Hello, Citizen of the Internet! Today the FCC is going to vote on Net Neutrality, something we should all (for the most part) support. It’s expected to pass. The problem is, now, we’re not entirely sure what all is being proposed OR if the FCC even has jurisdiction over broadband providers (which may open a whole other can of worms). So if NN is going to pass, there will no doubt be a massive landslide of lawsuits. What IS expected to be a part of net neutrality are a set of rules keeping providers from outright blocking legal content on the internet. Some speculate that while this will protect the customer, it may create a loophole that will allow broadband providers such as Comcast and AT&T to charge “congestive” services such as youtube and netflix a fee to pass data through their networks – something we’ve already seen happening. All-in-all this is definitely something to watch – especially this close to the holidays.
Category Archives: Geek Rant
Comcast tries to charge fee to Level Three; net neutrality and Netflix
Ok, so here’s the deal – Comcast, whom we all love dearly, has decided they want to charge Level 3, the company that helps stream Netflix, to deliver content to their own customers. Wait, what? Yup. Check it:
Grasping straws are we, Comcast? This is kind of the opposite of what we were worried about when the whole net neutrality debate started, but it’s equally disturbing.
Now I am become NetFlix, the destroyer of internets.
Run for your lives!!! NetFlix is going to destroy the internet!! Their streaming awesomeness will shake the webbertubes until they burst, so says The Slate. I mean, look at the numbers – 10% of Canadians visited netflix.com in the first week of its launch! PANIC!!!1!!!!!
You’re not buying this, are you? I even put ‘panic’ in all capital letters, just for you. I also put in numbers and stuff, you know like percentages. Ok, fine, NetFlix will not destroy the internet and I’ll tell you why after the jump.
Microsoft’s Hotmail a Hot Topic (RANT)
If you have ever dealt with MS you have probably sighed in disbelief at the conclusion of you interaction with them. Frustrating? Yes! It makes you wonder how they got to be as big as they are…
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What in the world would we do without Akismet?
The world of online marketing is split into two separate and occasionally difficult to distinguish groups: The first has legitimate products and services and attempts to spread the word about their products and services to the attention of the masses. The second sprays the internet with unsolicited garble and hopes that enough suckers will click thereon to justify their sad existance. Predominantly, they peddle pills, porn, or poker.
This article is about the latter… and queue the Law & Order music…
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Must not sleep. Must warn others.
Chances are if you’re a geek meets nerd, semi-anti-social, A&E broadcast family addict – that is to say, anything like myself – you probably enjoy a little bit of ‘ye olde paranormal musings’. If, for no other reason, the stories seem to be well thought-out. It’s September, which, according to my local Walgreens, means it’s almost Halloween. Let’s have a little spooky fun. We’re going to thrash the transmission by skipping the clutch and slamming it into reverse warp!
And now for something completely different… Continue reading
Dearest Halo, I don’t love you anymore.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s a new Halo release today and I’m not sick with the Halo Flu. I’m not even buying it today. Does this mean I’ve fallen off the gamer wagon? Absolutely not. It’s just… Well it’s not you, Halo, it’s me. Just kidding, it’s you. ODST was bad. Don’t lie to yourself. The only thing ODST was good for was being traded in for credit on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Yup. I said it.
Powershell and Mysql featuring the null byte (x00)
For those of you who follow our blog, Brett does a lot of articles about PowerShell and how great it is. So the other day when I need to do a mysql dump of some data on a Windows 2008 server, I fired it up. The deep blue background touched my inner California beach bum, and the verbose bright red error messages made my inner programmer smile.
“This is pretty neat,” I thought. “Maybe Windows has finally made something to compete with Unix’s shell in a real and meaningful way.”
The dump finished and immediately my Common Sense began tingling…
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6 – 7 versions of Windows 7 WTF?!
I wasn’t a fan of Microsoft’s decision to put out umpteen versions of Vista and I’m still not a fan of this marketing tactic in regards to Windows 7. Microsoft released details today that they will be releasing 6 versions of Windows 7 plus a an N version for the EU that will ship without Media Player installed.
Windows 7 to kill Linux; Linux to retaliate and firebomb Windows 7
It’s the same old story every year: Linux will finally dominate Windows, Windows will finally kill off that pesky open-source Linux. My dad’s better than your dad; my mashed potatoes can beat-up your mashed potatoes. The truth simply is it’s not going to pan out like that. Linux will still dominate the server world and Windows will still dominate the desktop world (and if you think vista’s failing is a sign of Microsoft’s slipping, I kindly ask you to remember Windows ME followed by the popularity of XP). So what’s new to the battle front? Well, honestly, it’s not really ‘new’ it’s just what people are talking about these days. ‘Netbooks’. And I highly doubt it will be some epic battle of Good Vs. Evil, either. Continue reading