I received an email from Gizmo today. Gizmo5 is a wanna be replacement for Skype that, to be honest, doesn’t work nearly as reliably as Skype. I still receive email from them because I signed up to use their service many months ago when Vinny and I were having trouble with Skype during our podcasts. We ended up sticking with Skype, and I haven’t really given much more thought to Gizmo. To be honest, I didn’t like their service before I received this email. Every call I placed with their service had low quality, and it took several attempts to place the calls in the first place.

Click the image to view it full size.

According to their email, if I install Gizmo5 on my phone or my computer, I can vote 25 times for my favorite American Idol contestant with just one call through Gizmo. Is it me, or are they admitting to gaming the American Idol voting system? If you or I use our phones to call, we register just one vote. How does Gizmo get 25 votes in to the system with just one call? That sounds a little bit fishy to me.

More importantly, however, is the fact that they are actively recruiting international calls, which are prohibited by American Idol. They are actively endorsing cheating while promoting their product.

Do you live outside the United States? Now you can vote too. The show blocks international calls, but by using Gizmo5 your calls will go through and your votes will be counted!

Not only are they gaming the voting system on American Idol, but they are trying to engage international viewers to use Gizmo5 to place their votes and bypass the fact that such calls are prohibited by American Idol. I wonder how the producers of American Idol will view this? I think it’s pretty sad when the only way you can promote your product is to encourage people to use it in an unethical way.

While I find it very natural for any company to try and attach themselves to the American Idol popularity train, I also find it disgusting that they are trying to do so by breaking the rules and encouraging people to cheat while doing so.

It’s clear they are trying to appeal to the international market by giving international users a reason to try their service. It’s also clear where they stand on ethics as a company, and I’m certainly not going to lose any sleep while boycotting Gizmo.

[Crossposted at The Alligator Pit]

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Absolut must have received an awful lot of phone calls. Too bad those phone calls couldn’t spur them to tell the truth.

The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan “In an Absolut World,” showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence.

…

“In no way was it meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues,” Absolut said in a statement left on its consumer inquiry phone line.

The ad wasn’t meant to offend? Uh, right. It was meant to build national pride in Mexico. We get it.

The ad didn’t advocate the altering of the border? Uh, right. That must be why they didn’t change the lines on the map.

The ad didn’t lend support to any anti-American sentiment? Uh, right. That’s why their original statement said the ad was “relevant” to Mexicans who love the idea of reclaiming the land that the Americans stole.

They’re going to have to purchase a heck of a lot of lipovox if they think they can smooth this one out.

Absolut hasn’t said a word since Saturday. Are they hoping this just goes away? It will go away eventually, along with their sales. Asta la vista.

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Apparently, Absolut has an idea what they think North America should look like.

I don’t know what they were thinking, but they knew exactly what they were doing.

“Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”

So there you have it. They are playing to the Mexican people with a subject that appeals to their national pride. Well… They must be very desperate for sales in Mexico, and they must also think that the sales in Mexico clearly outweigh the sales here in the United States. Because I know a number of vodka drinkers that won’t be drinking Absolut again after seeing that ad.

[Special thanks to Vinny for the heads up on this.]

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On May 15th, I cancelled my account. Later that same day, I unsubscribed from the ‘XM Signal’ newsletter and XM email alerts. About a week later, I received another newsletter, so I unsubscribed again.

Today, I got yet another email from XM. What the hell is wrong with those people? What part of remove my email address from your pathetic server, didn’t they get the first two times?

They are obviously banking on people returning now that Opie and Anthony are coming back on Friday.

Attention O&A Fans,

There’s so much speculation on the blogs and fan sites about O&A’s return that we thought we’d take a minute to give you the facts directly.

…

This schedule will repeat until Friday morning at 6:00 a.m., because, as previously announced, Opie and Anthony will be back on XM live at 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday, June 15th. And the Virus channel’s normal programming schedule will resume.

