Some chat it up.
Some get their game on.
And some get to fixin’.
Posts Tagged ‘internet’
365great Day 175: wifi
laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, experiences, internet, pictures, services, technology, travel
05
September
2013
Learn more about 365great here.
Of course the best type is free and I really appreciated The Cloud while traipsing around the UK! They provide free wifi services at a variety of coffee shops, train stations, markets and even drug stores. Every block or so in London, you’ll probably come across some place that has a signal. I spent quite some time standing outside these establishments connecting to the internet and it sure did make my life easier not worrying about data usage and being relatively free to hop online as I pleased. Wifi at home, in lounges, on trains, and throughout buildings has empowered us to get online without being tied down to some socket in the wall. It has truly freed us up and I love it. Wires can be annoying and even worse is the fact that it tethers you to something. With wifi, you’re not bound to those restrictions and that is simply great.
365great Day 42: the interwebs
laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, experiences, internet, pictures, technology
25
April
2013
Learn more about 365great here.
Since about 11:30 am, our house has been internetless. This was not a big deal until the AT&T technician came in at 7:30 pm to say that while he had done all he could, a different tech had to come fix an issue out in the street. So tonight we have no internet for our laptops and it makes me appreciate all the time I spend on there and everything it allows me to accomplish. Luckily, I’ve still got my phone, but it’s more of a “skeleton crew” kinda thing where I’m only doing the basics and nothing else. So here’s to the internet! It connects in ways we sometimes forget and is a great tool.
AT&T Uverse Upgrade
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: daily life, experiences, installation, internet, service, technology, upgrade
25
April
2013
A little while back, I was trying to print a coupon when somehow I got tricked into enrolling for some texting service. Before I even knew it, they were charging me $9.99 and sending me texts I did not want! I had no idea that I could subscribe for something without inputting my credit card info. I quickly got on the phone and called AT&T to get the charge removed. Of course, they also took the time to try to get me to upgrade my service.
This time, the deal sounded pretty good: a free Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire or XBOX something or other. I’d the Uverse internet, TV, and home phone bundle for only $5 more than the current cost for home phone and DSL. The contract term was only a year, though I could lock in that pricing for another year if I stayed with them. I set up the appointment to get installation today, with the technician arriving between 11 and 1.
Farewell DSL.
Well, he arrived by 11:30 and has been here on and off ever since. First there were issues outside with the telephone box and what cables connected and were live. Then there was the issue indoors of not having a centralized place that our phone, TV, and internet would plug into. At one point we discussing drilling a hole in the wall to get the necessary cables in the right place. There were mysterious cables running in and out of walls and no signal where there should have been. It was a hot mess!
For awhile, he had to leave to get more equipment (and hopefully grab some lunch). Then he was back at it, setting up and fixing a lot of the odd wiring in our house. Maybe that’s why we always had trouble with the phone and internet signals. Could our troubles finally be over? Once everything inside the house was set up, we spent over an hour waiting for a different technician to come fix something interfering with the signal outside. I think we’re finally near the finish line though*. Hooray!!
Yay new internet!
*Definitely was not – ultimately the issue couldn’t get fixed today so tonight we are home internetless.
Online again!
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: experiences, internet, opinion, work
26
September
2011
Wow, I’m sitting here in the room, with internet on my laptop! Yeah, I know, that sounds so mundane and even expected, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not after a month of only having access to the world wide web via my phone. The open signal at my apartment went away and after a couple of weeks trying to get around it, spending time at Whole Foods, staying late at work, and even waiting in line at the business center for their computers, I’ve decided that this is a luxury that I can and should get. After all, I’ve saved 8 months worth of internet service fees already!
Awhile back, some of my coworkers introduced me to Clear, so I began to research that in depth, since I really liked the idea of having portable internet (I thought about tethering my phone, but it cost too much for too little bandwidth). After thinking about it and teetering between yes and no, I finally decided to see if I could get a modem for cheap on eBay. Much to my surprise, as I was following a modem & router combo to see what kind of price I could get it at, I came across a banner ad for a FREE one! This definitely peaked my interest, so I clicked on through and found an amazing deal: free modem-router ($120 value), free activation fee ($35 value), and free first month’s service ($45 value)!
Granted, I did have to sign a 2-year contract, but that’s pretty fair and I don’t mind it since I can bring the internet with me when I move. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was that I was not given an option for the $35 plan, which is slower, but cheaper. However, I called up their sales guys and was told that I can downgrade from the $45/month to the $35/month plan without a fee. I sure hope he didn’t give me misinformation, but if that’s the case I’ll just change my plan later on! I really doubt I’d need the super fast internet speed, so why pay $10 more a month? That adds up fast to $240 throughout the course of my contract!
Oh wait, but I’m getting ahead of myself… right now I’m enjoying some free internet at Panda’s hotel room and it feels so strange after so many nights of not being to get online with my laptop! I did receive my Clear device today and I’m really excited, but since I have internet for now, I don’t want to turn it on and activate it until I need it this weekend. I can’t wait to try it out though! I’ve heard great things, especially from our IT guy at work and he should know, right? I just hope I can get a decent signal at my place.
Web presence
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: internet, observation, opinion
11
April
2011
Recently I’ve noticed how important it is to me to have a web presence. Actually, correction: how important is it to me for companies to have a web presence. I mean, it’s great that I have one and all, but it’s really really useful when a business I’m interested in has one (and a good one at that).
