Source: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=12oiju.18.27

Source: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=krh966.2.2

While I’ve been using Symantec’s tool in my installer (which installs our site license of McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i) for over a year now, there hasn’t been a defense against the rising tide of cheap, junkware McAfee products that are showing up on more and more of the Dell computers our students buy. Thankfully, one of my colleagues found a link on a Dell forum (NOT the McAfee site–hide the shame, hide it!!!) which revealed the existence of a similar removal tool for McAfee products. There are some helpful instructions on that link, or you can just download and run the tool directly from here.

As an interesting side note, I’ve had a machine actually running Enterprise 8.5i that’s thrown me nothing but trouble. I’ve ‘completely’ uninstalled McAfee and the ePO Agent 4.0, but I simply can’t make the problem go away (framework error, whee!). I’m going to try this new tool soon on that machine, to see if it actually solves the problem. I’ll post again when I have some results.

The 43-year-old Italian apparently dragged the woman out of a bar in the port city of Genoa in the north of the country and pushed her into his car, before taking her back to his house.

Once there, he threatened to hurt her before making her iron his clothes and do the washing up, police said.

Officers were called to the property by a friend of the woman who saw the scene unfold at the bar.

The man, who was apparently furious at his ex-girlfriend for leaving him, was arrested on charges of kidnapping.

1) Go to the Verizon Wireless website and follow the instructions there to delete and recreate your Voicemail speed dial option.

2) It is SUPER important to note that you cannot enter the Voicemail contact as the 10-digit phone number (the link above gives you that option). You MUST use *86 and name the speed dial “Voicemail.” Otherwise, your speed dial will work properly, but your pop-up will still dial the old number. DO NOT tie it to an existing contact.

This will reset the pop-up menu to dial your voicemail number. Enjoy your terribly designed phone as much as possible!

P.S. While on the phone with Verizon for this problem, I confirmed with them that there is no way to actually turn the Treo OFF. It goes into ‘flight mode,’ but as you know if you’ve ever flown, you can’t use that until 10,000ft. The solution is just what I thought: pull your battery.

Now, I will admit, I should’ve torn up my application right then and there. A bank representative who clearly a) doesn’t know bank policy (the PIN did NOT need to be unique, obviously) and b) doesn’t know how to count between 0000 and 9999 is probably not working for a really great bank. In fact, I nearly did call in to cancel the account right off the bat, but then I received a call from the Plymouth branch manager, Michele. Unlike the woman tabling at my employer, she clearly knew the bank’s policies, and was not afraid to look them up in the event she wasn’t sure of something. I explained my needs in a bank, as follows:

1) I expect that the bank’s employees understand the bank’s policies. However, if they do not know something for sure, I would expect them to ask someone / look it up in order to provide me with a correct answer.

2) To be able to document in writing any policies that were supposedly official bank policy. In other words, if you’re going to charge a fee, I had better see that fee listed someone in a table of charges, etc. After fifteen minutes on the phone with her, I was convinced that Woodlands would work out for me.

3) As a small bank, I expected Woodlands to provide personal service in exchange for me going without several nice features, such as free inter-account overdraft transfers or an online banking site that actually works properly. I did not want small bank resources with large bank attitude.

Over the course of the next two years, I discovered that Michele was basically the only knowledgeable and competent employee of the bank. Every time I spoke with someone in the phone pool, I was given generic, ‘policy-robot’ type answers, although those answers often varied between employees. One assistant manager, Theresa, even went so far as to accuse me of fraud when I tried to deposit a check for my house deposit. I began going to Michele directly for everything, even a simple deposit.

Then, about 3 weeks ago, my fiancee and departed on a trip to Florida. She’s 25, and I’m only 24, so the car was rented in her name to avoid a fee. Then, a few days before our flight left, Woodlands called me and my fiancee separately to discuss our debit cards. Both were compromised during the recent Hannaford supermarket identity theft incident. I was given the option of watching the account and keeping it open, which I did because of the approaching trip. My fiancee was told her card had been ‘compromised’ and was shut off. We had to pay an extra $50 in insurance to rent the car, because she was only able to leave a cash deposit.

Last night, in the wake of this frustration, my fiancee received a letter stating rudely that the post office had informed Woodlands of an address change and that, if we did not notify Woodlands within 10 business days, our funds would be put on hold. Of course, there was no indication of which account this was, meaning it could have been our joint checking account or just her savings (which is rarely used). Although Woodlands calls me about everything else (possible unauthorized charges, etc) they apparently do not do so for address changes.

