Dial-Up and an Economy of Bandwidth

I have had broadband once again for just over a year now (the last time I had broadband was for about the same time) and I had to switch back to dial-up for the time-being due to finances and the fact that my company screwed-up my billing. Get this, because this truly angers me and I want everyone to know it: TDS (my provider) freely admits they made a mistake and overcharged me, but insists I pay them the inflated amount to keep my services operating and the adjustment will be on the next bill!!! Have you ever heard of such bullshit!? I might be able to come up with some way to pay the "past-due" amount, but it would hurt, and there really is a point to be made here - I mean what kind of shit is that!?

Anyway, in preparation for the return to dial-up suckage, I should have been filing my taxes, consolidating mailboxes and addresses, making any changes to profiles and webpages and so on. You know what I did? I watched all three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in marathon runs.

It is what it is. I have no one to blame for my not doing the things I know I probably should have, but honestly, I didn't do the things I needed to when I had a surplus of bandwidth; a lot of the time, I was dicking-around, watching YouTube and Hulu and just surfing from one related point of interest to the next as it so pleased me.

But I'm going to do something worthwhile this time around - this downgrade around, I guess I should say: I'm going to test the economy of bandwidth and my use of it. By that, I mean that I can no longer just leave the computer connected because I have to be able to accept calls occasionally, so I'm going to see what I can do offline to maximize the time spent online.

We all know what that means, but it's so easy to disabuse yourself of such things whenever you can load IMdB at the drop of a hat just to see if the guy you caught a glimpse of is that one guy who was in that movie with that other guy, that I want to make a concerted effort to find out what all, exactly, it is that I am doing, that I need to do, and actually end up doing. I really want to make a study of the matter to some degree, just to contrast and compare. Behaviorally speaking, I figure this is exactly what I, as the Cyberculturalist, should be concerned with.

That and porn. Porn on dial-up. Those things.

And while that's technically where this should end, I want to mention that I noticed my posts were more relevant - and by that, I mean more relevantly linked, cross-referenced, and generally researched - when I was on dial-up than when I had broadband. That's a real bell-ringer there; I mean, shouldn't it follow that I would be more apt to write better posts when I'm able to research quicker and so forth? And yet, I think it's that very mindset which impedes it; when I know it takes longer to load and so forth, it makes me focus more on it as "work."

See? That's the kind of thing I, as the Cyberculturalist, should be concerned with.

And the porn thing. Those two things.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Cybersquatting Increased in 2008

MarkMonitor, a Web security firm, found that cybersquatting - the practice of purchasing domains related to an established brand or trademark owned by someone else - grew by nearly 20% in 2008. Further, some 80% of sites identified in 2007 were/are still active. Though down from the 33% rise of 2007, cybersquatting appears to be cybercriminals' favorite practice. Other methods of fraudulently exploiting established brands and trademarks include phishing, "typosquatting," and PPC (pay-per-click) abuse.

MarkMonitor found that all forms of cybercrime related to "brandjacking" rose in 2008, with record numbers occurring in the third quarter. While financial institutions and international brands continue to be favorites, MarkMonitor noted social networks were increasingly becoming targets.

The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, or the Truth in Domain Names Act, was established in America in 1999. It stops short of delineating the practice criminal, but does make cybersquatters liable in civil cases. As MarkMonitor notes, the "...brandholders must take a stronger stance against aggressive fraudsters."

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

The Mobile Web is Now the Norm in US

According to research from comScore, some 22.4 million United States citizens access the Web daily from their cellphones, meaning the practice has become a regular, daily routine for a significant portion of the population. The number means mobile Internet users has doubled since last year.

Better equipment, better interfaces, and better networks are largely to credit for this surge, along with more content geared toward mobile phone users. "There's a lot more stuff to do out there...," Mark Donovan, senior VP of mobile at comScore, said. Another factor is the proliferation of "high-end" phones, which actually compel the owner to surf the Web via his cellphone.

Social networking sites are the fastest-growing category of sites accessed by mobile phones, though news-related sites are still #1. Other studies by comScore reveal that light PC users tend to surf from their phones more, and vice-versa.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Google Pulls Street View Images

Online monopoly, Google, has pulled some images from its UK Street View service, following complaints by the people in the images. Google said anyone can have their pictures removed if they contact the service and seeing as how there are millions of pictures in the databse, the number removed was "very small." However, BBC notes you can simply move up or down a notch on the street to reveal the "removed" pictures. Removed images included revealing pictures of homes, an arrest, a man entering a sex shop, and someone getting sick.

