Techno Babble
Created | Updated Aug 7, 2002
Broadband
The Joys of Broadband; shame I don't have it really, not at home at least, and my connection at work is stupidly fast enough to keep me content for a while. I do want it at home, but am glad I didn't order it recently. BT made a bit of a security goof on their Online Order Tracking site. They forgot to ask for a password. Ooops. So, if you noticed this, and had someones' email address (which a Google search would bring up) then you were away - you'd have their home address and a few other things. Thankfully, though, the service is 'currently unavailable'. BT were notified by the trade press about their little faux pas.
And speaking of Broadband access, as I frequently seem to do...
isn't it just a little too expensive? Er... No. Well, not for much longer at least. Depending if a couple of new ISPs can stay out of the red long enough.
ET Global Solutions (deities but that name sucks) have starting offering a Broadband service for not much at all. Okay, there are some initial outlays, £60 connection fee and then some hardware, the ADSL modem and 2 Microfilters for a bargin £75, including delivery no less. So, that's an outlay of £135. Then there's the monthly fee of £18.95, a mere £2.96 more per month than BTs' normal 56K dial up service.
FairADSL are also knocking out cheap access. Initial installation of £58 and modem and 1 Microfilter for £99, so the initial outlay here is £157, £22 more than ET Global Solutions (that name doesn't get any better). Oh they also charge you three month in advance, so in reality you need just shy of £215 handy. Then there's the monthly fee of £18.89.
Specs:
- For both, it's the same service rebranded
- Download 512k
- Upload 212k
- Contention (This is how many users are sharing that connection, so out of the 512k download you're paying for you may only be able to use 51.2k of it.): 50:1.
Fashion
Okay, maybe something you weren't expecting to see here but let's face it... The summer (what there is of it) is half way gone and the Beer Festival Season is getting into full swing, but you've already worn all your t-shirts. So, what to do? Buy some more of course. Anyone who suggested washing some clothes come sit at the front of the class. But what should the well dressed geek wear? And, more importantly, where can you order it from without having to go somewhere dreadfully 'cliché chic' like Burtons, TopMan (top of what? I ask) or other such stores where the sales assistants(has anyone actually ever seen them assist anyone?) laugh openly at your beer gut? So, here are the best places I've found for t-shirt shopping...
First up, NTK.net.
Geek heaven since '97, dodgy slogon, sorry, I made it up. But this has to be the place for the most openly geek like clothing. T-Shirts with the logos '404/shirt/tie: not found', 'I got £80million in venture capital for my .com idea and all I have left is this lousy t-shirt', ones with a Trainspotting mick take saying 'Adminspotting' or perhaps a t-shirt with a KLF mick take reading 'They stole our revolution. Now we're stealing it back'. Not to mention the Elite(remember that!!!) look alike.
They take credit cards using PayPal and ship to most of the Globe. T-shirts are $15 plus postage, which works out just shy of £15 to the UK.
Now The Registers' Cash and Carrion which carries a rather varied range. Not only can you buy their own logo shirts there but also a few of the NTK ones, including the 'fsck/linux' and 'iMachiavellian. Think dissident' ones that don't show for sale on the NTK site. Add to the list a sprinkling of O'Reilly piff takes 'Distributing Clue to Users', 'Snooping Email for Fun and Profit' and the ever popular 'Practical Unix Terrorism' with hillarious 'cover' illustrations to match.
Credit cards accepted and shipped to virtually all the globe. T-shirts are roughly £12 which seems to include postage, but don't quote me on that.
Next Up is the ./ (SlashDot) linked ThinkGeek. A rather large, and occasionally distubing, collection of t-shirts to suit even the most choosey of geeks. So many t-shirts, so few wash days. And if that thought wasn't scary enough I shall point you to this part of the site: baby grows.
Last up, UserFriendly, not just t-shirts, but other such bits and pieces related to the excellent cartoon. Anyone wanting to send me a Dust Puppy bean bag doll, feel free. Okay, so UserFriendly may not be the most widely known of Geek icons, but it'll cause a stir in the circles that matter. There's also links to other geek stuff within the site that has nothing to do with the cartoon, including (they claim) the largest collection of Techie T-shirts. And I'm not arguing with the claim. Some of the wittiest slogons I've seen for a while are available here along side some of the lamest. They ship most places, but charge for the privilage of selling you something.
Bring Back The Luddites
A quick note here, mostly because a few too many jars are forcing me to stop looking for the acts, but be sure of an update soon... Back in January the Norwegian Government grabbed a guy for DVD Piracy. Now the time for the court case has come around. What exactly has he done? Ripped off and sold hundreds of copies of new releases? Distributed dodgy content? Er... No. He wrote a bit of software that allows Linu users to watch DVDs on their computers. Get the rope Hudge and we'll have us a hanging..
Forward Thinking
Sort of, that there beer problem again. An English lass had her credit card stolen by a bit of an internet betting addict. He then used it to place bets on horse races. Small problem, he won. The winnings were debited straight into the victims bank account and she was merrier by a nice £291.40p. Who ever said that internet credit card fraud was a bad thing?