When I left an incensed message on the Woodlands answering machine (thanks to the person who wrote me the letter not giving any contact info for herself directly), I was immediately called back by Michele, who attempted as always to find a solution. She also told me the CEO, Tim Callia, would be calling me directly to discuss the matter.

When Mr. Callia called, I should have known from the blocked number on my phone that he would not be an effective leader. Hiding behind such tricks is unprofessional at best, and shows the outright disrespect that Mr. Callia has for his so-called ‘fellow members.’ I thought Mr. Callia had called to discuss the new process of the change of address letters, as Michele had implied, but as it turned out he simply wanted to argue. When I explained my issues, he was clearly unprepared, having obviously not spoken with Michele to ascertain the situation. In addition, when I put pressure on him to explain why Woodlands called for everything EXCEPT address changes, he said ‘that’s our policy.’ Now, I expect the phone-pool employee, constrained by bank rules and regulations, to be policy robots, but I do not expect the CEO of the same company to state such a party line. Furthermore, it indicates a lack of modern business sense to repeatedly use the term ‘policy’ in an age when many businesses are acknowledging the negative connotations of that word.

Once I had determined that Mr. Callia really had no solutions to offer me, I told him I was done spending my time on something that was clearly not going anywhere, told him to have a nice day, and hung up my phone. He had the nerve to call me back again from his cowardly blocked number, at which point our conversation went like this:

Callia: I assume your phone must've lost the signal, since I can't imagine you would have hung up on me.
Me: Actually, you assumed wrong. As I just stated, you are clearly not interested in a solution, so I would like you to stop wasting my time.
Callia: Oh, well I am a professional and I thought you were too, but judging by your message and the way you're talking to me now, that's obviously not the case.
Me: Actually, your organization, with the exception of Michele, has been unprofessional for two years with me, and your refusal to answer the very simple question of why your policy is what it is leads me to believe you do not actually know. Furthermore, I can't believe you've decided to personally insult a customer. THAT, sir, is what makes me believe you are a consumate professional. Have a good day.

Thankfully, Mr. Callia did not waste my time further by calling again to insult me. I closed my accounts today, and have decided to go with my new Charles Schwab account as my sole checking account. It will be a little more difficult with no physical branch nearby, but my experience has been that every CS rep that I’ve dealt with at Schwab has been nicer, more knowledgeable, and more helpful than the CEO of Woodlands Credit Union. Also, they refund bank fees from other ATMs, so instead of paying a couple of bucks every time I use a non-Woodlands ATM, I actually get a cash refund at the end of every month from Schwab. So please, if you’re considering opening an account with Woodlands, or if you’re wondering if the bad experience you just had with them is just one in a series still to come, I hope you gain some insight from my experience and STAY AWAY.

Now, in my life, I’ve only been to two churrascarias - one in Manaus, Brazil, and the other being Texas de Brazil. I was about 8 years old when I went to the one in Brazil, and I remember it being one of the best eating experiences of my life. Each cut that was brought to the table was perfectly cooked, expertly flavored, and absolutely delicious. I remembered the experience so fondly that I dragged my fiancee to Texas de Brazil, even though it was about 20 minutes from our hotel and past at least 150 other restaurants (including another churrascaria). I was hoping that an American churrascaria wouldn’t be too tame and therefore a pale approximation of the Brazilian one that I’d remembered, but I was not prepared for just how amazing Texas de Brazil was.

First, as we were led to our table, we passed the salad bar, which is really a misnomer. It features your usual greens, but also appetizers ranging from sushi to fried provolone. As far as I could tell, this salad bar is a trap designed to keep you from eating an entire cow, but in the restaurant’s defense, you can also just order the salad bar as a meal, which it would certainly be.

Once we reached our table, or waiter, Joseph, explained how everything worked, including how to flip over a token indicating either that you wanted more gauchos to offer you meat, or that you were all set for the time being. We ordered a bottle of wine off the list of 500+ wines (literally about 20 pages of a wine list), which was exactly what I was expecting and absolutely delicious. There were a couple of things about the service which really stood out: first of all, Joseph was super-attentive at every turn, from pouring wine whenever a glass was empty to recommending the best cuts of meat and ensuring that the gauchos brought it quickly to our table. Second of all, there were several managers circling the room, interacting with the customers and ensuring that everyone was satisfied.

The sheer number of staff at Texas de Brazil is surely one of the reasons that the service is so great. After all, not even the most service-oriented waiter could possibly be so attentive with 20 tables to wait on. But the staff at Texas de Brazil was obviously also very experienced and very good at what they do. Apparently, all the Texas de Brazil restaurants (there are several) are owned by the same person, and he oversees their operation directly (i.e. they are not franchises). Clearly, this system is working, as the dining experience was absolutely pleasurable.