Google Street View came under fire before it ever launched, specifically for the reasons people gave for asking their images be removed. A UK rights group, Privacy International, asked Google to send them information on their face-blurring technology, but Privacy International found out what we all already know: they didn't call Google "assholes," but said Google's reply was "snide," when it told them to "look more closely at our blogs."

Google is a corporation and corporations are granted the same rights as individuals, meaning Google is, legally, a person - and that person is an asshole. Google is above the law and knows it, but time and again, the British have reminded Google that they are not America, and I sincerely hope this latest row turns into a full-fledged court case! Google is undeniably a monopoly and where they once helped expand the Web, they are now seeking to limit it, tax it, and hold the information it has for ransom.

Google continues to purchase sites, technology, and holdings far outside its search engine descriptor, without repercussions. Further, frivolous lawsuits concerning Google's practices have led many in the mainstream to overlook the true criminality of the megacorporation's actions - in fact, many experts carefully measure their words when discussing Google's practices. The simple reason is that Google now owns the Web and many are scared to speak the truth because they don't want their sites banned from the monopoly's listings - as one analyst put it, "Google is becoming so dominant in the search market that soon the phrase 'If you're not on Google, you don’t exist' might literally become true."

Maybe the controversy of Street View will lead investigators to uncovering Google's real criminal practices. Of course, that still doesn't mean they will actually do anything about it, but it will definitely be discussed in the media, and mainstream Web-users will learn more about what we Netizens have known for years now: Google is Evil.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

ZoneAlarm Was the Cause of All My Pains

So, literally some two months after it began, I managed to isolate the source my intermittent connectivity: ZoneAlarm. Yes, even with ZoneAlarm set to run manually (and eventually disabled entirely) as a service, even with the program set not to auto-launch, and all the other options ticked to make sure it was completely disabled, ZoneAlarm was still cutting browser connection completely once every few minutes. And no, I do not know why.

Now I'm having problems with Windows Firewall... but at least I'm not having to reboot every 5-10 minutes!

The only way I found relief was by completely removing ZoneAlarm from the system - literally removing it in its entirety! I haven't had a single connection problem since, either (knock wood)! But now I have to go through and figure out something with Windows Firewall. I wish I had just left it running as it was and never even bothered with ZoneAlarm. I remember ZA being a pain in the ass back when it was still free, and the only reason I got it again is because I got it free (through a special, limited offer).

In the midst of all this, minimized programs on the 98 box suddenly began disappearing - the taskbar ate them alive! I tried everything I could think of, as well as registry hacks and so forth I found online, to no avail. Finally, I uninstalled the last program I'd installed on there and it fixed it. Again, not before I'd spent hours and hours toying with everything else...

So, if you are having connectivity issues of any sort, they always tell you to drop your firewall first - it's pretty much the first step in the troubleshooting process - but if you are using ZoneAlarm and you've gone through the entire process at least once without change, uninstall ZA and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

VoIP Information

I very recently got my first taste of VoIP a month or so back. Technically, I used "broadband phone," since I have a DSL connection, but it's all the same except the specificities. Anyhow, I was actually impressed! I couldn't say as to quality, since it was running through my computer sound system, but neither of us had any problem hearing one another, so it certainly accomplished what it was supposed to do - and it didn't cost me a dime!

The thing about my DSL is that I can't have a dial-up modem hooked-up to the same outlet as the DSL modem; neither of them will work. That's a real headache because I had my Caller-ID on my computer; now, I don't know who's calling me! However, seeing as how I have the DSL line and all, I'm looking into these VoIP services; I need to decide whether or not to cancel my landline service and just go for something through the Web. But I don't know anything about VoIP.

VOIP services Reviews are not all that easy to come by, actually. Offers are, but honest reviews just aren't. And my problem with purchasing any service online is that you never know what you're getting into, and it's usually near-impossible to get out of once you do. There are innumerable VoIP services, companies, and packages and you could lose entire weeks to surfing through them on your own.

For matters concerning VOIP services reviews, proceed to the profile of Spectrotel at PhoneDog. Check out the other Spectrotel profile here for more helpful information.

Make sure you look into all your options before you agree to anything, but VoIP is not only convenient, it's the wave of the future. I would venture to say that, within 20 years' time, it will be the standard. Even if you are not shopping for services, you should take a moment to learn more about VoIP, because it will be on the test!

