T-Mobile raising SMS rates: cancel your contract without paying the fees

Following in the footsteps of Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and Cingular/AT&T, T-Mobile is raising their SMS rates from 10 cents to 15 cents on June 1, 2007. You know what that means? It means, if you’re in a contract and want to leave T-Mobile, you should be able to do so without paying the early termination fees (ETF). The reason is because their contract allows you to cancel your contract without penalty if they increase the pricing of their services (I suspect, this is why they don’t increase your monthly rate plan when they increase it for new subscribers).  However, your mileage may vary depending on the customer support rep you get.

I have to admit, I’m a bit skeptical but people have reported that they have been successful in doing this – like The Boy Genius Report.

I have another year on my contract and have been very happy with T-Mobile but they won’t be carrying the iPhone…hmm, should I try to get out of my contract? If I successfully pull this off, I’ll definitely blog about it.

[via Engadget Mobile and CrunchGear]

Top 10 underrated Web 2.0 sites

If you’re looking for some more Web 2.0 sites, check out this list on tagoon. You may have heard or used some of the sites:

1. Reddit.com
2. Linkfilter.net
3. Shoutwire.com
4. Flurl.com
5. Ma.gnolia.com
6. Blinkbits.com
7. Simpy.com
8. StumbleUpon.com
9. Blogmemes.com
10. Squidoo.com

Of this list, I’ve used or am using Reddit.com, Ma.gnolia.com, and StumbleUpon.com. I’ll have to check out the others when I have more free time. Until then, enjoy!

Death threats against bloggers

I just read something that has really bummed me out: a blogger and author named Kathy Sierra started receiving death threats 4 weeks ago. Trolls and negative comments and/or emails are one thing but death threats are another. To top it off, the person(s) even posted a photoshopped picture of her with a noose next to her head…yeah, I agree with Kathy, that crosses a line.

After reading her post, it, unfortunately, shows how many assholes (for lack of a better word) are out there. It also shows how some people feel like they can say/write anything since they feel anonymous when posting comments, discussion forum posts, etc. because they can hide behind a handle/nickname. This shows how ugly mankind can really be and I hope this type of activity doesn’t flourish in the blogosphere.

I can only wish Kathy the best and that some form of justice will be given to the person(s) behind the death threats.