I'd say this is good news for Blue. I normally forego any on-site technicians when I get a new ISP...all they normally do is type in a command on a computer at their site, so mostly techs just plug the modem into the wall and into the computer...5 minutes later they gave me a bill for $150. But, this last time they said I HAD to purchase the tech service...and I was glad, apparently there were several analog amplifiers and a couple of open loops on my line which resulted in a digital bandwidth of nothing better than 384Mb in both directions. Eliminating these problems has my bandwidth cooking at 1.5Mb download while the upload is still limited to 384Mb.

Let's just hope that you get smooth sailing after they get through.

"I was looking forward to my first normal morning online in a while today, but no such luck. My connection keeps dropping and my DSL router's ready light keeps blinking. I picked up the phone and heard the familiar siren sound that phone techs use to troubleshoot the line."

FWIW:

I had a similar experience with my DSL: intermittent drop-offs, slowdowns, blinking ready light, often loss of synch. All symptoms worse during/after rain. Turned out it was several arced shorts at the box where the line came into my house, not at the pole. After two phoners and two tech visits, one smart guy checked the box and found/fixed the shorts. DSL service has been great since.

"I was looking forward to my first normal morning online in a while today, but no such luck. My connection keeps dropping and my DSL router's ready light keeps blinking. I picked up the phone and heard the familiar siren sound that phone techs use to troubleshoot the line. A look out the window confirmed what the siren already told me, that Verizon is again working on my funky phone lines. So for the record, the only day this week that my service wasn't working, they couldn't make it out here, but these two days that followed the problem clearing up on its own, they have knocked me offline to fix things. On the bright side, I spoke with this latest repair guy, and got a sense he is actually looking to permanently solve my problem, rather than slap on another band-aid. We, as the optimistic expression goes, shall see."

Sounds pretty unprofessional to me. The tech should call you prior to starting work on your line and after to verify he has restored the services. Not to mention when they arrive at the door you should be given a business card so that way when/if the line takes a dump an hour after they "fixed it" you have somebody to call and don't have to start from square one. Plus if you need to escalate the issue to management you have a name to give to the supervisor. Believe it or not the records systems are not always 100% accurate (I know it is hard to believe) so they may not be able to finger the last tech who worked the trouble.

Tell me they at least had id badges on when they arrived? If not that should be a red-flag as to the possible quality of their work. If a tech doesn't do those two things (wear a badge and give you his card) I immediately start to think of them as less than professional. No business card means no call back from the irate customer. That unfortunately is from first hand experience. I wish you luck, Blue.

edit: Not to mention the fact they never kept you informed as to the status of the trouble report. If the line was not fix the previous day why were you not kept informed? Just all around poor service if you ask me...


This comment was edited on Aug 30, 21:03.

Hay, where is the news story about the update to the Steam client?

It was actually a big one.

oh SNAP! You can play PopCap Games online for free now through Steam. huh. Now I can use my Steam account at work to play shitty online games.

**********************************************
Listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53

Squirrel Count: Catch & Release: 11 Shot: 6
This comment was edited on Aug 30, 19:37.

...Your gonna drive me ta drinkin, you dont stop drivin that hot---rod---Lincoln"....

Is 7915 3D Marks (in 3DMark06) any good? Been playing around with the new computer and was just wondering - those comparison sites are usually lame or hacked.

Good question. I'll download it and give it a whirl, you should come out slightly higher than me.

Edit: 7973 in 3dMark06. Curious what I'll see if I crank the CPU up to 3.0 GHz.
---
Xfire: GreySpire
This comment was edited on Aug 30, 17:52.

I found this on the official site, release date 9/26, yet on several site like gamespy, gamespot and ebgames show it for 10/26.
Anyone know what's right Official or game site/sales?

http://www.ubi.com/US/Games/Info.aspx?pId=4475

I might upgrade for ET:QW, but Windows XP will in all likelihood be the last Microsoft OS to grace(??) my hard drive.

You say that now. Just wait until they stop supporting Windows XP. As soon as the holes start showing up worse than a piece of swiss cheese that's been shot with a shotgun (isn't it already at this point?) with no relief in site due to M$'s not supporting it, you will bend to the will of the dark side.

_____________________________________
WARNING!!! DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS...

1 Post Closer to 20,000.
Nicht alle Esel haben vier Beine.
Co-Founder of the Quad-F filter

"Do I think Microsoft are going to release Vista any time soon,"

No.

"When Microsoft release the flabbiest OS in history, how soon am I going to start using it."

Never.

I might upgrade for ET:QW, but Windows XP will in all likelihood be the last Microsoft OS to grace(??) my hard drive.
This comment was edited on Aug 30, 16:51.

No - it will be distributed to the cities and county for their use - parks, police, fire, community centers, anything they want. No strings attached.

Well that is better than what happens here!

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Listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53

Squirrel Count: Catch & Release: 11 Shot: 6

I assume the other 550 M will go to pay "expenses", "fees", etc (read soft money).

No - it will be distributed to the cities and county for their use - parks, police, fire, community centers, anything they want. No strings attached.

Here is some additional info:

http://www.ceo.saccounty.net/pio/information/docs/Quality-of-Life-Staff-Report.pdf

The PUBLIC is footing 75% of the bill for a PRIVATE firm. Wow. Just wow.

