Qwiki is one of the newest entries into the search engine arena. Currently it’s in it’s alpha stage, and while the way it delivers information is a novel idea, I have doubts on it’s future.
FCC to vote on net neutrality
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.
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.
Studying for the CCNA? Here are some useful cheat sheets for pros and students alike.
As mentioned in other posts on this site, I’ve been working on my CCNA certification. Now it’s no secret that this is a difficult test, and while there are many tools out there that will help you study and prepare, the simple fact that you are going to have to know the material inside and out can be daunting. It is for this reason that I’m always hunting for a better way to break down the information. Click the link after the break.
Duplicate SIDs in Active Directory
There doesn’t seem to be very much agreement on the problems or even if duplicate SIDs are a problem within Active Directory. I’ve been reading other blogs and some say that its only a problem within work-groups and with Active Directory there is nothing to worry about. Within AD I have seen duplicate SIDs cause machines not to correctly join the domain, and problems connecting to network resources. It only takes a few minutes to run sysprep so I chose to error on the side of caution.
The best way to prevent duplicate SIDs is to sysprep systems before cloning them. Microsoft will only offer support for images that have been syspreped. SysPrep will remove the SID from the reference computer and set the image back to the OOBE “Out of box experience”, but the image will retain the configuration changes ans application install made on the reference computer.
Image building instructions including sysprep to remove the SID:
http://www.shudnow.net/2008/05/05/unattended-server-2008-base-image-creation-using-wsimsysprep/
Note that Sysprep resets other machine-specific state that, if duplicated, can cause problems for certain applications like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), so MIcrosoft’s support policy will still require cloned systems to be made unique with Sysprep.
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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Parsing the ridiculously large DNC file – .NET Edition
So previously I posted about a problem one of our customers had parsing the DNC. The solution was done in perl and you can read about it in the Perl Edition of this. And it worked rather well and very quickly. However it presented a support issue: They didn’t have a linux box nor the inclination to install perl on a windows box just for that meaning each month we needed to parse it for them.
So I rewrote it in Window using .NET…
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CCNA (ICND-2) IP Access Control Lists, key points
IP Access Control Lists (ACL’s) notes from the CCNA ICND-2 Official Exam Certification Guide, by Wendell Odom.
Parsing the ridiculously large DNC file – Perl Edition
Recently, one of our customers had a unique problem. The national Do Not Call (DNC) list they pay $15,000 (yes, that’s a comma and yes those are zeros after it) per year for access to exceeded the 2Gb limit imposed by older systems they were running. Specifically, fox pro couldn’t handle 2Gb+ files. So they asked if we could make something for them that would separate the file into smaller files that could be consumed by the out dated system.
So we did…
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