I guess this all came about because of my new obsession with Yelp. Most listings don’t have business hours, from what I’ve seen, which seems to be a crucial piece to the puzzle. After all, there’s nothing more disappointing and frustrating than looking forward to going somewhere only to show up and find it’s closed that day or during that time period that you arrive. It’s been a personal mission of mine to add in operating hours to as many Yelp listings as I can, but it has been slow going. Businesses either don’t have them on their website, or they don’t even have a website!
Sometimes I wish more of the world was as tech-savvy as our youth. Then perhaps business owners would take note of the importance of having some sort of web presence, even if it’s just a listing on another site and not even your own web page. The great thing about listings is that you can take control of or at least edit most of them, so you can add in the information about your business without ever having to put any effort into creating a site.
Seriously, people. Get with the program already.
The trap of logins
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: future, internet, observation, opinion, technology
08
August
2010
There are so many sites that require signing up for an account and creating a login that I have a spreadsheet just to keep track of them all. It kind of sucks to get stuck in this trap of login after login, especially when you’re not on your personal computer and can’t always remember the usernames and passwords you use. It’s hard to create a standard set to use too, since each site has different requirements on length and complexity of the username and/or password. Plus, if you always use the same one, if someone hacks into one, that could compromise all your accounts. It’s a bit of a lose-lose situation.
I’ve also found that people are very averse to creating accounts, which is why it often comes with an enticing prize, like a chance to win a cool gadget. I suppose the nice thing is that many tap into Facebook, so you can sign in using that account, but then comes the issue of compromised privacy. Now the company knows your Facebook account and can find out more information about you, since you have to agree to share some of your personal information with them to connect using Facebook. It’s a battle of convenience vs. privacy.
It can get overwhelming because SO MANY sites want you to sign up with them and unfortunately, it’s often unavoidable if you want their service. Can’t they just use that fingerprint scanner some computers have and send the scan to the site so I can be let in without typing out all possible passwords I use? In the future, I expect someone to invent a faster way for our identity to be confirmed and access to be granted to these sites (in a quick, painless, electronic way). For now, I guess we’ll all just have to put up with creating a slew of usernames and passwords.
IM etiquette
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: advice, behavior, experiences, friends, internet, opinion
21
November
2009
“hey”
It’s the most common instant message I receive and the one I’m least likely to respond to. It’s an opener with no purpose, no direction. Hey can lead you anywhere, yet nowhere, which is why I usually don’t bother to reply to most people who think that’s enough to start a conversation. No, I’m a doer. I need some sort of action and interaction, whether through sharing a statement or asking a question. A simple greeting via the internet just doesn’t cut it. Imagine if that’s all you got in e-mails.
“Just wanted to say ‘hi’.”
I wouldn’t even bother answering back to that. To me, it’s like great, thanks for saying hi… now what? Why did you greet me? Did you want to catch up after a long time? Did you have a question for me? Did you just want to share a bit of your life? Give me something to work with here! It annoys me when people wait hours for me to reply to their one word before finally getting to the point. I like to get the point as fast as possible and know exactly why I’m spending time interacting with someone. And so, if people won’t even make the effort to type more than a single greeting to me so I can get an inkling of where they’re trying to take the conversation, I won’t make the effort to get the point out of them.
Even something as simple as “Hey, what’s up?” is fine! At least then there’s something I can do right away – answer the question! The conversation may last no more than two lines that way, but I’d at least give you the time of day to respond to the question. Hey means nothing to me. The most pointless conversation I ever had was an exchange of “hey”s followed by “what’s up” and “nothing much.” Seriously, you have nothing better to say?! -___- I’m not looking for spectacular conversationalists, but some people really need to get the hint that when I’m not talking to them, it’s because they have given me NOTHING to talk about.
Rant over. Thank you for listening. 🙂
Forever “beta”
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: doc, internet, mommy, observation, pictures, technology
09
September
2009
Is it just me or does beta scream cop-out to you too?
photo credit: theproducersperspective.com
At first it was a great idea. Have a beta version and allow exclusive access to dedicated users/customers so they can use it and help you figure out all the glitches. It’s like getting free manpower to test out the functionality of your product! Then you could open it up to the public with minimal complaints. Plus, your customers feel good about themselves because they got a sneak peek at your new product. You get valuable feedback and they get to feel special. Pretty good solution all around, huh?
Unfortunately, all good ideas can be misused and morph into something it wasn’t intially meant for. At times, unforseen uses and changes can be good, but often it is not. Nowadays, it seems companies use beta just as an excuse for any glitches that their product may have. How many sites do you see that still have beta listed on a corner of the logo, even after weeks or months of being up? At that point, beta is just a crutch for the companies so they can’t be blamed for malfunctions. That’s how I see it anyway. Would you ever buy a computer or car that was still considered beta? It signals a certain higher risk rate and I know I wouldn’t go for something like that.
For the same reason, my mom doesn’t want me to buy new technology as soon as it becomes available. I mentioned the new solar panel on the Prius 3rd generation and she warned me against using that sort of technology too soon (not that I wanted to buy such an ugly car, but the technology sure is awesome). I mentioned this when with friends and Doc agreed – his family had bought a van with automatic sliding doors as soon as they became commerically available and ran into a lot of problems with that vehicle. For the majority of people, it’s better to let others try something new first, then get it after it had reliably performed well for a period. I guess that explains why there are so few early adopters out there!
