Peter's Blog - Facepalm

PeterF.net - Comcast Conversation

Peter — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:12:42 GMT

I started reading the Acceptable Use Policy for comcast, and it obviously states you cannot host a server. So I decided to go hunting for a way to do this through Comcast. I didn't see it specifically say the policy for residential. An interesting story unfolds, read on

user Peter_ has entered room
analyst Lhunette has entered room

Lhunette> Hello Peter_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Lhunette. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Lhunette> How are you today?

Peter>Good, how about you Lhunette?

Lhunette> It's nice to hear that you are doing good, I'm great, thanks for asking...

Lhunette> I'll be very glad to further assist you with your concern.

Peter> Thanks, I'm reading your acceptable use policy here: http://www.comcast.net/terms/use/

Peter> It mentions I cannot host a server

Lhunette> I see.

Peter> If I am to purchase your service, this is something I require. Does this policy apply to all tiers? business and residential?

Lhunette> Peter, if you want to host a server then you need to sign up for Comcast Commercial account.

Peter> okay, where do i find information on this?

Lhunette> Peter, I can get you the contact number for our Businesss Department.

Peter> no thank you, i'd prefer to research on line

Lhunette> Okay.

Peter> i found businessclass.comcast.net, i will look here

Lhunette> Okay, sure..

Peter> I do not see prices on the site, do i need to call to get information?

Lhunette> Yes, you need to call to obtain the information Trudy as we do not have it here in our end.

Lhunette> To speak with a Business Account Executive, please call contact number at 1-800-316-1619.

Peter> my name is Peter..

Lhunette> Sorry.

Lhunette> I apologize.

Peter> well thanks for the information Lhunette. I'll call them and see how expensive it will be

Lhunette> You're very most welcome, Peter....

Lhunette> I'm glad that I'm able to address your concern for today. Would there be anything else I can further assist you?

Peter> Nope, copy and paste you later

Lhunette> :-)

Lhunette> It's my pleasure to be able to serve you.

Peter> toodles

Lhunette> Do you like to watch full TV shows and movies online? If so, go to www.fancast.com or enjoy playing games online by visiting http://www.comcast.net/games/?cid=NET_49_49 to enjoy the variety of games stored.

Peter> always good to spam people as they contact support....

Lhunette> Oh, I'm sorry for that Peter. But we just let you know some free features that you can enjoy from Comcast...:-)

Lhunette> Thank you for bringing Comcast into your home! Get a big savings by signing up Triple Play or add Comcast Digital Voice service. And enjoy unlimited nationwide calling, 12 popular calling features with Voicemail! Please visit www.comcast.com site for more details. Kindly answer the 3 short survery questions after clicking on the End Session button. Have a great day and be safe!

Peter> haha, it just keeps on coming....

Lhunette> Happy Holidays!

Peter> Merry Christmas

Lhunette> smile

Lhunette> good bye!

Lhunette>Analyst has closed chat and left the room

Sprint has lost its love for QCHAT

Peter — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:47:33 GMT

IDEN has been an on and off again relationship with Sprint. Even Dan Hesse (CEO) admitted that Nextel was a mistake.

To bridge the IDEN/CDMA PTT gap, Sprint has tried a few things:
1) PowerSource - Additional IDEN radio in phone for PTT
2) QCHAT - PTT data link to IDEN over CDMA

Sprint has now announced that #2 is no longer an option. Which means that my dream of a PTT CDMA WinMo Phone on Sprint is dismal unless they feel like dropping in an IDEN radio in the device. That would be an interesting HTC phone.....

Even the IDEN Blackberry is not too inviting. 3G is so plentiful on other devices. Why would I want to take a business/multimedia device like that on a network that is in the data stone age?

I personally think they're trying to distance themselves from the network as much as possible for a sell off. But this is pure speculation. Being constantly disappointed, I figure this would be the next logical move. Who would pick Nextel up anyway?

http://www.phonenews.com/sprint-preparing-to-discontinue-qchat-in-favor-of-iden-again-9564/

Microsoft decides that a Polish photo edit may not have been necessary

Peter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:16:41 GMT

The above photo is a user created gif to obviously explain the difference. See the originals here: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/25/microsoft-sucks-at-photoshop/

Engadget thinks Microsoft sucks at Photoshop. I think they did a pretty good job. Just a bit tasteless. The offending site has been modified to reflect the original

Microsoft will not ship Windows 7 with IE8

Peter — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:46:21 GMT

Windows 7 E will be the only version to ship to Europe. Similar to versions of XP that shipped to Europe without Windows Media Player, the EU ruled in an antitrust case that MS has an unfair advantage with IE being shipped with Windows.

OEMs that will ship machines with Windows 7 will have the opportunity to install whatever browser they would like to. Pretty much anything is fair game as long as Microsoft is not making the decision.

So if a consumer buys a copy of Windows 7 off of the shelf in Europe, they will have NO BROWSER. So how do you get a browser? You'll need to bust into an FTP site or get it via removable media.

Let's play make believe...

But wait... what FTP client are you using? Microsoft bundles in an FTP client. Clearly this is unfair. Microsoft should remove that to allow 3rd parties a fair shot.

Since you forgot to download your browser installer before you wiped your machine, you'll be getting impatient calling your neighbor to come over with IE8/Firefox/Opera/Chrome. You bust open solitaire. Isn't this unfair also? There are many companies out there that sell games for Windows. Clearly this is also unfair. Microsoft needs to delete solitaire and all other games from the computer.

You want to listen to some music instead. Whoops, sorry, Windows Media Player shouldn't be their either. Go download Winamp or WMP after you get a browser.

