My fave was in 1997 before DSL was available, I was using a modem to get 56k. I figured I would order a second phone line and bond two modems for 112k.
I put in the order, paid a premium for the second line (first lines are cheaper "lifelines" while seconds are considered a luxury), and then PacBell came out and installed my second line.
I bought the "shotgun" modem that can bond two dial-ups into one PC, installed it all, got it fired up, and...
...56K!!! WTF!!?
Well, it turns out, the telcos had developed splitters that could take one voice phone line and split its 56k capacity into two voice phone lines, each with its own number. They had simply gone to the edge of the apartment, installed a splitter on my line, and activate line 2 on the yellow and black wires. My technology then bonded the yellow and black back into the green and red. Yay. They split it, and I recombined it about 40 yards apart. Net effect: zero, of course.
DSL arrived a year later, and I was just about the first customer. That install was an experience in itself. Two days, and three trucks and more before they figured it out.
"Google launched Plus without a clear plan to differentiate the service from Facebook."
I disagree with this one line. Google wanted to offer "circles" which allowed much more granular control over sharing than Facebook allowed, and that feature had appeal to me, because it was one of the reasons I did not use Facebook extensively. Of course +'s lack of popularity was a bigger problem, so I didn't use it either.
"Circles" was a great idea, because it more closely reflects the way that we humans are socially organized. There are things I'm willing to share with my family that I won't share with my friends...but also vice versa.
Re: Re: Horrible news, everyone! Looks like Pir ate Mi ke has given up posting at SuprBay! (As predicted.) Let's just hope that the near two-week pause ends soon...
As an owner of electric bikes, IoHawn, and a OneWheel skateboard, let me add some info on this:
"physical mobility problem that prevents me from riding a $500 bicycle."
While the devices reduce the amount of exercise the rider gets, they are fun. This SEEMS to be a possible opening for people with mobility problems, and I've had a few such people approach me to discuss my devices.
The problem is that, while physically easy to ride, the devices REMAIN physically demanding in peak-load surges. That is, they require balance and smooth roadways, and when those are compromised, sudden falls WILL occur. Your ability to survive those falls is dependent on physical athletic ability.
I've seen my devices cause all sorts of injuries to me and others. I figure it's worth it -- many sports I play cause me a variety of injuries, this is no different. But here is an important piece of knowledge that one only learns from experience with these motorized scooters:
Any fall you endure is complicated and accelerated by the device. Consider that, as you fall, your feet are still giving the device "instructions" with their angle or lean. This means that, as you fall, the device responds by accelerating one way or the other. This introduces a faster fall, and often a twist with the fall. A simple forward fall where your natural reflexes tell you to put your hands in front of you can rapidly become a backwards fall onto your tailbone or head. Or a simple loss of balance can turn into a twisting wreck. Seen it happen; sent at least one friend to the hospital.
No. It looks to me like you've just looked it up now, and are trying to retroactively fit it to what you wrote.
The definition from Google's dictionary is "involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome."
Onerous, correctly defined, is a burden, it represents work one must do.
Vizio put absolutely no burden on you, even though what they did sucked. It was not onerous. Your usage context does not fit a situation where Vizio is putting effort and difficulty on you, rather it indicates you meant to use a word more like "presumptuous".
The joke is from The Princess Bride, where Vizzini repeatedly uses the word "inconceivable" for things that are not only conceivable, but also occur. Fezzik tells him "I don't think [that word] means what you think it means."
That's just as good as using a sentence's context to deduce sarcasm - i.e. the reader often doesn't make the leap with the writer.
Dotcom's main definition is not as the guy's name. It's still use to refer to online sites, and it's still regularly used to refer to the bust of 2002.
one current example: US Senate's DOTCOM act of 2015
On a "Rantometer" scale for Internet comments, I score that one a 4/10. There's some hyperbole in there, but more rebuttal. I just don't see that as "worked up".
With the Comcast modem lease of $6/mo, you could pay off your modem in (insert mathy stuff) months!!
Every cable ISP subscriber should have their own modem, and a gateway router of their own choosing. But be sure to check first with your ISP that the modem you buy is supported. They need to be able to connect and interact with it, even if it's yours.
