My ISP is t3h suxx0r.

So I'm at work today, like most days, and I fire up Internet Explorer which opens about half a dozen tabs of my selected homepages. Two of these, are mailboxes on my mail server at home. Running my own mail server means that if I change ISP, I don't need to change my email address, and that is a good, good thing. So anyway, I'm greeted with that "friendly" screen that indicates the server could not be contacted, and assume the problem must be the connection at home. Every now and then, the connection will drop out and I'll need to tell it to reconnect. No biggy, I'll give my wife a call and we'll get it sorted...

When I call my wife, I learn that she's had no internet all morning, and is quite keen for me to resolve it. So we reboot the modem, and everything comes up as it should, but still no internet access for her, and no mail for me. What's going on?

So I do a tracert to my home server's IP, and what do I find? Please observe:

Tracing route to mail.warners.net.au [202.134.252.185]over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 203.26.89.254
2 1 ms 2 ms 2 ms 192.168.1.1
3 2 ms 8 ms 202.59.24.50
4 4 ms 4 ms 4 ms 202.59.16.49
5 255 ms 315 ms 343 ms 61.31.59.202.static.soulaustralia.com.au [202.59.31.61]
6 12 ms 11 ms 11 ms 97.25.194.203.static.comindico.com.au [203.194.25.97]
7 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms ge6-2.bdr03-kent-syd.comindico.com.au [203.194.28.249]
8 13 ms 11 ms 28 ms POS2-1-0.un1.optus.net.au [202.139.129.221]
9 20 ms 25 ms 31 ms ge-wan5-1.o2gsc76f03.optus.net.au [61.88.178.230]
10 13 ms 17 ms 13 ms 59.154.19.54
11 14 ms 15 ms 20 ms ains-202-126-99-205.ains.net.au [202.126.99.205]
12 19 ms 16 ms 15 ms ains-l2tp-lns2-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.99]
13 18 ms 15 ms 15 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
14 79 ms 49 ms 54 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
15 19 ms 21 ms 18 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
16 18 ms 15 ms 19 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
17 24 ms 16 ms 25 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
18 37 ms 42 ms 42 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
19 23 ms 21 ms 19 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
20 24 ms 21 ms 23 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
21 25 ms 48 ms 97 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
22 205 ms 133 ms 130 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
23 32 ms 29 ms 27 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
24 25 ms 21 ms 27 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
25 27 ms 26 ms 30 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
26 21 ms 23 ms 22 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
27 36 ms 26 ms 26 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
28 21 ms 38 ms 24 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
29 23 ms 21 ms 30 ms nbb-nbrt20201-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.209]
30 41 ms 24 ms 24 ms ains-l2tp-lns1-syd.ains.net.au [202.126.99.210]
Trace complete.

For the slightly less tech savvy amongst us, let me explain that what you're looking at is the path taken across the internet from me at work to my computer at home. This path should jump from point to point until it reaches my home PC. However, if you look at line 13, and then line 15, and then line 17, etc. etc. you'll notice that they're the same. Also, lines 14, 16, 18, etc. are all the same. And then right down at line 30 - does that look like the address I asked it to get to? Ah, no. Why? Because after it goes past 30 hops, it gives up in disgust.

What does this mean? It means my craphouse ISP whom I won't mention by name (*cough*) have pointed two routers at each other and said to Router A:

"If you're trying to get to Justin's PC, go to Router B"

and then turned to Router B and said:

"If you're trying to get to Justin's PC, go to Router A".

Have you ever been in a public toilet cubicle, and read on one wall "Toilet Tennis: Look other side", and then turned and looked at the other wall, only to find the words "Toilet Tennis: Look other side"?? No?? Well, you're missing out. But basically, that's what's going on here.

Sound intelligent? Yes well - this from a provider who when I first signed up had their mail server blacklisted by Bigpond for being a spam relay. I emailed to let them know and they fixed it, but... that's just BAD. At the time, they were on half a dozen other well-known DNSBL servers as well.

Anyway - the moral of the story is less of a moral and more of a cry for help. I NEEEEEED a decent internet provider who will give me unlimited 512kbps ADSL for a flat monthly rate. Dodo had crap customer service, and this new provider is slow, and breaks regularly. And I don't like them. I have a suspicion they use Macs, and that alone would cause me to run screaming away from them at the speed of light. People who use Macs shouldn't run ISPs.

'Nuf said. Hopefully by the time this posts, my connection will be back up. I don't think I'll hold my breath...

Windows Vista

So I was looking around at Windows Vista today, which I'm interested in getting but because I want both the home stuff (like Media Centre) and the business stuff (like Remote Desktop) I need the Ultimate edition which is retailing for around $750 for the full retail package. However, if one was to take themselves over to Amazon.com you'd find that Vista Ultimate full retail package is US$379.99 - which works out to AU$486.23. Unless you're going to be paying a couple of hundred dollars in shipping, that looks like a much better deal to me, and is the way I'll be going if and when I decided to buy this software. Just thought I'd share.

EDIT: As it turns out, closer inspection has revealed that Amazon won't ship this product outside of the US. So yeah - no Vista for me in the near, non-finacially enabled, future.

Privately, Hollywood admits DRM is not about piracy

For me, it's interesting to be able to bear witness to something that critics of DRM have been predicting, that being the demise of DRM. It's technology that doesn't work logically, is designed to inhibit the use of a product both legitimate and otherwise, and ultimately is more useful at frustrating Joe Consumer who just wants to listen to some music on his MP3 player then it is at stopping Bill the Pirate from uploading CDs to The Pirate Bay. So the "it stops piracy" argument is obviously flawed - why then has DRM continued for so long to be such a big issue? Well, I think the linked article sums it up nicely. It was never about the pirates.

