automated pingback and track back on several blogs I host for clients. Spammers if given the chance will abuse web applications and as long as there are web applications, there will be those who inevitably exploit them. I do know that Spammers are actively exploiting the dasBlog (open source asp.net blog application) pingback system.

There are several new social networks in the news this week, namely iBeatYou, which is a social network that focuses on competitions. I am not sure how well this idea will go over but you can bet there will be many alpha males on the site strutting around like a cocks-of-the-walk.

Tabber, a social profile aggregator, has had a makeover according to Mashable. Evidently is looks like FriendFeed. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Revou, which is a Twitter clone allows you to host your own Twitter-like script for a mere $399.00. TechCrunch has the details.

Facebook is about to launch a preferred application program that has caused Google to scramble and launch a competing platform according to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. I guess the future of social networking will eventually be annoying widgets and applications (Lord help us). Facebook appears to have had a security issue that allowed other users to view private photos, even if they aren’t friends.

The New Yorker has an interesting piece on the death of newspapers. I think the subject has received more than enough coverage including my own slant on print media and advertising. Print news publishers are finally waking up the fact that no one is reading print media anymore (for the most part), they must now innovate or die. I’ve been talking about this for over five years and publishers still aren’t really listening to anyone about it.

I finally received an invite to the socialthing private beta. Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have a short review on the service.

I enjoy humor and fun and am not all business *cough* all of the time. Here are a couple of fun things to entertain you.

The Caffeine Test

I was only able to click 125 times in 30 seconds (over caffeinated, borderline nervous/spastic).

"Caffeine gives you powers. Take in enough of it and your twitching, vibrating body is capable of amazing feats. This highly scientific *cough* test determines your level of caffeine intake by measuring how fast you can click your mouse. The test will last for 30 seconds, during which you must click the button below as many times as possible.

Take the test

Gas Prices humor
Funny cartoons about high gas prices

Currently in private beta zigtag is a semantic social tagging (bookmarking) service for saving and sharing web pages you visit.

Thanks goes to Robert Scoble for the initial look at zigtag , and includes a short video.

I've signed up for the private beta and hopefully will gain access soon and can write in more detail about the service.

Sign up for the private beta here.

We Eatt: Because Recipes Need a Friend Feed Too
Recipe storage and sharing, specializing in family recipes, including videos and free private storage. Mashable

Have you seen Askablogr?
Askablogr is an integrated blog question and answer (Q&A) service that:

Makes it easy for blog readers to submit questions to their favorite bloggers, while protecting the privacy and attention of the blogger
Makes it easy for bloggers to answer some questions and decline others (or permanently block certain questioners) without hurting anyone's feelings

Automagically publishes these Q&A exchanges to the blogger's blog
Creates a master index of all the participating bloggers, readers and Q&A sessions (with links back to the source blogs) to help readers find and participate in this new kind of blog conversation
How it works:

For Blog Readers

Click on the "Ask a Question" button on any participating blog
Type your question into the web form provided

Click submit (registration is required for first-time users)
When your question is answered, you'll receive an email notification

Your question and the resulting answer will be posted to the participating blog, with a copy saved to your Askablogr profile
For Bloggers

Install the Askablogr widget in your blog sidebar (registration required)

Receive questions anonymously (your email is not disclosed to the questioner) in your inbox

Reply to questions (or decline them, and even block individual questioners from asking more) using the web form provided
Your complete Q&A exchanges will be posted to your blog automagically (you retain full control of the content on your blog)

Copies of all of your Q&A exchanges are posted to Askablogr with links back to your blog

Related “$10K for Alltop? Guy Kawasaki Got Taken!” Mashable

At Launch, Mytopia Shows Social Networks How To Play Nicely Together

There is a new casual gaming network in town that’s got some serious cross-platform chops. Don’t be fooled by the cutesy graphics. Today, Mytopia is simultaneously launching across Facebook, Bebo, MySpace (currently pending approval) and its own Website with eight games (Chess, Backgammon, Sudoku, Dominoes, Bingo, Spades, Hearts, Video Poker). On Monday, it will release the same games across the major Web and desktop widgets: iGoogle Gadgets, Apple Dashboard Widgets, Yahoo Widgets and Windows Vista Toolbar Widgets. TechCrunch

22. 401K statements look suspiciously like lottery tickets
 
21. Three words: clothing-optional Fridays

20.  Daycare facilities provided by Neverland Ranch Child Services
 
19. Steady flow of co-workers leaving to take jobs at local suppository testing lab
 
18. Office holiday party entertainment: Vanilla Ice
 
17. Sensitivity training seminars involve fishnet stockings and a riding crop
 
16. Male employees favor spiked collars in lieu of ties
 
15. In a cost-cutting move, management replaces your computer monitor with an Etch-a-Sketch
 
14. Hammocks strung from cubicles so commuting doesn't cut into overtime
 
13. Company president is on a first-name basis with the reporters from ""60 Minutes""
 
12. Floating holidays have to actually be taken on a boat
 
11. Each floor has a Twelve-Jumpers-or-Less express window
 
10. Fax machine is really just a homeless guy making drunken modem noises
 
 9. Boss always insisting you ""get a haircut"" and you are bald
 
 8. Can't get that ""old man smell"" out of the boardroom
 
 7. IT Department just upgraded to smoke signals and cave paintings
 
 6. The only perks are coming from the coffee machine
 
 5. Office pool covers who will get the next intern pregnant
 
 4. All members of office softball team test positive for steroids, beer, and herpes
 
 3. Women's restroom has a silver pole and coconut body spray
 
 2. ""Mad Dog"" from HR tattoos your performance review to your forehead
 
 1. Time clocks used to access rest rooms
 
BONUS: Company president always wearing strange-looking ankle bracelet

 After reading this, please forward it, share it, etc. The more folks that become aware of Sprint's shady and unethical business practices the better. There is a share this link at the bottom of this post, please use it. Also listen the audio (link at bottom) of Ron Schober the Sprint Representative, he is full of you know what....

Dear Mr. Harkleroad,

Sprint Nextel has completed its research and review and will be providing a written response to your account inquiry.

A reader turned me on to your traffic calculator on sprintbiz.com (with tariff on both ends).

Your own calculator http://www.sprintbiz.com/tariffcalc/index.jsp 

I used 404-688 as the originating Sprint NPA-xxx (Atlanta) and 912-489 as the terminating MPA-xxx in Statesboro, and do you know I found out something very interesting (see attached PDF and xls file).

According to your own too the annual loop cost on your end (originating) is 1992.00 (a year) and on my end (termination) is 8,397.00 a year. Which is a total of 10,389 or 865.75 a month plus taxes. Now is sprint trying to claim that I must pay $1,545.25 (my last bill was 2411.00) in taxes?

