I am happily ensconced this morning at that beautiful Villa Pinciana not far from the Roman steps in Roma, Italy. Besides the beauty of this location and this hotel, one other thing is likely to stand out for American travelers not just at this but virtually all hotels in this country: free wifi. As many of you know, I have long complained about the practice of high-end hotels charging ridiculous fees for wifi while cheaper hotels (and countless coffee shops, restaurants, and other establishments) offer it for free.(Here and here and here) It is an open gouging of business travelers but these hotels which are charging hundreds of a night only to demand that guests pay them for something free on the street. Now there is a small victory against the corporate greed of high-end hotels. Marriott has agreed to pay a $600,000 fine after the Federal Communications Commission found the company blocked consumer Wi-Fi networks last year during an event at a hotel and conference center in Nashville. Of course, nothing changes in Marriott ripping off guests for wifi generally, but they stand to do the electronic version of poisoning wells to force travelers to drink at their well.
It turns out that Marriott was charging exhibitors and others as much as $1,000 per device to access the hotel’s wireless network while blocking their Wi-Fi access. The way Marriott sabotaged its own guests was by using “containment features of a Wi-Fi monitoring system” at the hotel to prevent people from accessing their own personal Wi-Fi networks. The hotel was forced to agree to stop the practice at all of its properties, not just the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. I would love to know who busted the hotel. In March 2013, someone sent the FCC a complaint that the hotel was “jamming mobile hot spots so that you can’t use them in the convention space.”
Marriott however agreed to the settlement but still insists that it was acting entirely appropriately: “Marriott has a strong interest in ensuring that when our guests use our Wi-Fi service, they will be protected from rogue wireless hot spots that can cause degraded service, insidious cyber-attacks and identity theft.” Wow, forcing people to pay $1,000 a device was Marriott way of protecting people from unscrupulous actors.
Here is the FCC press release.
What continues to amaze me is that high-end American hotels continue to rip off travelers when most of the market offer free wi-fi as a basic feature for guests. It turns out that Marriott is only “Your home away from home” if you come from an incredibly abusive and usurious family.
Source: CNN
Karen, you missed some of it, but some of it you were here for and you remained silent. It’s hypocritical to complain of harassment and bullying when you enable those who do it. Elaine and other females here were/are targeted by someone you are associated with. When one lays with dogs, one gets up with fleas, an old truism.
Annie – Elaine was neither harassed or bullied. She did get called on some overstatements and multiple linkings. If we use your saying, the company you keep leaves a lot to be desired.
I don’t recall Elaine being abused, or having her spouse or marriage mocked. I’ve only been on the blog a few months, though.
I know I’ve vigorously disagreed with her before on certain topics like the public education system, but debate is not abuse. We just have different opinions in some areas.
Nick – Sorry to hear about Cigar. Most horses who make it to old age die in their twenties. But I have known one that lived into his forties. And there are a few hale specimens still competing in their twenties, with owners who take great care of them. I recall a mare who was still like riding a freight train at 26.
My TB is 29, and he still likes to show off for his young mare pasture buddy.
Nick…oh, no, so sorry. Cigar was one of a kind, a horse for the ages that proved my theory that the best horses don’t blossom until they near 5 years of age. He won the Breeder’s Cup Classic at 5. Actually, most of us in the hunter-jumper world or reined cow-horse/cutting horse world have know that all along.
RIP Cigar…the better half Judi got to see you and touch your nose a couple years ago on her way through Lexington. I wish I’d had that chance.
Paul … those that do it on gravel easily part is usually for dogs who have been raised in kennels with a pea pebble runway. That is not allowed where I live.
The “runway” (as the city saw it) between my back fence (along an alley) and the yard fence (30 inches apart) is to keep idiots from getting chewed by my otherwise lovely critters. Had to have a special session with the city planners to convince them of that purpose and not a “dog run.”
My experience is patience will out…dog has to go he/she will eventually, even on cement. Just amuses me at how spoiled mine are from time to time…expecting privacy and all that. 🙂 First night in Madison with “Ari” I think we didn’t get ‘er done until after midnight….and on grass. Yes, I carry specially designed poop scooper bags, one time use jobs, that pick and close by wire slides.
Karen, The GREAT race horse, Cigar, died yesterday @ age 24. He had surgery for osteoarthritis a couple days prior. Won 16 races in a row in his prime, which is a record. I made a few bucks on that great horse. I’m guessing 24 ain’t bad for a thoroughbred?
