The wurster, the better

Last Monday on my day off, was Comcast day at our house. I first unhooked our cable modem and took it back to Comcast to get a new one capable of the hi-speed internet service I was supposed to be getting. My saga started months ago last year when I complained about “slowness”. Ultimately, the technician said that my cable modem was old and no longer used and not capable of hi-speed internet services.

I complained because they knew what equipment I had since I was renting it. But that data apparently did not communicate with anyone so that they could be proactive about this and contact me and get it replaced. But, no. Comcast is certainly not proactive about anything. They are a monopoly and don’t care about their clients.

And then, they couldn’t mail me a new modem and have me send back the old one. I had to bring it in by hand. What an inconvenience. And so, it took me about 5 months until I remembered and had the time to make the switch. This is not good customer service. But what does Comcast care.

So, now I’ve been getting hi speed internet and loving it. But, now one more complaint. The cost is too high. I pay $115 per month for the triple play. So, I wondered what could I cut to reduce the cost. I could eliminate digital voice, thinking it was one-third the cost. Bit, no. I would only save $15 per month. So, I decided to keep it until my triple play contract expires in June. Then, I can see what Comcast can offer.

I was just chatting with my brother about things not always working. That seems to happen a lot these days, especially in our high-tech world. We rely upon so many things just being there. What would we do without them? There was a recent episode on South Park about “no more internet”. It’s called “Over Logging”. It will be available for viewing on the site after May 17.

It was pretty funny and made me think about returning to the good old days. That’s another of my interests in becoming sustainable, using what we need, reusing and recycling. What’s going to happen when the price of gas hots $10.00 per gallon? The costs of everything will rise.

But here I am relishing my new HD TV and the HD receiver. And I bought an HDMI cable for only $7.00. It seems to work just fine. No need to spend $100 on a Monster HDMI cable.

I sent my nephew Kevin a birthday package of Tastykakes and stuff. He is in China. I’m sure he’ll be surprised.

How do we get directions now when we go to a restaurant. We use Mapquest. Do we all know how to use this? No. My wife Maria needs to learn.

Do we all know how to import a music CD into iTunes (or some other player)? No. It’s not magic, we just need the time to learn how to do it. This applies to so many things. We need information when we need it, just in time. I was talking to someone the other night about social networking and helping out the diverse groups in our society. We talked about the knowledge that one gains from attending meetings or just chatting with someone in a restaurant or other venue. How do we retain that knowledge and pass it on? That is the challenge. Could we make a web site and give our users the information and knowledge? Sure, we could.

But the problem I see all too often is that you can build something but no one will come. Even though you may have a great idea, if nobody uses it then it’s useless. The key is advertising and publicity and showing potential users a benefit to them of visiting the web site.

I watched an ABC PrimeTime show last Thursday about how teens can be so mean on the Internet. It was a very interesting show and made me think a lot about what children can do today.

It was very well done and I learned a lot about teenage girls. If you read the ABC web site, you’ll get an insight into what the show was all about. However, it was even more frightening seeing it happen on TV under a controlled situation. Even the people controlling the experiment were shocked at what happened. They were not prepared for how the girls acted and reacted.

The strength that our kids have (with the ability to react to situations quickly) is a great skill to have. However, our kids need to understand “the repurcussions of their actions”. Our kids must understand the power they have at their fingertips. It can be used for good and for evil.

It’s even more critical today that we try and keep as close to our children as we can. We don’t want to hold them close. We want to let them fly on their own but yet understand where they are going and why. We have to be in touch with them so that we can try and understand what they are thinking, what they are feeling, why they do the things they do. And we must talk with them even when they try and shut us out. We must tell them things they may not want to hear from us. I do think they remember stuff we tell them, no matter how mad they get at us.

For me, it is the experience that has helped me live my life. I think for kids today, it is something else which drives them. It sometimes takes us years to really understand life and how to live it. We love our kids so much, we try to make life easier for them, sometimes too easy. Unfortunately, the more we try to buy our children’s respect (and love?) by giving them more and more, the harder it actually is for them. Today’s material things, although technologically superior, are far more detrimental to their well being. Especially since we adults don’t master them at the same rate or even at all.

More to come.

Here is a link to help you learn about this worthwhile cause. Check out some of the videos, including one by Moby. Then, if you agree to help save the Internet, go to this link and sign the petition.

Thanks for your help.

There has always been a desire by many to control things, everything. We do need to be able to control and manage things to avoid chaos. Management and organization is good. When it comes to the Internet, a free space for all to enjoy and use, I have concerns. Freedom of speech is paramount. We don’t want to give up this freedom or have anyone take it away from us. However, we need to use this freedom judiciously and without malice.

I have children and am very concerned about safety on the Internet. However, this does not mean that we need Big Brother to control this and therefore loose one of most precious freedoms – freedom of speech.

How do we do this? I don’t have an answer but we need to look at organizations like MoveOn.org to help us with this. So, I recommend that you become a concerned citizen. I recommend that you do something. I recommend you make yourself as knowledgeable as you can about this issue. I recommend that you sign the petition at MoveOn.org by clicking on the “Save The Net” image in the left sidebar.