Time Warner Caps Dropped! Victory!
We won! Perhaps… but it is a start. Time Warner has dropped its plans to enforce Bandwidth caps across Texas and NY! Though with caveats, this is a great day! And that too, after I had ranted on in the previous post. Seems Senator Schumer’s displeasure was the push needed to bring down this ill-conceived plan on the part of Time Warner.
Time for celebrations in Blogosphere! One down, Comcast next.
Time Warner bandwidth caps in Texas and NY
In this age of ubiquitous Internet access, not to mention the plethora of content that has been migrated from more traditional delivery media, to online repositories (read Hulu, CBS, etc), it is preposterous to even conceive, much less bring into regulation, that which is anathema for all dedicated, educated web users, namely Bandwidth Caps.
I have watched in alarm as Time Warner, Frontier, Comcast – the “premier” ISPs in this region have started this new exercise of enforcing (at various stages of implementation) bandwidth caps – limitations on how much a user may download – across markets in Texas and Rochester, NY. This does not affect me directly at present, as where I live, these caps are yet to be implemented and it stands to reason that since this area is a “highly-competitive” region, caps will probably not be implemented anytime soon. However, this is a travesty no matter where it happens.
The companies maintain that without caps, they simply can’t survive and limitations free Internet access is not viable. Hogwash, the amount they plan to charge PER GB is nearly 98 cents/ dollar more than what the cost is to them. It is a case of utter greed, and turning unimaginable profits by bilking consumers which due to the already monopolistic reach of ISPs are starved for choice.
I point to examples from the rest of the world. Sweden, Japan, Netherlands – ultra fast access with none of the limitations hogwash. So this utter nonsense of non-viability, is this restricted to the ISPs in the English speaking world?
Some argue bandwidth caps as those implemented by Comcast are fair and just – and to those arguments I thumb my nose. Any kind of restriction, any kind of caps are anathema to this medium, as we approach the age of DOCSIS 3.0, and Fiber Optic to home. An analogy I read on one of the blogs around the webz, likened the situation to regulating the number of hours one may watch TV.
Suppose for the basic channels one subscribes to, one is told that for $50 a month one may watch 20 hours of cable, and for each additional hour the cable company will charge an extra dollar. I am sure some of the meek ones in the crowd will comply and some might even cut down the amount of time they watch TV to 20 hours a month. Whichever the case may be, the viewer has lost the freedom to choose. No matter if the company allows 20 hours or 50 hours, any kind of cap runs against the grain.
There is hope and there are voices rising in crescendo against these ISP enforced regulations – voices from across the blogosphere, twitterscape and forums that are reaching our representatives. Representatives such as Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mayoral candidate Lee Leffingwell, and others are proactive in their condemnation of Time Warner and their proposed bandwidth caps.
An excellent website to keep abreast of developments and network with like-minded users is StopTheCap. Join up and share your ideas, and if you are affected/incensed by this, join in the effort. We need to speak up now as a community.
My New Toy – me new XBox360
This post is hopelessly delayed and you’ll soon know why – but what a wonderful gift was I surprised with, on my birthday! Yes, this old man carved out another notch in the life chain on the 16th. Thanks you.
But to the topic at hand! Rissa’s mom, dad and grandparents came to our place to celebrate with us, along with Jen, Sam and the kids via Webcam from Indiana. Just so touching indeed, and that in itself was a great gift – the gift of family. The kids seemed extra excited! As I opened my gifts, there was an air of excitement about – Rissa’s dad seemed rather overcome by it and apparently went out for a breather – but soon came right back in, with a HUGE bag. My eyes widened as I opened the bag to see the oh so familiar green box with the X logo on it. Could NOT believe it – my first instinct – am I being Punk’d much like that kid who thought he got a Wii but found out it was a box full of socks. But no, it was real, it is mine! I was gifted a console, an XBox at that.
SO surreptitious was the entire setup! Everyone was in on it, and I didn’t suspect a thing. Sneaky indeed, but wow! And all this seems to have stemmed from a humble request I had put on our registry back in August, last year and Rissa’s mom caught up on it in December - the rest is history. But am just so amazed at how Rissa kept it from me, and didn’t let me get suspicious at all – every time I thought there was something going on, she’d be ready with a fully convincing explanation to the otherwise. Amazing… my hat’s off to you my wife!
And since then, I’ve been busy gaming – getting progressively better at games I once knew (from the PC and other platforms). Virtua Tennis 3, Fight Night Round 3, Virtua Fighter 5 Online, and the list goes on. The possibilities are limitless – this is by far the most advanced console I have ever seen (agreed I haven’t seen too many other than PS2-3, Wii), and I am simply blown away! At this time I am hungrily browsing the interwebs looking for deals and other additions I can make to this haloed Console.
Perfect indeed THANK YOU Rissie, Mom, Dad, Jen, Sam, Grandpa, Gramma B, and the lil Kids!
The Bubble Guy of Allen Street
The Bubbles Guy of Allen Street, known best as The Bubble Guy, has been bringing smiles to faces of countless, and has been brightening up the day (and the sky) for many, since about seven years now, with the simple act of blowing bubbles from his third storey apartment on the corner of Allen and Elmwood. An institution and a landmark unto himself, the Bubble guy has been engaging in his endeavor when the weather so permits.
His hobby is considered a nuisance by some, who claim that the bubbles leave a soapy residue on the cars and windows around his zone of action. As a result he has his share of detractors and supporters.
The first time I noticed him was when I was waiting for a bus at that spot, tired, dulled from a full day of work – when I happened to notice a multitude of bubbles floating by, catching the light of the sun, and momentarily I wandered off, floating away from my worries and tribulations, with those bubbles into the wide, open yonder. Since that day, the sight of bubbles floating by the window of my office never fails to bring a smile to my visage, and for a moment I can just let go of the worries and mind-wrangling issues to enjoy the bubbles.
It reminds me of the poem I used to recite for my English teacher back in grade school. William Wordsworth’s Daffodils. Especially this final paragraph.
For oft when on my couch I lie,
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye,
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
MacBook Pro Pr0n
As promised here are the much anticipated porn pics – of the MacBook Pro kinds.
The tease, strutting its stuff.
Oh la la la!
Naughty naughty!
Does Stevie know?
The Money shot!
Am partial to the tops anyways.
And that concludes this presentation. Time to bring your pulses down a bit… stay tuned for more…
