Should I change my avatar?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Some of the larger(est) ISP's, and I think that EarthLink might be one, do some not so above board (shall I say, underhanded) things with their Internet service to their customers. Throttling speeds; actual denial of service (connectivity); "systems maintenance" just to name a few.

The weird thing is that I've had Earthlink for eons. I originally had Netcom, then somewhere around the mid-'90s (I think) Earthlink bought them out or merged or something, and that's how I ended up with Earthlink. Until moving back to California I *NEVER* had connectivity problems. Of course, that was dialup, as my Dallas suburb didn't have any high speed options at the time (I left there in 2006). Oh, I'd go without a connection, a LOT, but not because of an Earthlink outage, but because of the [f word] weather! Between the tornadoes, torrential rains, ice, and snow, the power went out very frequently. But purely in terms of Internet, I never had problems. And then I move back home to SoCal--the center of the universe when it comes to technology (I mean, come on, the [f word] Internet was INVENTED a few miles away)--and I can't get a consistent Internet connection. I'm not a high bandwidth user, so I don't think Earthlink's doing anything like covertly controlling my connection, but I just don't know what to think...

[Snowhog]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Earthlink might not be the culprit, IF they (and likely they do) have to, themselves, go through an even larger ISP service.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

DYK wrote:

he'd see that we're a very lively, interesting, articulate bunch of people with widely varying views on things-

Having not been "too" involved in the thread I would posit:

a) the person is just a "troll" who loves to stir up trouble, and we would never know why unless the person started bashing "the distro"
b) the person is "getting back" at "-buntu" users because of the way Christians were treated at the main forum a few years ago. Kind of "stick it in their eye" as it were.
c) some people don't WANT any other views and that is the end of it if they can't change you they go to another distro.
d) the person is a "new convert" and "feels the need" or....is part of a "proselytyzing group"... has "been told" to go out and "convert the heathen"...

if the latter then the "other people" in "the person's group", then get to say:..

"Oh I was OVER THERE....as a "visitor" of course....and I SAW WHAT THEY DID TO YOU.....and they can pick any thing out of any post to prove the point so then they get to tell the person...."See we TOLD you so...you can preach to the heathens but the devil turns them against you so....

you should stay right here in this cozy little group...away from alll ....those...heathens...".

just some observations over the years both in forums and "out there in the world".

woodsmoke

[GreyGeek]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

....
I don't think Earthlink's doing anything like covertly controlling my connection, but I just don't know what to think...

Earthlink is a second tier provider. In my area they piggyback off of RoadRunner. About three years ago I switched from RoadRunnner because they were raising their prices, lowering their bandwidths and throttling.

Looking around, I found that the only high bandwidth provider in my area besides RoadRunner (TimeWarner) was EarthLink, which uses RoadRunner's hardware AND billing service. Inquiring about their service with a rep I asked for the fastest UNTHROTTLED, UNCAPPED service they had, and was offered 12 Mb/s for $72/mo, and got his promise in writing. About a year ago they automatically updated my service to 15Mb/s and lowered the price to $52/mo, because of RR's new offerings.

In the three years I've used Earthlink I have never had an outage that I am aware of (if it happened I wasn't online at the time), they've NEVER capped my downloads, and they have NEVER throttled my bandwidth.

RR, on the other hand, is notorious for doing all three, unannounced. What triggered me to drop them was that I had purchased a 10Mb/s service for $30/mo. Over the next two or three years, without asking me, they used various excuses to raise the price to $70/mo, drop the bandwidth to 7mb, then 4mb, and then began capping. They are kings of bait & switch. I just checked their offerings in my area. They are offering "Turbo Internet" for $60/mo. "Turbo" Internet is 10Mb/s down and 1Mb/s up. But, if you hurry up you can get it for $50 for one year only, then the price goes back up. Very "generous" of them. BTW, after a flurry of advertizing 50Mb/s cable a few months ago, those ads and its offerings in this area have disappeared.

