OS X Lion learns a Wi-Fi login trick from iOS

You knew I would be one of the first to upgrade to Lion. I’m a tech junky and I just can’t help myself. My initial impressions of Lion are mostly positive with a few quirks noticed here and there – I’ve already adjusted to the reverse scrolling.  I won’t bore you with those impressions today, maybe later. I do want to point out a little known feature inherited from iOS that revealed itself to me during a recent trip to my favorite “office away from office.” Hit the link below to learn about this feature that I have not previously read about.

Doc's DISH Network Customer Service Experience

My recent DISH Network bill revealed that I had come to the end of my honeymoon period. In other words, the “special introductory rate” was over. At almost a $20 increase per month for my current 200 channel package, $80 for TV was an unnecessary hit to a tight budget. After all, this blog is not going to make me rich. So I decided to contact DISH and cancel my service.

After the click below I’m going to share my customer service experience with DISH Network and reveal the solution we came to. I’ll provide the actual online chat transcript (in red) and then add a little commentary here and there. I think you will be surprised at what transpired and the final outcome. I certainly didn’t expect the resulting solution.

Make a "run to the border" for your free Wi-Fi

Longtime Doc’s Tech Notes readers know I like to keep track of free Wi-Fi hot spots when they are added to my favorite businesses. And I am embarassed to admit that Taco Bell is one of those locations. But their $2 meals are just so tempting on those days when the budget is tight. Imagine my glee when this report came down.

PRweb Reports:

Taco Bell Corp. and Indoor Direct, Inc., owner of The Restaurant Entertainment Network, have reached a long-term agreement to be the first to install in-store television network and free Wi-Fi solutions in all 5,600 Taco Bell locations throughout the United States. After the 5,600 locations are installed by 2015, The Restaurant Entertainment Network will reach approximately 48 million Taco Bell customers each month. Each location will have The Restaurant Entertainment Network installed, which consists of a point of sale and dining room network plus installation of free Wi-Fi for guests.

The installation of their own in-store television is an interesting idea as well. Hardee's has a similiar system but I wonder how much traffic this will actually drive. Wi-Fi yes, in-store TV, I'm not so sure about. What do you all think?

These minor OS X Lion features aren't so minor

Much has been written about the new features included in OS X Lion. You know, that new operating system we Mac users will install on our Macs this month? What do you mean you haven’t heard about it? You obviously are living under a rock. Cue the GEICO commercial.

You’ve heard Steve and others discuss the big features such as: multi-touch gestures, full-screen apps, Mission Control, the Mac App Store, Launchpad, resume, auto save, versions, AirDrop, and Mail. For this post, I scoured the list of 250+ new features and after a click of the link below, I will present some of the important lesser know features and explain why they matter.