It claims to offer free physical copies of your email (unlimited) with just a click of a button. Pictures will be printed on glossy paper with paper clip attaching them to the mail.

I was fooled in the first few minutes – what gives it away for me is its claim on environmentally friendly paper:

Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier.

call it corny.. i call it genius! Go Google!

oh.. of course we cant miss the testimony:

“Now that I have Gmail Paper, I understand the difference between labels and folders. I had one message with two labels, but when I tried to stick the paper version into two filing cabinets at the same time, it just wouldn’t go.”

Q: What does it take for a Miss USA to be dethroned?
A: Nudity, sex and drinking.

George who now set up a blog dedicated to ‘fighting’ this, seemed to have a lot of patience in explaining to various customer representatives of Verizon about the issue. If i were him, i wouldn’t know how long i would have lasted.

This is the part when i found it really amusing:

G: Well, let me just start out with a basic question.

M: Okay.

G: Do you recognize that there’s a difference between “point zero zero two dollars” and “point zero zero two cents”?

[pause]

M: Point zero zero two dollars?

G: Do you recognize that there is actually…

M: …and point zero zero two cents.

G: Yes, do you you recognize there’s a difference between those 2 numbers?

[pause]

M: No.

and even the Floor Manager got really confused:

A: What do you mean .002 dollars?

G: [big sigh] Okay, I think I have to do this again. Do you recognize that there’s a difference between one dollar and one cent?

A: Definitely.

G: Do you recognize there’s a difference between half a dollar and half a cent?

A: Definitely

G: Then, do you therefore recognize there’s a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents

A: No.

G: No?

A: I mean there’s… there’s no .002 dollars.

G: Of course there it’s.. it’s two..

A: There’s .002 cents is what you’re quoted, and that’s what I do show that you… you paid, or that ya know, you’re paying for the kilobyte usage.

G: Okay. [sigh] I don’t.. I don’t know a better way to express this. .002 dollars is the same as .2 cents.

A: Okay. Well how would you… What would .002 dollars look to you?

G: It’s point…

A: Obviously, a dollar is “one, decimal, zero, zero” right? So what would a “point zero zero two dollars” look like?

G: I don’t know…

A: I’ve never heard of .002 dollars. .002 dollars, it’s just not…

G: This is just… this is just math we’re talking about… this is…

A: …not a full cent.

G: That’s right. And…

For the whole recording you can hear it from here:

and here’s the full transcript.

After this phone drama, he did put in a written complaint and here is what he got:

Dear George Vaccaro,

Hi George. My name is Nikki and I understand your frustration regarding the data charges on your bill. I am happy to assist you today.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and confusion this has caused. Per the remarks in the account, I have found that the customer service representative provided the correct pricing information. However; due to the miscommunication, I am willing to credit half of the data charges which would be $-36.00. Please reply to this email if you would like to accept this offer.

It has been a pleasure assisting you today, and we appreciate your business. Should you have additional questions or concerns, please reply to this e-mail.

Sincerely,

Nikki
Verizon Wireless
Customer Service

UNBELIEVABLE!

given that this just happened a couple of days ago, it would be interesting to see how this will be resolved!

UPDATE – the issue seemed to be resolved with verizon offering a full credit ‘refund’ as per email below:

Dear George Vaccaro,

Thank you for your reply. Again, I apologize for the miscommunications regarding this issue and for your frustration and inconvenience as a result.

In review of your account a previous representative has credited for the data charges in question for $71.79. You may take this amount off of your current amount due. In the future please keep in mind that it is .002 dollars per KB while in Canada.

It has been a pleasure assisting you today, and we appreciate your business. Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Michelle
Verizon Wireless
Customer Service

you probably have seen the naked Dutch sunbathing on the roof top and the ’secret’ miniature that China built in the middle of the desert.

but i bet you are not expecting this: Couple Caught Having Sex on Google Earth!! Yes you heard it right!… The image is a bit blurry..you have to look at the shadows and a bit closer to the monitor.(remember its a street level view!).. but you kinda get the idea.

i was reading The Australians and two weird news stood out:

• China is introducing ‘One Dog Policy’
• A man in his 30s was caught ‘jerkin’ during lunchtime in Starbucks. His excuse – getting a sun tan! Check it out

Weird! I can understand that if you have to go, you just have to let it go… but during lunchtime in Starbucks? come on! ShihYang’s method to overcome this is to think of his parents making out (yucks!). The funniest comment came from his friend:

remember to use more sunblock and tan only when it is erect otherwise uneven

but only recently (thanks to my naive-ity towards YouTube) i came across a South Korean self-taught guitarist who came up with Canon Rock version of JerryC’s arrangement. The result is simply amazing and jaw-dropping.

A quick google found me a Wikipedia’s description of him:

Jeong-Hyun Lim is a 23-year-old South Korean guitarist. He appeared in an online video playing an electric guitar version of Pachabel’s Canon. At this point he was calling himself “funtwo” and no one knew his real name. His face was not visible. Eventually a New York Times reporter discovered his identity.

Jeong-Hyun Lim attends Auckland University in New Zealand.

He began playing the guitar in 2000 and is self-taught.

In 2005 he saw JerryC playing Canon Rock on the web and decided to try it out himself. He downloaded the backing track and the tabs and learned the song. He then, like so many others, uploaded a video of himself playing Canon Rock on the Korean music community Mule. A fan calling himself simply guitar90 then took the video and uploaded it to YouTube.

The clip is at the moment number five on the most viewed list on YouTube and is second most discussed one. Many regard Lim’s version of Canon Rock to be even better than JerryC’s original arrangement. This has been followed by mention on such media outlets such as CNN, and the New York Times, and National Public Radio.

Don’t believe me? See this!