For the record, you can't just refer to Kim Dotcom out of the blue as "Dotcom".
Even on Techdirt many people won't follow you. Dotcom has a first meaning which is far more commonly understood than the second meaning as this guy's name.
Interesting. In the Comcast case, I believe they charge a lease fee for the CPE.
Smart customers can buy their own DOCSIS 3 modem for a mere $80, and avoid the lease, add a router of their choosing, AND have more control of their equipment.
Please study up the difference between somebody arguing the corporation's point of view with accurate facts and data versus someone spouting BS from the corporate PR dept.
Whether the above Anonymous Coward is on the Cablevision payroll or not does not change the fact that he added a lot of correct info to the discussion.
Certainly a risk, as no software firewall can be perfect. However, that NAS, if connected on the LAN which is on the Internet, ALREADY has a very similar element of risk:
A hacker just needs to punch through the router from the public side to the LAN side. That's not so different whether the hack comes from China or your driveway.
People need to understand that a home gateway router ALREADY has a public side and a private LAN side. That's how you are connected to the Internet!! Adding wifi on the public side doesn't make it any more public.
"They do not have the bandwidth to support their customers bandwidth demands"
No, for the most part they do. Most customers actually use a trickle of data (especially if averaged through the day), but have 30Mbps connections. Not a big deal to add some outside traffic on a "space available" basis. The system is designed to prioritize homeowner's traffic.
On the post: Windstream To Farmer: Sure, We'll Give You Fiber Broadband -- For $383,500
Re: Old game
I put in the order, paid a premium for the second line (first lines are cheaper "lifelines" while seconds are considered a luxury), and then PacBell came out and installed my second line.
I bought the "shotgun" modem that can bond two dial-ups into one PC, installed it all, got it fired up, and...
...56K!!! WTF!!?
Well, it turns out, the telcos had developed splitters that could take one voice phone line and split its 56k capacity into two voice phone lines, each with its own number. They had simply gone to the edge of the apartment, installed a splitter on my line, and activate line 2 on the yellow and black wires. My technology then bonded the yellow and black back into the green and red. Yay. They split it, and I recombined it about 40 yards apart. Net effect: zero, of course.
DSL arrived a year later, and I was just about the first customer. That install was an experience in itself. Two days, and three trucks and more before they figured it out.
On the post: The Failure Of Google Plus Should Be A Reminder That Big Companies Very Rarely Successfully 'Copy' Startups
Re: Re: Re:
FTFY
On the post: The Failure Of Google Plus Should Be A Reminder That Big Companies Very Rarely Successfully 'Copy' Startups
Good Article, but...
I disagree with this one line. Google wanted to offer "circles" which allowed much more granular control over sharing than Facebook allowed, and that feature had appeal to me, because it was one of the reasons I did not use Facebook extensively. Of course +'s lack of popularity was a bigger problem, so I didn't use it either.
"Circles" was a great idea, because it more closely reflects the way that we humans are socially organized. There are things I'm willing to share with my family that I won't share with my friends...but also vice versa.
On the post: DailyDirt: Rideables Aren't Quite Ready To 'Change Lives, Cities And Ways Of Thinking'
Re: Re: Horrible news, everyone! Looks like Pir ate Mi ke has given up posting at SuprBay! (As predicted.) Let's just hope that the near two-week pause ends soon...
On the post: DailyDirt: Rideables Aren't Quite Ready To 'Change Lives, Cities And Ways Of Thinking'
Re: $500 can get you a pretty sweet bicycle
"physical mobility problem that prevents me from riding a $500 bicycle."
While the devices reduce the amount of exercise the rider gets, they are fun. This SEEMS to be a possible opening for people with mobility problems, and I've had a few such people approach me to discuss my devices.
The problem is that, while physically easy to ride, the devices REMAIN physically demanding in peak-load surges. That is, they require balance and smooth roadways, and when those are compromised, sudden falls WILL occur. Your ability to survive those falls is dependent on physical athletic ability.
