Internet

This article describes why I decided to move off Rogers for the internet, what options are currently available in the local Kitchener/Waterloo area, and the details on how to switch from Rogers.

Rogers: Good and Bad

Rogers internet service is quite good from a functionality point of view. Their technical support is also acceptable, though sometimes you need to have more than one call to get an issue resolved.

Do you have a Magic Jack Plus?

Do you get a message "Error 23" when you lift the phone hand set, instead of a dial tone?

Read on for a solution ...

This tutorial assumes that you can find your way around your router's configuration menus from a browser. Refer to your router's documentation to find out the specific IP address for your router and where the relevant options are.

Step 1: Find the MAC Address for the Magic Jack Plus

Ubuntu decided several months ago to forgo its policy of sticking with Firefox 3.6, and go with the latest versions from Mozilla.

With Firefox 13 running on Ubuntu 10.04, I had good performance, and did not suffer from this problem that I am about to describe. The only issue I faced was excessive disk activity and that was fixed by disabling the FireBug extension. Other than that, Firefox was speedy and responsive.

From nearby Stratford, Ontario, teen pop singer Justin Bieber has achieved worldwide fame in just one year, becoming a phenomenon.

He can thank the internet as the vehicle that helped him shoot up to stardom.

Another bad day for consumers in Canada.

The Conservative minority government is set to revive yet another attempt at implementing US-like DMCA.

See the Globe and Mail: Pending copyright bill to mimic U.S.: Geist, and CBC: Anti-consumer copyright bill on way: expert.

The CRTC, the regulator for Canada's telecommunication market, has granted Bell the right to bill customers by usage, i.e. charge more for downloads. This applies to both retail and wholesale customers. Which means that people who bought from smaller providers who use the Bell network as well.

This is bad for Teksavvy, bad for their customers and a bad day for the internet in Canada!

Via the CBC.

US President-Elect Barack Obama was on an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC yesterday.

Among the things that was discussed, was his intention on keeping the Blackberry he currently uses.

What struck me was this quote:

"One of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation -- the bubble that exists around the president.

According to Peter Nowak of the CBC, a hostile bid for Yahoo by Microsoft could change the future of the web.

The article says that the such a bid is likely and would have a good chance of happening too.

They also mention that Microsoft's "closedness" and the mentality of controling everything would cause a major shift, followed by a lot of Yahoo's talent leaving due to the differing cultures.

I use the Linux dump program to do backups. I use a set of scripts making the process as unattended as can be. The scripts send me an email with the result so I am informed of the outcome.

Viewing today's email status message in Gmail had a hilarious surpise in it. Look at the ad on the right hand side.

Google thought that the email subject and text here has "Dump" in it, an display an ad about "She dumped me" ... "Get your girl back".

Over the span of a few days, three undersea cables were cut in different areas of the world. Two in the Mediterranean, and another in the Perisan Gulf.

The site of the first cut is 8 km away from Alexandria, and was cut on January 30 by a wayard ship anchor. The third cut is 56 km from Dubai. The cause of that latter cut was not confirmed.

These cuts have affected Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Iran and India.