Here it is probably closer to 80%. And I am OK with that. Basically the county owns the building and leases it to Maloof Sports and Entertainment for about $4 million per year and MSE manages it and keeps the proceeds. Better than the government trying to run it.

I may have the Q and R reversed - it's been reported both ways. Either way, it is a vote designed to raise over twice the amount needed in order to lower the voting threshhold to 50% - then giving the excess money back to the cities and county in the percent that their taxable sales contribute to the tax to begin with. The advisory measure is required to prevent the "general" tax measure from specifically addressing the arena issue using a legal loophole (two measures instead of one). But, by making the second nonbinding, as long as the tax passes the vote on the second measure doesn't matter a whit.



http://house-update.blogspot.com/

Last update: Tuesday, August 22, 2006

This comment was edited on Aug 30, 16:34.

the key questions to ask yourself are, "Do I think Microsoft are going to release Vista any time soon," and, "When Microsoft release the flabbiest OS in history, how soon am I going to start using it."

QFT.


While I do like some of the rumours about how DX10+Vista will automagically provide a performance boost to current and future games due to the reworked driver architecture, etc, I'm in absolutely no hurry to install it. OS v.1.0 is never much fun, especially a Windows one..

One other question you may want to ask is, "Will the first DX10 cards on the market provide any tangible benefit to gamers, or will it be months and months before there is ANYTHING other than neeto tech demos that can even begin to leverage that kind of technology?"

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It may be that one day a young man will adore a Pinata.

As far as I'm aware, the current plan is that DirectX 10 will be for Vista only. So the key questions to ask yourself are, "Do I think Microsoft are going to release Vista any time soon," and, "When Microsoft release the flabbiest OS in history, how soon am I going to start using it."

I asked myself those questions. I'm going to buy a X1950 soon

Total tax revenues in excess of $1.2 billion anticipated, with less than $550 million planned for the arena.

I assume the other 550 M will go to pay "expenses", "fees", etc (read soft money).

My gripe:

Tuesday's vote for a .15 percent sales tax guaranteed a longtime funding source for the stadium: The county will contribute $392 million, with the team adding $130 million.

The PUBLIC is footing 75% of the bill for a PRIVATE firm. Wow. Just wow.

I am sure the stadium will cost more than this, with the public footing even more than anticipated.

I wouldn't have a problem with this if:
1. It was statewide, thus lowering the burden of the county.
2. It was voted on if only funded by Hennepin County.

**********************************************
Listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53

Squirrel Count: Catch & Release: 11 Shot: 6
This comment was edited on Aug 30, 16:14.

Democracy takes a backseat to money and greed.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/643328.html

This at a time when property taxes and other levies are at an all time high - yet we can't hire enough police/fire to protect the city because of federal, state, and local budget cuts. Amazing. They are probably going to tear down the Metrodome, but we are still paying a tax on it. fuggin' amazing.

Its nice looking and all, but why do they need a new ballpark? Fenway has been open for 94 years now and we don't need a new ballpark.

I must have cost our encumbent telephone company a ton of cash (British Telecom, what a farce). My 8 meg line was in total shit order (100 drops per day - yes per DAY -, my poor router was probably on fire).

After many complaints and a threat of small claims court (£15 for me, a lot more for them) they folded and did something at the exchange end. Now I get a meaty 7.5 meg and no drops per day (2 in 7 days so far, woohoo!) and its not interleaved.

This comment was edited on Aug 30, 16:10.

Democracy takes a backseat to money and greed.

We are dealing with the opposite situation here. The county board of supes passed a somewhat similar resolution, but it has to go for a vote to Sacramento County residents. The increase would be for 0.25% over 15 years.

This being the crazy state of California, the tax has been drafted to be over twice as big as needed for a new sports and entertainment complex (read: ARCO Arena for the Sacramento Kings) because if a tax is specific it requires a 2/3 vote, but if general (goes into the general fund) it only requires 50% + 1 votes. So, the solution is to have 2 measures:

Measure Q: If measure R passes should less than half the tax revenues be used for a new sports and entertainment complex and the rest (over 50% of the funds) distributed to cities and the county for general use? (nonbinding measure)

Measure R: Should there be a 0.25% tax increase in Sacramento County to go into the general fund? (binding measure)

Total tax revenues in excess of $1.2 billion anticipated, with less than $550 million planned for the arena.



http://house-update.blogspot.com/

Last update: Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Democracy takes a backseat to money and greed.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/643328.html

This at a time when property taxes and other levies are at an all time high - yet we can't hire enough police/fire to protect the city because of federal, state, and local budget cuts. Amazing. They are probably going to tear down the Metrodome, but we are still paying a tax on it. fuggin' amazing.
This comment was edited on Aug 30, 15:19.

I don't know. I ordered Klingon Academy on Amazon 2 days ago for 30 bucks. Suppose to be factory sealed but will see, as most copies used are going for over 100 bucks.

Looks like we're in the same boat Bats, you get the paddles I'll get the life vests.

What's too good to be true about it? The prices aren't fantastic, or anything. Just a couple bucks cheaper than MSRP, seems like.

Maybe I missed something...