Joke
Good evening Stuart,
I have a quick question for you…was there any money on Noah's Ark?
Yes there was…the duck had a bill and the frog had a greenback!
Have a good night,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra
June 29th, 2007 at 08:23pm
Archive for June 29th, 2007
Samuel’s Sleep-O-Meter
Thursday: 7 Hours
For those of you who are wondering. I’ll be producing the graph for this on a weekly basis.
Samuel
June 29th, 2007 at 04:28pm
Samuel’s Footy Tips
I’ll post the scores from the last few weeks shortly…but right now.
NRL Round 16
Knights v Rabbitohs
Titans v Warriors
Panthers v Broncos
Raiders v Tigers
Dragons v Eagles
Bulldogs v Roosters
AFL Round 13
Bombers v Demons
Dockers v Blues
Cats v Swans
Lions v Power
Saints v Tigers
Crows v Eagles
Kangaroos v Bulldogs
Magpies v Hawks
Samuel
June 29th, 2007 at 02:25pm
Updated: Telstra just won’t listen
Originally posted on June 16th, 2007 at 10:42am. Updated June 29
Update: I don’t usually promote updated posts back to the top of the blog’s home page, but this one is an important update. Since posting this I have received, and continue to receive, emails and comments from people who have been called by the number listed below. The vast majority of these reports indicate that the caller is not saying anything to them, and just producing menacing calls. One person has informed me that the numbers they have received calls on are listed on the federal government’s Do Not Call register, which means the caller is breaking the Do Not Call law and could face a hefty fine. Whoever it is that is calling, they appear to pretend to be from Telstra on some occasions, and not on others. I no longer believe this is Telstra, but I find their lack of response to my letter suspicious.
I will send Telstra one more letter before taking this issue up with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) who oversee the Do Not Call register.
In the meantime, anybody who has received a call from the number listed below is more than welcome to leave a comment or send me an email to report it. I want to make sure this gets dealt with harshly by the authorities, and the more reports I receive (I can keep your details anonymous if you desire) the more chance we have of this.
End Update. Original Post follows
My mobile phone rang at about 10am today:
Me: Hello
Caller: Hello, it’s Matt from Telstra here, how are you today sir?
I knew where this conversation was headed…but I wanted to see if the script had changed.
Me: I’m good, how are you?
Matt from Telstra: I’m good, (puts on his best over-excited sales pitch voice) but I’m about to make you a whole lot better because I’m going to (even more excited now) give you a new mobile phone.
I thought that, with the hyped up hot air he had just given me, the best thing to do would be to stick a really big pin in his balloon before he floated away.
Me: This is third time, I have asked to be removed from this list
Matt from Telstra (still somewhere between Earth and cloud nine): OK then, I’ll remove you from the list…just for you sir.
Me: Thank you.
I then waited, expecting to here a “goodbye” or something similar, but all I got was silence, and then he hung up.
As I said to Matt, this is the third time I’ve been called by Telstra to offer me a phone. I was a bit annoyed the second time because I had asked to be removed from the list previously, but this time it is beyond a joke. Telstra will be getting a letter posted to them from me on Monday.
In the meantime, anybody who receives a call from Matt (strangely the caller ID wasn’t blocked) on 02 9374 6300, could you ask him to ensure that Samuel’s mobile number has been removed from the list…and make sure he uses the words “good bye”?
Samuel
33 comments June 29th, 2007 at 12:24pm
Hotline Ends And Takes An Era With It
That title is a rather poorly mixed metaphor, but it’s true, the end of Australia’s longest running, and as far as I can tell, only remaining viewer feedback program is very sad.
Hotline has been around in a number of formats for a very long time, as they emphasised in their final episode last night.
It is obvious why Hotline is going…it’s five minutes of an hour which rates very well for SBS and could easily be turned in to more advertising revenue. SBS advise us that they are still interested in our comments and concerns, but now that they have no way to actively promote this feedback, and to advise us of decisions they have made, I do have to question their commitment to such feedback.
Hotline was a rather popular show, and really spearheaded the genre of viewer feedback programs in this country. Other stations tried it, notable examples include Feedback with Indira Naidoo on ABC Television, and Line To Nine, obviously on Channel Nine, which was regrettably never broadcast on the regional relay stations which make up a large percentage on Nine’s effective audience.
Despite these unfortunately failed attempts at creating shows of this genre on other networks, Hotline remained a popular, and sometimes controversial example of the genre, and was in many ways a perfect way to promote anything and everything being screened on the network without being an advertisement.
Perhaps it was unpalatable after all these years to run a show which both praised and criticised the network, and I’m sure the bottom line will look better once the tiny budget of the show gets converted in to five minutes of national advertising revenue, but there can be no doubt that the credibility of SBS has been diminished by the decision to axe Hotline. It may not have been nice to have a show which aired criticism of the network, but SBS looked very mature and responsive for that.
Somehow I doubt that black box of their email address they have left behind, which is the only replacement for Hotline, will be anywhere near as credible as the show itself.
Perhaps SBS will reverse their decision, but I highly doubt it. Hotline’s demise marks the end of an era in Australian television, and SBS’ apparent and continued move away from its original purpose.
I, for one, will miss Hotline.
Samuel
June 29th, 2007 at 11:31am