Aviously

Because, aviously…

StubHub Customer Service

@iAmAviG

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October 18, 2017

I have the StubHub app on my Android phone and use it regularly to list tickets and change prices on them.

As your listing is set to expire, the app will send you notifications reminding you to keep an eye on them. I sell the tickets, sometimes via TicketExchange

If I sell the tickets via some other method, such as TicketExchange or to a friend, I delete the listing entirely (as opposed to if I am uncertain and I just “deactivate” it).

When I delete it, it’s completely gone from my account, and I should no longer get any notifications from it.

But back in mid-July, I started to get tens of notifications that my listing was set to expire…even when I had deleted the event weeks earlier. And I wouldn’t just get one or two notifications…I would get 10-20 in one shot, and when I would clear them out, they would show up again shortly after.

I reached out to StubHub at the time via Twitter, and they replied that they were looking into it.

Later that week they released an update, which seemed to fix the issue…until mid-August. And suddenly those tens of notifications were back again, and I reached out again to their social media team.

And then one Sunday night I got a call from StubHub. They called to apologize, saying that they thought the issue was resolved, and they were seeing that certain devices still had the bug.
The next night, I got another phone call, with more apologies, and the promise that they were working on it.

In their defense, the issue seemed to clear up shortly after that second phone call, but more importantly, I was extremely surprised and pleased with the way their Customer Support team handled the situation.

I didn’t ask for a phone call…and while I was annoyed by the notifications, my Tweets were along the lines of “just fix this”…so the fact that they took initiative and reached out gives their support teams a huge thumbs up.

Paying For Your News

@iAmAviG

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October 17, 2017

Would you pay for your news? What about insights from the top reporters? Would it change if it was business news or sports?

The Athletic is taking that approach, starting a subscription service, writing about the NHL/NFL/NBA/MLB and NCAA, with the intent to make you “Fall in love with the sports page again”.

Their focuses have been also been on regional markets (although not yet NYC), including the Bay Area, Chicago, and Toronto.

While other sites are going towards videos and less written content, such as MTV and Fox Sports, The Athletic is all about the written word.

Personally, I love the idea. I don’t want to worry about having headphones at all time, and while not having an Unlimited Data plan I don’t want to have to always be waiting for videos to load.

And they haven’t wasted any money while trying to get the top writers and voices in the world to talk about their fortes.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun talking hockey, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal on baseball, and Stewart Mandel and Seth Davis covering college sports.

Pricing isn’t overly expensive if they can keep the writing levels up, at $8/month or as low as $48/year.

I would definitely be interested if they come to the New York area, covering the teams I follow and would be even more interested if their app would allow downloaded articles, for quick recall on my phone.

Dear BDB and the MTA

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October 16, 2017

Dear NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio,

This idea of charging some New Yorkers more money on taxes in exchange for the low income getting half-priced fares is just unfair.

We are all stuck in this over-congested city, suffering from the same terrible subway service, and it just isn’t fair that some people should pay less for the “right” to ride those homeless infused germ boxes.

If there’s going to be a new or raised tax to help fund the MTA, then all New Yorkers should benefit from it.

Instead of yearly fare increases, halt them for a few years…or if you insist on a discount, then lower the prices by 25-50 cents. This would result in more people using the subway, bringing in more money for the failing-MTA.

You may have been our Mayor for four years, and you may be about to be re-elected for four more, but don’t mistake that for “General Approval”.

Lowering the cost of a subway ride would win you a lot of thumbs up from both sides of the aisle.

Sincerely,

New Yorkers

10/10 Song of The Day

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October 10, 2017

Yes, it’s the date, and it’s also a top-notch Song of the Day post, so all around it’s a 10/10!

The last SOTD post was absolute fire, with all four songs being some of the best songs I’ve posted on here if I do say so myself.

But this time I’m going to try to approach that high bar, and by doing so we are going to have two back-to-back artists, something I try very hard to avoid but is simply impossible to do when the songs are this good.

At My Best – Machine Gun Kelly feat. Hailee Steinfeld

I shout, I swear, I get angry, I get scared
I fall, I break, I mess up, I make mistakes
But if you can’t take me at my worst
You don’t deserve me at my best

Doin’ Fine – Lauren Alaina

I’m doin’ fine enough to know that everyone’s a little broken
Fine enough to learn that hearts are best when they’re wide open
I’ve still got fear inside of me
I’m not okay, but I’m gonna be alright
For the first time in a long time I’m doin’ fine

No Promises – Cheat Codes feat. Demi Lovato

I just wanna dive in the water
Oh baby, we can’t see the bottom
I just want to dive in with you
I just want to lie here with you

Last Time For Everything – Brad Paisley

Last call, last chance
Last song, last dance
Sometimes you just don’t know when that’s gonna be
Cause there’s a last time for everything

Origin by Dan Brown – Review

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October 9, 2017

The world came to know Professor Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, even though that was the second book in the series, after the amazing Angels & Demons.

