DSL/ISDN in Lexington MA, again...

DSL/ISDN in Lexington MA, again...

Well, my long trouble SDSL line is 90% dead. I am somewhere between 15000 and 19000 feet from the Verizon CO. So even at 192KB it is not very stable. COVAD asked Verizon to "put electronics on the line" and Verizon refuse to do it. There is no way out according to my ISP Shore Net (now Primus). After talking with Shore Net for a while, they suggested that I go back to dialed up ISDN.

Well that is very ironic. A) I used to have a DOV (data over voice) ISDN line as my back up line, and I just disconnected it a few months ago to save some money. B)I had such horror stories about ISDN from Verizon (was NYNEX/Bell Atlantic), now I am going to go thru it one more time.

So, first step is to call Verizon to order "Massachusetts flat rate ISDN". For $92 a month, I get unmetered service. Which is not bad. Since I get a 128K line with two channels. (At least that is what the Shore Net guy says about the flat rate). I called Verizon Business service, which handles residential ISDN. They say their ISDN group will call me back within five days. Apparently the ISDN group does not take any direct phone calls. This is a great start isn't it? Stay tune....

Hong Kong CD Packaging Just

Hong Kong CD Packaging

Just bought some more music CD from Hong Kong. Many of them have creative packaging. From an artistic point of view it is great. From a storage point of view it is very bad. I guess I have to store the CD and box away and just listen to the MP3 version.

High budget short film by

High budget short film by Ang Lee et al

BMW is sponsoring high budget short film made by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Wong kar-Wai (In the mood for love), etc. Coming April 11. Check it out at BMW Films

AV Receiver with MP3 decoder

AV Receiver with MP3 decoder built in

The Harman Kardon AVR510 receiver can decode MP3 when receiving it from its digital input (coaxial or S/P DIF).

conspiracy theory Why is it

conspiracy theory

Why is it that one can never get good DSL/Cable/whatever high speed connectivity at home? All the phone companies, and cable companies suck? Or that the Goverment is behind all of the "problems", telling all the telecommunication companies not to provide good service. The government do not want homes to be connected to the net with high bandwidth, because given the high bandwidth and "always-on" connection, people can route all their voice/video/data communication thru these lines, encrypted, and un-tappable by the goverment, perhaps....

2001-04-01, PK.

Speed and Patience Speed is

Speed and Patience

Speed is not haste.
Be patient, observe actively, wait for the right moment, and response with speed. Advice for a martial artist? Or life in general?

Being Irrational Most people are

Being Irrational

Most people are irrational. For most people, their irrationality is in direct proportion to the importance of the decision they face. That itself is irrational !

Yes -- this is a generalization. But it is nevertheless true, isn't it? How does one deal with irrational people?

It's just a job, or

It's just a job, or not?

How easy it is, when faced with a work situation, to take the "it's just a job" attitude. Create useless work. Take on useless work. Take the easy way out. Take no responsibility. Do everything but the one tough decision to actually make a contribution.

Don't do it. Never give up, never give in.

History of 3x5 index cards

History of 3x5 index cards

Who invented this format? Why 3x5? What is the history? I want to know !

Starbucks Well, after one week,

Starbucks

Well, after one week, the young lady at Starbucks Toranomon Tokyo remembers what I order in the morning. Home away from home hey?

A good start Bus ride

A good start

Bus ride to airport is smooth and empty. While I am flying coach they gave me access to the sakura lounge, then I found a free RJ45 cable, jacked my laptop in and it works !! Free drinks (not that I need that) and food, calm lounge, music blasting thru my headphones, massage chairs, what more can I ask for.....

Taking Time Off Work Whenever

Taking Time Off Work

Whenever I am taking time off work, I always ended up working on my personal website. Am I doing this for you? Or am I doing for me?

Centro Digital Pictures Ltd is

Centro Digital Pictures Ltd is the ILM of Hong Kong. If you can find it, go watch A Man Called Hero.

Sending yourself emails Do you

Sending yourself emails

Do you do it? I do it all the time. My inbox is -- well, my inbox. ToDo's. Notes to myself. Esp. when I am not near my laptop or my palm. I use my email inbox to store my immediate to do items.

Half Keyboard from Matias Corporation

Half Keyboard from Matias Corporation -- This works amazingly well (try out their software emulation).However not sure how we can use emacs with this.

Titanium in my Toothpaste? It's

Titanium in my Toothpaste?

It's true. Did you read the box? Inactivite Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide. Colgate Total.

Seal on Pull Tab on

Seal on Pull Tab on Aluminium cans

Looking at how the pull tab is rivoted on tops of Aluminium cans, how does it keep the air tight seal?

Project Eyeball: new Singapore portal

Project Eyeball: new Singapore portal aiming at the non traditional readers with non traditional Singapore content -- i.e. would this upset the SG government?

Coolest web cell phone coming

Coolest web cell phone coming soon?

Rumor is that the Nokia 7110 will be offered by ATT Wireless some time 2nd half of 2000.

Build your own custom multi-tool

Build your own custom multi-tool from Gerber® Blades