Template Changes

There are a few posts coming out today, because I will be here all day, working on the template. I did not know your site/blog could be penalized for code errors and I'm pretty sure this OTR template I got for free off some website is just chockful ' errors. Besides, I'd like to fashion my own template... because that's how I roll. I'm also editing posts and tags, et.al.

Anyway, if you have problems with anything, please check back later - it's probably just me, messing with things.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Passive Publishing: Social Networks and the New e-Mail

This weekend's South by Southwest festival attendees heard from social networking founders and experts, who said status updates and social networks "are the new e-mail."

The major issue with social networks, according t most experts lately, is how to monetize them, and that depends largely on knowing how members use them and what they use them for. At the South by Southwest festival, speakers seemed to agree that social networks were replacing e-mail. The basic template for social networks is the status box ("What are you doing?") at the top, followed by an inbox feed, and surrounded by contacts, their status and updates, and other folders.

David Sacks, founder of the business social network, Yammer, said, "What people want to do on social networks these days is post status updates. We think it's all people want to do." Gmail creator and FriendFeed founder, Paul Buchheit, added, "...it's a new form of communication;: not quite e-mail, more lightweight and 'real-time,' often with a little bit of a publishing flavor to it."

Sacks called social networks "e-mail 2.0" and many experts agree, noting that social networks allow you to "passively publish" things (such as your status) with which visitors can interact. Previously, you would have drafted an e-mail then chosen the contacts to send it to, without even knowing whether or not they cared to read it. "It's no coincidence that these products are all looking like e-mail," Sacks said.

Though they were all lumped-together for this discussion, it's inaccurate to consider Facebook and FriendFeed the same; FriendFeed is little more than a feed aggregate, where Facebook is the whole shebang. Still, it fits the criteria for inclusion in this discussion and is certainly a player in the field.

Feed aggregates may well be "e-mail 2.0," but I don't think they will ever replace actual e-mail, nor will it replace blogging. Business applications are pretty straightforward: keeping track of employee/participants' activities while working on a project - basically citing their online sources and being able to trace things back to their roots - though they are somewhat limited. Socially, they are fantastic for keeping-up with friends' interests and activities, as well as learning more about someone whose feed you have access to. Of course, aggregated feeds can be abused - companies using them like cookies to track their employees' every move online or stalkers using them to help harass their victims - but what can't be?

Social networking continues to be at the forefront of Web 2.0, and as this discussion proves, Web 2.0 is largely about aggregation.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Business Loan Financing

Things are tight right now, and for once, the news is not making things sound worse than they really are - at least not when it comes to finances. Business Loan Financing is harder to find than ever in today's economy; banks simply are not lending the money business owners need! But all is not lost.

While the immediate outlook is rather bleak, I do not believe we are headed for an all-out Depression. The news is confusing: one day, we seem to be in as much trouble as ever, and we're sailing into a recovery the next. Still, at this time, you are better off finding a lawyer to help with your financing needs.

Business loan financing is just one of the things attorney Jon Queen deals with as a finance lawyer. Head over to Jon Queen's profile for more background information. Jon Queen can help you navigate the lending process with ease, freeing up more of your time to focus on growing and maintaining the business, itself. Let him handle your loan needs while you handle the business!

Small business owners already have too much to deal with these days. Do not add to your troubles; let Business Loan Financing expert, Jon Queen, handle your needs. Simply follow the provided links to learn more today!

I'm Not Into Time, Man

One of the cool things about working for yourself - especially if you work from home - is making your own hours. For example, it's 12:15am as I write this and I plan on typing-out several more posts before calling it a night. I could schedule them in advance - and I am going to write at least one post in advance tonight - but I think this plays into the cyberculture, in general, and I wanted to mention it.

Back in the BBS days, it was understood that 5am was mailrun. That was the standard, agreed-upon, time at which all BBSes processed their mail. Mail was processed by way of a batch file named "mailrun." These were standardized things everyone followed. Excepting FidoNet, you could run your mail whenever you liked, but FidoNet processed its mail at 5am and since it was (by far) the largest mail network, it simply made sense to run all your mail when you ran Fido mail.

There's literally nothing like that online today. It simply isn't needed. That's great in many ways, but it also contributes to the social "distancing" which so many experts blame on the Web. I'm writing this just after midnight and you aren't likely to read it for another few hours. By then, I'll either be asleep or even away from the house altogether. If you comment on it, I won't see it until I get back, and no one else will read it until it is approved - by then, you may be asleep or away from the computer. We all make our own hours (to be) online and though they may vary dramatically, the Web is basically "where we left it" when we return.

On the one hand, we're absolutely becoming more dependent on instant messaging and other forms of electronic communications, and this may be distancing us, socially; OTOH, the convenience of communicating electronically is leading us to communicate more. It is no longer necessary for both of us to be awake or by a telephone or fax machine, etc., for us to communicate. Not only can we communicate with others regardless of where either of us are, we can get in touch with others regardless of when one another is available.

If the experts are right, we are losing some of our social graces - specifically, our ability to effectively communicate in person - but that does not account for the fact that we are actually communicating more often. I think the trade-off balances-out.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Alternative Treatments

I am a big fan of alternative medicines, and not just for political reasons (though they are definitely a factor). The Chinese have been using various herbs and and non-medicinal treatments (such as acupressure) for centuries, and with great success I'll add. The United States eschews almost all of their treatments, yet is not even in the top 50 countries when it comes to providing decent health care!

Treatments for Symptoms is a website devoted to helping you find alternative and herbal remedies for all your ailments. Of course, anything that persists for an extended period of time - as well as anything serious - should be treated by a doctor, just as the site urges. But for many symptoms, over the counter medications, herbal supplements, and alternative practices prove quite effective.

Treatments for symptoms and cures for ailments are some of the issues dealt properly by Dan Neumeister, a top California healthcare executive. Know more about Daniel Neumeister's profile through his Blogger page.

Pimp This Bum

Sean Dolan and his dad wanted to develop a website to test a marketing strategy they planned on using for a local, mom and pop store. Then Sean had an idea: why not test their marketing savvy while doing some good? And www.pimpthisbum.com was born.

"We wanted to insult people's sensitivities so that they would go to the site and see Tim, and people seem to have fallen in love with him. He's funny and doesn't blame the world for his situation," Kevin Dolan told journalists.

The site features a picture of Tim holding a hand-drawn, cardboard sign, along with videos. Visitors can donate using their credit cards and others have gone by the spot at which Tim panhandles to donate food, or simply say hello. But the real draw is Tim, himself. Visitors can ask him questions and he answers directly - as in "no holds barred;" while often (darkly) humorous, Tim does not varnish the truth of his plight.

Further, Tim says there are others behind him. "I'm the world's first online bum. I'm the pioneer, but I've got friends behind me. If I don't get this right, it ain't gonna work for them."

This week, the Houston-based former manager is entering a Seattle detox and rehab center, which the facilities are providing free of charge. There are plans to air webcasts of his progress. Today, he will shave his beard and trim his hair in a podcast, prior to entering the program: a symbolic notion to start his new life.

Some homeless advocates deride the Dolans' approach, as do some bloggers and commenters. However, Tim himself says he "roared with laughter" when Sean Dolan approached him with the idea and thought it was "just crazy enough to work."

And, so far, for him, it has.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Backup Winmail (Vista)

I am in the process of gearing-up to do a non-destructive recovery on my Vista machine, because I have yet to solve the intermittent browsing issue - I haven't even diagnosed it yet! And after having another tech friend go through my entire machine, as well, I have few options left. I don't even know that a non-destructive recovery is an option for me under Vista, so it may be a full reformat... at any rate, I have to backup my data on CD and I have some reservations.

My main one now is whether or not I will be able to access the files and folders under My Documents, because the frigging UAC is such a pain in my ass. It certainly will not let me access anything under My Documents on the XP drive; I have to Take Ownership of each file individually - which is a real hassle, since there are several hundred. I do not want to go through that with a reinstall on the same machine!

My other one was my mail, but I got that covered and I'll show you how (it's incredibly easy):

1. Create a folder off your root directory (C:) to avoid the whole UAC thing
2. Open Winmail
3. Empty your Deleted Items (no sense exporting those)
4. Go to File -> Export
5. Choose Winmail
6. Choose the folders you want to export.
7. Export the messages to the folder you created in the first step; Winmail will create a "Winmail" folder beneath it and each of your messages will be stored in individual folders according to those setup in your Local Folders

That's all there is to it!

If necessary, I'll post on how to import them (I don't know if I'll need to yet).

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Craigslist: Super-Pimp

Cook County sheriff, Tom Dart, called Craigslist.com, "the single largest source of prostitution in the nation." Dart is asking a federal judge to force Craigslist to shut down its "Erotic Services" section and reimburse taxpayers the money police have spent investigating and arresting prostitutes discovered through the popular website.

The Erotic Services section is the most visited department on the site, drawing an estimated 9 billion views and 30 million new ads each month. Dart said the site rakes in $80 million annually - much of it from "Missing children, runaways, abused women and women trafficked in from foreign countries [who] are routinely forced to have sex with strangers." Craigslist denies this, claiming it donates all of its profits from this category to charity.

The site bears a warning to all entering the area, and suggests users flag any ad or content which appears illegal, which "includes, but is not limited to, offers for or the solicitation of prostitution." Further, there is a warning specifically mentioning "human trafficking." However, the ads featured alongside the free "classifieds" posted by users contain pornographic images, as well as offers for "erotic massages," "incalls and outcalls," and other activities known to be slang for prostitution and sex acts.

The Cook County sheriff's office listed several explicit headlines from ads which appeared on Craigslist recently, headlines which clearly offer sex and sexual acts in exchange for money (usually "$150-350 in roses"), including one from a man offering money to "explore a daddy-daughter sexual relationship." The office then explained it recently posted an ad claiming to be from a 15-year old girl which drew numerous responses, including one from a convicted sex offender.

Craigslist spokespersons note ads for such services have appeared in phonebooks and Yellow Pages for years and the "Erotic Services" section was developed in response to users, who were tired of seeing the explicit ads mixed-in with regular personals. Ads from the department have resulted in countless prostitution arrests nationwide.

The website recently reached an agreement with several states, calling for it to crack-down on prostitution.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009

One More Update (From the 98 Box)

Sorry. I feel bad that I haven't been here in so long and when I finally return, all I have for you are decidedly non-Cyberculture-related posts. I wanted to let you know a little more about what's been going on because I doubt there will be many posts this week, either.

What happened the week of Valentine's Day is that I tried to install my scanner on the 98 machine. Now, this is a machine an ex-gf gave me. It belonged to her mom, who had given it to her. It would turn off and on on its own (on - yes, in the middle of the night or day, it would suddenly spring to life of its own accord), it took forever to do anything, it had a host of problems. She told me if I could fix it, to just keep it.

I did all the usual things (ran AV, registry fixes, defragged, etc.) and that made a huge improvement. As for the turning on and off, it was an outdated video driver. I wanted to do a clean install, but seeing as how no one supports 98 anymore and you can never get a computer back to the way it was once you do something like that, I held-off. At the time, it did everything I needed it to, anyway.

But then the cats killed the old camera (which only worked with 98) and I really needed a fax machine, which meant installing new software and the old scanner (which, again, only works with a 98 box). I started having problems right off the bat. Finally, something just broke. I did everything I could find to do, to no avail. I threw my hands up in disgust and stayed up for the entire night, reformatting.

I wrote posts detailing some of that and I'm going to give you some of those, because having a 98 box in my house is important - for a fax machine and scanner, if nothing else - but suffice it to say, I was... frankly ashen at all the hoops through which I had to jump to get it up and going. Just no sense in all that, honestly.

Granted, XP is nearly 10 years old at this point, and 98 is just over that, but when you consider the fact that Microsoft started releasing new OS about a year after they released 98 (and released a "Second Edition" almost immediately), and XP came out about two years afterward, you realize that 98 is still pretty useful. Not to mention 98 was pretty much the last build that allows you to get your hands dirty under the hood (even XP severely limited your options).

At any rate, I need a 98 box, and since I can network it to the Internet and use my broadband connection, I had to go ahead and set it up, and I had to do a reinstall at this point. That took days and was incredibly frustrating. Following that, I had my landlady come through to inspect the home for mice and bugs and she failed me - even though I have no mice or bugs. Then I got the flu...

So, it's just been one thing after another the last few weeks and I simply have not been able to be here.

Now, the landlady comes back tomorrow, which means I will be busy literally all day, then I'll be gone all Tuesday to pay bills and so forth, and I go for another doctor's appointment Thursday. Like I said, I'm not sure there will be anything this week, either.

But hold tight, because I have a lot to talk about if I can ever get things on the homefront stable long enough to do so.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Update

I am still collecting news and stories and I know we've gotten off to a rocky start, stop, start, stop here, but I had several doctors' appointments between August and January and those should be settling back down now (knock wood). Just give me a few more weeks to get caught-up and I'll be bringing you a bunch of older stuff first.

Like the other blogs, we aren't as concerned with reporting news as it happens as with examining it, so a single post usually requires far more than just rewriting a news article or whatever. Next week, I will be bringing you some posts about setting-up the 98 computer (I finally have a scanner again - should have done this years ago!).

Also, check out the main site. If you are a tabletop gamer, we've added tons of new content the last few weeks!

© C Harris Lynn, 2009