Do you know, I never realised that the very problem that copyright was invented to solve is now the problem that it legally enforces. Copyright was created to move content INTO the public domain, and now it's being used to keep content OUT of the public domain. Something has got to change. How on earth did companies who manage artists get so much power?

Certified!

I can place this logo here without fear of legal retribution, as I am now officially a Filemaker 8 Certified Developer. Yaaay!!! Wooooo!!! I'm excited about the fact that I now have some form of IT certification, given that I've been working in this industry for quite a while and have been intending to get certified in SOMETHING for ages. Well, Filemaker is my first.

Now for the legal requirement:
The FileMaker 8 Certified Developer logo is a trademark of FileMaker, Inc. in the United States and other countries

Yay for legal requirements! Well, OK so no. But still!

iPhone, and "The Device Formerly Known As iTV"

So the Church of Steve all got together overnight to be told what new tech they should get excited about. Here's the run down of the keynote:

1.) iPhone. This year, for US zealots.
2.) Partnerships involving iPhone - Google and Yahoo. Singular/AT&T for carrier.
3.) *TV, where "*" represents an Apple symbol. From here on, called AppleTV.
4.) "Apple Computer Inc." now called "Apple Inc."

Here's my POV on these:

1.) iPhone
Firstly, expect a lawsuit involving Apple vs. Linksys and Cisco shortly about the name.
Second, we all knew this was coming. It's an iPod and a phone. Together. In one box. Now, out of everything announced at this keynote, this is the only thing of any real merit. The iPod brand is strong and the design recognition is also. iPhone adheres to the iPod simplicity of design and interface, and generally is an impressive looking device. Now here's where my praise of it ends.
Firstly, it's running OSX. I hate OSX. But aside from my personal distaste of it, putting a desktop OS on a phone seems like a bad idea to me. Memory management and OS functions surely are built with assumptions of cache/memory/processor/storage configurations that are just not possible in a phone. However, I'm willing to be proven wrong.
The next thing that irked me was Steve making a big ol' claim about owning the patents for multi-touch touchscreen interfaces. OH MY GOSH. While none of the linked videos prove that Apple don't own the patent, I'd like to note also I've seen video of HP and another company demoing multitouch screens in coffee tables at tech shows. I can't see that Apple's patent could be on anything other then their specific design implementation. Expect to see the competition doing simular things shortly, despite Steve's claims of exclusivity.

2.) Partnerships for iPhone
Google, Yahoo, Singular and AT&T (I don't know the relationships between the last two) were all showcased as providers with services for iPhone. Looks like they haven't done particularly much - I don't really understand it all, but Yahoo's push-email service seems... expected? a requirement? It's a shame my Exchange server at home will do this, and has been able to do this for quite a while - to ANY Windows Mobile phone, and I believe Palm ones too. Not impressed. But hey - nice that they've set these up for people who buy the iPhone. Seriously - I think iPhone is a reasonable offering, minus the OSX factor.

3.) The Device Formally Known as "iTV"
There was only one piece of information about this I don't remember being in last year's keynote, and that's that it will output 720p resolution via HDMI. Whoo. As I predicted previously, iTV *is* just an iTunes player.
Justin's official line on this product is that it blows. Why? Because you can do everything it does for cheaper, and without being locked in to Apple's iTunes/iPod model for content, and DRM scheme. And, as previously stated, it's yet ANOTHER device for your livingroom that does one very specific subset of what you need to do. It doesn't record TV. It doesn't play DVDs. It doesn't connect to your cable/satelite box. It sure as heck doesn't do anything with HD-DVD/BluRay technology. So why waste your money? Buy a cheap-ass hard disk recorder that will play back DivX/XVID/Mpeg4 content, and get your content from wherever you like. If you're willing to spend a bit more, a PC running Media Center (with AMD LIVE! for added value) and you'll get an easy to use system for displaying digital content in the living room that does a million bazillion times more useful stuff then AppleTV. Perhaps even a brazillian times more.
If you buy this product, you are nothing more then a zealot. So either suck it up and admit that Steve is your pimp, or be sensible and buy a device that is more then just a glorified expensive iPod with HDMI.

4.) The name change
Personally, I see this as an "about time" event. Apple's computer offerings have picked up some new sales recently, granted, but overall - it's not what's keeping them afloat as a business. In particular, Apple will claim OSX as a superior OS in one breath, and then say they're not a software company in the next. Let's be honest - Apple is now about consumer electronics, and one of those items just happens to be a shiney white plastic coated computer, which is now completely capable of running OS's other then Mac's OSX. For those of you who remember Dvorak's prediction that Macs would eventually be running Windows full-time, note that we're already halfway there. Every Mac in my office now has a copy of Windows installed on it, even though the users are all die hard Mac adherents. Why is that? Because they need Windows to run an effective business. It's just life, zealots, get over it. Windows dominates because it's a good OS, where "good" is not necissarily defined as being built on *nix. (Not saying *nix based OS's are bad... just that Windows can be good without being based on it) I have more points, but I really should get to work now...

Summary:
Less then impressive keynote, with one impressive device - iPhone. iPhone still needs to be identified as being functional as well as pretty before I'll give it too much credit. I guess we'll see.
Mac zealots to buy millons worth of iTVs, even though they already own multiple devices that do the same job.
Apple finally identify themselves as not being a computer company. Something Windows users have known for years.