Care to explain why Mr. Schober was quoting what he did to me on the phone?

If you were redirected from one of our other 750+ websites/domains, please accept my apologies. Things will return to normal once Sprint does what they should do about the issue below.

It it gouging or is it a huge Sprint accounting and billing scandal that is about to unfold? You be the judge

Think I am the only one being gouged? Guess again and read this comment from the Consumerist post

"I threw Sprint out of our company back in 1998 over the same issues. Interesting to see they are still up to their old games. Only after they lost our business did they 'review' the account and adjust about $25,000 in overcharges, in an effort to retain the business. Too little, too late. This is not an error, this is their SOP until they get caught. Qwest and One Communications do the same thing, so watch out." cioonthego The Consumerist

 

(from Allen Harkleroad) Hey Sprint, it sucks when you get caught doesn't it. I hope the FCC and many state public services commissions audit every customer account you have. I bet you would have to refund millions, perhaps billions. You can thank Ron W. Schober and Lysa Schloesser  for all of this, you know your own employees, maybe you should take this out of their paycheck. Oh and don't forget tomorrow is Wednesday (Sprint) you might not like what happens Thursday morning, I have a super-duper surprise for you. 

 

 

You know this page has only been getting an average of 5,000 readers a day since I posted it, however that's 150,000 readers a month, that's 1.8 million readers in a 12 month period. Since your sales representatives math is so bad I figured I may need to break it down into simple terms for you. Remember: it isn't so much how many readers as much as is it is who is reading it.

 

Karma is a (you know what)..... 

 

3/19/2008 - I wouldn't advise Sprint to do anything stupid when providing what the Georgia Public Services Commission  asks for. I have something (actually about a dozen easily verified items) for Mr. Bowles (the Director of Telecom) that will put hole in anything you give them that is less than accurate and truthful. If anything doesn't smell right to me after the Georgia PSC investigation I will overnight what I have to the FCC as well. I suggest that Sprint be above board and honest with the commissions or this matter could take a turn that you may not recover from for years and that doesn't include the HUGE amount of bad press that I promise WILL happen.

 

I contacted about 150 of our corporate clients here in Georgia. Did you know that 55 of them have Sprint circuits? And as you can  guess I am collecting affidavits from them on what level of service they have and how much they are paying Sprint. I found some *very* interesting correlations and some very unusual pricing. Hmm, whom else should I send these affidavits to? I bet Sprint can easily guess.

 

Sprint Contacts for the Press

 

Linda Moreno (she said she would call me on 3/18/2008, so far she hasn't)
Associate Analyst|
Executive & Regulatory Services
Phone: (817) 215-3471 | Fax (817) 215-3118 Linda.Moreno@sprint.com

 

Ron W. Schober (the guy in the MP3 audio file)
Business Account Manager
816-854-1147 or 888-298-9228
fax 913-523-7781 email ron.w.schober@sprint.com

 

---

 

3/19/2008 UPDATE 2 - Seems that someone took the case from Linda Moreno and handed it to Diane Micali. So I am back where I started on Saturday it seems. Diane's email address is: Diane.M.Micali@sprint.com.

 

and i quote

"Dear Mr. Harkleroad,
Sprint Nextel would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent inquiry to the Executive & Regulatory Services Department regarding your current account charges.  We regret any frustration or inconvenience this matter may be causing you, but be assured your concerns have been forwarded to the appropriate account team for further review.  As a loyal customer, Sprint Nextel values your opinion and appreciates the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

 

Sprint Nextel Executive & Regulatory Services Department"

 

Sounds like a dratted form letter doesn't it. I guess it may be time to double up my efforts.

 

---

 

 

Here is a bit of Sprint satire/humor for you

 

WAZZUP!

feel free to share this with everyone.

Feel free to republish this cartoon, I am releasing it under the creative commons share alike license.

 

---

 

 

 

 

3/18/08 A note to the Sprint folks - Don't be surprised when this issue gets national television coverage (maybe even right beside your new TV commercial). That is my next step toward ensuring that this issue is rectified properly. I just love those producers, journalists and reporters at The New York Times (Hi Maria!), The Register (Hi Cade!), AJC, LA Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, ABC News (Hi Sarah!), 48 hours, 60 minutes, etc. Heck I might even contact a friend that works on the Howard Stern radio show. I will continue unabated until I receive 100% satisfaction.

ATTENTION GEORGIA SPRINT CUSTOMERS - If you get service from Sprint in the state of Georgia I would love to know how much you pay for your dedicated Internet service (1.5mbit, 3.0mbit, T1, T3, fractional T1, etc.). I need some comparisons (for my attorney). You can use the contact form here, tell me what city or town, your speed (T1, DS3, etc.) and how much you pay sprint each month. Feel free to add your contact information as well. If it appears you are being gouged as well I will give you some contact information that will get the issue fixed. I will keep all information confidential.

 

I also wonder how many State and Federal agencies that have Sprint as a dedicated access provider that may not be getting what they are paying for. I would hate to think (my opinion) that Sprint would gouge the government, but you never know.

 

 

 

If your business has Sprint dedicated access to the Internet I encourage you to get quotes from other companies and compare it to what you are paying Sprint. You may find that you are being charged anywhere from twice as much to six or more times as much than you should be. Call your Sprint rep and ask some hard questions. I found out that I pay about 4 times more than I should be. Shop for T1 (get a baseline for what you actually being charged by Sprint) is a good place to check T1 (DS1) or higher dedicated access rates. It will give you 20 or more quotes, show the loop charges, the monthly charges, etc of high-speed access providers that service your area. Be smarter than me and don’t get gouged.

UPDATED 3/17/2008 - Sprint Corporate is aware of *some* of the articles I posted earlier in the weekend (see end of this for image goodness).

 

UPDATE 3/16/08 see bottom of this item for details

 

To make this quicker and easier I am publishing the email I sent to several FCC commissioners and the Sprint Next Board of Directors.

A warning to all Sprint corporate customers that have dedicated access (T1’s, etc.) if you are out of contract Sprint may be gouging you and claiming outrageously high local loop charges as the cause.

Read my the email/story, also there is a MP3 audio file at the end of this item. It's a conversation between me and Ron Shcober of Sprint. He tries so hard to make me believe the local loop cost is over $1900.00, yet the folks that supply it say the cost is tariffed and is only $500.00 for a 3mbit connection.

That equates to being ripped off for over $38,000.00 in the last two years. Would that make *you* mad?

