UPDATE: Since we first posted this blog, FiOS the cat has found a happy home. Read The Daily News story here. We wish FiOS the best! Animal rescue folks told the paper that they hope people interested in adopting FiOS will adopt other cats in need of a good home.

“We were walking on the sidewalk and we heard a meowing,” Vinny Cassidy, a Verizon field technician. “I thought it was under a car, but it was up in a tree.”

Two Verizon technicians saved a cat last week. The cat was grasping onto a tree branch with one leg, with what appeared to be a cable cord tied around its neck.

The one-year-old tabby – now nicknamed FiOS because the techs were out on a FiOS job – was sent to a nearby animal hospital by a member of animal rescue group Four Paws Sake. A veterinarian who examined FiOS found the cat to be severely underweight, but otherwise healthy and uninjured.

Video: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Verizon-Workers-Rescue-Cat-FiOs-Tree-Queens-Cable-Neck-14914243...  

Broadband Communities Magazine editor Masha Zager highlights some of the issues to be addressed during the organization's three-day summit in Dallas.

Multi-family housing residents have been clamoring for connectivity since the dawn of the broadband age. A dozen years ago, giving a single-computer household access to static websites wasn’t a problem. Today, on the other hand, a typical household has multiple computers and other devices – game consoles, tablets, smartphones, media centers and even connected TVs – all connected through a home network.  On average, the American family will have seven to 10 Internet-connected devices in their home by 2015.

Sunday is Earth Day.

We occasionally talk green on this blog, but we try to make every day Earth Day at Verizon. That may sound corny and marketing-ish, but hear me out.

And as we’ve introduced FiOS TVin various markets over the last six (yes, it’s been that long), it’s been interesting to see the evolution of our service, the competition we’ve introduced, and how our services is becoming greener--for lack of a better term.

This is just one example of how we’re delivering not just better TV, but it’s also how we’re delivering it smarter and more energy efficiently.

And if you’re interested in convenient green apps, check out these five apps: http://fios1news.com/longisland/node/12290

Happy Earth Day!

NOTE: TO view a full size version of this infographic, visit our page on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34800970@N05/7097000995/in/photostream  

Leading up to its release, Verizon is delivering an immersive experience that enables you to navigate the inside of the ship (Prometheus) using our smart home service, Verizon Home Monitoring and Control. 

One Lucky Winner Will Go to London

Verizon’s “Prometheus:  Mission Connect Sweepstakes” lets film lovers explore and control settings in each room of the ship from which the film and sweepstakes take their titles, while unlocking exclusive content and sweepstakes entries every step of the way.  As part of the Sweepstakes, Verizon will send one lucky winner and a guest on a trip to London to tour the studio where Prometheus was filmed. The grand-prize drawing will be held on June 22.  Visit www.verizon.com/mission to find out more and start exploring today.   

Verizon is also offering exclusive first looks at the movie on the Verizon FiOS Facebook page as well as via FiOS TV’s video on demand library.  Fans of FiOS can check back regularly on the countdown clock to find out when new content will be available for viewing.   

Springtime and residential moving season is underway. In all of our FiOS markets, Verizon Enhanced Communities is helping innovative, forward-thinking MDU (multiple dwelling unit) managers and owners make the most of the season by helping prospective tenants find them and by providing key amenities to help set them apart from the competition.

In densely populated MDU markets such as Washington, New York and Los Angeles, Verizon has launched “Must Have FiOS,” a multi-media, hyper-local campaign targeting tech savvy consumers who view having the latest and greatest gadgets and Internet and TV services as a key amenity when looking for a new place to live. This creative campaign hits renters in the places they frequent -- in popular neighborhood bars and restaurants, movie theaters, fitness clubs, etc. -- with a message that is resonating. Consumers can also go to www.musthavefios.com to find buildings in their area that are served by FiOS.

What do Bollywood, Food Network and the Olympics have in common? They are all new to Verizon FiOS TV Video on Demand!

Back in February I told you about some of the new programming that we had added to our on demand library. Now we have more for you to watch, with everything from Bollywood movies and specials to Hollywood features like the HGTV show “Selling LA.”

With spring upon us, homeowners and builders are beginning outdoor digging projects. You can help improve the customer experience and protect our network by calling 811 before you dig to ensure buried utility lines are marked.

811 is the national call-before-you-dig number, which must be called before every digging project, from simple landscaping projects like planting trees or shrubs to building a deck or installing a mailbox.

About 165,000 underground utilities are damaged annually across the U.S., and one out of every three incidents results from not calling 811. Be sure to call 811 before you dig, and educate a friend or neighbor about the importance of calling 811 if they have digging projects.

Here’s how it works:

• Place one free, simple call to 811 to inform your local one-call center of your intent to dig.
   
• Call as early as possible prior to digging to ensure enough time for utility lines to be properly marked.
   
• When you call 811, a representative will ask for the location and description of your digging project.
  

We're giving away $5 coffee cards to our customers who refer 3 potential customers to us for some Verizon services. It's our way of saying thanks for sharing and caring.

Do you Tweet? More and more of us are.

In fact, as Twitter turned 6 last month (I hope you didn’t forget to send a birthday tweet) sources said that people send some 250 million tweets a day. Yowza!

By some estimates, Twitter is even outpacing Facebook in the U.S.

Whether you send the second tweet ever, or you’re just discovering that adorable little, blue bird -- here are a few of my colleagues you may want to follow.