Flame wars

Yesterday I posted a link to a site dedicated net neutrality to my Facebook page. Most of the people that can see my Facebook page are family. I also added their link to my twitter feed. I got a very vindictive comment from one of my cousins. I doubt he reads this blog or that anyone does for that matter. However, I have chosen to respond here. The site is Free Press something or another which points to the site Save the internet dot com. Neither site is really very controversial. So perhaps my cousin was having a bad day or something. Or maybe he is upset with me about something else. Back in the olden days of the internet (nntp servers, list servers, and other pre-web proto calls) I would have gotten very upset and started a flame war with my own cousin. Today I understand that like a certain body part everyone has an opinion. Not everyone can express their opinions in clear and concise language.

A quick internet search will bring many thoughtful commentaries on the subject of Net Neutrality. This is not something new. The Internet from the beginning was neutral. It did not care what application was running on it. Even new protocols could and can run over computers that are across the country or the world from each other. The earliest RFC’s required network operators to route all traffic forward without interference or delay. Most people today get their internet from the few cable companies and telephone companies that still exist and those companies have competing technologies. Take VOIP for instance, there are independent companies like Vonage that provide internet based telephone service but they have to depend on an open Internet. There have been problems with ISPs throttling VOIP traffic from providers other than themselves. Today more and more people are turning off their televisions and using the Internet for news, entertainment, information, communication, and shopping. They are not using cable TV, the yellow pages, telephones, or other services which the ISPs make a good deal of money on.

This conflict of interest requires regulations. There are some bills in Congress that would do this and the FCC is looking into making some rules along this line. There is at least one bill that would keep the FCC from making any rules about the Internet. These bills change as they move through the congress and it is very tough to link to a bill that is changing all the time. A quick search will yield anyone with a couple of fingers links the bills. No one with a real job has the time to keep after these things. But we do need to let our representatives know we are paying attention. I am sure there are other organizations and web sites that are watching this. The EEF is one that I follow the IEEE has some interesting articles posted but you have to be a member to find them. Save the internet dot com is an interesting site that can provide lots of information about this subject.

They don't make them the way they used.

I keep hearing people saying they don't make things the way they used to. They mean that things are made cheaper, weaker, less well in some way. This always bugs me. As an example houses today are made with 2x6s instead of 2x4s they are insulated better, they are covered with better siding, the windows are at least double glazed, even the electric service is better. An other example is automobiles. I have been talking about this for years. Cars today run better, get better gas mileage, are more dependable, and safer. If you follow is link Click here you will see what i mean.

While it has been awhile. I fired Microsoft. After spending a couple of years trying to get small business server to work, I give up. SBS 2008 is junk. As an example when using the help program you are directed to a web page at Microsoft.com that is not there. I had everything working more or less and after it updated itself it changed the home page on my computer. I think the problems are in the Small Business part of the program. SBS uses windows server, exchange server, and something called WSUS these are hooked together with a console and some wizards. I think that the standard windows server is a pretty good system, but SBS is like the "el cheapo" server system and doesn't get the best programmers. To top it off the anti-malware solutions are priced like a small business is made of money. I can't imagine setting up a Small Business Server at a small business and having half the problems I had. The whole idea with a client server operating systems is wrong to begin with. The server is set up to keep the regular employees from doing anything that might cause a problem. Active Directory is like a dictator telling you how to use the Internet, your computer, and your email. Hire good people train them well and setup web page to enter information and retrieve it. I will post more on this later. I will revise this posting a few times in the next few days - I hope.

Well I have posted once this year. I was thinking it had been much longer. April fools' day is special. My Brother Grant was married on this date and my Father-in-Law was born on this date. Both are no longer with us. So, today has become a day to think about my mortality. Of course this blog will live on forever. Well maybe it won't. But I believe everything we do or don't do effects the future. I am trying to find a well known quotation, something about moving a grain of sand. I am not having any luck.
In other news, I bought an Iphone. This thing is great. I feel myself becoming an Apple fanboy. I will try and not turn this blog into a testimonial for Apple or the Iphone, but I can't imagine using a different cell phone. I promise to write more about this at another time.
My wife Mary has started college again. She is so tough, working fulltime, going to school full time, and being a time and a half wife and mother. Since I hit 50 and contacted mad cow and oldtimers I can't remember what day it is. I am trying to pull my weight and helping with the house work, cooking and caring for our little angel. So my other pursuits, like this blog, reading great literature, and great scientific discoveries have been put on the back burner. However, that burner is still on and sometimes even gets hot.
I have been reading. Freakonomics is fantastic, a must read for everyone. I can't say enough about this book. I have also found a new website about books that I love. http://www.shelfari.com/ is a great site. I think I can share or choose friends or something like that. Just go there and check it out. I may post a link later or something. After Freakonomics, I read The Rising Tide: A Novel of the Second World War by Jeff Shaara also well worth the time. I am listening to a biography of Winston Churchill on my Iphone. Did I mention I got an Iphone. I have been a subscriber of www.audible.com for some time. Using an IPod or Iphone is so much nicer then burning CDs to listen to in the car. I am reading Why I write by George Orwel. I will have more on that in my next post.

Working from home

Working from home is pretty challenging. Having a three year old is even tougher. Trying to do both is nearly impossible. Add to that attempting to keep up a blog and maybe you will understand why it has been so long since my last post. I have finished a couple of books recently. When I have time I will try and post something about them. I moved my workspace around to get my little her own space. She has a 42 inch high definition TV to watch Caillou on. The TV is even hooked up to the computer. We can watch movies and TV shows from the internet or off DVDs.