Man, now I am about as far off topic as anyone else…I am sorry for that. Hotel accommodations and their sundry rules and abuses is a worthwhile subject, and for the most part, by-passing the blather, I’ve learned some things on this thread. So thanks for that.
stepheng2010 … dang! Was this place once like LGF with crazy people with no identity, beyond a nick threatening people? Let’s hope it doesn’t return to that if it ever was…although I admit I found LGF amusing at the end of my time there. It was also pointless and useless as a medium to talk to others about anything other than social crap. Among the LGF thing-ga-ma-bobs was the periodic references to karate by users who suggested they would hurt others….big f’ing whoop, I have a black belt in Taekwondo (40 years ago) but today I prefer the pink belt in Smith & Wesson. Man I hope this place never goes there….
Karen, what is even more disconcerting is when known commenters act in a harrassing, bullying or unstable manner. One commenter who was mercilessly harassed and bullied here was Elaine M. It was and remains shameful. I often wondered why more decent people such as yourself didn’t call out the abuser of Elaine for his behavior.
Annie – abuse is in the eye of the beholder. Elaine claimed to be abused, but no one got in trouble anymore than she did.
Karen S … we have a very good no-kill animal shelter that is directly connected to the police department. I am a monthly supporter at $35 per month and an occasional voluntary thing of one kind or another. When they asked that I go “capture” the itinerant pit bull female I had no choice…be a punk or just say okay. 🙂
In occasional trials, I had to stop laughing before I could help a judge who was erroneously targeted by a rampaging dog. Most of the USCA and SV judges have been “Helpers” (aka agitators in padded gear) at some time in their careers, and know how to dodge a confused dog …. yet they must hope the handler gets control fairly quickly. Failure to do so is elimination from the trial.
Hannelori ….Although I seldom, almost never, use a different Identify on line (exceptions were when I was a DOD whistle-blower and preferred to not lose my job in the effort … used different ISP, different computer DSN, etc.) so I fail to get it why others do so. What? Just to hide or be cute? Oh, please….just please.
It is just too easy…BTW, “jasig namja” was me, same ISP as “Aridog” and same DSN. Too easy…but any admin could figure it out in about 6 seconds. I asked Darren to delete that pair of remarks because they were off topic and silly…plus if you can read the phonetic transliteration, they are a curse type name…which I moderated from the real nickname I had when living in the far east…a truly nasty nick…and I loved it. Those who knew me then knew I had no ego to accommodate.
My nick and avatar are well known and doesn’t change from blog to blog site, let alone to DOD offices. I am not ashamed to defend what I say. I notice that many do not have a “profile” with personal information, if any at all. I guess I understand that. That’s their business, but I am not worried about revealing who I am….that’d be Richard Thompson at the email for “Aridog” in my profile [aridog@comcast.net] and if you just must bother me, try 313-720-3284….even then if you are sane I’ll be delighted to talk.
I have this flaw…I fear no one. I’m probably not the guy sane people would want to threaten anyway, except one fool long ago at LGF….whose mouth ran hot, but he never showed up when I offered to pay his ticket to Detroit. You want to talk privately, go ahead, email or phone. I’m fairly easy to talk to…but if you suggest you will stab me with a big knife, like the dude at LGF, we might have some disagreement.
I have no problem with anonymous user identities, or having multiple identities.
The salient point is “to abuse the system to act in a harassing, bullying, or unstable manner.”
I suppose this is the unpleasant side for anyone running a forum or blog on the internet.
Okay, I did go back and find the January discussion following the Campos-Leiter post; I see I was correct in my assumption as to the identity of the pseudonymous “sockpuppeteer.”
If anyone spends any time on various public forums and blogs, there are always those who have several identities, some of whom you might never suspect. It’s naive to think otherwise. Welcome to the interwebs, babes in the woods.
Having access to identifying information of anonymous posters means that, if they feel it is necessary, administrators can directly and privately address anyone using multiple aliases to abuse the system to act in a harassing, bullying, or unstable manner. Or they can just track the behavior.
You can claim to be a different person, but the moderators know. How shameful and embarrassing.
Aridog – that’s hilarious about the judge and the pittie. Too bad more Animal Control officers aren’t like that.
@Teddy Ruxpin,
Would you by any chance be referring to the moniker Pushkin employed by University of Chicago Law Professor Brian Leiter while posting pseudonymous comments on the ABA Journal while concurrently railing about the evils of “pseudonymous blog commenters” in attributed posts on his blogs?
Your use of the neologism “sockpuppet” combined with your apparent fear of coming right out and saying the name “Brian Leiter” sounds all too familiar.
BTW, Leiter – who sometimes dashes off irate and threatening emails to folks claiming to be “a lawyer”, as it turns out, isn’t one. That is, he is not admitted to the practice of law in any jurisdiction and is therefore ineligible to use the title “lawyer”.
(I am not going to plow through an entire month worth of archives.)
Bailers or anyone else who might know….is there a tablet out their than can handle “Fastone Image Viewer 4.8” which works very well on Windows XP Pro+ as well as Windows 7 Pro?