Do I care that they are back on XM? No, not in the slightest.

While I think it’s great that Opie & Anthony are returning to satellite radio, I cannot, and will not, support XM Radio. Why would I support a company that chose to censor a show that was advertised as “uncensored comedy“? How do I know that management won’t turn around and suspend them again in the future?

And what’s with the email? How many times do I have to try and unsubscribe before I’m allowed to charge XM $12.95 for the first one, and $6.95 for each additional email I receive? How can I make them understand that when I unsubscribed the first two times, I was serious?

I don’t want their email and I don’t want their service. No thank you, I can think of better things to spend my money on these days.

As you may know, thousands of Opie and Anthony fans have cancelled their XM Radio subscriptions. Just in case you weren’t sure who to call, check out cancelxm.com

Show XM Satellite Radio that you will not stand for these business tactics and censorship. Call XM and cancel your subscription TODAY. At the VERY least, call and request a refund of this month’s subscription. If they refuse, threaten to cancel your subscription. But don’t just threaten it, do it. Cancel only via telephone, and be sure to tell them exactly why you are canceling.

Here are some numbers to call:

1-800-967-2346 (1-800-XM-RADIO)
1-800-998-7900 (to speak to a live person)
202-380-4000 (a direct number to XM’s corporate executive offices)

It may take a while, as they are experiencing an extremely high volume of calls (their recording will tell you it’s because of people activating their new XM radios, but we all know the truth).

As you may know, eleven days ago I had a rather unique experience with XM Radio customer service. I ended up getting a great deal on my satellite radio service.

Today, I cancelled the account for both of my XM radios. Tonight, I will remove all of the “in-car” equipment for the radio. Why?

Because XM Radio does not respect my right as a subscriber to chose who and what I wish to listen to.

XM Radio announced today that the company has suspended Gregg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia, hosts of “The Opie & Anthony Show” and ceased broadcast of the show for 30 days, effective immediately.

XM Radio deplored the comments aired on “The Opie & Anthony Show” last week. At the time, the company strongly expressed its views to Opie and Anthony, and they issued an immediate apology.

Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday’s broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.

As a company, XM provides customers with tools to control what they listen to on XM. “The Opie & Anthony Show” appears on one of XM’s explicit language channels (XL). Whenever a radio is tuned to an explicit language channel, the letters “XL” continuously appear on the screen. XM frequently mentions on its explicit language channels that the content may be inappropriate for certain listeners and tells how to “block” channels that feature this type of content. Channel blocking is available through xmradio.com or by calling 1-800-XMRADIO.

Were the original comments made on their program offensive? Yes, they were. Was their apology sincere? Probably not. Should that dictate whether or not XM should take away my option of listening to them when the mood strikes me? No, it doesn’t.

Yet, XM Radio still felt the need to make that decision for me and that is totally unacceptable.

I paid for XM radio because it offered the types of programs I wanted to listen to. If I didn’t like something I heard, I changed the channel. If I found something offensive, I changed the channel. If I didn’t care for something I was listening to, I changed the channel.

In addition to XM, I pay for DISH. I pay for many channels on DISH and have seen many programs that I thought were too graphic, too violent, or just too stupid. Guess what I do when I encounter them on my TV? I change the channel.

Opie and Anthony are shock jocks. They are paid to be controversial. Why suspend them when they do what they are paid to do?

Would they cancel the “Sopranos” because a few people were offended by the dialog? Of course not. Did they cancel “Six Feet Under” because of the homosexual scenes with some of the characters? Of course not. Why not? Because people were paying to watch the very things that offended some people.

When I pay for premium services, I expect to be the one in control of what I watch or listen to. Why would I pay for a premium service if they are going to dictate what is “appropriate”?

When XM Radio suspended Opie and Anthony, they became the type of company I no longer wish to do business with.

Read more at: Orbitcast, which has the audio in question, and Turning 25.

