On the plus side, we're saving thirty bucks a month for standard cable. And don't forget, that $30 is only good for a year. After that, Comcast jacks the price up another $20. It is outrageous to have to pay that much just to watch a couple of cable only channels. As a result, we're also watching less TV because, let's face it, the networks really don't have a lot to offer. But this is a good thing. Our Netflix queue is getting shorter by the day thanks to our changing TV habits.

On the down side, we can't watch Food TV, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network, Sci-Fi Channel, HGTV, CNN or ESPN. We will also miss the continuing adventures of Jon & Kate's pending dissolution of their marriage. OK, maybe that's not really a down side. But I will miss Shark Week.

Certainly Berkeley has its own problems and issues, but few of them have such a direct impact as those you encounter in Oakland. Within six months of moving into our old place in Oakland, we had a break-in and several valuable items were stolen. Our insurance covered our losses, but it did little to restore our sense of security in our own home. To make matters worse, once the police arrived, they told us it would be more than six months to process the fingerprints they collected because the lab was understaffed due to budget issues.

It's no secret that crime is a major issue in Oakland. But there is very little being done to actually reduce crime. It's not enough to just throw more police on the streets. Since living in a police state with curfews and cops on every corner is not a option, other solutions are needed. The root of the problem is societal and cultural. Unless and until the social issues that plague Oakland's underprivileged are resolved, the problems will persist and crime will continue unabated.

Unfortunately, in this age of no new taxes, the situation will only get worse in Oakland. It seems that we have gotten out just in time.

If you are at all familiar with I-5, you know that the the North and South bound lanes are divided by a grassy median that is at least two lanes wide. The car that hit my uncle, apparently drifted from the right lane onto the shoulder, then swerved across two lanes, through the grass median and into my uncle's car. My uncle was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other car and his two passengers all survived with minor to major injuries.

Now my aunt and my two young cousins (14 and 8 years old) have lost the most important person in their lives. They will get support from insurance policies, pensions, etc. but that doesn't alleviate their loss at all.

But I did get some of the design section done. Some things to look for in design include the individual project descriptions that include an JavaScript-controlled in-page navigation, and a JavaScript dynamic gallery.

Other enhancements to look for in the near future include special effects transitions for the in-page navigation and the galleries. But I have to finish the design, art and articles sections first. Plus, I want to add a PHP rotator to the home page for the featured photo.

I liked the Centro in theory, but I went to an AT&T store and tried it out and was unimpressed. The screen is too small. The web browser displays web content for mobile rather than web as the iPhone does. Finally the phone lacks Wi-Fi. If I'm forgoing an iPhone, I at least want to be able to cruise the web without relying on a data network all the time.

Now Palm has introduced the Treo Pro. At first glance, it has everything I need. Nice screen. Wi-Fi. Good form factor. But it runs Windows Mobile. I run Palm OS. I'm sure they have a way to sync old Palm profiles with the WM OS, but why make me do that. Why not give users a choice?

Maybe I'll just keep using my old m505 til it bites the dust completely and just get the best phone I can.

First of all, they sent the exact same model of phone that has the design defect that leads to the screen failure that so irked me to begin with. Not only that but the phone was missing the front and back covers. Granted I can replace those with the ones from the previous phone, but the term "replacement phone" kind of implies that I would get a whole new phone.

Nevertheless, I have a backup phone for when my phone goes on the fritz. My wife has decided to continue using the old Motorola because it has never failed her and she's fed up with the Sony Ericsson phone.

The moral of the story is: If you can't get satisfaction from customer service, make some noise and maybe you'll get enough attention to actually receive some service. Which is a shame really, because customers are your best form of free advertising. Why subject them to such poor treatment to begin with. Why make them go to such lengths just to put things right?

I'll give Sony Ericsson credit for at least trying to resolve my problems. They could have ignored my letter and dismissed my concerns as inconsequential. I may not buy another phone from them, but my opinion of them is significantly improved.

A call to Sony Ericcson support proved fruitless. Since the phone was no longer under warranty, servicing the phone would cost over $100. That cost combined with the cost of shipping the phone a second time, exceeds the retail value of the phone. The support rep and her supervisors refused to waive the service fee and pretty much stonewalled me as far as connecting me to someone who could and would waive the fee or even replace the obviously defective phone.

Since 1999, I have had one Nokia and two Motorola's and all of them were reliable. In fact, I've gone back to using the last Motorola between phone repairs and it has been as reliable as the day I bought it in 2004. If only the Z525a's performed as well.

So now I'm left with a useless brick of a phone, the prospect of buying a new phone, and a lesson learned that Sony Ericsson does not care about the quality of its products or the customers that buy them. It used to be that if you bought something with the Sony name on it, you were assured that it would be the best product of it's kind on the market. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

One final note. It wasn't until after the first phone malfunctioned that I read the reviews on CNET that pointed out this particular problem with this phone. That means that everyone who bought this phone has probably had the same experience. In fact Sony seems to be aware of the problem. One of the things the support tech told me, was that the phone had to be TURNED off daily in order to ensure that the screen would not go blank. How ridiculous!

Sony made a bad phone, and the consumers are the ones who get stuck with the bill.

Things got off to a rocky start when the waiter brought the salads. The four of us were splitting two sea bass salads, but the waiter brought one sea bass, and two other salads that we had not ordered. So two of us had a salad and the other two had to wait for the second.

Later, after we had finished our main courses, the bus person hit my father-in-law on the nose with a dish he was clearing and either failed to notice his mistake, or chose not to apologize for his clumsiness.

Finally, when the check came, we found that the total seemed out of line (even for Chez Panisse) for what we had. Closer inspection revealed that we had been given the wrong check.

As I said earlier, the cafe is not as opulent or as expensive as the restaurant downstairs, which features a prix fixe menu. But it's not cheap. There is even a 15% "service charge" applied to the bill, so you can't dock the tip for poor service except to keep it as is. One would think that all things considered, you could expect service to match the food.

Maybe that's the problem with restaurant guides like Michelin. They only focus on the food, so some restaurants which provide a complete and pleasurable dining experience don't rate as high as those restaurants that are run by customer abusing tyrants who just happen to be very good chefs.

Now don't read into this that I think Alice Waters is a tyrant. Far from it. When I say tyrant, I mean guys like "Hell's Kitchen" enfant horrible, Gordon Ramsay. A great chef, but a terrible boss and host.