Umicon 2014 Photos

Photos from Friday, 2014-09-05 at Umicon Daytona 2014, an anime convention that ended on 2014-09-07, have been posted by me on Facebook. I set the album to “public” so anyone who has a Facebook account can see the photos, regardless of being friends with me.

[Update 2014-09-10: Saturday, 2014-09-06 and Sunday, 2014-09-07 photos have been posted.]

[Update 2014-09-26: I finally posted some of the photos on Thripp.com from each year: Umicon 2012, Umicon 2013, Umicon 2014.]

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Please see more photos here and look for more photos from Saturday, 2014-09-06 and Sunday, 2014-09-07 over the next few days. [Update 2014-09-10: Saturday, 2014-09-06 and Sunday, 2014-09-07 photos have been posted.]

Here is the description of the album for Friday, 2014-09-05:

Title: 2014-09-05 Umicon Daytona, Day 1 of 3 (Friday)

568 photos from the 1st day of the 3rd year of Umicon Daytona on Friday, Sep. 5, 2014 at the Plaza Resort & Spa at 600 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach, FL!

Please tag your friends. 🙂

Album privacy: Public

Photos were taken from 12:55:40 to 11:42:16 PM EDT on 2014-09-05.

Subtract 04:00:00 from timestamps to find local time, which was Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00).

AT&T’s Landline Billing Practices

[This post is in reference to AT&T’s pricing in the Central Florida region.]

On our AT&T landline bill for 8/13/2014 – 9/12/2014, they prorated the “Federal Subscriber Line Charge” and “Federal Universal Service Fee” to a higher rate for 7/1 – 8/12—$7.28 instead of $6.78 and $1.14 instead of $1.12.

I am looking back at bills from 2013 and 2012 and they did this in those years too, but the fees increased by 22¢ and 26¢ instead of 52¢ this year. Also, the “Residential Line” rate is $24.00 now, was $21.00 in Aug. 2013, $18.00 in Aug. 2012, and $16.00 in May 2012.

People are getting rid of / have gotten rid of landlines in droves, and now the pricing is less regulated so AT&T’s solution is to jack up the rates much faster than inflation. They have to pay for maintaining a network with fewer and fewer customers, after all.

It is ironic that our bill for local phone service without long-distance, call waiting, caller ID, or any other features is now more than my cell phone with unlimited nationwide calling, call waiting, text messaging, and data—about $37 vs. $35 per month (MetroPCS at $70 for two lines on a family plan—it would be $40 for one line). We only keep the landline for family and so my step-mom can call her friend in Canada, and that is by dialing my local Google Voice number first and using it to dial out for free calls to Canada and free domestic long-distance (yes, local numbers in the Daytona Beach area on Google Voice are long gone, but they weren’t when I signed up in 2007—also, the service was called GrandCentral then and Google had not yet acquired it).

While the “federal” subscribe line charge (which actually goes straight to AT&T) is merely at the maximum rate allowed by law—if the FCC says they can double or triple next year, they will invariably do that—the base rate has also increased by 50% between May 2012 and Aug. 2014—from $16.00 to $24.00 per month. This is to use a network that already exists and hasn’t had major changes in decades.

In Central Florida, we are actually seeing the same practices with cable Internet with Bright House Networks as well. The base rate is now over $50.00 per month for 10 Mbps compared to $5 to $10 less a couple years ago, and a $3.50 modem rental fee now applies—but this “rental” was provided for free not long ago, and for $2.00 even more recently than that. The fee is closer to $4.00 since it has taxes and fees stacked on top. I have managed to pay less by buying a used modem for about $20, and by disconnecting and reconnecting as a new customer every six months or year with a new promotional offer—a ridiculous practice that involves them sending someone out to physically cut the cable at the pole and me relying on my phone and free Wi-Fi for up to a week while waiting for new service to be connected.

It is amazing in a period of such great technological innovation and upheaval that the pricing for basic services continues to increase while quality stays flat or declines, and is arguably an example of the declining standard of living in the United States. Based on observing ongoing trends, I believe we will only see more of this in the future.

Establishing Positive Self-Talk

Some ideas I wrote today for the 2014-08-06 meeting of the Toastmasters club of Port Orange, FL tonight:

Establishing Positive Self-Talk

Self-talk is the ongoing stream of private thoughts that run through your mind. The self-talk of many people focuses on anxieties, imperfections, shortcomings, and “what if” questions. However, just because pessimistic self-talk is common does not mean it is healthy or beneficial. If we make an effort to change our self-talk to be more positive, optimistic, forgiving, and encouraging, we will have more success and happiness in life.

Here are three examples of negative self-talk and positive replacements:
• “I’ve never done it before.” – “It’s an opportunity to learn something new.”
• “It’s too complicated.” – “I’ll tackle it from a different angle
or “I’ll chip away at it over time.”
• “I could never be as good as so-and-so.” – “So-and-so inspires and motivates me.”

One way to improve your self-talk is to make a conscious effort to replace negative thinking with positive thinking. Don’t beat yourself up for not being perfect. Celebrate your hard work rather than dwelling on times when you were lazy or needed rest. Think more about your accomplishments and less about your mistakes.

We tend to be hold ourselves to a higher, harsher standard than acquaintances and even close friends and family. However, doing so is often counterproductive because it prevents us from taking risks and causes us to sell ourselves short. Instead, try being as uplifting and supportive to yourself as you are to your best friend.

[ Quotes copied or adapted from a Mayo Clinic article ]

Inspirational thought on priorities

For the 2014-07-23 meeting of the Toastmasters club of Port Orange, FL, I will give the inspirational thought and the theme of the meeting is “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” Here is what I came up with:

Fellow Toastmasters and guests, for tonight’s inspirational thought I will share two quotes and my thoughts.

Quote from Robert Heinlein, science fiction author (1907 – 1988):

“In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.”

Quote from Tony Robbins:

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”

My thoughts:

In the theme of not “sweating the small stuff,” it is important to regularly take a good hard look at your daily routine. Ask yourself—are your actions bringing you closer to who you want to be, or are they of no long-term consequence? Do you spend too much time reading the news? Do you spend too much time responding to mundane emails, texts, and Facebook posts? Do you spend too much time organizing things that really don’t need to be organized? Do you spend too much time helping friends, family, and strangers, while neglecting your own goals and projects? Practice saying “NO!” more often, and reclaim this time to pursue your true creative desires. Then, you might find yourself gaining confidence, respect, and momentum.

Toastmasters table topics for “Singing in the Rain” theme

For the 2014-07-16 meeting of the Toastmasters club of Port Orange, FL, I was the table topics master and the theme was “Singing in the Rain.” Here is the introduction and topics I came up with:

The purpose of table topics is to help improve members’ extemporaneous speaking skills by giving them an opportunity to practice impromptu speaking on topics they do not have advance knowledge of.

1. Talk about a hurricane, snowstorm, or other bad weather that affected you. What was it like to go without electricity for several days? Did you have a lot of cleanup work to do after the storm?

2. Talk about a time when you’ve had a party or beach day rained out, OR talk about a day when you were worried it would rain but the storm passed over.

3. Have you ever kissed someone in the rain? Share your thoughts on how bad weather can be romantic.

4. Discuss how trying to use an umbrella can actually be counterproductive, especially over short distances where you have to extend and collapse the umbrella in the rain to avoid getting water in your car.

5. Have you or a friend or family member had any close calls with lightning? Share some tips to stay safe in a thunderstorm.

6. Do you sing in the shower? Why or why not?

7. Share some tips for hurricane preparedness or disaster preparedness in general. Feel free to include tips about cutting down dangerous tree branches and securing doors and windows.