Reading xkcd today, I came across a link to this guy’s blog called “VerizonMath“. A guy named George Vaccaro created this blog last Thursday after dealing with some rather inept Verizon Call Center employees.
The problem: they quoted him a rate 0.002 cents per kilobyte when in fact he was charged 0.002 dollars per kilobyte (which is indeed the actual rate Verizon charges). The hilarious thing is that the Verizon employees were utterly unable to comprehend this mistake despite George’s every effort to explain basic math to them.
Check out his blog for the developing story including multiple correspondences with Verizon and even a recording of a 27 minute phone conversation in which he tries to explain the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars. You must read or listen to the call to grasp the hilariousness of it all. It is fascinating how long they go on without realizing that anything is wrong.
First there was the Mars Orbiter, and now this. It just reinforces my conviction of the importance of teaching proper unit labeling and unit conversion in our school systems. I wish I could have used this as an example when teaching unit conversions to my Physics class last year!
Been listening to this one a lot, pretty much the whole way through.
This novel was published after the Chilean-Mexican author's death, and I'm not even sure if it was entirely finished or not. It is broken up into five parts which, while connected, stand pretty much on there own. I have not yet made it to the grim part about the murders of hundreds of women in Mexico, so I have so far found it enjoyable and even funny despite some dark underpinnings. It's had a ton of critical praise, and I like it much more than my last foray into the violent novel genre: Blood Meridian.