And now for something completely non-political...

I got an email in the last couple of days about a Netflix class action lawsuit settlement, where, if I joined in on the fun, I'd get upgraded from my 3-disc allotment to 4 discs for one month. Sounds like a deal, right? Seth Anderson, however, points out via a post from Boing Boing that this is actually a bit of a shell game:

Subscribers who were customers before January 15, 2005, but are no longer customers, will receive a free one-month membership. But wait, there's more! If you accept the upgraded account, you will be put on that upgraded plan at the end of your free month and your bill will increase unless you cancel! It seems to me that the number of subscribers who fail to cancel, forget, or just plain don't understand will likely make Netflix more money as a result of this settlement.

I like free stuff, and I really love Netflix (especially since we're cable-less and for the most part broadcast TV-less) but I don't like being taken for a ride. I think I'll be opting out of this one from the get-go.

(Speaking of Netflix, Mrs. F and I have really been enjoying the first season of the revamped-for-the-21st-century Battlestar Galactica TV series--a couple of interesting characters, some eyebrow-arching twists, and a good blending of current events along the lines of terrorism and religious fanaticism.)