-----Original Message-----

From: Allen Harkleroad GMP [mailtallen@xxxxxxxxx.xxx]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 1:47 PM
T 'KJMWEB@fcc.gov'
Cc: 'Michael.Copps@fcc.gov'; 'Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov'; 'dtaylortateweb@fcc.gov'; 'Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov'

Subject: Sprint defrauding business customers with outrageous tariff (local loop) costs

Importance: High

Hi Guys,

I went out of contract with Sprint on a 3 megabit connection (two T1 lines) about a year or so ago. At that time I contacted my Sprint representative (at that time Lysa Schloesser) and was advised due to the extremely high local loop charge that my connection cost ($2460.00) would actually go up to over $2500.00 if I signed a new contract with them. She told me this on two occasions. Recently I was contacted by Ron W. Schober of Sprint and he advised me that my rate would actually go up over $2500.00 if I signed a contract and that I was better of paying $2460.00 a month out of contract.

I was just recently made aware that local loop charges are tariff items and not set by Frontier Communications (owned by Citizens Communications) and that the cost for the local loop access would be around $500.00 for a 3mbit connection, regardless of who was providing it. I made another inquiry to Bell South and was advised the same loop charge (about $500.00 for 3mbit).

I have been told by Sprint (Lysa Schloessor and Ron W. Schober) on more than 3 occasions (make that four time as we talked today) in the last year that the local loop costs for my 2 T1's was over 1900.00 ($950.00 per T1). I spoke with Frontier Communications today and was advised that the portion that sprint pays to frontier is only $250.00 per T1 or thereabouts ($500.00). Sprint is gouging unsuspecting customers and blaming the high costs on the high local loop charges.

Sprint does not publish, at least where I can find it publicly the access costs, which puts customers at a severe disadvantage as they have no way of verifying the actually costs and can only go by what Sprint representatives tell them.

I also have recorded the telephone conversations between myself and Sprint representatives as both Georgia and Missouri( the Sprint facility and rep I called is in Missouri) have one party consent laws to record conversations. I wanted to make sure I had evidence that Sprint is gouging corporate customers that are out of contract. My attorney advised that I should record today's conversation with Mr. Schober (Sprint), and I did as recommended.

Sprint representatives are using claims of high local loop charges as a basis to gouge customers.

In addition to wishing to file a complaint against Sprint with the FCC, my legal counsel may file against Sprint. In addition one of my staff writers will be putting together a investigative report and it will be on the Associated Press wire on Monday or Tuesday.

Best Regards,

Allen Harkleroad
GMP Services Inc.
Statesboro Georgia

---- end of email ----

Sprint Nextel Board of Directors email addresses

Daniel.R.Hesse@sprint.com
William.G.Arendt@sprint.com
Keith.Cowan@sprint.com
Paget.L.Alves@sprint.com
John.A.Garcia@sprint.com
Chris.A.Hill@sprint.com
Len.Kennedy@sprint.com
Richard.T.C.LeFave@sprint.com
Sandra.J.Price@sprint.com
Kathryn.Walker@sprint.com
barry.west@sprint.com
bill.white@sprint.com

The titles and other info can be found here
http://www2.sprint.com/mr/exList.do

In addition to filing a formal complaint against Sprint Nextel with the FCC, I will be contacting the Georgia Public Services Utilities Commission and Congressman John Barrow. Until Sprint rectifies the issue properly and ethically, I will generate as much bad press as is humanly possible.  Sprint you shouldn't have screwed me out of $19,900.00 a year for the last two years. When you do bad things they come back to haunt you, and I am very angry about this. Not good at all.

Update March 16, 2008 12:42pm. I got a call yesterday (Saturday 3/15) from Linda Moreno of Sprint's Executive and Regulatory Services. We had a pleasant and informative chat and was advised that she/they would get to the bottom of the issue. I agreed to give her and Sprint till Wednesday  (March 19th) to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. Should an equitable resolution not be reached at that time, I will move forward with plans of getting this issue as much press coverage as possible as well as continue forward with formal complaints with the FCC and other regulatory commissions among other things. Things like a couple of phone calls to some folks at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a friend in Atlanta Georgia who also happens to be a staff attorney for the Federal Trade Commission.

Listen to the MP3 audio telephone conversation between me and Ron Schober of Sprint, her really tries to BS me into believing that the local loop cost is over $1998.00, a month yet the folks that supply the local loop says a 3mbit connection is only $500.00 because it is tariffed.

 

Update 3/17/2008 - Sprint Corporate aware of "some" of the articles. I bet it takes them a week to discover the other all over the Internet. Next comes getting the main stream press involved. I imagine my company isn't the only one being taken advantage of by Sprint.

 

I wonder if they will try any stupid lawyer tricks on me, if they do I have something for them that they definitely will not enjoy. (Hey Sprint, I've been down this road before and know exactly how to deal with arrogant executives and attorneys, bet on that. If you don't believe me then give it your best shot and see what happens). You know what they say about karma...

 

 

 

 

I want to say thank you to Ben, Owen and everyone at the Consumerist (The best consumer news site on the Net) for running an item about this issue.

Sprint Gouges Business Customer For Over $30,000 In Inflated Fees (Consumerist)

 

I also want to say thanks to all the press (you know who you are!) and other folks that have called and emailed today. The next couple of days should be quite interesting.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words

 

 

More news on Sprint and Nextel

 

Class action claims Sprint Nextel violated RICO law

 

AT&T, Sprint Spat Over Fees Goes to FCC

 

Two more Sprint Nextel directors leaving

 

Sprint, failed hedge fund share chairman

 

Sprint Merger Would Be Hard to Undo, Officer Says

 

TELECOM STOCKS Virgin Mobile, Sprint lead decliners

 

Sprint stock takes a beating

 

Sprint shares near 20-year low

 

Sprint shares fall after bearish analyst report

 

What’s next for Sprint Nextel?
By Matt Kapko SPRINT NEXTEL CORP. JUST CAN’T get itself out of the spotlight. And if any of the tier-one carriers needs a time out right now, Sprint Nextel...

 

What’s Up With Sprint?
Barron's - Mar 11, 2008
Ye gads, something is going terribly wrong at Sprint Nextel (S) today. Well, sure, things at Sprint have been bad for a while, I know...

 

Speculation On Sprint Nextel’s Future Swirl As Stock Hits 20-Year Low
MocoNews, CA - Mar 14, 2008
By Tricia Duryee - Fri 14 Mar 2008 10:19 AM PST Shares of Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel closed at $6.17 apiece on Tuesday, the lowest level since 1988 on the best...

 

Rumor: Sprint to spin off Nextel
CNET News.com, CA - Mar 7, 2008
Rumors are swirling today over the future of Sprint. First off, Seeking Alpha is reporting that Sprint has hired Morgan Stanley for a possible spin-off of ...

