No Need For Speed
If you choose not to lease a modem or router from my new ISP, you have to select them from ‘approved’ lists.
I went with the Motorola SB6121 because it is ‘approved’ for both of the bottom two levels of service, the lowest level that I’m getting, or the next level up. I replaced my tried and true Belkin N300 with a Belkin N750, because I’m actually using my laptop more often now, and it will handle the improved bandwidth that will be available.
Of course, the new ISP is kvetching that I should go ‘top of the line’ available for purchase from them, but the prices are considerably cheaper at Newegg for some reason. My big box is a solid vanilla computer, so why get carried away with the peripherals. If I had something that would be good for on-line gaming, I might do it, so it is better not to tempt myself.
There is a lot of really good super high speed computing power out there. If you want it, talk to Kryten, because he designs them. I do cat pictures, not live streaming. Since I don’t watch TV, I have no idea why the ISP thinks I would be interested in video streaming.
The litter boxes are calling.
10 comments
Me??! Hey! I design el-cheapo ‘puters too I’ll have you know! “Best bang for the buck”! Is my motto! 😉 😆 Seriously, The systems I’ve been designing (even the last few that seem prohibitively expensive, and are way overkill for general home use) are always less costly than the quotes the clients get from regular system builders, from large PC stores to companies like Dell. It’s why my clients are happy, and come back. 🙂 I give them what they need, at a better price than anywhere else. They always have a good ROI. 🙂
I’ve designed a few low cost systems (<$1,000 – $2,000) for friends over the years, usually for free. And inexpensive doesn't have to mean *cheap and nasty*. One friend just updated a system I designed for him 8 years ago. It did the job he needed. But now he needs to run Win8 sadly. He was actually using Win 3.1 up until a few years ago! LOL 😉
I'm currently investigating an interesting new *toy* for myself! 😀 I need a new LCD monitor, and want to get a decent Android tablet, 10"at least. A decent LCD is around $250-$350, and a decent large Android tab is usually over $400! I cam across a new all-in-one by AOC that looks very interesting! Has a built in KVM to switch between the internal Android system, and the external PC/Notebook, and a touch screen (required for Android to work well, also used for win 8/8.1).
AOC A2272PWHT (IPS) 21.5″ HDMI Full HD Touch Screen Smart Android AIO
I can get it here for about $360! A bargain if it’s any good! Gonna go play with one at the local PC store (where the manager knows me) on Sat. 🙂 It’s a little smaller than I wanted for a PC monitor (prefer 24″ or more), and a little bigger than the Android tablet I wanted (10″-12″) though, I don’t need it to be portable. But for the price, I can’t complain, it’s a compromise after all.
Anyway, glad the IT side of your life is coming together for you! 😀 Good luck!
Hey Bryan… I was reading techdirt for some laughs! Found a couple items about M$ for you to *shrug* and say “yeah… so, what’s new?” (or similar!) 😉 😆
M$ Looked Through Reporter’s Hotmail And MSN Chat Accounts To Identify Win 8 Leaker
This from the corporation that is utterly shocked (SHOCKED they say) at the deplorable spying by the NSA! 😈
M$ Enlisting Clueless States Attorneys General To Shake Down Foreign Companies For ‘Piracy’
Ummm… I thought all the US SAG’s were clueless? Given what I’ve been reading in the news (real news) the past several years anyway. *shrug*
One of the comments was another “Ummm… and your point is?” Of course M$ wants to charge you twice, even 3 or 4 or 5 times for the same thing! Gates is a crooked dweeb! No news here. 😉
I needed a laugh! But now I can’t sleep. *shrug* Oh well… I have lot’s to do anyway! 😀 😉
Ehhh… What the heck, one for the road! 😉 😀
No, Government Computers Won’t Suddenly Be Vulnerable To Hackers On April 8; They Already Are
LOL
Hmmm. Speaking of moronic AG’s… Our Fed AG is a s bad, or possibly even more insane than your’s! Believe it… or not! 😉 😆
Australian Attorney General Wants To Make It A Criminal Offense To Not Turn Over Private Encryption Keys
You really have to read this one! You won’t feel so bad about the USA. 😉
I’m definitely not gonna get any sleep! too funny! LMAO
It’s official! The World is run by morons, and all of us are FUBAR! Bigtime! 😈
Sugar is sweet, water is wet, and M$ screws its customers. These are the realities of this world.
I saw AOC monitors in California, but I haven’t seen any in the East. They may be concentrating on the Pacific Rim, rather than the whole US market. It looks like a good solution for you.
The Australian AG’s suggested law would be unconstitutional in the US, if the courts remembered that we still have a Constitution. You can’t compel someone to testify against themselves.
They want these laws to convince voters that they are serious about finding the ‘bad guys’, and hope they don’t get caught spying on politicians. It’s new and shiny so they have to have it – kind of like magpies and three-year-olds.
Bryan, it’s already illegal here in the USA to refuse to turn over encryption keys or passwords when ordered to do so by a judge. That has already been decided by the courts. Kevin Mitnick spent close to five years in jail for contempt of court for refusing to turn over his passwords and that was nearly twenty years ago. The law hasn’t changed since. The distinction used by the courts is that passwords are not testimony, they are the same thing as a physical key, and if you refuse to turn over a physical key to the court when ordered to do so you are in contempt for failure to produce subpoenaed evidence.