Now, after the Professor of symbology, made famous(er) by Tom Hanks, has explored CERN, Da Vinci, the Freemasons, and Dante, they come to face the age-old questions of “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?”, and how religions center around those questions.

The scene is Spain, and all the Kings horses and men are focused on Edmond Kirsch, the Elon Musk of Langdon’s world (even though Musk exists as well), as he looks to unveil his newest prediction about the future of the world.
His previous predictions have all come true, and his high-tech inventions are things of the future, including Watson, his “Alexa/Siri” that will top all other virtual assistants.

Brown takes us on another fresh adventure, as another “ready for the movie” book hits all airport shelves, getting an 8 out of 10.

 

The Never Ending Story of an NYCFC Stadium

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October 3, 2017

NYCFC has been around since 2013 and playing their home games at Yankee Stadium for three full seasons now.

But with the fans clamoring, and the front offices promising, it’s time for a stadium that we can call our own.

This team is built around the 5 boroughs. The logo is an NYC subway token, the team’s unwritten mascot a pigeon. It’s been promised from Day 1 that this team was all about New York City, unlike their cross-river rivals playing in New Jersey.

But the first actual proposal that floated to the surface is in Elmont, NY…located just outside of Queens. This is alienating the fans that are dedicated to this city, and moving out of it will lose at least 50% of the fans.

City Football Group and the Yankees have the money. A lot of the fans, don’t. Don’t make the game more expensive to go to, requiring everyone to take LIRR instead of the Subway.

It’s one of the reasons I don’t go to New York Rangers games: The tickets are too expensive, and it just makes it not fun to go to a game.

Make it harder to go to games, and people will just stop going.

Tell Me You Love Me – Demi Lovato

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September 29, 2017

It’s hard to believe that 25-year-old Demi Lovato has six albums out over a nine-year span, as she still feels like one of the fresh new voices, but with today’s release of Tell Me You Love Me, Demi opens up about relationships, life, vulnerability, and everything in between.

This album doesn’t have a bad note on it, and with Sorry Not Sorry leading off, a single that has potential to be Song of the Year, you just know that this album is going to be packed with solid music.

She talks about her Daddy Issues and how it affects her relationships, and speaking of those, Ruin The Friendship discusses her crossing that line with a really good friend…I’m kind of looking at you, Nick Jonas…

But on top of all that, I think the title track has some of her strongest lyrics:

I need someone on days like this, I do
On days like this
Oh, tell me you love me

The album has only one song with a featured singer, Lil Wayne, but the deluxe version include two other top Demi songs, in which she featured, from this year: Instruction (by Jax Jones) and No Promises (Cheat Codes).

This album is powerful, and the vocals within are as well, and Demi is definitely my new obsession, getting a 9 out of 10.

FIFA 18 #Review

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September 27, 2017

FIFA 18 comes out this Friday, and the summary of it is eerily similar to last years game: Pretty darn good.

Gameplay is outstanding, running on the still fairly new Frostbite engine (debuted in FIFA last year), and looking as close to real as it can get.

They have turned up the presentation a little, as the “viewer” experience is now even sharper, with pre-game commentary and visuals showing you the players on the pitch.

And while last years ball gravity realism was fine-tuned, they have made it more user-friendly this year, allowing passes and ball movement to be crisper and easily playable, without making it too arcade-like.

One of the best new features is “Quick Subs”. We all know that we are going to bring in certain players for certain players at some point of the game (Realistic: David Villa may be subbed out in real life, but you are not taking him out in a video game, even if he hasn’t scored yet…it’ll be Rodney Wallace or Tommy Mac coming out.), but until now you had to pause the game and go to your substitution page and make the same subs…game after game.
So now you have the ability to set up three Quick Subs, that you can trigger during breaks in the game, and not take any time or pauses to do it.

Meanwhile, The Journey heats up in Chapter 2: Hunter Returns, as Alex Hunter is faced with new challenges. Heading to America for a preseason tournament, meeting stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, and maybe even getting a call to join the famed Real Madrid?
Make your decisions carefully though, because life has a funny way of derailing fast if you get too anxious.