 

Sprint and T-Mobile: A disaster in waiting
ZDNet - Mar 7, 2008
What do you get when you combine one struggling carrier (Sprint) with an innovative but smallish one (T-Mobile)? A wireless train wreck...

 

Sprint Director Departures Seen Providing New Perspective
CNNMoney.com - 40 minutes ago
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A quartet of directors at Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) have said they plan to leave, signaling a change at the top of the troubled...

 

Porsche, Sprint Unsettle Banks With Rush for Credit (Update1)
Bloomberg - 5 hours ago
Borrowers from Sprint Nextel Corp. to Porsche Automobil Holding SE to MGIC Investment Corp. are drawing on credit lines. JPMorgan analysts say it's...

 

For Sprint Nextel, Only Salvation Might Be a Buyout
TheStreet.com - Mar 14, 2008
Sprint Nextel's S inability to hang on to customers means the teetering telecom giant might have no choice but to hope for a rescue from one of its fiercest...

 

Sprint Nextel Fate Source of Speculation
The Associated Press - Mar 14, 2008
(AP) — Sprint Nextel Corp.'s plummeting stock price and the expected exodus of millions of subscribers this year have yielded a fresh round of speculation ...

 

Sprint falls amid downbeat analyst notes
BusinessWeek - Mar 13, 2008
Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. slipped Thursday as a Deutsche Bank analyst said there is "no turnaround in sight" for the beleaguered telecommunications...

 

Sprint: Bernstein Cuts Target; Says Buyout Unlikely
Barron's - Mar 13, 2008
Sprint Nextel (S) shares are sliding yet again today, pressured by a grim note on the company’s prospects from Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett...

 

----

So who is reading this article?

Bear Sterns (15 times so far), house.gov,  treas.gov,  senate.gov,  uscourts.gov,  doe.gov, gsa.gov,  fcc.gov,  sec.gov,  ftc.gov,  a bunch of state government (state.gov.us referrers – I wonder how many are Sprint customers?), tons of financial brokerages and advisors, etc., tons of large banks, major TV networks, US newspapers, more telecom companies than you can shake a stick at.

 

 

The Internet is people. People are the Internet. People dislike advertising. It is that simple, yet the advertising industry thinks that they can change it to their own liking. This is completely wrong in so many ways, and delusional.

The popularity of social media such as social networking, bookmarking and social news only drives home the fact that the Internet is driven by people and their passions. While the Internet is largely commercial in some form or fashion, it is not the Internet. The World Wide Web is an interconnected communication infrastructure and nothing more. What happens on that networking infrastructure is an extension of real-world socialization by human beings. This will *never* change.

Before the over-commercialization of the Internet, people were and still by large are congregating with others, not to buy or sell, but to enjoy conversation and others company. Advertising has intruded into those conversations and people have from the very beginning, shown distaste for the intrusion.

Internet History Snapshot

I have watched the growth of the Internet from nearly the very beginning. In the beginning, it was Arpanet, the military and universities were the largest majority of users. Back in this time there were only command line email (ASCII) and FTP (file transfer protocol) to communicate or to download files. I fondly recall using Gopher, Veronica, Jughead and Archie (see references) to find and download files before there was ever a web browser application.

I can remember when Usenet newsgroups were the only place to congregate and discuss things close to our hearts. I remember discussion (mailing) lists and the flame wars that lasted for many months or longer. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) became the de facto standard of real time communication back before Instant Messaging (IM) was even a glimmer in developer’s eyes.

If someone tried injecting commercial advertising into these gatherings, often much anger and hilarity would ensue. People have been crucified, shunned, embarrassed, ridiculed or banned online over it. This is still true today and will be forever and always.

Congregating, Socializing and Discussions

All one has to do is frequent online forums, Usenet newsgroups, IRC, social networking sites or anywhere users socialize to see just how much commercial advertising is abhorred. If you are brave (or stupid), register for a forum and post commercial advertisements. See how quickly you are lambasted, ruthlessly ridiculed or banned. I would venture a guess it would only take about an hour at most, if that long. The point is people dislike intrusions by advertising or marketing while they are relaxing and having conversations with others.

It does not matter what the advertising industry thinks or does. The fact is “people” drive the Internet not the other way around. Until the industry gets this idea and embraces it then their efforts will be largely futile.

Look at the average click through rates of banner and contextual ads. Online advertising just does not work well. You can paint a horse any color you want, but the fact remains that it is still a horse and no amount of paint is going to cover that fact up.

Most ads these days barely garner a half a percent (0.50%) of click-through actions, if that much. Of course, ignorant corporate executives are still buying into the sales pitches. Granted, contextual advertising (text ads) do a bit better these still do not equate to more than one to two percent click-through at best. People still see the “horse”.

The advertising industry collectively has been selling clients a “bag of goods” with online advertising, claiming their ability to extend a brand’s reach, gain new customers, or sell more products. You know the song and dance, we have all seen or read it somewhere on the Internet. The problem is the people (users) are not buying into it. You can slap up as much advertising as you want, we as users will continue to ignore it. Eventually the return on investment will become so miniscule that advertising executives will not be able to sell their clients on the idea of Internet advertising at all.

A Dislike for Advertising

From the very beginning, people have voiced their immense dislike of online advertising (more so than other formats). With television advertising, we have learned it is inevitable and must endure ads to be entertained. Of course, many of us switch channels, turn down the volume, take a bathroom break or grab a snack from the fridge during the ad spots.

Even television advertising is largely ignored. Why do you think they started throwing those little ads in the lower corner or across the bottom of your favorite TV show? Because the thirty-second ad spots are not working. I believe it will not be long (if it has not happened already) before television viewers ignore those bothersome little ads as well. I know I do not “see” them, nor can I even recall any I have seen. One thing is for certain, they are very irritating until you learn to ignore them.

What is next? Will we eventually see split screen programming where a TV ad blares over half the screen while we try to watch a program on the other half? If things get worse, people will simply stop watching television. Even the premium cable channels that you pay extra money for have ads running on them. I can remember a day when premium channels meant you were paying *not* to see advertising.

Advertising in general is lazy, it doesn’t add anything to the conversation. It disrupts people’s activities, it takes away from our concentration. Advertising is a one-way communication. It talks “at” people rather than “with” people. No one that I know of can honestly say they enjoy being talked at (demeaning) as opposed to with (conversations). Banner advertising and even television advertising does not require any effort to throw on a web page or TV screen, other than the time to create it and people obviously sense this. Advertising such as it is today is not genuine or authentic. It is quite generic and “lazy”.