This is what Bruce Schneier calls “rubber hose cryptanalysis”, i.e., rather than decrypt the data in transit or on the disk, torture someone who knows the key until they spill the beans.
I don’t know what you were doing in 1995-1999. But I was following the Mitnick case carefully, because it was going to determine whether we lived in a country where the Constitution meant something, or one where it doesn’t. Well. We found out, I guess.
In the late 1990s I was in a very unconnected area looking for a decent ISP, while cleaning up possible Y2K Problems in California via snail mail with diskettes and CDs.
At some point I would hope we get some judges who understand the currently technology as a user, and stop screwing over people because of their personal ignorance.
Funny you mentioning Mitnick Badtux. 🙂 I watched Takedown a week ago. Having a bad cold means that I get to watch my DVD’s again. LOL Usually, I don’t have time. I think I bought that in 2000, or maybe 2001. It was not too badly done, though of course some of the stuff that happened was left out. There is only so much that can be put into a 92 minute movie. 😉 And they did hit most of the highlights. I doubt that it would have been as close to what happened if it was made today, in the post 9/11 era of being put on a terrorist watch list, or in prison for some of the things they said about the FBI etc. 😉
Anyway, we’ve already had to put up with draconian law’s relating to computers and IT for more than a decade.
We have:
1. ASIO Legislation Amendment Bill 1999, which was enacted in 2000.
“…Overall the Bill provides for a significant increase in ASIO’s powers, and a corresponding decrease in the rights of Australians. The balance between individual rights and the security concerns of the state is shifted in favour of the latter. …”
Legislation granting ASIO authority, among other things, to hack into citizens’ computers and covertly add, delete or alter data (defined as including both information and computer programs) was enacted in 2000.
2. The Commonwealth Cybercrime Bill 2001 was approved by the Parliament with minor amendments on 27 September 2001. The legislation was an overbroad knee-jerk reaction to then recent well-publicised virus attacks, and has the potential to criminalise innocent behaviour such as possession of security software. It also introduced an alarming law enforcement provision requiring release of encryption keys or decryption of data, contrary to the common law privilege against self-incrimination.
The Cth Bill implemented section 4.2 of the Model Criminal Code (MCC) and all Australian State and Territory Governments were understood to be intending to implement the computer related offences of the Australian Model Criminal Code (refer Chapter 4 – Damage and Computer Offences).
Don’t forget that we are part of the *Commonwealth*, so whatever anti-social, draconian laws the UK enacts, are almost always enacted by Sth. Africa and Aus. Such as the “Key Disclosure Law”.
Forbes have an article about it and how it affects the USA:
Key Disclosure Laws Can Be Used To Confiscate Bitcoin Assets
Speaking of this damned cold… It isn’t any more, I’m on antibiotics again for a nasty throat/bronchial infection. *sigh* Just shoot me… I keep sayin’it!! Bah!
The good news is that infections can be cured, while colds must be endured. A ‘great’ start to Fall.
We are waiting for Spring, but Winter still lingers to annoy people.
My question with the Forbes article is ‘why would a government want Bitcoin assets?’ They are a libertarian wet dream, not legal tender, so what is the point?
People get weird and waste time and money on smoke and mirrors because they ‘thought it was a good idea at the time.’
Yeah, that’s true for infections, some of them anyway. 🙂
Here’s something that will make your blood boil…
“Time Warner’s sell-out CEO to get $80 million
Time Warner CEO Robert Marcus began his job January 1, then sold the company to Comcast, for which he’ll be receiving “a severance payment that amounts to more than $1 million a day for the six weeks he ran the company before agreeing to sell.”
Time Warner’s sell-out CEO to get $80 million
Nobody on the planet is worth $80 mill. for doing 6 weeks *work* (sweet FA!!)
Not only that, but it seems part of his job was to rip off the States by not paying franchise fees (probably to improve the profits to make it more attractive to ComCast).
Los Angeles sues Time Warner Cable for $10 million back fees
Lastly:
Multistate AG taskforce looking at Comcast-Time Warner merger
Guess what? 😉 It includes Florida! 😀 Hmmmm…
Verizon is also in trouble (what’s new?). *shrug*
“Verizon set to stiff NJ on FiOS promises
New Jersey Verizon subscribers have paid $15 billion in surcharges to finance broadband for the whole state for FiOS by 2010. But only 55 percent of the state is wired, and Verizon is refusing to finish the job.”
“Pennsylvania telephone deregulation bill is bad for seniors
Wayne Burton, president of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, condemns a pending state bill that would free Verizon from landline guarantees and cost controls.”
Another day in the USA… another way to screw der Citzens! 😉
OK. Time for more med’s, and maybe some sleep…
For me, this is in the ‘sky is blue and water is wet’ file. None of the telecommunication industry has been trustworthy since deregulation. They lie like hell and make all kinds of promises to get what they want, then they don’t fulfill their side of the bargain. You have to take them to court to get any action.
Comcast and Verizon have the worst reputations among US telecommunication corporations. Time-Warner has been a mess since they merged with AOL after AOL had peaked and was in decline. The people in charge have an history of turning gold into lead every time they attempt anything different. Comcast is only interested in their subscribers, to boost their position in the market.