[dequire]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Earthlink might not be the culprit, IF they (and likely they do) have to, themselves, go through an even larger ISP service.

Well with Earthling as the ISP and Time Warner handling the plumbing, the likelihood of mess-ups are about guaranteed. I left Time Warner for throttling my bandwidth so bad it would be at dial-up speeds at times. I also noticed they now have about 5-tiers for residential bandwidth. I tried a few and never got close to advertised speeds with any of them.

How is that any different from a gas station rigging the pumps to only deliver 80 percent of the gas you are paying for? Plus, Time Warner's service has always been terrible historically (just Google Time Warner Cable service).

Anyway hope your connection stays up!

[oshunluvr]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

I'm still using Verizon FIOS internet because there aren't any suitable alternatives in my area. I used to have the FIOS TV, Hard-line phone and Internet combo and bundled billing with my cell phones (4 of them). My total bill was $480 a month.

After Verizon tried Union busting in New York, I decided to shop around for alternatives. I ended up dropping pay TV altogether and put a $90 antenna on the roof. I bought a $270 dollar PVR to record shows and watch media off my server on my family room TV, bought an Ooma box for telephone and dropped the hard-line ($200 plus $40 a year for the Ooma vs. $59 a month for the hard-line), switched to T-Mobile cellular.

Net result is $125 savings a month the first year and $270 after that. Monthly internet is $69 a month for 25Mb's down and 15Mb's up advertised but here's what I really get:

[GreyGeek]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

...
I ended up dropping pay TV altogether and put a $90 antenna on the roof....

I dropped cable TV as well when I dropped RR. I built two HD antenna similar to the "coat hanger" HD antenna video on YouTube. I have them behind my two TV sets. I get about 27 channels off the air.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Guys, this will be a quickie. (Get your minds out of the gutter!) My Internet connection is, miraculously, working right now, but it was out from yesterday afternoon until about 30 minutes ago. I don't know how long it'll last. Time Warner is sending someone out tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say. (It was going to be Thursday, but I called back and pestered them. ) I actually tried posting via my Atrix, but standing on my head under the lemon tree in the backyard was too hard (that's what I have to do to get a signal...thanks, AT&T!), so I gave up. Ran a script all night logging attempts at pinging so I'd know if/when it reconnected, but no such luck until now. I'll read the newest replies after I catch up on everything else I need to do--like pay bills and order prescriptions...IF I still have a connection by then. If I'm offline until tomorrow, you know why.

[Snowhog]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Time Warner is sending someone out tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say.

Be prepared, once the tech finds out you are running Linux, for him/her to tell you either "Oh, you aren't using Windows. That is your problem; you need to install Windows [insert version here]." or "You aren't using Windows? We don't provide support for non-Windows systems."

:P :P

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Time Warner is sending someone out tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say.

Be prepared, once the tech finds out you are running Linux, for him/her to tell you either "Oh, you aren't using Windows. That is your problem; you need to install Windows [insert version here]." or "You aren't using Windows? We don't provide support for non-Windows systems."

:P :P

Yeah, that was one of my concerns prior to having TW come out to install the cable connection, but it turned out to be a non-issue. They don't actually DO anything but install the cabling and the modem, then make sure it's getting a signal of the appropriate speed, and that's where their responsibility ends. The guy who came out was great in that he waited for me to check that my computers had connectivity before he left. He wasn't required to do that, but did it anyway, which made up for my being pissed off after he told me that the original guy--the one who said he couldn't finish the installation because my neighbors weren't home and he needed to access a pole in their yard--had LIED. The first guy simply didn't WANT to climb that pole, so he said the neighbors weren't home when, in fact, they were AND they gave him permission to enter their backyard. Instead, I had to wait a whole extra week for TW to reschedule...and then I found out he was full of ... crap. >

[GreyGeek]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

...
The first guy simply didn't WANT to climb that pole, so he said the neighbors weren't home when, in fact, they were AND they gave him permission to enter their backyard. Instead, I had to wait a whole extra week for TW to reschedule...and then I found out he was full of ... crap. >

He wants paid, but he doesn't want to work. That is so common today ... folks who think they are ENTITLED to receive their pay even if they work below par and frequently don't show up. I'd write a note to TimeWarner and explain what their "employee" did.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

Five hours and counting. Yay, I still have a connection.