So how have advertisers combated this? They continuously create annoying advertising that people largely block out. Mentally Internet (and TV) users have learned to ignore it, and of course, this leads advertisers to create even more intrusive and annoying ads. I wonder how long it will take the advertising industry to realize that they have been going at it completely wrong. It seems that by large the advertising industry thinks the net is all about them and they are so wrong.

The Internet is about people, and people want to socialize. Socializing is ingrained into us as human beings. We all have a need to be a part of something larger whether it is online or off. This is what drives the Internet and us. When you inject annoying advertising into the mix people get angry. It is the antithesis of advertising. I would like think that product manufacturers would prefer to have people talking about their product in a natural form, as this is best kind of product branding and advertising that they could ever hope to have. Imagine if companies jumped into the conversation, filled an immediate need or solved a problem. The word of mouth and goodwill would spread like wildfire. You cannot put a price on that type of advertising it is priceless.

Of course, this kind of involved advertising must be genuine to be effective. It requires companies to expend time and effort (unlike banner ads and TV commercials). People can sense when someone is faking it or blowing smoke up their collective rear-ends and will ignore it.

Advertising Is Not Inherently Bad

I am not saying advertising is a bad thing, the advertising industry as a whole is going about it all wrong.

If someone in a group mentions a product of interest or a problem they have, chances are others in their social group is going to help them find what they are looking for or lend a hand in solving the problem. Companies should be jumping into the conversation and solving the problem or suggesting a product that will address a need. This is the best kind of advertising that a company could ever ask for. The problem is ad execs that run things still have not figured this out, and companies are still buying into the (in your face) online advertising hype. Perhaps if people got out of their comfort zone, they would see the merits of direct involvement.

Companies must get involved in the conversations and discussions. I do not mean disrupting conversations with commercial content, but to get involved where their products or services are discussed. They could answer questions, solve a problem, create a stir of excitement about product enhancements and maybe find out what their products lack. Companies that listen to their do customers seem to have the better products. So why not join the conversation and become involved rather than just observing. Think about that for a minute and get out of that comfort zone.

My Own Perspective

I have been involved with publishing, both online and print since the early 1990’s. I have experienced firsthand that online advertising does not work all that well online. While I do have sites with advertising running on them, the advertising income is not a large portion of the income derived from these activities.

The only online advertising that I have found that works is: If the advertised product solves a problem or immediate need, or if by some off chance the user was looking for it at exactly the moment that they saw the advertisement. Other than that, current online advertising methods do not work, period. This is not a statement of fact, but of truth.

The sites I operate are quite small on a global scale. I tend to see trends long before they start affecting larger companies. Take the current economic downturn for example. I began to see the effects of the downturn on our product offerings back in late 2006. The news media only began to report on it in mid to late 2007.

Same thing with online advertising, back in the early 1990’s online advertising (at least for me) was a large part of my income. I consistently saw one to six percent (or higher) click-through rates on ads I sold on our websites. Today I see an average click-through rate of 0.75%. That is a bit above average but not much. It did not take long for consumers to figure out that banner advertising was simply an extension of television ads. Once the “paint” wore off so did the effectiveness of web advertising.

What I have learned is that I can still make money on my sites if I use subtle means to do so. I do not resort to annoying graphics or sales pitches. I let it happen naturally. I let others talk about the products and services that my company offers. I become involved with their conversations. I answer questions. I ask questions. I solve problems. I become involved.

Now if only the advertising industry would take off their rose-colored glasses and actually see what the Internet is actually about, then perhaps something good would happen in the advertising industry.

References

Arpanet - The ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) developed by DARPA of the United States Department of Defense, was the world's first operational packet switching network, and the predecessor of the global Internet. Wikipedia

Gopher - Gopher is a distributed document search and retrieval network protocol designed for the Internet. Its goal is to function as an improved form of Anonymous FTP, enhanced with hyperlinking features similar to that of the World Wide Web. Wikipedia

Veronica (Used with Gopher) - What is Veronica? Veronica is a software program used within Gopher (see Gopher handout) that searches Gopher menu titles throughout worldwide Gopherspace. Rather than move menu by menu through the hundreds of Gopher servers on the internet, you type in the word (or words) you are interested in and Veronica returns a list of Gopher menu items that match the terms of your search. University of Michigan

Jughead - see gopher wikipedia reference

Archie - Archie is a tool for indexing FTP archives, allowing people to find specific files. It is considered to be the first Internet search engine.[1] The original implementation was written in 1990 by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan, and Peter J. Deutsch, then students at McGill University in Montreal. Wikipedia

WAIS - Wide Area Information Servers or WAIS is a client-server text searching system that uses the ANSI Standard Z39.50 Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specifications for Library Applications" (Z39.50:1988) to search index databases on remote computers. It was developed in the late 1980s as a project of Thinking Machines, Apple Computer, Dow Jones, and KPMG Peat Marwick. Wikipedia

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) - Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time Internet chat or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group (many-to-many) communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message and data transfers via Direct Client-to-Client. Wikipedia

If you aren't aware yet, I have been gouged by Sprint on dedicated access to the tune of over $30,000.00 (article). In keeping with my tradition of putting a fun spin on things.

WHAT I WANT - I want Sprint to give me the true and correct monthly 3mbit price (i know what it is and so does Sprint) on my connection and correct my account 12 months (a credit, no refund necessary) on the overcharges. That's all I WANT.

UPDATE 3/22/2008 - I know the Sprint folks are watching the weekend, I will be posting a few things you will have wished weren't published, stay tuned. As soon as I put it all together (in a little while) you can read them along with everyone else.

WAZZUP!

Read the entire story on how Sprint gouged me

After reading this, please forward it, share it, etc. The more folks that become aware of Sprint's shady and unethical business practices the better. There is a share this link at the bottom of this post, please use it. Also listen the audio (link at bottom) of Ron Schober the Sprint Representative, he is full of you know what....

The Smoking Gun - Sprint's own Wholesale tariff calculator shows that they have been gouging. I pay $2411.00 a month to them for 3.0mbit service yet their own pricing too shows that actual price wholesale is 10,389.00 per year or $865.75 per month (plus taxes).

 

Download the Excel file (XLS) or PDF file

or use the Sprint Wholesale tariff pricing tool and see how bad you are being gouged.

on my pricing I used 404-688 as originating and 912-489 for the termination (NPA-xxx numbers)

---

 

AT&T Quote

 

Pricing from AT&T for the same 3.0mbit that I pay Sprint $2411.00 for.
Highest $748/1yr to lowest $612.00/3 yr

download the PDF printout to view for yourself.

