Category Archives: service

U.S. Copyright Office Fumbles, Bit by Bit

Posted on August 11, 2005 by Dave

The U.S. Copyright Office is soliciting opinions, through August 22d, about it’s planned website upgrade that will require the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer, effectively banning most technically-advanced users and all Linux and open-source advocates from its service.

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Wi-Fi and Morning Coffee at the Beach

Posted on August 7, 2005 by Dave

It’s 8:15 A.M., and I’m enjoying my morning coffee while typing to my favorite friends. I’m siting in To Bean or Not to Bean (2Bean), an internet café in Bethany Beach, Delaware. 2Bean is the only café in town offering both wired and wireless internet access, and it’s a comfortable respite from the morning humidity and the afternoon heat that comes with being near the ocean.

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Warren’s Station: Fine Family Dining in Fenwick Island, Delware

Posted on August 6, 2005 by Dave

One of my family’s favorite beach-side breakfast stops is Warren’s Station in Fenwick Island, Delaware. This family-run restaurant is clean, friendly, and inviting: a perfect place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Click here for the restaurant’s website.

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Café Tu Tu Tango: A Niagara Falls Must Eat

Posted on July 15, 2005 by Dave

While in Niagara Falls, Ontario, my family dropped in to Café Tu Tu Tango, and we found ourselves in one of the most enjoyable light-fare restaurants that we have ever visited.

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Andy’s Barber Shop Cuts It Close in Ellicott City

Posted on May 25, 2005 by Dave

On the advice of a friend, I stopped into Andy’s Barber Shop in Ellicott City, Maryland, this morning to get my flat top cut down to size. (click here for a map & phone number)

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Drop Voice, Keep DSL

Posted on April 21, 2005 by Dave

Verizon Communications will allow current customers in the Northeast U.S. to discontinue voice telephone service while keeping DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) broadband service. Telecommunication providers have been roundly criticized for requiring DSL subscribers to also maintain voice service, thereby limiting consumer choice.

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Hear Me, I Want to Listen

Posted on March 28, 2005 by Dave

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a tool that doesn’t reflect the general preference of legal music downloaders. Before you read on, hoping that I will advocate for the free distribution of music, let me warn you: I’m a strong supporter of copyright and the protection of intellectual property; I want artists and distributors to make a decent living, but I’m frustrated by the current misuse of digital technology that attempts to thwart illegal distribution. In practice, DRM makes creates compatibility problems that make it excessively difficult, and in most cases, impossible, to listen to music that has been purchased online.

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La Fiesta is Great, Even For Bachelors

Posted on March 11, 2005 by Dave

I’m baching it tonight, so I fed the dog, grabbed a book, and headed off to my favorite Mexican restaurant.

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Madison River Communications Fined For Blocking VoIP Access

Posted on March 8, 2005 by Dave

Telecommunications provider, Madison River Communications, was chastised by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week and required to unblock network ports that were closed to prevent connections from customers using Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone connections.

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Ellicott Mills Brewing Company: Service is Great; Today’s Food is Mediocre

Posted on March 6, 2005 by Dave

My family and I lunched at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company (Ellicott City, Maryland), after church services, today. It’s always pleasant to go places with my family; we have a great time, no matter what we’re doing.

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Microsoft Requires Oral Activation of Windows

Posted on February 28, 2005 by Dave

Starting today, many users of new, unregistered copies of Microsoft Windows will have to make a phone call in order to activate the software’s license. In a move to curb piracy of its flagship operating system, Microsoft has disabled the Internet activation alternative, now requiring these users to orally confirm their use of the product.

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CompUSA, Columbia, Maryland Has Great Management

Posted on February 18, 2005 by Dave

I visited the CompUSA store in Columbia, Maryland, yesterday. The store must be under new management, because the staff was attentive, helpful, and quick to find answers to my specific questions.

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TooJays Needs New Management

Posted on February 12, 2005 by Dave

I took my family, including my mother and family friend, to lunch this afternoon at TooJays gourmet deli in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, this morning. We should have eaten at home.

Posted in food, service | 3 Comments

Jimmy’s Resaurant, Worth the Trip to Sussex County Airport

Posted on February 8, 2005 by Dave

Yesterday, I was flying with another pilot, Dan Booher. Dan and I are each working to increase our experience and pilot time, so we took turns being a safety pilot (a look out for other aircraft) while the other flew the aircraft using only instruments. We flew from Tipton Airport at Fort Meade, Maryland to Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport, and then we went on to Sussex County Airport in Georgetown, Delaware. We had planned on flying directly to Ocean City Municipal Airport; however, a 300′ ceiling was too low for a lunch flight (too bad, crab cakes at the beach seemed such a good idea after a weekend spent skiing).

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McHenry Bookstore is a Must Stop at Deep Creek Lake

Posted on February 7, 2005 by Dave

My family, along with my brother-in-law and a friend’s families, spent last weekend skiing at Wisp, next to Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. The house we rented had plenty of bedrooms, allowing the kids to have both sleeping privacy and more daytime playrooms then they could have imagined. We were staying right at the base of the mountain, just a five minute walk from the lifts…the only way to winter vacation!

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O’Donnell Honda Comes Through, Again

Posted on January 26, 2005 by Dave

I visited the service department at O’Donnell Honda in Ellicott City, again this week. I had a list of repairs (i.e. premature wear on the driver’s leather seat, a rattle in the heater motor). I was pleasantly surprised that all repairs, with one exception, were covered by my Honda 36,000 mile warranty.

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Double T Diner Needs to Focus on Service

Posted on January 21, 2005 by Dave

I treated my wife and our youngest daughter to dessert at the Double T Diner in Ellicott City, this evening. As expected, the desserts were fresh and sweet!

Before ordering, I asked the server what was inside the chocolate mouse (yes, a square block of chocolate with a chocolate mouse on top). He didn’t know about the dessert, and I had to guide him to the shelf and specific dessert tray … he said, “Mousse.” I said, Not the mousse,” which was a cake on the shelf immediately about the mouse, “the mouse,” I continued.

This conversation went back and forth a few times, but eventually, I settled on the fact that I wasn’t going to find out what was in the mouse, unless I ordered it…

Posted in food, service | 3 Comments

Wal-Mart Ellicott City & Columbia, Maryland: Great Customer Service

Posted on December 27, 2004 by Dave

This morning, my daughters and I searched high and low for the second season DVD collection of the television show Gilmore Girls. Santa left us the collection of first season episodes, and in only two days, we watched the entire set of six DVDs! Yes, the entire family is now addicted to the fast-paced, witty banter of Rory (Alexis Bledel) and her just-this-side of sanity mother, Lorelai (Lauren Graham). The season ended with both finding true love.

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Wingman to Lead: I’ve Got Your Six Covered

Posted on December 16, 2004 by Dave

The more I learn, the more I learn how little I really know. For example, what’s a wingman? I’ve always thought that it was a supporting fighter aircraft, the one that flies slightly behind and to the side of the lead aircraft. Can you picture the the scene from the movie Top Gun in which Maverick (Tom Cruise) is ordered to play wingman and, instead, hot dogs it off in chase of the bad guys, leaving his lead aircraft unprotected. Well, that’s no longer the only use of the term, wingman.

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iRobot and Roomba: A Company and Product to Emulate

Posted on December 13, 2004 by Dave

Last evening I dropped an e-mail message to the customer service department of iRobot, the manufacturers of the automatic household vacuum, Roomba. My rapid battery charger was malfunctioning and overheated my two replacement batteries.

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