Now, about Earthlink, Time Warner, etc... I JUST (as I was typing this) got an automated call from TW saying "We've resolved a network problem in your area...blah blah blah...your connection should now be working...blah blah blah...do you still want to keep your appointment for tomorrow?" (Isn't that interesting?! When I called yesterday, and again today, they TOLD me there were no known outages in my area, and that it was just me. ) They gave me several choices, press 1 for this, 2 for that, so I pressed 0 (not a listed choice) and got "Thank you. Goodbye!" I was trying to get to a person. So now I don't know if my appointment's still on or not. And I don't really care, either, as long as my CONNECTION stays on.

[bsniadajewski]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

DYK wrote:

he'd see that we're a very lively, interesting, articulate bunch of people with widely varying views on things-

Having not been "too" involved in the thread I would posit:

a) the person is just a "troll" who loves to stir up trouble, and we would never know why unless the person started bashing "the distro"
b) the person is "getting back" at "-buntu" users because of the way Christians were treated at the main forum a few years ago. Kind of "stick it in their eye" as it were.
c) some people don't WANT any other views and that is the end of it if they can't change you they go to another distro.
d) the person is a "new convert" and "feels the need" or....is part of a "proselytyzing group"... has "been told" to go out and "convert the heathen"...

if the latter then the "other people" in "the person's group", then get to say:..

"Oh I was OVER THERE....as a "visitor" of course....and I SAW WHAT THEY DID TO YOU.....and they can pick any thing out of any post to prove the point so then they get to tell the person...."See we TOLD you so...you can preach to the heathens but the devil turns them against you so....

you should stay right here in this cozy little group...away from all ....those...heathens...".

just some observations over the years both in forums and "out there in the world".

woodsmoke

That somewhat reminds me of the Jehovah's Witnesses that like to proselytize everywhere. One time, some of them went over to one of my uncle's (I have plenty of them) to preach. Unlike many of us, My uncle, with Bible (New American I think) in hand, actually invited him in and really tested them. I guess they left quite disappointed to say the least. The best way, then, to counter these guys is to be knowledgeable in your beliefs and well prepared too.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Should I change my avatar?

It's been out for 2+ hours. Standing on my head now under the lemon tree to send this from my Atrix. Kindly excuse any typos as I can barely see what I'm doing. Appoinment w/TW still on for tomorrow...

[woodsmoke]

How eliminate Christmas tree controversy in U.S.

And ALSO....how to eliminate, for once and for all, FOREVER.....

The Linux fora "CHRISTIAN ICON" controversy......

The whole of the U.S. and all Linux fora should convert to....THE Christmas PICKLE!!!! instead of the Christmas TREE and the Christmas Pickle ICON!!

The wikipedia article, kinda brief

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_pickle

A much longer article.

http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth11.htm

So next year lets ALL GET ON BOARD with a Christmas pickle ornament icon set...imagine it now...peppermint pickles.... rum and coke pickles...black strap molasses pickle icon...

One can EASILY SEE from the below image, that the Christmas Pickle blends much better with the tree, and because it is a plant material and GREEN it fits in with the whole GREEN MOVEMENT....

it could be a unifying agent between the GREENIES and the CHRISTANIES!!! woah the thought boggles....

well....BURPS the mind!!

[img width=400 height=254]http://broughtonchi.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/chistmas-traditions-3-425js121809.jpg[/img]

And here is a Christmas pickle icon so...I am SET for next year!!!

woodsmoke