Ideally it seamlessly connects to Adobe Photo Shop, and sundry Kodak Plug-ins, when necessary, but for road trips the “Fastone” segment is enough…you can do the Photo-Shop/Kodak stuff later, on a PC, if necessary…but Fastone will do about 80+% of what editing is necessary (once you learn its simple protocols) . Fastone is essentially “free ware” but asks for donations…I usually leave $35 for that part…it really is worth it given the donation is only once.
Try http://www.faststone.org learn a bit and be surprised and happy. Not quite Kodak “Digital Sho” or “Digital Gem” but close enough for rough work…enough for 90% of the folks I know. But Fastone will let you transfer work to Photo-shop and the Kodak plug-ins…if you chose. Most of the time you won’t need to do so.
Bailers….I admit I never tried to see if The Drake or Swissotel were dog friendly…especially for big dogs like ours. Mainly because I couldn’t see any “walk-about space” around them, and there is zero such space at the Swissotel … not even one blade of grass. Maybe next time around I will have a dog trained as a service dog who can do “his/her business” on a pad that is disposable. At my age, heck, it’s appropriate anyway 🙂
**[Y’all might think I ‘m kidding, but I am not kidding…my next dog will be a trained and certified service dog of some kind…mainly for use in the locale I live in…aka Detroit. I carry a gun, but I’d much prefer a well trained service dog also with a Shutzhund III title (aka IPO III title)….even a WPO/DPO title…then the gun is a mere accessory. I really do want to NOT even carry a gun, but for now, it is what it is….]**
Footnote #1: I have yet to own a German Shepherd who did not attempt concealment when doing their #2 business in the yard…behind a tree, a big dog house, or whatever. First trip with my Avatar dog (“Ari”) it took nearly a half hour to convince him he could do his #2 business while on a leash and full view of the entire world. That was in Madison WI at a Super Eight with plenty of grassy areas to walk your dogs. Big lug was freaked out….:-)
Footnote #2: That “news” put out by the SS and White House about why they could not release the trained police dogs they had on hand, when the guy hopped the fence, is blarney, of the most fetid kind. The truth is, and I’ve had considerable experience with it is that the dog will go to the target person indicated by the handler, period…otherwise how does anyone think a judge and his recorder, who are near the “agitator” don’t get chewed up in a protection trial? I will admit when very rarely a dog gets confused it is hilarious to watch a judge attempt to dodge on on-coming German Shepherd or Malinois at 30+ mph…a good judge will have experience will know how to turn at the last minute and avoid the dog & the bite (quickly after the dog launches from the ground in front of you …maybe 500 milliseconds)…and then hope like heck the handler gets control again. I did once see a judge run up in to the stands by a dog who got confused.
When dealing with big dogs who exhibit aggression you must, repeat, must, keep your cool. I’ve been scared witless at times but somehow managed to suppress the expression of it. I’ve mentioned before the first time the local shelter folks asked me to go capture an adult pit bull female (about 70 lbs) and then wait for them to arrive….holy crap, you kidding right…nope, they were serious…and me never wanting to admit fear, said okay. That dog nearly licked and kissed me to death. Quell’ Surprise! Best part, is we found her owner in the neighborhood…we have that kind of Animal Control people here, those who will try to not take a dog in to the shelter….but find their home as a first recourse.
Aridog – dogs will do it on gravel. 🙂
There was a situation this past winter in which a regular commenter here had a sockpuppet, was outed by a weekend blogger, and a huge controversy ensued. Anyone remember who that commenter with the sockpuppet was this past winter? I do. For those of you who weren’t here then, I suggest researching the archives around January.
Karen S said …
I believe the moderators have access to identifying information on posters.
Normally they website moderators do have that identifying information, at least vis a vis the ISP that comments come from. I have a good friend in Israel who uses WordPress and she has a feature in the side bar that clocks users in by city & country of their openning up on the site…fact is it has been amusing when I’ve been on the road, telling me where the traffic is routed for me.
One trip in the high Rocky Mountains the “location” bounced around from three different states (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado …the most bounced from CO) when I was in places like high up in Yellowstone or up near the Crazies (mountains) in Montana….I even got connections from the top of Mt Washburn in Yellowstone…mainly because it’s high enough to reach out to Colorado. Go figure. Up in the Gallatin range in the Mill Creek gorge area near Pray, MT, I can also bounce out to Colorado….when you’d think something like Bozeman would be closer. Go figure, again. Haven’t been to Colorado in many years, but I’d be curious where the first signal location would be from atop one of the 14’rs in the Collegiate Range near Buena Vista…a high spot in my youthful life. Mt Princeton would be a good place to check this…fairly easy climb for a 14’r and you can drive or ride horseback to within a few thousand feet of the top…with a nice big meadow to park or graze your critter.