Johnny Five is alive

WALL-E is sitting at 98% on RT right now, and this Gizmodo review raves about it.  I might have to scrape up the 4 bucks and go downtown and catch it.  Pixar for the win!

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I love this photo from Newsweek:

Microsoft - then and now!

On Tuesday the final release of Firefox 3 hits - get it here!

I’d like to share a recent XKCD comic:

That, in turn linked to a brilliant app at xkcd.com/geohashing, along with a link about geohashing.  I’m up on geoCACHing, but this was new.  My favorite part is that there’s this formula that produces these results, but I’m still unsure of what exactly to do with it!  My first thought is to use it as a basis to hide a real geocache locally (seeded with my birthday or something?  our wedding date?).

I found the following video review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl by The Escapist: Zero Punctuation to be highly entertaining.  Especially the follow up response to his critics! (Probably not safe for work, or wear with headphones!)

Well, that’s it.  For the second time in a few months (all revolving around changes with my web host, but that’s another story), my Wordpress install was hosed.  Something with the caching mechanism it uses gets screwed up, and I get ugly errors and junk when the pages load.  Last time I lost some comments and a draft post…luckily this time I don’t think I lost anything, but it’s still annoying to have to do cleanup.

I’ve been keeping my eye on another blogging platform, MovableType, and think I’ll try moving to that.  I was hoping to wait until they released an upcoming open source version; currently it only offers a “free for personal use” version.  At this point I think I’ll take the plunge anyhow and maybe move to the open source version once it comes out.

I’ve read some comparisons of the two, and I think I should be able to do what I do in Wordpress in MT4, and supposedly some of the things are even easier.  The big difference I can see is that where WP sort of hacks together caching so it loads faster and doesn’t hit the database so often, MT builds posts into static pages.  So, here’s to looking forward to some changes in the coming weeks - with at least a new theme, and better stability!

2 hour software upgrade to make your expensive new phone system actually sound normal: two people, 8 hours on Saturday, 5 hours on Sunday

Elapsed time before end users tell you they are randomly unable to make outbound phone calls, or repeatedly get busy signals, or keypresses don’t register on voicemail: 2 days

4+ hours on the phone with tech support, both foreign and domestic, finding a “solution”, and still not sure if it’s actually fixed: Priceless

Let’s just say this comic sums up the past couple weeks quite well. Sigh…..

Here’s a response from our friendly neighborhood cable TV and Internet provider, on if they’ll be upgrading their network to compete with satellite and fiber optic offerings:

Good afternoon,

At this time we have no plans to upgrade our internet speeds, so for the
time being, depending on your location and package, you will be getting
a 4Mbps or 6Mbps download speed. Just for an understanding, DOCSIS 3.0
has a limit of 160Mbps down and 120Mbps up, that does not mean customers
on a DOCSIS 3.0 system will get those speeds.

As for HD service, a lot of it does have to do with bandwidth, which is
why we are only able to offer a set number of HD channels. HD channels
do take a lot of bandwidth to broadcast, and cable lines can only handle
so much. Satellite companies are not limited with a line, much more
bandwidth can be sent through in the form of a signal received with a
dish, hence why they can offer more channels. With HD, there are plans
to start offering more of a selection in the future.

We are currently in negotiations with all of the sports channels you
mentioned. For the BIG 10 network, there is a site you can visit to get
updates on how the BTN is doing their business, you can see for
yourself, Broadstripe is not the only company not offering that channel
at the present time. That website is http://puttingfansfirst.com/ you
can sign up and voice your opinion to the BTN and get updates on what is
happening with the BTN issue.

If you have any other questions or concerns please call us at
1-800-444-6997 during our normal business hours, Monday - Friday 8:30am
to 10:00pm and Saturday 9:00am to 8:00pm.

Thank you,

Broadstripe Technical Support

- Hide quoted text -

—–Original Message—–
Posted At: Friday, November 30, 2007 11:02 AM
Posted To: CableSpeed Trouble Tickets Cen
Conversation: MDM cable internet speeds and HDTV
Subject: MDM cable internet speeds and HDTV

I just read this article
(http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071130-docsis-3-0-possible-100mb
ps-speeds-coming-to-some-comcast-users-in-2008.html)
about how Comcast plans next year to begin rolling out DOCSIS 3.0
network capabilities, allowing 160Mpbs down and 120Mbps up speeds.
What is MDM/Broadstripes plans to improve the quality of their network
in the coming year? Will you be eventually rolling out this DOCSIS
3.0 upgrade, or is that in your plans at all?

Frankly, the HDTV offerings of MDM/Broadstripe are pathetic, and I
think a lot of that is due to bandwidth. One and a half months after
reporting HDTV quality problems (you said that it was a problem
further up the head end from my house), I still have occasional audio
dropouts and glitches in my HD channels. I was told that someone
would be getting back to me once it got fixed, yet I’ve heard no
status updates at all. Is it even being addressed?

Our basic HD channels include ESPN and the major network stations. No
ESPN, TNT, USA, nothing. No Big Ten Network. Not even an option to
get a March Madness package. Is there any plans in the coming months
to expand the HD offerings you have? Frankly, the satellite companies
are offering much better options TV-wise, and I’m seriously
considering looking into them. Is there anything exciting coming down
the pipeline?

Thanks for any info.

It’s nice to know that not only am I paying a buttload of money for service that actually offers less than Comcrap (granted, MDM does the good program guide, albeit with ads), but that there are no plans in the immediate future to actually improve on their service. Yay? I’m soooo pricing out ATT DSL and DirecTV….there’s got to be a way to get broadband and basic cable standard lineups with HD for less than $100/month, right??

An excellent article about what a higher-up in the govt thinks about our privacy online and in general. I’ve caught bits here and there about this, but cripe….scary stuff!

Sneak Preview: Gmail Speeds Up, Improves Contacts

Just as I got the domain moved to be hosted by Google, they go and add even more improvements!