RSS Readers and Cable TV Nonsense Rant

The Old Reader makes me log in every time I want to check it, doesn't store my name/email/blogname for wordpress sites, and seems to dredge up multiple posts from blogs that aren't active. 

Feedly lists all posts from all blogs individually so there seem to be 100s if I miss a day of visiting, and their icons are odd.  Why a "check mark" should mean "its been read" is beyond me.  Why not just have the button say "mark as read"?

Too many apps try to be too hip/cute/clever.  We dont need that.  We need simple functionality.

I don't really like either site.  I am desperately hoping that some site will simply host Google Reader (with any name they like) so I can get back to visiting our friends easily an understand what I am seeing on the reader site.

It reminds me of the time I was on vacation and visited a restaurant that only had 2 different flowers identifying men an women bathrooms.  I had to wait until a lady opened one door and asked inside "Is this the right room"?  Then I used the other.  Men/Women is functional, Buoys/Gulls is cute at a marina, 2 flowers is just stupid.

My TV is gonna go whacko in a few days.  The Verizon FiOS folks just told me about an "improvement".   Instead of the TV just coming on to the last channel watched, I will have a "helpful" screen full of choices.  Like the temperature/weather outside at the time, advertisements of services I already know about from weekly junk mail I dont want and "channels" in the onscreen TV Guide that offer pay-to-view movies, and a description of the channel I last watched. 

Gee, I can guess the current weather by looking out the window and I have a thermometer.  I know all the services they offer.  I find the idea that I need to be told the basic concept of the last channel I watched rather insulting.  Who dreams up these ideas?

They brag that I can see the last channel I watched by just clicking "exit" on the remote.  But I had that before without having to do the extra click.  Some "improvement"...

I suspect that most businesses have a department dedicated to "what can we think of to change today to justify our existence".  The only real change I want from my cable TV service is a la carte channel subscription.  I want my cable service to divide up the exact current monthly bill by channel and let me choose the ones I will pay for.  I'd even let them add 10%.  I really only watch 12 channels.

The current system is ridiculous.  It's as if you bought a blanket at Walmart and it was bundled with a blender, a bag of potting soil, 6 mismatched spoons, a kids shirt, and 2 videotapes from the clearance rack!

End of rant...