Chase

Chase started the robocalls again. I guess the request to stop calling me didn't register loudly enough.

Sadly, as long as I have an existing account with them, the FTC won't consider it an unsolicited call. And as long as there isn't a closer branch in my neighborhood, the convenience outweighs the nuisance of answering a robocall.

I just wish they weren't so creepy when you call them back.

Line of Credit

Every time I think Navy Federal has nothing to offer me, I find another way that they can make my life better. I just opened a $2500 line of credit with them (unsecured at 14.9%). I don't intend to use it, but it should make my types of credit accounts improve, since I control my borrowing rather tightly. Another interesting product Navy Federal offers is a credit line secured by CD's (share certificates). Interest rate is the CD apr +2%, since it is secured, and the term can be up to 5 years. If you need to borrow your own money (short term need to access the money you have locked up in a certificate), this is a startlingly clear way to do it. If they had a branch closer than Waukegan, that would be better still.

Some day in the distant future, I may even borrow money for a car. I don't really want to, so that day will have to be in the distant future.

I would gladly have opened this at whatever usurious rates Chase suggested if they would only offer. Sadly, they do not.

(side note, why does spell check think of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Pewaukee, but not know about Waukegan?)

extensions

I'm a little sad that the google docs uploader uses file extensions to identify content. That's very DOS of them, and a little uncool. So do I need to save all my sources as .txt if I want to preserve them... maybe I should uuencode them and make it a .uu.txt, nothing like ascii armor to make the eyes hurt...

Collections

I told Chase Brother Grant doesn't live here. They were a little standoffish. I hope to hear the phone a little less.

Mind Blowing

Knuth Arrow Notation

Well, why didn't I see that before... I understood the addition, multiplication, exponentiation analogy... shouldn't have been hard to consider tetration.

However, Pentation (triple arrows) scares me to no end... what a model of growth. What physical analogue can there be to a process like that?

Canada and Content

What do the canadian copyright holders groups have against the people of canada? Netflix won't work. Pandora won't work. Last.fm (free in the US) gives you a thirty track trial.

What else doesn't work in Canada? At least I can see the internet turning a bored and cold shoulder to me from here. I wonder what an internet cafe in Riyadh is like?

Pandora

Dear Pandora Visitor,

We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

We believe that you are in Canada (your IP address appears to be 70.76.0.251). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at pandora-support@pandora.com

If you are a paid subscriber, please contact us at pandora-support@pandora.com and we will issue a pro-rated refund to the credit card you used to sign up. If you have been using Pandora, we will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you.

We will be notifying listeners as licensing agreements are established in individual countries. If you would like to be notified by email when Pandora is available in your country, please enter your email address below. The pace of global licensing is hard to predict, but we have the ultimate goal of being able to offer our service everywhere.

We share your disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding.