New Links

I added a couple of links. Both are blogs I have written about recently.

LivingInUrbanSac, from the post - Living in Urban Sac and

North by Northwest, from the post Still Motion

Tags: blogs, Internet, web

Design Changes

Surfacing Originally uploaded by Catherine Jamieson.

It was inevitable. I’m going to make some design changes on my site. As you may have noticed, I changed part of the background. I haven’t decided if I like it yet. There are a few other options I am playing with. I’ll probably post some screen shots at some point and solicit some feedback.

Follow Up on Net Neutrality

My good friend Mark has a post on his blog about an email I received from Senator Barbara Boxer in response to an email I sent her supporting net neutrality. I then posted a comment on that post and stated, "Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Doris Matsui have not responded to my email yet." This morning I received this response from Senator Dianne Feinstein:

June 26, 2006 Dear Mr. Iozzi: Thank you for writing to me about open access to the Internet and network neutrality. I appreciate hearing from you. I agree with the general principles of network neutrality that owners of the networks that provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network and should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network. As Congress debates changes to our telecommunications laws this year, many different proposals have been offered regarding network neutrality. The question arises whether or not action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet. I believe any workable solution must balance the needs of the network, service and information providers. Please know that when legislation regarding network neutrality comes before the Senate I will be sure to keep your specific views in mind. Again, thank you for writing. If you should have any comments or questions, I hope you will feel free to contact my Washington, DC staff at (202) 224-3841. Sincerely yours, Dianne Feinstein United States Senator

Previous posts:

More On Net Neutrality, AT&T Owns Your Data, A Simple Explanation of Net Neutrality, Craigslist blocked by Cox, AT&T wants to be your dictator

Tags: Internet, freedom, politics, web, net neutrality

More On Net Neutrality

If you haven’t already noticed, I’m strongly in favor of net neutrality. It has important ramifications for the future of innovation. It is necessary to preserve the free flow of information. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are useless if that information flow is controlled by a few.

One major advantage we have when information flows freely is that you don’t have to decide on issues like this based solely on my advice. You can consult experts. Well, here’s what some experts are saying:

“When I invented the Web, I didn't have to ask anyone's permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that that is going end in the USA.”

“Yes, regulation to keep the Internet open is regulation. And mostly, the Internet thrives on lack of regulation. But some basic values have to be preserved. For example, the market system depends on the rule that you can't photocopy money. Democracy depends on freedom of speech. Freedom of connection, with any application, to any party, is the fundamental social basis of the Internet, and, now, the society based on it.”

“I hope that Congress can protect net neutrality, so I can continue to innovate in the internet space. I want to see the explosion of innovations happening out there on the Web, so diverse and so exciting, continue unabated.” - Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web

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“As we move to a broadband environment and eliminate century-old non-discrimination requirements, a lightweight but enforceable neutrality rule is needed to ensure that the Internet continues to thrive. Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online.”

“Allowing broadband carriers to control what people see and do online would fundamentally undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success...A number of justifications have been created to support carrier control over consumer choices online; none stand up to scrutiny.” - Vint Cerf, Co-Developer of the Internet Protocol

The telcos use statements from Lawyers, businessmen, journalists and politicians to argue that net neutrality will kill Internet innovation. Who do you believe the innovators who created the Internet, or the corporations who want to make more money on it? In other words, would you rather take auto maintenance advice from a car salesman or a mechanic?

More info: Danny Weitzner, Net Neutrality, Oddly Zen, Fractals of Change,

Tags: Internet, freedom, politics, web, net neutrality

Still Motion

I was using the Blogger toolbar to randomly browse blogs and I came across North by Northwest – “A blog about stuff, with photos”. The author has some cool photos, including this one. I like the way it conveys a sense of motion even though nothing in the photo is actually in motion.

Tags: photos, photography, blogs, art

AT&T Owns Your Data

I jokingly used the headline “AT&T wants to be your dictator”. Well, they are doing a fine job at living up to that headline.

According to the San Francisco Gate:

The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it “to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.”

It gets even worse. AT&T has been running ads claiming that they want fair competition in the television market. If their new privacy policy is any indication, they define competition pretty much the same way the Nazi’s did. From the Gate:

The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing.

The big problem is for businesses. If your business transfers data or voice over AT&T’s network, AT&T owns it and your privacy policy with your customers will have to follow theirs or you have broken your privacy policy. If your business transmits trade secrets, AT&T now owns them. If your business transmits copyrighted information, AT&T now owns it. If you are a consumer, you can't trust any business that uses AT&T.

