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DSL Installed

We got DSL.

Installation/setup/etc took about 2 weeks, including the phone line. Pretty darn impressive.

Haven’t had a chance to move everything over so we’re still mostly using the cable connection. Soon we’ll be on a fatter upload pipe, site should be more responsive. Here’s my log of events:

10/27/2003

Ordered SBC phone service, install scheduled for 10/29/2003, 1-5pm
Ordered SpeakEasy.net DSL service, mentioned 5 days after the phone install my service would be going.

03:30 PM 10/29/2003

SBC Phone service installed and working.

04:00 PM 10/30/2003

Called, the address is verified, I’m just waiting now.

??:?? PM 11/1/2003

called again, got second IP address. changed to Gamer account. still waiting.

11/6/2003

MOdem arrive. Connected it, tried to connect to the net, but no luck.
Called Speakeasy, they said (after a few tests) the loop would be ready at
midnight or sometime tomorrow (11/7). We’ll see.

11/7/2003

Still not working, called and the guy said they had until end of business today to complete it. I’ll keep trying and call after midnight.

11/8/2003

Shortly after midnight it was still not working. Called up Speakeasy and they said there was something not setup on their end. He put me on hold and fixed it and I was up and running. Ran 2 tests on dslreports.com, second one seemed more accurate (first one was testing the connection _to_ speakeasy so it wasn’t leaving their ‘network’) which gave me: 846/599 kbps. The download is pretty slow as i’m supposed to get 1.5Mbits, but the upload is AWESOME compared to the 90kbps we usually get.

No more (free) Red Hat

Seems that Red Hat is ‘going commercial’.

Looks like all that will be available from now on is Red Hat Enterprise, which will cost money. It comes in 3 flavors, but none of them are free. There seems to be a replacement for the free “Red Hat” called The Fedora Project.

Needless to say I’m not all too happy. Maybe its time to switch to BSD. Not that I really know the difference, unix is almost greek to me (while I’m a decent unix user, i’m far from a good admin).

New Phones

Wow, our new phones arrived in 1 day!

I bet the woman who took my order felt bad because I was REALLY PISSED when she told me the phone I ordered was going to be more money than the person who talked to me 5 minutes before her. I looked at all the other GSM phones and decided I still wanted the 6800. After she placed the order and called me back with the order numbers, final prices after taxes, etc, she appologized for her mistake, confusing my phone with my wife’s. So I got the price I was expecting.

DSL

We’re getting DSL.

Cable is ok, but the upload speed is crap. There’s no static IP option with ComCast, so its time to change.

Getting SpeakEasy.net DSL.

Unfortunately I had to get a phone line that I don’t plan on using very much. SBC is charging us $24 or something a month. Add DSL on top of that and we’re paying more than Comcast, but the static IP, upload speed should make it worth it.

SBC does provide its own DSL service, but Speakeasy’s reputation seems to be better, though SBC’s is cheaper. I’m really torn.

The ironic part is it says in my speakeasy status that Covad is the DSL “vendor” but their prices are even more expensive than Speakeasy’s. Very strange.

Cell Phone

Its time for a new phone, but which one?

I wanted the Siemens SX56 PocketPC phone, but there are not enough rebates for the existing customers (only new customers get the $150 rebate) so I won’t be getting that phone.

Staying with AT&T I’ve narrowed it down to:
Nokia 6800, Nokia 6200, Sony Ericsson T306, Sony Ericsson T616, Sony Ericsson T226.

Reading www.eopinions.com is very funny. People contradicting each other (one person says the battery life is great, the next saying it sucks), commenting on their service (which has very little to do with the phone) and just being silly sometimes.

Any useful opinions/comments? Thanks

Vacation

Finally some time off of work.

However, since I’m so “needed” I was answering emails and receiving phone calls so its not much of a vacation.

I’d really like to get some of the 500 emails in my inbox sorted/replied to/etc so when I go back to work on Monday maybe, just maybe things will be ever so slightly “normal” or maybe less stressful. Not bloodly likely though.

Time to catch up on stuff around the house (maybe). Very beautiful today, an “indian summer” of sorts having this warm weather in October after some rather cold weather at the end of September. I really need to cut the lawn, but the lawn mower is broken! Hopefully the neighbors will loan me theirs.

Bad Smokers

If you smoke, there’s not much I can do about it. You should quit, but its hard to do.

What I don’t understand is why all (?) smokers believe that the world is their ash tray?!?!??!?!? While driving in their car they think its perfectly fine to dispose of their cigarette butts out the window.

While driving home from my dad’s house, the same car managed to flick 2 of them at me, and a total of 5 butts hit my car on the way home.

While crossing Woodward Ave at Catalpa (aka 11.5 mile) I was standing on the sidewalk on the median/boulivard and there was a TON of cigarette butts in the grass (as people threw them out while they were waiting at the red light).

I don’t know how biodegrable cigarette butts are but I kind of doubt they disappear very quickly.