Although my confidence is low that I’ll be able to reduce the number of “junk faxes” being sent to me, I’m going through the procedure put in place by the FCC anyway. The steps are fairly straight forward in entering a complaint online, but I suspect results may not be all that forthcoming?
My suspicion: I believe that fax numbers are sold to different fax marketing firms who cater to the ‘cheap’ travel and boiler room investment types. Some may be pure scams and others may offer a product which I suspect is sub-standard. I’m also suspicious that just like the links on emails asking to be removed from an email list, that entering your fax number may increase the likelihood that you will receive more faxes rather than less (probably disguised as being from a different marketing firm). My advice is not to attempt to be removed from these lists but to ignore the marketing. I’ll update results from my complaint to the FCC here.
4/18/2009 Update: I received a letter from the FCC the past week:
I’ve never been all that attracted to the ‘add-on’ chrome tailpipe trend which has become the norm in recent years, but now that many of these cars have a few years of age they are becoming downright ugly. While spending a few days driving this past week I notice a relatively late model Nissan sporting some rusting chrome tips and remembered why I didn’t like these add-on fashion statements.
Who knows who will begin to bring the conservative movement and the Republican party back to life and attract new American voters? If big government and the spending of the current Democrats joining the honeymooning President Obama isn’t enough to help unite conservatives, then perhaps it is time for some new blood. Take a look at Rep Paul Ryan (R) from Wisconsin as he talks with Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron. Does he have what it takes to carry the torch and convince Americans that conservationism is best for our country?
Even a frugal diesel guy like me can’t resist enjoying watching 705 HP of American steel (and fiberglass) do 185mph in standing mile “warm up run.” That’s flying.
I’ve been satisfied with Netflix since switching from Blockbuster Online for ‘mail delivered’ DVD and BluRay DVD movies. My wife and I generally watch one movie each week and have been comfortable with the service and choices available with the ‘one at a time’ subscription. Since we have a BluRay player, I opted for the $1.00 premium on top of our $8.99/month Netflix subscription ($9.99/month) which saved us $2 each month over their competitor, but noticed that Netflix as of April 27 will double that premium — $2.00/month for the BluRay option ($10.99/month). The amount is now only a dollar less then Blockbuster and doesn’t offer the 2 in-store exchanges which was a nice perk (although we did switch to Netflix for the TivoHD streaming option only currently available at Netflix).
Since we have been generally watching movies in our bedroom, I’m debating whether paying an extra $2 for BluRay is really worthwhile. DVD movies and even the Netflix-to-TivoHD streamed movies all seem to satisfy my aging eyes and questionable ears … what would you do?
If you are in the market for a new car or truck this year, the IRS will assist by at least making the “sales tax” deductible. There are a few caveats, which includes a short window since the car, truck, motorhome or motorcycle needs to be purchase between February 16, 2009 and January 1, 2010 in order to be able to deduct the sales tax on your 2009 taxes. According to Cars.com, “this deduction is available for individuals with an adjusted gross income of less than $125,000, or for joint filers under $250,000. The deduction phases out for taxpayers whose AGIs fall between $125,000 and $135,000 for individuals and between $250,000 and $260,000 for joint filers. The deduction is only good for the taxes paid on a vehicle up to $49,500 of the purchase price. So if you buy a $70,000 car, you won’t be able to deduct the taxes for the additional $20,500.”
If you are near West Chester, Ohio in eastern Butler county Tuesday night, consider filling up your car while saying hello to volunteers from a church called Journey. (they meet at the Lakota East High School in Liberty Township on Sundays) According to Youth Minister, Luke Dooley (@yeloodekul), members will be staffing a couple pumps at the Thorntons gas station at the corner of Tylersville Road and Kingsgate (7301 Kingsgate Way) from 5 to 7 PM as part of their third annual “March Madness” campaign. They will be washing windshieds and topping off washer fluid as well as offering discounted fuel by 50 cents per gallon at those pumps staffed by Journey members (For my VW TDI friends, I don’t know about diesel fuel?). Nevertheless, stop in tonight and thanks them for their outreach.
Volkswagen Jetta TDI fans will enjoy seeing their long lasting and economical diesel being used in NYC as a taxicab. In the newer body style, rear seats have a couple more inches, so really the A5 Jetta makes perfect sense as a taxi. If you’ve ever looked at the trunk (boot), you’d know that luggage loading capacity is not a problem. Besides, I think think the VW Jetta looks great in yellow!
FoxNews kicked off a new interactive site call thefoxnation.com on March 30th in order to “leverage its brand online, especially among conservative true believers,” and by broadening the reach of “high-decibel” stars such as Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck to an online audience. After a quick review and watching the 1000s of comments flood in, I can’t imagine anyone actually bothering to read much of what people are saying, but it does offer a place for conservative to vent.
As far as usablity, it’s bad enough sifting through page after page of reader comments on normal comment based ‘news’ only sites, but The Fox Nation is like reading a ‘long winded’ Twitter stream without any filtering. If this site, which is now called a Beta, is going to be useful rather than a place for just venting political frustration, then users are going to need a method to sift through the pile of comments an interact believing what they are saying is heard. Leaving a comment the way it is now is like trying to communicate at a rock concert.
Volkswagen has done a great job with the design of the new Golf GTD. Its design is similar to the popular Rabbit Golf although has a noticeable sporty edge. VW says it will stress fuel efficiency, clean diesel and better performance over the European Golf TDI.
According to Motortrend, “under its hood is a more powerful edition of the regular TDI’s common-rail 2.0L four-cylinder making 168 hp. The powertrain puts out a minimal 139 grams of C02 per kilometer and achieves a claimed combined 44 mpg in the European cycle. It’ll top out at 138 mph and scoot to 62 mph in 8.1 sec. Either a regular six-speed manual or the brand’s six-speed DSG can be outfitted in the sportier little diesel.”
At this time, those of us in North America get usual answer when it come to importing European oil burners — “there is no word on the Golf GTD coming to the U.S. as of now.” Pricing in Euro dollars seems a little steep at 24,475 euros. ($32,537 US)
I’ve been satisfied with 
If you are in the market for a new car or truck this year, the IRS will assist by at least making the “sales tax” deductible. There are a few caveats, which includes a short window since the car, truck, motorhome or motorcycle needs to be purchase between February 16, 2009 and January 1, 2010 in order to be able to deduct the sales tax on your 2009 taxes. According to 
If you are near West Chester, Ohio in eastern Butler county Tuesday night, consider filling up your car while saying hello to volunteers from a church called 
