The Short Happy Life of a Reviewer
This is only my third review here, but I'm already loving this job. For developing an over-inflated sense of self-importance, nothing beats being the all powerful critic. Aside my career in the IT industry, I've had a few short-lived gigs as a film and theater critic, but was always getting in hot water for being. well, critical. You see it's like this: when you pan a blockbuster, quicker than you can reheat yesterday's popcorn, the theater owner who happens to buy the biggest ads daily on page 2 is on the phone reminding the publisher just who it is that paid to have his trophy wife's teeth capped, which results in the editor having the line items on his Mardi Gras expense account called to question, which results in the writer getting kicked... out the door.
However, on this job, I've got a silver star pinned on my chest and was told to do whatever it takes to protect the fair citizens this side of cyberspace. Not a bad mission to be entrusted with, considering that I can do it in my chair, while watching Leave it to Beaver reruns.
Mom and Pop Go Pro
Web Pros Network - a bizarrely formal name choice for a company that bills itself as strictly Mom and Pop. If you want an ISP with national coverage, but don't want to pay big boy prices, you might take a look at these folks.
As the top reasons to sign on with them, Mom and Pop Web Pro list the fact that they are honest, polite, reliable, love what they do and will save you hundreds over the long haul. They also boast of their seniority, having been around since the last century (1999 to be exact), which in web years makes them cyber octogenarians.
You can cancel at anytime. And yes, they do give you a way to cancel that doesn't involve ritualistic sacrifice. Also, buried in the fine print of their pages is the offer of a few free trial accounts for select disbelievers on a first-come, first served basis. It's so buried, I wonder if Mom even knows about it.