Anybody that knows me, knows that I spend way too much time on the computer and on the Internet. I use the Internet for watching TV, sharing live music/video with friends, and a way to learn more about technology and what other users are doing with it. I use a lot of bandwidth because I choose too. I guess I’m an addict and we all know that the first step to recovery is admitting it.
Comca$t is our Internet/cable TV provider. They are fine and get the job done, but what bugs me the most is that this is my most expensive bill a month and it isn’t even a necessity–I’m sure we could debate this as I think Internet is a necessity, but honestly, if I had to choose between living in a house full of garbage or without running water, or not having my toilets working, I’d skip the broadband and go with having my trash emptied. taking a nice hot shower and having the toilets work just fine.
Comca$t came through with their yearly price increase. Jeez. Just great. The economy sucks, gas was at an all time high, and still Comca$t raises rates. Comca$t is making millions and they still raise prices to make sure they can continue to give me premium services or so they say–I did cancel HBO (no more The Wire, Sopranos, or Rome) . Comca$t has been promising more HD stations in the PNW for sometime and some areas have it, but not all. I’m unfortunately, not in one of those areas. I want more HD. Once you’ve experienced true HD, it’s very hard to watch anything else. So, even though it is only like 8 new stations, that is 8 stations in HD that I didn’t have before.
Do you ever watch those Comca$tic commercials about how Comca$t shows more HD than any other provider? Ever get the chance to look at that fine print? I’m sorry that I don’t live in Philadelphia or in an area that Comca$t is threatened by FIOS or another serious competitor. Comca$t may have Ondemand HD shows which is where they come up with more HD choices than the competitors, but truthfully, I’m not a fan of Ondemand and rarely, if ever, choose to go that route. That’s Comca$t’s way of trying to lead you to believe that they truly have more, but when it all comes down to it, I want more stations, not archived HD shows/(crappy) movies to choose from. That’s where it is at. People want more choices, so let’s add more stations and if you must keep Ondemand, then do so. Let’s get the digital switchover going and get it done!
I use the Internet. I’ve kind of embraced the technology that is out there and use it. I’m not one of those people, however, that runs torrents 24/7 or has to download anything and everything. Maybe 6-7 years ago when I first received broadband with @home, but I’ve realized I don’t need everything and seriously, where would I store it all?
As we know Comcast is now limiting users to 250 gigs a month. That’s quite a bit and most months I probably wouldn’t come close to touching it, but when I’m not at work for extended periods of time, I download more. It’s fun. This winter break I stayed in more than usual due to all of the snow we had for our area. I watched some new anime shows, caught up on some British TV shows, and heard/read about some new bands from MP3 blogs–that led me to spending money on new releases. If I like it, I’ll support it.
How is a user supposed to keep track of their WAN usage to know if they are close to a 250 gig limit? Especially if you are like our family that has a Wii, PS3, and 4 computer all connected to Comca$t’s pipe? Comcast implemented this barrier, but at this point in time don’t have anything truly set in place that can give you accurate measurements. No, I don’t want anything put out by McAfee and there are several freeware programs that monitor one computers usuage. But then those programs also count usuage as transferring files around the network, so what does that look like for the Home Server in the lcoset downstairs? So, I’ve been measuring my usage on my router with DD-WRT. I’ve been using DD-WRT since last year at this time, but didn’t know that you could see your traffic usage like the picture above. Sweet Caroline. What an awesome feature. Would it be so hard for Comca$t to have something like that?
Look closely at the screenshot. I grabbed tons of stuff last month. From helping Andreas torrent some of his homemade videos, to torrenting some concerts that I filmed with permission from bands to thier fans, anime, and music. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this. I don’t run it 24/7, but I want to make sure everyone gets there fair share. I also watch British TV shows this way. I try and grab the 720p versions of the shows on the newsgroups. I don’t think there is anything wrong with downloading a TV show. I used to be able to record TV shows, so why can’t I download them and watch them. I’m not selling them, nor do I try to profit from them in anyway. Not everyone that downloads from the Internet is trying to screw somebody over. If a show isn’t out in 720p, than I download the much smaller xvid file. How else would I have watched Packed to the Rafters from Australia. I’m anxiously awaiting the second season.
Another thing from the screenshot is that you’ll notice the first half of December is missing. I had some router issues and my router died. I had to replace it and lost the first half of the months info. My bad. So, I hope I didn’t download more than 80 gigs before I got the router back on line, or I could be over 250 gigs. We shall wait and see.
Wow. I hadn’t intended this post to come across quite like this and perhaps I’ll edit it more over the next few days. While it may seem that I hate Comca$t, I truly don’t. I’m just not a fan of the choices they make from throttling users, to forging torrent packets (and not admitting it), and not offering the same services in the same cities.
Here’s last night’s setlist. He played the whole album and it lasted about an hour. I’ll type out the full name of the songs in case you don’t have the CD.
