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Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

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Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

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Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45

1

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

2

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

3

Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45

Time Warner Cable answers my call

By
Patricia Sellers
Patricia Sellers
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By
Patricia Sellers
Patricia Sellers
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 1, 2009, 7:06 PM ET

I thought I was dreaming.

After posting yesterday’s rant against Time Warner Cable’s service “upgrade,” can you imagine how I reacted at 6:30 this morning when I turned on my TV and found that all my favorite functions–which I’d thought were obliterated by the upgrade–were back in action?

Time Warner Cable (spun off recently from Time Warner , which owns Time Inc., Fortune’s parent) responded to my complaining–I was sure of it. I suspected that Alex Dudley, the TWC PR man whom I quoted in yesterday’s Postcard, had become my personal cable repairman. My Dudley Do-Right.

“I did not do anything,” Dudley told me when I phoned him this morning. The return of my beloved DVR functions, he said, “is nothing but a coincidence.”

Dudley didn’t dispute yesterday’s claim that I—as well as others I surveyed–could, after the company’s Navigator “upgrade,” rewind a program a scant eight seconds. That annoying problem disappeared this morning: When I pressed “Replay,” Voila! I could rewind an entire hour-long show (as long as the DVR was tuned to that channel for the program’s entirety.)

“The software was fixed,” explained Dudley, while admitting he himself was guessing about this midnight magic. “When people are sleeping, we ping the boxes. I guess we did your neighborhood overnight.”

That’s kinda creepy. But I’m glad it’s fixed. Wonder what the cable fairy will ping tonight.

About the Author
By Patricia Sellers
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