I've seen my devices cause all sorts of injuries to me and others. I figure it's worth it -- many sports I play cause me a variety of injuries, this is no different. But here is an important piece of knowledge that one only learns from experience with these motorized scooters:
Any fall you endure is complicated and accelerated by the device. Consider that, as you fall, your feet are still giving the device "instructions" with their angle or lean. This means that, as you fall, the device responds by accelerating one way or the other. This introduces a faster fall, and often a twist with the fall. A simple forward fall where your natural reflexes tell you to put your hands in front of you can rapidly become a backwards fall onto your tailbone or head. Or a simple loss of balance can turn into a twisting wreck. Seen it happen; sent at least one friend to the hospital.
On the post: Vizio Latest Manufacturer To Offer More Ways For TVs To Watch Purchasers
Re: Re: Re: I find this onerous
The definition from Google's dictionary is "involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome."
Onerous, correctly defined, is a burden, it represents work one must do.
Vizio put absolutely no burden on you, even though what they did sucked. It was not onerous. Your usage context does not fit a situation where Vizio is putting effort and difficulty on you, rather it indicates you meant to use a word more like "presumptuous".
The joke is from The Princess Bride, where Vizzini repeatedly uses the word "inconceivable" for things that are not only conceivable, but also occur. Fezzik tells him "I don't think [that word] means what you think it means."
On the post: Study Of Spain's 'Google Tax' On News Shows How Much Damage It Has Done
Re: Re:
The important question is if they can frame some aggregator for the crime.
On the post: Vizio Latest Manufacturer To Offer More Ways For TVs To Watch Purchasers
Re: I find this onerous
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: Re: Your Own Modem
When I first bought my own modem years ago, and returned theirs to them, they continued to bill me for the one I returned.
I had to call customer service and have the bill corrected. All good for the past 9 years since.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: Re: The Router is Free
Because you pay for the second out of the fee for the first? No, not as long as the deal terms are clearly stated.
On the post: Smoking Gun: MPAA Emails Reveal Plan To Run Anti-Google Smear Campaign Via Today Show And WSJ
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Dotcom's main definition is not as the guy's name. It's still use to refer to online sites, and it's still regularly used to refer to the bust of 2002.
one current example:
US Senate's DOTCOM act of 2015
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20150727_the_senate_should_take_the_dotcom_act_off_cruz_control/
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: Re: Re:
Not a data caps story.
" also supporting public wifi could make for more stuttering "
No, subscriber traffic is (for most ISPs) prioritized.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Your Own Modem
http://www.woot.com/
Motorola DOCSIS 3 Cable modem for sale for $40.
Coincidence? Or divine fortune?
With the Comcast modem lease of $6/mo, you could pay off your modem in (insert mathy stuff) months!!
Every cable ISP subscriber should have their own modem, and a gateway router of their own choosing. But be sure to check first with your ISP that the modem you buy is supported. They need to be able to connect and interact with it, even if it's yours.
On the post: Smoking Gun: MPAA Emails Reveal Plan To Run Anti-Google Smear Campaign Via Today Show And WSJ
Re: Re:
Even on Techdirt many people won't follow you. Dotcom has a first meaning which is far more commonly understood than the second meaning as this guy's name.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: The Router is Free
Smart customers can buy their own DOCSIS 3 modem for a mere $80, and avoid the lease, add a router of their choosing, AND have more control of their equipment.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: Re:
Baloney.
Please study up the difference between somebody arguing the corporation's point of view with accurate facts and data versus someone spouting BS from the corporate PR dept.
Whether the above Anonymous Coward is on the Cablevision payroll or not does not change the fact that he added a lot of correct info to the discussion.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re: Re:
A hacker just needs to punch through the router from the public side to the LAN side. That's not so different whether the hack comes from China or your driveway.
People need to understand that a home gateway router ALREADY has a public side and a private LAN side. That's how you are connected to the Internet!! Adding wifi on the public side doesn't make it any more public.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re:
No, for the most part they do. Most customers actually use a trickle of data (especially if averaged through the day), but have 30Mbps connections. Not a big deal to add some outside traffic on a "space available" basis. The system is designed to prioritize homeowner's traffic.
"yet more proof" no, not really.
On the post: Cablevision Follows Comcast Down The Compulsory WiFi Hotspot Rabbit Hole
Re:
Public users are definitely NOT on your LAN.
I'm not siding with the ISP here, just correcting a technicality.
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