 

---

 

Quote from bandwidth wholesaler for several companies
Qwest, UCN, Network Innovations, ACC Business

 

Lowest $1,033.82 to $1,661,00
which is marked up by wholesaler still about 1/2 of what Sprint is gouging me for.

 

If I am being gouged like this, you can bet YOU ARE TOO if you use Sprint for dedicated access.

---

 

--- Sprint meets my 3/20/2008 deadline however it wasn't quite what was expected ---

I gave Sprint until noon today to tell me how they were addressing my issue. Below is their response.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Micali, Diane M [CK] [mailtDiane.M.Micali@sprint.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:02 PM
To allen@gmpservicesinc.com
Subject: Your Account Inquiry

 

Dear Mr. Harkleroad,

 

 

 

Sprint Nextel has completed its research and review and will be providing a written response to your account inquiry.

 

 

 

Sprint Nextel Executive & Regulatory Services Department

 

(Typical response of an arrogant corporation. I will have to say they responded, i wonder what's in store when i get their "letter").

 

--- SPRINT IS SO BUSTED - THIS JUST IN 5:52pm March 19, 2008  ---

Hi Sprint Executives,

 

 

A reader turned me on to your traffic calculator on sprintbiz.com (with tariff on both ends).

 

 

 

Your own calculator http://www.sprintbiz.com/tariffcalc/index.jsp 

 

 

 

I used 404-688 as the originating Sprint NPA-xxx (Atlanta) and 912-489 as the terminating MPA-xxx in Statesboro, and do you know I found out something very interesting (see attached PDF and xls file).

 

 

 

According to your own too the annual loop cost on your end (originating) is 1992.00 (a year) and on my end (termination) is 8,397.00 a year. Which is a total of 10,389 or 865.75 a month plus taxes. Now is sprint trying to claim that I must pay $1,545.25 (my last bill was 2411.00) in taxes?

 

 

 

Care to explain why Mr. Schober was quoting what he did to me on the phone?

 

 

 

You just got caught folks, Unless you contact me with exactly how you are going to address this by noon tomorrow eastern standard time. I will turn all of this over to the Georgia Public Services Commission and the FCC. Whatever you bring to the table at that time must include *everything* beginning in 2002 when I signed an agreement with Sprint. In addition if I am not contacted by noon tomorrow everything I have in my possession will be turned over to not only my attorney but the State prosecutors office for consideration of criminal charges that might be filed.

 

And let's not forget the press, I promise that if Sprint doesn't initiate contact by noon tomorrow and tell me what they are going to be doing to settle this matter I will overnight everything to every single member of the press that I know or have contact with. That is GUARANTEED.

 

View the PDF of the Sprint Atlanta to Statesboro Quote from their own tool.

 

Download the excel file generated by Sprint's Traffic calculator tool (same as PDF but in the original format).

 

The funniest thing is that the comment left that gave me the link to the Sprint pricing tool was a Sprint corporate IP address. Maybe there is a disgruntled Sprint employee in their midst. Gotta love (and God bless) the power of the Internet and Social Media!

-------

 

I added a bit of satire (cartoon) this morning (3/19/2008) be sure to scroll down a bit and enjoy it
Update 3/19/08 #2 - Seems I am right back where I started on Saturday, see update below.

 

---

If you were redirected from one of our other 750+ websites/domains, please accept my apologies. Things will return to normal once Sprint does what they should do about the issue below.

---

 

It it gouging or is it a huge Sprint accounting and billing scandal that is about to unfold? You be the judge

Think I am the only one being gouged? Guess again and read this comment from the Consumerist post

"I threw Sprint out of our company back in 1998 over the same issues. Interesting to see they are still up to their old games. Only after they lost our business did they 'review' the account and adjust about $25,000 in overcharges, in an effort to retain the business. Too little, too late. This is not an error, this is their SOP until they get caught. Qwest and One Communications do the same thing, so watch out." cioonthego The Consumerist

 

(from Allen Harkleroad) Hey Sprint, it sucks when you get caught doesn't it. I hope the FCC and many state public services commissions audit every customer account you have. I bet you would have to refund millions, perhaps billions. You can thank Ron W. Schober and Lysa Schloesser  for all of this, you know your own employees, maybe you should take this out of their paycheck. Oh and don't forget tomorrow is Wednesday (Sprint) you might not like what happens Thursday morning, I have a super-duper surprise for you. 

 

You know this page has only been getting an average of 5,000 readers a day since I posted it, however that's 150,000 readers a month, that's 1.8 million readers in a 12 month period. Since your sales representatives math is so bad I figured I may need to break it down into simple terms for you. Remember: it isn't so much how many readers as much as is it is who is reading it.

 

Karma is a (you know what)..... 

 

3/19/2008 - I wouldn't advise Sprint to do anything stupid when providing what the Georgia Public Services Commission  asks for. I have something (actually about a dozen easily verified items) for Mr. Bowles (the Director of Telecom) that will put hole in anything you give them that is less than accurate and truthful. If anything doesn't smell right to me after the Georgia PSC investigation I will overnight what I have to the FCC as well. I suggest that Sprint be above board and honest with the commissions or this matter could take a turn that you may not recover from for years and that doesn't include the HUGE amount of bad press that I promise WILL happen.

 

I contacted about 150 of our corporate clients here in Georgia. Did you know that 55 of them have Sprint circuits? And as you can  guess I am collecting affidavits from them on what level of service they have and how much they are paying Sprint. I found some *very* interesting correlations and some very unusual pricing. Hmm, whom else should I send these affidavits to? I bet Sprint can easily guess.

 

Sprint Contacts for the Press

 

Linda Moreno (she said she would call me on 3/18/2008, so far she hasn't)
Associate Analyst|
Executive & Regulatory Services
Phone: (817) 215-3471 | Fax (817) 215-3118 Linda.Moreno@sprint.com

 

Ron W. Schober (the guy in the MP3 audio file)
Business Account Manager
816-854-1147 or 888-298-9228
fax 913-523-7781 email ron.w.schober@sprint.com

 

---

 

3/19/2008 UPDATE 2 - Seems that someone took the case from Linda Moreno and handed it to Diane Micali. So I am back where I started on Saturday it seems. Diane's email address is: Diane.M.Micali@sprint.com.

 

and i quote

"Dear Mr. Harkleroad,
Sprint Nextel would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent inquiry to the Executive & Regulatory Services Department regarding your current account charges.  We regret any frustration or inconvenience this matter may be causing you, but be assured your concerns have been forwarded to the appropriate account team for further review.  As a loyal customer, Sprint Nextel values your opinion and appreciates the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

 

Sprint Nextel Executive & Regulatory Services Department"

 

Sounds like a dratted form letter doesn't it. I guess it may be time to double up my efforts.