They have gone too far and need to be put out of business.

Tags: Internet, privacy, freedom, entertainment, news, politics

Living in Urban Sac

I like downtown Sacramento. It does, however, have some issues.

There’s not enough housing and too many empty buildings. Apparently the city is doing something about it, and someone is bloging their progress.

If you live or work in Sacramento, or are simply interested in it, check out Living in Urban Sac.

Tags: Sacramento, blogs

Pirate Party

In the US our two major political parties are like two small children fighting. They call each other names, they push each other, they tattle on each other, and when they get caught doing something wrong the other one gleefully exaggerates the offense. And like small children they’re self centered and don’t really care for the rights others.

One area where this is obvious is copyright issues. The rights of the recording and movie industries have taken precedence over the rights of individuals. Someone has decided to create a political party to address this issue. It’s called The Pirate Party of the United States.

I’ll probably wait to see the details of their plans before determining whether or not I support them. However it’s good to see somebody doing something.

A Simple Explanation of Net Neutrality

Here’s the current scenario:

A website operator pays for a connection to the Internet. They can choose between different speeds and bandwidth amounts that they want/can afford.

A consumer buys a connection to the Internet, they can choose between different speeds and bandwidth amounts that they want/can afford.

If the consumer has a 5meg connection (don’t be concerned with the definition of “5meg” at this point.) and a website has a 5meg connection, they should be communicating at 5meg (minus any network overhead or other technical issues like that).

Here’s what AT&T and Verizon want:

A website operator pays for a connection to the Internet. They can choose between different speeds and bandwidth amounts that they want/can afford.

A consumer buys a connection to the Internet, they can choose between different speeds and bandwidth amounts that they want/can afford.

If the consumer has a 5meg connection (don’t be concerned with the definition of “5meg” at this point.) and a website has a 5meg connection, they should be communicating at 5meg (minus any network overhead or other technical issues like that). Unless the consumer’s Internet service provider (ISP) has decided to “prioritize” sites that pay an extra fee (the ISP’s ISP could do the same). In that case the consumer’s 5meg connection is only 5meg for organizations that have paid a fee to allow the consumer to use it. What did the consumer pay for?

Would you be comfortable with a telephone service that would connect you to whomever you want, but anyone who pays a premium fee to the telephone company, or a telephone company between yours and theirs, would have better sound quality? The better sound quality capacity is there, but whoever you’re calling has to pay a fee for the “prioritized” service. Also, you may not get through if there aren’t enough lines available after the “prioritized” traffic.

AT&T and Verizon want to tell us where to go on the Internet. Maybe we should tell them were to go.

Craigslist blocked by Cox

It looks like Cox Communications, the third-largest cable provider in the nation, is blocking access to Craigslist.com. They're doing it through "security" software they install on a customer's computer when the service is installed. I've never been a big fan of bundled software from a service provider or hardware manufacturer. I used Cox as an ISP in the past and quickly uninstalled the software they provided, because it slowed the system down. I'm a computer geek so it was easy for me to determine the cause of the problem and eliminate it. A less savvy user might have a harder time. Why would Cox blockCraigslist? If Cox had responded in a timely manner I would be willing to believe that it was a simple mistake. Since they've been blocking it since late February I'm more inclined to believe that they are trying to limit competition to their own classified ads. Would you be okay with 7-11 paying to have the roads to thier competitors narrowed or blocked? Then why would you be okay with the same scenerio on the Internet? Where would our country be today if Thomas Jefferson had faced a similar situation? It sounds like an extreme comparrison, but it's not. The ability to stop people from accessing competative services and ideas should be severly limited. Here's the story: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/37283/

AT&T wants to be your dictator

“We’re out of beer and it’s not even dark yet!”

Tech Support

In a previous job I was a software support technician. One of the lessons I learned while doing that job was that people get frustrated when it is difficult to contact support.

Yesterday morning I tried to upload some files to my website via ftp. I received an error “553 Disk full”. Whenever I receive an error, my first response is to determine if the literal meaning of the error is correct. So I logged into the control panel for website and I wasn’t even close to running out of space. I used the file manager that is on the control panel and uploaded the files without a problem.

I then tried to post to this blog through Blogger.com. When I told it to publish the post, it returned an error “error 553 Disk full - please upload later”.