You finally get some audio playback software. You don't have your sound card drivers installed yet, so you decide to get nerdy and bust out some bluetooth headphones since the drivers and bluetooth stack were installed by default for your setup. But wait, there are a few companies that sell their own bluetooth stack. Microsoft had better rip that out too and force you to download your favorite choice.

I believe in a free market. If Microsoft actually blocks the installation of 3rd party software, by all means: burn them at the stake!! But as a developer, I use MSDN constantly. As one of many sources Microsoft opens up to the world, they want you to program for their platform! Sure, they'd love to see you use IE, but you don't see them crashing the Firefox installer.

If a 3rd party company like Mozilla or Google wants to compete, a customer will see their choices. Customers will make a decision. If the EU was being truely fair, they would force all operating systems ( all flavors of linux, windows, OSX, etc ) to not bundles internet browsers. It would be a level playing field. I'm assuming the decision passed down by the EU was meant to protect uneducated consumers, won't these customers be faced with a different decision? Buy a computer potentially without an internet browser... or buy that cute green ecofriendly hippie noncorporate machine Apple that has their own Safari browser ready to go?

edit: forgot to add source http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/06/windows-7-to-be-shipped-in-europe-sans-internet-explorer.ars

Microsoft probably IS NOT cracking down on WM6.5 Roms

Peter — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:34:35 GMT

EDIT: The original takedowns were actually posted on this thread. I can't believe anyone took the email address Internet1@microsoft-antipiracy.com seriously.

Main Forums on XDA for Kaiser
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=378

A few problemed threads in forum
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=428261
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=436503

MS has ~~forced~~ requested XDA-developers to remove links to ROMs that feature WM 6.5's new features. They don't seem to mind if ROM chefs are using the new bases. MS seems to be focuses on the new features like HoneyComb, the lock screen, and new Today screen.

In theory, when XDA hackers gave us WM6.1 ROMs, we knew it was in the works for our providers to offer us the update. But with Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft has already announced that they will not allow device software upgrades to WM6.5.

It looks like Microsoft has contacted XDA-Developers admin and chefs to get all the links removed. I hope something positive can come out of this, but I honestly doubt it. I was looking forward to the new lock screen!

Side note: I'll be up for purchasing a new Windows Mobile phone soon. Microsoft will be sporting their WM6.5 soon to the consumers. They need to tell me if they'll allow an upgrade path to WM7.

It's almost official - DTV Delayed until June 12, 2009

Peter — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:05:55 GMT

Engadget gave me the news a few minutes ago. This time the DTV delay has gone through the Senate AND the House, waiting for Obama to sign now. We all know he will (short of a terrorist attack using CIP device threatening to cause an attack if he goes through with the DTV delay). A similar bill failed in the House recently. I'm not going to rant again, but this is depressing and annoying. This is not the change I didn't vote for.

Traffic and you

Peter — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:17:37 GMT

To: World
From: Peter

Hi Guys,

We need to have a talk. Some of you have made me consider taking the train from New Lenox to Mokena. I have a simple outlook on driving. Get in your car knowing where you are going. Know how to get there. Stay out of my way. That's it.

I have a problem with these scenarios. Some involve special weather like our recent snow, some don't.
1. "OMFG it's snowing, better go super slow even though the roads are clear............. U know wat? I'm going slow, so I prolly can talk on my phone and do my makeup now!!1!! Sweet!!........... Guys, you won't believe how long it took me to get to work this morning!!!! lolololololololol"

2. "OMFG Why aren't people trying to get through the light?!?!? Move it people!!!!! Make an effort!!! Gosh!!..... OH whew, I've finally made it up to the light. Awesome... here comes the green. <lets foot off of brake> Oooo! A rainbow!!!! Soooo pretty and...... WTF, why are these cars behind me honking? assholes!! Oh damn, it's about to turn red, good thing I just got through."

3. Use your ****ing turn signal. Just because you know you're going to turn, doesn't mean I'm just waiting to pull out for shits and giggles. Additionally, turning on your turn signal after you've started turning defeats the point. Just FYI on that.

4. The left lane is for faster traffic. End of story. Don't give me some bullshit story about how the speed limit is 65 and you're doing 65 in the left lane because that's as fast as you can go! Stay in the right lane and pass when you need to. If you're passing too often, stay in the left lane longer. If you're in the left lane and you're passing few or no people, move to the right lane. If you are in the left lane, and people are flying by you in the right lane flipping you the bird, you should move to the right lane. Also, if you are in the left lane and somehow saw that guy bird-flippin you, wipe that bullshit-trying-to-look-innocent-and-confused-but-I'm-trying-to-look-rightfully-angry face off. That will get you shot in some states.

Oooo, possible leaking photos of HTC Touch HD Pro, gtg. bai

Obama to Us: Hope and Change doesn't apply to TV

Peter — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:56:51 GMT

Our President-Elect has preached to bring change to America. I've kept somewhat silent on this blog about our man Obama, but this one is too good to let go by. Engadget posted that Obama is asking Congress to delay the DTV Transition.

For those of you that are somehow on the internet, but don't watch TV, this involves shutting off analog TV broadcasts and forcing people to watch digital TV (DTV) over the air (OTA). This is a great idea and makes a lot of sense. It's more efficient and supports HD to just keep the story short. The hypothetical bad is the following: the people who have been blatently ignorning the many DTV transition commercials and think the problem will just go away, will be without TV until they go buy the converter (maybe this will help stimulate the economy).

If Obama has his way, this will be just like the Metric conversion in the US. Still waiting....... Companies, industries, and many Americans have been prepping for this for a VERY long time and have been dilligent. Obama, you were in the Senate. Why didn't you bring this up while you were there? Oh wait, you weren't there because you misspent a lot of your time campaigning for the Presidency. Thanks for representing Illinois.

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