 

---

 

3/18/08 A note to the Sprint folks - Don't be surprised when this issue gets national television coverage (maybe even right beside your new TV commercial). That is my next step toward ensuring that this issue is rectified properly. I just love those producers, journalists and reporters at The New York Times (Hi Maria!), The Register (Hi Cade!), AJC, LA Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, ABC News (Hi Sarah!), 48 hours, 60 minutes, etc. Heck I might even contact a friend that works on the Howard Stern radio show. I will continue unabated until I receive 100% satisfaction.

ATTENTION GEORGIA SPRINT CUSTOMERS - If you get service from Sprint in the state of Georgia I would love to know how much you pay for your dedicated Internet service (1.5mbit, 3.0mbit, T1, T3, fractional T1, etc.). I need some comparisons (for my attorney). You can use the contact form here, tell me what city or town, your speed (T1, DS3, etc.) and how much you pay sprint each month. Feel free to add your contact information as well. If it appears you are being gouged as well I will give you some contact information that will get the issue fixed. I will keep all information confidential.

 

I also wonder how many State and Federal agencies that have Sprint as a dedicated access provider that may not be getting what they are paying for. I would hate to think (my opinion) that Sprint would gouge the government, but you never know.

 

 

 

If your business has Sprint dedicated access to the Internet I encourage you to get quotes from other companies and compare it to what you are paying Sprint. You may find that you are being charged anywhere from twice as much to six or more times as much than you should be. Call your Sprint rep and ask some hard questions. I found out that I pay about 4 times more than I should be. Shop for T1 (get a baseline for what you actually being charged by Sprint) is a good place to check T1 (DS1) or higher dedicated access rates. It will give you 20 or more quotes, show the loop charges, the monthly charges, etc of high-speed access providers that service your area. Be smarter than me and don’t get gouged.

UPDATED 3/17/2008 - Sprint Corporate is aware of *some* of the articles I posted earlier in the weekend (see end of this for image goodness).

 

UPDATE 3/16/08 see bottom of this item for details

 

To make this quicker and easier I am publishing the email I sent to several FCC commissioners and the Sprint Next Board of Directors.

A warning to all Sprint corporate customers that have dedicated access (T1’s, etc.) if you are out of contract Sprint may be gouging you and claiming outrageously high local loop charges as the cause.

Read my the email/story, also there is a MP3 audio file at the end of this item. It's a conversation between me and Ron Shcober of Sprint. He tries so hard to make me believe the local loop cost is over $1900.00, yet the folks that supply it say the cost is tariffed and is only $500.00 for a 3mbit connection.

That equates to being ripped off for over $38,000.00 in the last two years. Would that make *you* mad?

-----Original Message-----

From: Allen Harkleroad GMP [mailtallen@xxxxxxxxx.xxx]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 1:47 PM
T 'KJMWEB@fcc.gov'
Cc: 'Michael.Copps@fcc.gov'; 'Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov'; 'dtaylortateweb@fcc.gov'; 'Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov'

Subject: Sprint defrauding business customers with outrageous tariff (local loop) costs

Importance: High

Hi Guys,

I went out of contract with Sprint on a 3 megabit connection (two T1 lines) about a year or so ago. At that time I contacted my Sprint representative (at that time Lysa Schloesser) and was advised due to the extremely high local loop charge that my connection cost ($2460.00) would actually go up to over $2500.00 if I signed a new contract with them. She told me this on two occasions. Recently I was contacted by Ron W. Schober of Sprint and he advised me that my rate would actually go up over $2500.00 if I signed a contract and that I was better of paying $2460.00 a month out of contract.

I was just recently made aware that local loop charges are tariff items and not set by Frontier Communications (owned by Citizens Communications) and that the cost for the local loop access would be around $500.00 for a 3mbit connection, regardless of who was providing it. I made another inquiry to Bell South and was advised the same loop charge (about $500.00 for 3mbit).

I have been told by Sprint (Lysa Schloessor and Ron W. Schober) on more than 3 occasions (make that four time as we talked today) in the last year that the local loop costs for my 2 T1's was over 1900.00 ($950.00 per T1). I spoke with Frontier Communications today and was advised that the portion that sprint pays to frontier is only $250.00 per T1 or thereabouts ($500.00). Sprint is gouging unsuspecting customers and blaming the high costs on the high local loop charges.

Sprint does not publish, at least where I can find it publicly the access costs, which puts customers at a severe disadvantage as they have no way of verifying the actually costs and can only go by what Sprint representatives tell them.

I also have recorded the telephone conversations between myself and Sprint representatives as both Georgia and Missouri( the Sprint facility and rep I called is in Missouri) have one party consent laws to record conversations. I wanted to make sure I had evidence that Sprint is gouging corporate customers that are out of contract. My attorney advised that I should record today's conversation with Mr. Schober (Sprint), and I did as recommended.

Sprint representatives are using claims of high local loop charges as a basis to gouge customers.

In addition to wishing to file a complaint against Sprint with the FCC, my legal counsel may file against Sprint. In addition one of my staff writers will be putting together a investigative report and it will be on the Associated Press wire on Monday or Tuesday.

Best Regards,

Allen Harkleroad
GMP Services Inc.
Statesboro Georgia

---- end of email ----

Sprint Nextel Board of Directors email addresses

Daniel.R.Hesse@sprint.com
William.G.Arendt@sprint.com
Keith.Cowan@sprint.com
Paget.L.Alves@sprint.com
John.A.Garcia@sprint.com
Chris.A.Hill@sprint.com
Len.Kennedy@sprint.com
Richard.T.C.LeFave@sprint.com
Sandra.J.Price@sprint.com
Kathryn.Walker@sprint.com
barry.west@sprint.com
bill.white@sprint.com

The titles and other info can be found here
http://www2.sprint.com/mr/exList.do

In addition to filing a formal complaint against Sprint Nextel with the FCC, I will be contacting the Georgia Public Services Utilities Commission and Congressman John Barrow. Until Sprint rectifies the issue properly and ethically, I will generate as much bad press as is humanly possible.  Sprint you shouldn't have screwed me out of $19,900.00 a year for the last two years. When you do bad things they come back to haunt you, and I am very angry about this. Not good at all.

Update March 16, 2008 12:42pm. I got a call yesterday (Saturday 3/15) from Linda Moreno of Sprint's Executive and Regulatory Services. We had a pleasant and informative chat and was advised that she/they would get to the bottom of the issue. I agreed to give her and Sprint till Wednesday  (March 19th) to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. Should an equitable resolution not be reached at that time, I will move forward with plans of getting this issue as much press coverage as possible as well as continue forward with formal complaints with the FCC and other regulatory commissions among other things. Things like a couple of phone calls to some folks at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a friend in Atlanta Georgia who also happens to be a staff attorney for the Federal Trade Commission.

