So do you want your internet to look like this?
Do you?
Mar 142011
It’s Monday and it keeps being Monday. I read this little gem over the net earlier today and I’m still a pretty pissed about it.
Let’s see. Hmm. The argument boils down to this. AT&T claims that they really can’t handle the traffic of the bandwidth hogs. It’s difficult to tell since they I doubt that they will ever be open about it but third party commenters doubt the veracity of that statement. That’s a polite way of saying, “I call bullshit.”
Maybe I wouldn’t be so pissed if I actually had some viable choices. But I don’t. Oh, yeah. I wish they would deliver the speed they promised but they usually don’t,
But on the bright side, if you are a U-Verse subscriber, you get more bandwidth. There you go. AT&T’s first bitch slap on Net Neutrality.
Of course, if you don’t hear from for a few days, it means the cyber-patrol of AT&T hunted me down and clipped my lines. (Note: I’m just kidding I don’t think AT&T has an elite black ops cyber-hit team.)
My Net Neutrality Rant
Geek Life, Politics & Religion, Tech and The Web
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Feb 012011
The debate continues on the subject on Net Neutrality. In my opinion, there’s nothing to debate. It’s just a basic assurance of freedom of expression and an open and free market. But our lawmakers and sitting there with their heads up their collective asses and their ears to the big telco’s.
Let’s go back in time and think about this a moment. What if there were no Net Neutrality back when Google started? Remember this was a little tiny company way back when. Hell, their first server was made with freaking Lego’s. Despite any personal opinions about the company, would Google have grown to be the power house it is today if it weren’t for Net Neutrality? Let’s face it. Google has directly and indirectly helped thousands of small and large businesses. Google has a hand in entertaining, informing and helping millions of people communicate. Really think about it. Would this small little experiment by a couple of doctoral candidates that ended up being run out of garage become a multibillion dollar corporation, if it weren’t for Net Neutrality? What companies like Amazon or Ebay? Where would they be? It’s not just about these Internet giants. It’s about the little guy that comes up with the next great invention. The author who self-publishes his book. It’s about grass roots political movements. It’s about viral videos and the exchange of ideas.
Of course, the telco’s are whining that they need to control network traffic. Yeah, you do. The majority of halfway knowledgeable Internet users understand this. But what really pisses us off is crap like bandwidth caps, blocking traffic and “We can’t take the traffic.” Really. It’s your fucking job and your business. It’s what we are paying you good money for. Do what you say you will do. I don’t go to the grocery store and buy a pound of ground beef and have the butcher say, “Sorry too many people bought ground beef, so here’s half a pound but we’re still going to charge you for a pound.”
And don’t even get me started on the myth of broadband competition. They only people who think that there is plenty of competition are politicians and the ISP’s that pretty much have local monopolies. There’s plenty of new technology that’s constantly getting cock blocked.
This isn’t needless government regulation. It’s consumer protect. It encourages new business, innovation and growth. Here endeth my rant.
Oct 052010
News about a company called Social Intelligence Corp. broke last week. I thought that was a dangerous and bad idea then and now that I’ve time to calm my anger, it’s still a damned dangerous slope.
On the surface, this may seem like a simple little idea. If a potential employee posts an insane manifesto online like some of the recent psychos who have graced our newscasts then yes that’s something important. What’s really frightening is when a company like this just starts spilling out a bot driven profile with less attention to detail than the credit reporting services. Inaccurate information and text taken out of context could kill somebody’s chance at a job. Look at this blog, all this talk about magic, monsters, looting, killing and pillaging. Hmm. But that’s about gaming but bots and some reporting service who’s only goal is to cash in juicy reports won’t care. While a potential employer can’t ask you about your political or religious beliefs nothing stops a company like this from codifying your opinions as a “potential risk”.
I predict shortly after this company gets off the ground they are going to get hard with lawsuits and people will start to demand to know what such a service is saying about them. They’ll hide behind the defense that the information is “proprietary” and hope they lose.
I’m all for free enterprise and capitalism but this one company I hope that falls flat on its ass.
Tech at the Game Table: My Little Wish
RPG, Tech and The Web
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Sep 132010
Lap tops and tech gadgets are getting more and more prevalent at the game table and there’s a bunch of virtual table tops for folks to use as means of long distance gaming or as a networked solution.
Personally, I’ve gotten into the habit of using electronic character sheets and referencing PDF’s of rule books at the table. I avoid the distraction of web surfing and playing music. However, I have been knows to occasionally play the random sound clip at a dramatically or comically appropriate moment (I’m gonna sing the doom song now!) As a GM, I like my lap top as a good place to have all my notes organized. No more flipping through a pile of papers and index cards, I can just have several documents and spread sheets open and flip and search between them. I’m one of those folks who thinks that there’s a lot of new options that the tech offers.
But I do have this little dream of what I want for a virtual table top. I’ve looked through what software that I was able to find and nobody’s doing it as far as I can tell. All of the virtual table tops are just that table tops. It’s just like you’re looking down on a battle map like you are sitting there at a table which is fine and familiar. But what I want is a first person view. I want to see the action through the eyes of my character. It’s not like its really advanced technology by today’s standards. There have been networked first person shooters for years. Why not take those same ideas and concepts and transfer it over to a turn based virtual table top. Some of the earliest computer fantasy RPG’s did this in their own unique and primitive way.
But I know it will take someone with hell of a lot more know-how than me to do a project like this. So run with techies.
Jul 272010
Dear Apple,
Sorry that you lost that whole DMCA thing. But get serious I don’t need an Apple Star Chamber deciding what’s OK for me to put on my phone. Yes, I know that there is malware out there. But you make my damned phone, you are not my mommy and you don’t get to pick and choose what I may and may not put on MY phone. Do you get to pick and chose what I put on my laptop or desk top. No. Why do you insist that I do it on a smart phone. And you still want to get all passive aggressive with it will void my warranty. Thanks for helping me make my decision.
PS: Open Source Rocks!
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