Rolandes Ramblings

So, due to the fact that SBC still can’t properly determine facilities availability for DSL, I was forced to order TimeWarner’s RoadRunner Cable Internet service for access. Aside from spending 3 hours on the phone up front to troubleshoot a bad Cable modem, the service just worked for almost 2 months. I was beginning to think that Cable service wasn’t all that bad.

Then, after much researching and many phone calls to SBC, I finally was able to get an order placed for DSL service. I just cut over last night and I immediately noticed a visible difference with the speed that web pages would display in the browser window. I had run speed tests on the RoadRunner connection which showed about 2.2Meg downstream and 400K upstream on what should have been a 5Meg connection. The latency is the real issue at play, though. The latency over RoadRunner’s service was considerably higher just to get off-net at around 60-100 msecs depending on the time of day. Whereas SBC’s DSL service averages around 20-25 msecs to get off-net. I had also noticed that various downloads were particularly lagged and had choppy response times. That has all gone away with SBC’s DSL service.

With 3Meg of downstream bandwidth I get the same speedtests as I had with RoadRunner and less than 1/3rd of the latency. Although DSL has its facilities issues in the field for deployment, at least this provider knows how the hell to build a solid network infrastructure. At this point, I will always trust Telco before the Cable company hands down.

Non-compliance to Anti-Money laundering regulations… $80 Million
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/19/news/fortune500/abn_amro.reut/

Failure to properly certify more than 28,000 Federally insured mortgages nationwide… $41 Million
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060105/BUSINESS06/601050437/1019/BUSINESS

90 days of credit monitoring for 2 Million customers holding ABN Mortgages after loss of backup tape… Unknown Millions.
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/557650/

Building and operational costs of 2 sail boats in a 5 boat race… Unknown Millions and counting.
http://team.abnamro.com/

Pending lawsuit for trademark infringement… $750 Million and court costs To be determined.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/downersgrove/news/ds29suebank.htm

Awarding a .9% bonus for a job well done……

You were destined to have a Red Lightsaber.

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is
associated with energy, war, danger, strength,
power, and determination as well as passion and
desire. You have seen the Strength and Power of
the Dark Side of the Force and have you thirst
for more of it.

What Colored Lightsaber Would You Have?
brought to you by Quizilla

After 3 months or so of moving and a job change, things have finally settled down here enough that I have been able to get my server back online. Now I can once again add more useless content for everyone to read here.