Month: July 2010

Bloody Fast Internet

So I have Internet access at home again which means regular updates on this site again. It also means I get to talk about said Internet connection for a bit because I’m happy with it.

Since I now have to pay a third party for Internet access I decided it was going to be done my way. One thing I didn’t like about my apartment complex’s Internet service was the inability to get a static IP address. This prevented me from effectively running a VPN server. Well I called all the ISPs that service my area (which is to say I called Qwest and Comcast) to find out what services are offered.

Qwest had shit speeds so I pretty much decided to ignore them from the get go. Additionally I’ve heard nothing good about Qwest from my friends. Comcast will only provided a static IP address for business accounts which is what I signed up for.

In the past I’ve only had DSL. Comcast’s business service is provided through cable so that’s a whole new experience for me. I’ve been running periodic speed tests (both during peak hours and non-peak hours) and so far have been averaging ~40 Mbps down and ~11 Mbps up. That’s quite a bit better than what I’m paying for so I’m impressed. Additionally my computer is now accessible remotely… at least once I figured out how to get my VPN server running correctly.

But yeah now for some advice. If you’re getting Internet service through Comcast just forget about the residential service and talk to their business department. The price for the lowest tier business account is the same you’ll be paying for the residential service after the six month introductory pricing and you don’t have to deal with the schmucks in tier one technical support (you automatically are bumped up to tier two). Likewise the business representatives can actually answer you questions (the lady in charge of the residential service in my area couldn’t tell me if they could provide a static IP address or not).

We’ll see how the next few weeks go before I give an official endorsement. But as it sits right now I’m pretty happy.

Internet is Go

Good news everybody I have an Internet connection at home and it’s fast. I hope to be back to regular posting speed tomorrow morning although if setting up my VPN server (did I mention I have a static IP address this time) takes longer than expected it may still end up being a slower day. Either way I’ll have stuff on the site for you to read again.

Only in Australia

Read this article:

A drunk man who climbed into a crocodile enclosure in Australia and attempted to ride a 5m (16ft) long crocodile has survived his encounter.

The crocodile, called Fatso, bit the 36-year-old man’s leg, tearing chunks of flesh from him as he straddled the reptile.

Seriously where else in the world could a headline like that be made?

That’s Odd it Appears the Evil Belgians Found Something

I’m still doing this on the phone so bear with me and realize the grammar and spelling in this post may be a little worse than usual which is already pretty bad.

Remember a short while back when the Belgian police raided the local Catholic diocese? Remember how outraged the Vatican was at this terrible atrocity and complete disrespect for sacred ground? Remember all the people outraged that this happened? Well it appears that the Belgian police found something rather strange:

The confidential court documents were found in recent days among the many documents on June 24 seizures were made in the archbishop’s palace in Mechelen. These reports among magistrates was only intended for the court.

The same goes for hundreds of photos from the Dutroux investigation and large parts of the court record of the victims Julie and Melissa. The investigators were in the archbishop’s palace, dozens of photographs of the ruins of their cells, to allow autopsies.

Some internal court documents, which were found to have conversations of an agent with a coded informant – an informant who registered with the police investigation and the actions that followed. Informant who claimed that Julie and Melissa were kidnapped and murdered by the Mafia Liege, but investigation by the investigators that the track was not credible. It’s a mystery what the researchers that documents in the basement of the archbishop did.

I’d say that’s was worth the raid and investigation right there. Let’s see how this one turns out.

Also yes I realize both links are run through Google Translate and therefore could be inaccurate but I originally came across these via episode 215 of No Agenda. One of the hosts is fluent in Dutch and provided the original information, hence I believe it’s accuracy.

Making Something Scary

I’m still doing this from my phone so you’re not getting my usually long posts. But a post over on Bruce Schneier’s blog about “cyber warfare” had a rather interesting line in it:

Googling those names and terms — as well as “cyber Pearl Harbor,” “cyber Katrina,” and even “cyber Armageddon” — gives some idea how pervasive these memes are. Prefix “cyber” to something scary, and you end up with something really scary.

It’s true. For instance here is a list of good cyber threat terms that should be showing up anytime soon:

  • cyber Alamo
  • cyber World War II
  • cyber ragnarok
  • cyber apocalypse
  • cyber zompocalypse
  • cyber Vietnam policing action
  • cyber end of the world

Yeah we can play the same game as the hype-mongers as well. Maybe the NSA should give me a job.

New Source of Clean Energy Found

A new discovery in the field of clean energy has been found today. It comes from the newly discovered universal constant. Much like E = mc2 the new constant states R = cit where ‘R’ is the amount of rage in the universe, ‘c’ is Christopher Burg, and ‘i’ is the lack of Internet connectivity at the home of ‘c’, and ‘t’ is the amount of time in seconds. As scientists have found the longer ‘c’ goes without ‘i’ the more rage exponentially increases in the universe. If harnessed this rage could be an every increasing clean energy source.

Scientist are currently looking at ways of harnessing this power safely. Unfortunately this is where a roadblock has been encountered. It seems a side effect has also been discovered as ‘t’ increases the danger of ‘c’ also increases exponentially. ‘R’ appears to become less and less directed as ‘t’ increases leading ‘c’ to lash out at more and more things. The last scientist who attempted to enter the residence of ‘c’ was mauled by a velociraptor. Although the velociraptor has been extinct for 65 million years it appears with enough ‘R’ they can be conjured back into existence and sent to attack unsuspecting scientists.

Time is ticking. Scientists have learned that ‘t’ will continue increasing for roughly another week before being reset to 1. The amount of damage that could occur if ‘c’ is not safely contained is as-of-yet unknown but best estimates put the destructive power to roughly that of the angry wrath of Thor combined with the angry wrath of Odin. Scientists are urging people to remain calm during this potential crisis.

Limited Updates for a While

For the last few years my apartment complex has provided Internet service to me as part of my rent. Sure it wasn’t amazing but it was decent enough. Well starting yesterday with no prior warning they have stopped offering their Internet service effective immediately. That means the only Internet service I currently have is through my phone and where I find it nomad style.

Due to this no major updates will be on here for a bit. At least not until I get another ISP to hook up service.

Man I’m so pissed off right now.