Friday, March 22, 2002

I've finally made some significant progress in my quest to use my stock options. After a great deal of bureaucratic hassle, including fillout out forms and sending them via snail mail, I finally got an e-trade OptionsLink account set up. The process was very confusing and required a call to their help line (and a very rude support person) because the necessary user ID and password had not been sent. I think it's safe to say that once I finally do get my options disposed of, I will never have anything to do with e-trade again. The hassle has been so extreme that if Symantec said to me, "we'll pay you $1000 to give up your options," I would probably take it. I wonder if they make it this hard deliberately. After all, it must cost the company something when people use their options, so if they can discourage people from using them by making it too much of a pain, they save money. comment () trackback ()  1:01:39 PM     AT&T Will Offer i-mode-style Product. Launch expected in April, exec says [allNetDevices Wireless News] The article explains that the service, to be called "m-mode," will be based on i-mode technology but won't have all the features. Hopefully it will have enough to be worth the money. comment () trackback ()  9:47:11 AM     Poor Nations Warn Rich on Terror. Leaders of poor nations warned their rich counterparts that if they want a world free of terrorism, they will need to pay for it. Drawing a direct link between poverty and violence, leaders at a U.N. summit said increased aid to the world's neediest is more urgent than ever in the post-Sept. 11 world. [AP World News] Or in other words, "give us money or we'll send lunatics to blow up your cities." If the US government was really serious about fighting terrorism, they'd declare the UN a pro-terrorist organization and kick it out of the country. comment () trackback ()  9:44:25 AM

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