One of the best video game franchises of all time, continues to be one of the most played games out there, as it retains its 9.5 out of 10.

Toy Hall of Fame Finalists

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September 26, 2017

A few months ago I discussed the 2017 Video Game Hall of Fame finalists (of which Halo, Pokemon, Street Fighter and Donkey Kong made it in), and now it’s time to shift over to the standard Toy Hall of Fame.

The first class was inducted in 1998, and the hall has many great items in there, such as Barbie’s, Balls, and Bicycles, and some questionable ones, like Blankets and Sticks.
Their argument for the Stick is that it’s an all-purpose item, with many playing options…but I don’t think natural items should be in there, limiting the hall to just items that were thought out. For this reason, I agree that the pet rock isn’t in the hall…but am against one of this year’s nominations…without further ado, here is who I think should make it:

  • Matchbox Cars – its brother, Hot Wheels, was brought into the Hall in 2011, and Matchbox, the original car, is due to be honored.
  • Play Food – This toy truly expands the imagination, as kids can spend hours having dinner with their dolls, or serving their family members food, while Mom is cooking in the kitchen.
  • Uno – One of the best card games, and simplest for kids of any age to learn, it’s questionable as to why this hasn’t made it yet.

Questionable:

  • Paper Airplane – This one confuses my thoughts. While it is a natural item (like Sticks and Sand, which I argue against), it does take some skill and play to make it work. Anyone can pick up a stick and hit someone, and anyone can move sand around…but you can’t just pick up a piece of paper and throw it.
  • Risk – While Clue doesn’t make my cut, Risk is a different story. It takes great strategy and thought processes to get through this game, and for the hours that it’s entertained people, it deserves a chance.
  • Transformers – These are cool, and transformed the toy world, but until Matchbox Cars are in, Transformers can’t be.
  • Wiffle Ball – This is simply the ball, not the bat and the ball. And while I think the duo deserves to be in, I don’t know if one of them can make it without the other. Nothing says toy like “hitting someone in the groin with a wiffle bat”.

As for the rest of the nominees:

  • Clue – One of the best-selling board games of all time, I feel like it’s one of those that people own…but don’t play much.
  • Magic 8 Ball – It’s been around for 70 years, but I don’t think it’s good for more than a few minutes of joy (or a question or two).
  • My Little Pony – I’m not a brony, and probably don’t understand the craze, but this one isn’t for me.
  • Pez Candy Dispenser – Sure they have all sorts of characters, but this isn’t a toy.
  • Sand – Thank you God for making sand. It should go in the God Hall of Fame.

Podcasts

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September 20, 2017

In the past, I talked about how I would listen to sports talk radio on my way to/from work. But with Hahn and Humpty first taking a turn towards the terrible (before the inevitable split up) and them knocking Le Batard off NYC radio, I turned to another option to fill my drive time: Podcasts.

I’ll admit straight off the bat: I can’t do daily podcasts. There is no one person that I respect enough, or care enough about, to listen to for an hour a day. I understand that WTF and NPR have “great daily podcasts”, but they just don’t do it for me.

So what/who do I turn to? Sports. And Barstool. But a mix of different sports and topics, so it doesn’t get repetitive and keeps things interesting.

  • Starting 9 – Former Perfect Game pitcher Dallas Braden and Barstool’s Jared Carrabis, a long time Red Sox fan who was instrumental in the Sox landing David Price, break down the baseball world. From weekly storylines to MVP and Cy Young races, and up and comers to stories from the locker room this duo is making baseball great again.
    They also have a great variety of guests, with this fairly new show already having Brian Wilson, Aaron Boone, and David Ross, among others.
  • Spittin’ Chiclets – Stanley Cup winner Ryan Whitney and Barstool’s Rear Admiral cover hockey, which can be tough during the offseason.
    I have only started listening to this recently, but have already enjoyed interviews with Martin St. Louis and BizNasty.
  • The Podfathers – A bunch of fathers discuss the troubles their kids put them through, and the give and take of being a parent, mostly from a comedic point of view.
  • Barstool Rundown – A rundown of some of the viral videos/stories of the day, published nightly.
  • NYCFC Nation Podcast – A group of NYCFC diehard fans discuss the going-ons with the team, from recaps and player searches to the ongoing stadium search. Personally, I think they ramble on a little long, but I still enjoy my one “local” sports podcast.

I would probably have a wider range, including the Le Batard podcasts, but I listen to them through the Google Music library, which doesn’t have as much of a selection as the other Podcast venues.

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