Listen to the MP3 audio telephone conversation between me and Ron Schober of Sprint, her really tries to BS me into believing that the local loop cost is over $1998.00, a month yet the folks that supply the local loop says a 3mbit connection is only $500.00 because it is tariffed.

 

Update 3/17/2008 - Sprint Corporate aware of "some" of the articles. I bet it takes them a week to discover the other all over the Internet. Next comes getting the main stream press involved. I imagine my company isn't the only one being taken advantage of by Sprint.

 

I wonder if they will try any stupid lawyer tricks on me, if they do I have something for them that they definitely will not enjoy. (Hey Sprint, I've been down this road before and know exactly how to deal with arrogant executives and attorneys, bet on that. If you don't believe me then give it your best shot and see what happens). You know what they say about karma...

 

 

 

 

I want to say thank you to Ben, Owen and everyone at the Consumerist (The best consumer news site on the Net) for running an item about this issue.

Sprint Gouges Business Customer For Over $30,000 In Inflated Fees (Consumerist)

 

I also want to say thanks to all the press (you know who you are!) and other folks that have called and emailed today. The next couple of days should be quite interesting.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words

 

 

More news on Sprint and Nextel

 

Class action claims Sprint Nextel violated RICO law

 

AT&T, Sprint Spat Over Fees Goes to FCC

 

Two more Sprint Nextel directors leaving

 

Sprint, failed hedge fund share chairman

 

Sprint Merger Would Be Hard to Undo, Officer Says

 

TELECOM STOCKS Virgin Mobile, Sprint lead decliners

 

Sprint stock takes a beating

 

Sprint shares near 20-year low

 

Sprint shares fall after bearish analyst report

 

What’s next for Sprint Nextel?
By Matt Kapko SPRINT NEXTEL CORP. JUST CAN’T get itself out of the spotlight. And if any of the tier-one carriers needs a time out right now, Sprint Nextel...

 

What’s Up With Sprint?
Barron's - Mar 11, 2008
Ye gads, something is going terribly wrong at Sprint Nextel (S) today. Well, sure, things at Sprint have been bad for a while, I know...

 

Speculation On Sprint Nextel’s Future Swirl As Stock Hits 20-Year Low
MocoNews, CA - Mar 14, 2008
By Tricia Duryee - Fri 14 Mar 2008 10:19 AM PST Shares of Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel closed at $6.17 apiece on Tuesday, the lowest level since 1988 on the best...

 

Rumor: Sprint to spin off Nextel
CNET News.com, CA - Mar 7, 2008
Rumors are swirling today over the future of Sprint. First off, Seeking Alpha is reporting that Sprint has hired Morgan Stanley for a possible spin-off of ...

 

Sprint and T-Mobile: A disaster in waiting
ZDNet - Mar 7, 2008
What do you get when you combine one struggling carrier (Sprint) with an innovative but smallish one (T-Mobile)? A wireless train wreck...

 

Sprint Director Departures Seen Providing New Perspective
CNNMoney.com - 40 minutes ago
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A quartet of directors at Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) have said they plan to leave, signaling a change at the top of the troubled...

 

Porsche, Sprint Unsettle Banks With Rush for Credit (Update1)
Bloomberg - 5 hours ago
Borrowers from Sprint Nextel Corp. to Porsche Automobil Holding SE to MGIC Investment Corp. are drawing on credit lines. JPMorgan analysts say it's...

 

For Sprint Nextel, Only Salvation Might Be a Buyout
TheStreet.com - Mar 14, 2008
Sprint Nextel's S inability to hang on to customers means the teetering telecom giant might have no choice but to hope for a rescue from one of its fiercest...

 

Sprint Nextel Fate Source of Speculation
The Associated Press - Mar 14, 2008
(AP) — Sprint Nextel Corp.'s plummeting stock price and the expected exodus of millions of subscribers this year have yielded a fresh round of speculation ...

 

Sprint falls amid downbeat analyst notes
BusinessWeek - Mar 13, 2008
Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. slipped Thursday as a Deutsche Bank analyst said there is "no turnaround in sight" for the beleaguered telecommunications...

 

Sprint: Bernstein Cuts Target; Says Buyout Unlikely
Barron's - Mar 13, 2008
Sprint Nextel (S) shares are sliding yet again today, pressured by a grim note on the company’s prospects from Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett...

 

----

So who is reading this article?

Bear Sterns (15 times so far), house.gov,  treas.gov,  senate.gov,  uscourts.gov,  doe.gov, gsa.gov,  fcc.gov,  sec.gov,  ftc.gov,  a bunch of state government (state.gov.us referrers – I wonder how many are Sprint customers?), tons of financial brokerages and advisors, etc., tons of large banks, major TV networks, US newspapers, more telecom companies than you can shake a stick at.

 

 

Oh man, searchme is very cool. I am having so much fun visually searching. I am enjoying myself too much maybe, nah. This is great!

click for larger image

searchme allows you to enter a search term and then page through the results, kind of a visual meme of websites. Most people remember imagery better than they do words and numbers so a visually oriented search engine makes sense. If you know or remember what you were looking for it is easy to find. If not, then seeing something may trigger you to explore further.

The folks at the search engine are working on expanding the results. However, I am quite impressed with the search engine so far. The user interface has a slider that allows you to pan through the results. It was a bit too quick for me, but I am sure once launched they will have that ironed out.

While currently in beta you can signup for an invite to beta test. You might want to consider signing up, I think you will like it as much as I.

Click for larger image

click for larger image

 
Click for a larger image

I am happy to announce that I have chosen the first winner of my bi-monthly comment contest.

There were many comments but only one winner. Keith will receive a $30.00 Amazon.com gift certifiate.

The winner is: DarkNemesis618 (Keith)

--

re: Social Media Thoughts and Musings March 2008  DarkNemesis618 (Keith)  

3/5/08 7:18P    

I have to agree with you on the social burnout, at least with facebook. I got rid of my MySpace account 2 or so years ago, and in all honesty never looked back. Facebook, part of me wants to get rid of, but at the same time, it has gotten me back in touch with some old friends or kept me up to date on other friends who I don't talk to as much as I'd like or used to.

It's gotten so much to the point that I seldomly log in anymore except when

I'm bored, the only thing that's really gotten updated is my status which is only done because its linked with Twitter.

Remember I will choose another comment posted between March 15  and March 31, 2008.

If you have problems adding your email or