I’m not sure that “please upload later” is good advice if the disk is actually full. If the disk is full you need to make room or you will not be able to put more on it. It’s not a difficult concept. However, it’s not Blogger’s fault that my host was malfunctioning.

Again I checked the amount of space I had available via the file manager. I had way more than was needed to publish that post.

Since it was morning I went to work assuming that the problem would me fixed by the hosting company at some point in the day. The web hosting account I have uses virtual hosting. Virtual hosting means there are multiple web sites on one server. That server is managed by my hosting provider. Therefore it seemed reasonable that they would have it fixed without my involvement. Let’s just say my faith in their monitoring system has been shaken.

I tried to publish the post multiple times during the day to no avail. I was busy with other activities after work so I didn’t bother contacting support immediately. I tried it again later in the evening and it didn’t work so I decided to contact support.

The last time I contacted support for my site the email was never answered. Ignoring your customers’ requests for support is always a bad idea. I went to their website to find the email address for support and sent them an email. I also pointed out to them that they never responded to my last request. I received a fairly quick response this time:

Hello,

Thank you for your email. We have a new system in place which requires support related issues or requests to file a ticket in our helpdesk. Please file your issue or inquiry at the following address:

https://desk.hostdime.com/

Once you reach that page, click on Submit a Ticket and select a proper department. This new system will allow us to help you more efficiently and faster. We appreciate your cooperation and patience.

Regards,

HostDime.com

I was not pleased. If you “have a new system in place which requires support related issues or requests to file a ticket in your helpdesk.” Don’t post a link to email support. Explain the process and post a link to where the customer must go to file a ticket. If you post the email address and then send the email telling them they need to file a ticket, you look stupid and the customer’s frustration level is increased.

If you are going to do something stupid like that, you might want to proofread the email that you’re sending out. Since an issue is abstract it cannot file a ticket.

So I filed a ticket. I received a reply from their support staff requesting more information, but I had already gone to bed. This morning it magically worked so I’ll send them a reply informing them that I “have a new system in place which requires support related issues or requests to file a ticket by posting a comment to my blog.” I’ll let them figure out how an issue or a request is going to file a ticket.

It's Flag Day!

Of course the idiots at Hasweb a division of HostDime couldn't keep their servers funtioning for an entire day so this post was never seen on Flag day. HasWeb and HostDime Suck.

Inequality

Patrick (DUI) Kennedy was “sentenced” to a fine of $350 for his DUI conviction. That’s not even a slap on the wrist. Where are the liberals who claim to stand for equality? Anyone who truly believes that justice should be administered equally should be outraged by this. Yet the media in this country will simply ignore this inequality because one of their favorite sons was the benefactor.

Patrick (DUI) Kennedy is an elitist bigot who does not believe in the principals laid out in the Constitution of the United States of America.

“The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.” --Thomas Jefferson

Elitists

I’m not for or against “gay marriage”. I just don’t care about it. I do care about our constitution. I’m appalled that that group of elitist pricks we call the US Senate want to amend our constitution over such an insignificant issue. Marriage, in its legal form, is under the jurisdiction of the states, not the federal government. The Constitution of the United States of America does not contain the word “marriage”. However, the Tenth Amendment states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” That makes me wonder why the federal government wants to take that power away from the states.

The Senate isn’t even showing enough respect for the Constitution to debate this issue in a non-partisan manner. Senator Edward (Chappaquiddick) Kennedy of Massachusetts said, "The Republican leadership is asking us to spend time writing bigotry into the Constitution," In response, Senator Orrin (I want to destroy your computer) Hatch of Utah stated "Does he really want to suggest that over half of the United States Senate is a crew of bigots?"

Well, like most US Senators, Edward (Chappaquiddick) Kennedy is a bigot. His actions indicate that people like himself are entitled to break laws without the same repercussions as the rest of the people. Since most US Senators are extremely partisan then by definition most US Senators are in fact bigots. After all the word bigot means “One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.”

Flame-Thrower

“The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.” - George Carlin

Compassion

I love living and working in a city. However, there are downfalls. I get asked for money at least twice a day. I appreciate the situation the people asking me for money are in, but I just can’t afford to give money to that many people. I may not be wealthy, but I am more fortunate than many people.

Show Me Something Shiny

You’ve created the greatest web page in the world. It loads fast, brings about world peace, ends poverty, and cures all diseases. So what do people say when they see it? “I like the color of that button.”