Rant: FIOS vs. Cablevision roles reversed?

Back in January 2007 I was very anxious for FIOS to be available in my apartment complex. I've had it with horrible Cablevision customer service, their DVR box that kept missing recordings, TV service interruptions and other problems. When I finally was hooked up to Verizon it was like a dream come true. Friendly customer support representatives, ton of new channels, and great HD quality, super fast internet speeds, great router too! Sure I had few issues with billing (extra charges), but all it took one or two quick calls to get credit. Even despite of their POP3 mail issues I was one happy customer :) Unfortunately at the end of last year I had to move. And area where I live now doesn't have FIOS, so I had no choice but to switch back to Cablevision. It was difficult in the beginning, but I was really surprised by how much Cablevison's support has improved. Eventually I bought a Tivo HD box instead of Explorer DVRs, and while using Cablecards
wasn't without a problems, I had a tech visiting my home on the next, and sometimes on the same day after I called. One the phone experience was great too. Not all the stuff was knowledgeable enough, but they really tried to help. Maybe it's because of the rating system they have at the end of each call...
Meanwhile I was still wanted FIOS. Basically I'm spending few minutes every day on Verizon's site, checking my address availability. But I keep on receiving these "Final" bills from them. I got 3 so far. Each one has different amount, even tho I payed for everything 2 months ago. Last one stated that I didn't return Router so they charged me $114 for it (with taxes and some fees). They even threaten me with collection agency! I was really pissed, because one week after disconnecting service in November I spent 2 hours driving to their location in Whiteplains and personally returned DVR, Router, all the cables, manuals and everything I had... And few weeks before that when I was on the phone with Verizon cust. rep, she told me that I don't even have to return the router! I only returned it because I couldn't use it with Cablevision anyway. Obviously I called Verizon right away (it was after 6 pm)... Their automatic system is absolutely horrible. How
do you explain to it that I my old phone number tied to the disconnected account has changed? After about 10 minutes of trying to get to the live person, I finally got a message that "our offices are closed".
I called the next day during business hours. It was like talking to a robot. They couldn't comprehend the simple fact that I was charged for a router which I returned on time. They kept repeating to me my statement balance and that I have to pay it or else... After about 3rd call, I finally got thru to someone who had half a brain. I kept on being transfered from one department to another, until I finally got the same person I talked to initially. That's not funny people :) Anyway I finally got someone to fill out a form to refund the charges and they even promised me not to report me to collection agency. I can only hope they really did it...
This experience made me think... How did evil company like Cablevision became so customer oriented, while super friendly Verizon's support turned into a nightmare? They are facing some serious competition from other cable companies, and yet they treat their customers like dirt... Not a good move... Now I'm not sure anymore if I want to switch to FIOS, or just get Boost from CV. And I'm hearing they now require 2 year contract? Verizon is better get their act together, or they won't have any of my business.

Golden CPU, it's all about G0 Stepping

If you (like me) love to build computers, you might have already heard about G0 stepping revision of Intel's Quad Core Q6600 processor. When I found out about G0, a.k.a. Golden CPU, a.k.a. SLACR I did some research online, and couldn't contain my excitement. I had to tell all my friends about it. To my surprise none of them heard about this CPU, even tho it had been available since before August 2007! To my shame, I didn't know about it either. So what exactly is G0?
Each Intel's CPU has a model number (i.e. Q6600 or E6000) and a revision or stepping. Intel originally released it's first affordable Quad Core proc Q6600 in January 2007. This processor was a B3 stepping model. Q6600 has four cores on it, runs at 2.4Ghz and essentially it's two E6600 procs in single package. Every once in a while Intel takes existing CPU and revises it. Usually it's done to fix some issues, lower manufacturing costs, or add a feature. Think of it as a service pack for Windows. But this time, improvements done in G0 stepping revision were so great, that it allowed Q6600 chip run at lower voltage, consume less power, and thus it became extremely stable and easy for overlocking. Without much effort you can overclock 2.4Ghz CPU to 3Ghz, and you don't even need 3rd party cooling solution. Many reported that this proc will run under 50 C under heavies of loads using stock cooler that comes with it. But that's not all (now I fill like I'm doing one of those stupid TV commercials: "If you call in the next 10 seconds, you will receive second piece of crap absolutely three" hehe ) , Q6600 G0 stepping costs same as older B3 stepping part, and can be found for under $270 online. Trick is that sometimes you don't know which revision you are getting. Some sites explicitly advertise that they only sell G0 stepping, but sometimes they also charge few extra bucks for that. I think that chances of getting B3 stepping proc now are very slim, most retailers don't have any older B3 parts in stock, since Intel only produces G0 since it was released back in August.
If you are buying in real store, look at Box, last 5 letters of the product code should say SLACR

If you already own original B3 stepping Q6600 processor, I don't think it makes sense to upgrade to G0 stepping, but if you are in the market of upgrading older single or dual core CPU, I highly recommend you to get Q6600, but make sure you are getting G0 stepping. If you are good at overclocking and/or plan to use water or phase changing cooling solution, you can easily push this proc to 4 Ghz. Just make sure you know what you are doing, because overcloking potentially CAN fry your processor, and definately voids warranty. I personally think it's safe to overclock as long as you doing it carefully, but I will not be responsible for any miss haps you might have. Hope I didn't scare you too much;)
Happy New Year, and good luck with your upgrades!