Normally, when something like this goes viral on the net, I resist posting anything about it. I figure if there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people posting about it, and I don’t have anything new to add to the conversation, what purpose is there to post it?

But, the part of me that believes in using consumerism and boycotts as an effective means of showing my disdain for morons, says I should post this…

Sgt. Jason Hess, who serves in the 1st Cavalry Division and is currently stationed in Iraq was looking to order some new mats for his fellow soldiers to sleep on. So he sent the following email to Discount Floor Mats of West Allis, Wisconsin.

From: SGT Jason Hess
Sent: Tue Jan 16 3:25

Do you ship to APO address? I’m in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first.

A perfectly good email, asking a perfectly good question. Some companies will not ship to an APO, so it was smart of Sgt. Hess to inquire about their shipping policies before ordering the items, right?

Check out the response he received…

From: contact@discount-mats.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: Feedback: from discount-mats.com

SGT Hess,

We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.

Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com

That’s one way to start your “going out of business sale”. Their website has been down all day, as you can expect with something like this.

Now. I for one, would never have done business with this company in the future anyway, so it makes no sense to call for a boycott. What I do recommend, however, is contacting them to let them know your opinion of their “response”.

Their phone numbers:

phone: 414-736-8394
fax: 414-543-9634

Their mailing address:

Bargain Suppliers
3259 S.106th Street
West Allis, WI 53227

You can find out more information (including the contact information for the domain) by visiting Euphoric Reality, they have been updating their post on the subject all day.

I love the Google Adsense Team so much, I decided to dedicate my latest podcast to them.

You can hear what was on my mind at the time in the latest episode of Test Pattern. You can subscribe at ISPN Media, or you can click the ODEO player link below.

Click below for the transcript…

Read rest of story…

CNN has become “the publicist for an enemy propaganda film” by broadcasting a video showing an insurgent sniper in Iraq apparently killing an American soldier, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said here Friday.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) called for the Pentagon to oust any CNN reporter embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq.

“I think Americans like to think we’re all in this together,” Hunter said. “The average American Marine or soldier has concluded after seeing that film that CNN is not on their side.”

CNN said it broadcast the brief video to show the threat that insurgent snipers posed to U.S. troops.

“Whether or not you agree with us in this case, our goal, as always, is to present the unvarnished truth as best we can,” CNN producer David Doss wrote in a blog on the network’s website.

The unvarnished truth? From CNN? Is he kidding?

Why have we never seen the “unvarnished truth” before on CNN? Where was that “unvarnished truth” when the Muhammad cartoons were lighting up the world? I guess they only care about showing the “unvarnished truth” when it depicts U.S. forces in a bad light.

If CNN was trying to send a message. We got it. Loud and clear. Too bad it was written in Arabic.

Natalie Maines says one of the death threats she received after criticizing President Bush three years ago was “definitely scary” because the sender “had a plan.”

Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, told a London audience during a March 10, 2003, concert: “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” The comment was made as war was looming with Iraq, and Maines later apologized for the phrasing of her remark.

…

Her London comment angered many country music fans and caused radio stations to pull Dixie Chicks music from their playlists. The Chicks said they received death threats, leading them to install metal detectors at their shows.

Today, the Chicks refuse to apologize to fans who were upset by Maines’ comment.

“We don’t make decisions based on that,” Maines says. “We don’t go, ‘OK, our fans are in the red states, so I’m going to play a red, white and blue guitar and put on my I Love Bush T-shirt.’

“We’re not like that because we’re not politicians. We’re musicians.”

Wow.

There’s a reason people boycott the Dixie Chicks. There are many reasons the fans have left them singing alone.

Natalie Maines alienated thousands of Dixie Chicks fans across the country. Should she apologize? Would anyone really care? Even if she did apologize, people wouldn’t believe her.

The fans don’t make decisions based on that. They don’t go, ‘OK, Natalie Maines is apologizing, so we should go out and buy the new Dixie Chicks album.’

We’re not like that because we’re not twits. We’re consumers.