I guess Anonymous Coward is correct regarding the IP change...it did seem that Flashcom tried to blame it on PacBell, though. And I got a notice today that thanks to the SBC/Ameritech merger PacBell will not be handling my ADSL any longer. I wonder if I will be getting a third bill now.
I, too, am also a Flashcom customer, but as I live in Calif. my telco is PacBell. During the eight months I've had my connection, I've had the following problems:
Delay: It required over four weeks from my order placement to installation. This may be better now, but knowing PacBell, I doubt it.
Improper installation: The PacBell technician screwed up my installation, and my voice line was down for two days. Two calls to two different PacBell numbers were needed to fix the problem.
Emergency IP number change: This was the big one. I was without service for 72 hours due to an "emergency" IP number change PacBell forced on Flashcom. I've had other outages, but probably none more than 12 hours long. These turned out to be Flashcom-related, mostly with routers going down. February was awful and I almost cancelled, but I can't remember an outage since March. I did have a line problem in April but that disappeared mysteriously. (Probably just mice in the line.)
Tech support: Forget contacting Flashcom during business hours on Monday. I've been on hold for four hours before and gotten no response. However, I did get instant response during off hours and even once during a non-Monday weekday.
PacBell sucks. I used to live in a BellSouth area and got much cheaper service calls and 24/7 tech and customer service. PacBell probably has more customers (just a guess based on coverage) and forget calling them at night or early in the morning. They just aren't there.
Overall I'd have to say I'm fairly happy with Flashcom, but they are handicapped by some really stupid local telcos. I also hear they're one of the best DSL providers, so YMMV (probably downward). The people I know with cable modem are happier than I am, I think, since it's a bit cheaper, and I'm not sure my connection speed is any better than theirs when taking a time average.
It is also important to note that all naturally occurring biological molecules have one chirality (right-handed, I think, by convention), though this seems to merely be an accident of the initial conditions of the formation of life here.
It's actually been tried, and recently, in Russia. A station in Moscow (?) has its anchor, a female in her twenties, strip naked while delivering the news in a complete deadpan.
I'm sorry that this might be a little off-topic. However, a few weeks ago, I saw a great one-man play (Once upon a Midnight) retelling the story of Poe's life from his point of view, full of biographical information and dramatic readings from Poe's work. Poe was played by John Astin (who was in the Addams Family and played Buddy in the late, great Night Court), who did an unbelievably funny, insightful, and touching job. I think it might be still touring, so I highly recommend it if you get a chance to see it.
I would not be surprised if the cipher really is Poe. He was very interested in such things and by all accounts was more than capable of coming up with an intelligent encryption. (Also equally capable of coming up with a complete hoax, as he did on at least one occasion...)
Astin (as Poe) read from his last work, the obscure and hard-to-find work of metaphysical speculation called Eureka, and Poe's philosophy sounded very much similar to Frank Tipler's Omega Point Theory. Very interesting, very much ahead of its time, and I'd like to get a copy of it, except it doesn't seem to be in print anywhere.
Slashdot Mirror
DSL. More hassle than you can shake a stick at.
Delay: It required over four weeks from my order placement to installation. This may be better now, but knowing PacBell, I doubt it.
Improper installation: The PacBell technician screwed up my installation, and my voice line was down for two days. Two calls to two different PacBell numbers were needed to fix the problem.
Emergency IP number change: This was the big one. I was without service for 72 hours due to an "emergency" IP number change PacBell forced on Flashcom. I've had other outages, but probably none more than 12 hours long. These turned out to be Flashcom-related, mostly with routers going down. February was awful and I almost cancelled, but I can't remember an outage since March. I did have a line problem in April but that disappeared mysteriously. (Probably just mice in the line.)
Tech support: Forget contacting Flashcom during business hours on Monday. I've been on hold for four hours before and gotten no response. However, I did get instant response during off hours and even once during a non-Monday weekday.
PacBell sucks. I used to live in a BellSouth area and got much cheaper service calls and 24/7 tech and customer service. PacBell probably has more customers (just a guess based on coverage) and forget calling them at night or early in the morning. They just aren't there.
Overall I'd have to say I'm fairly happy with Flashcom, but they are handicapped by some really stupid local telcos. I also hear they're one of the best DSL providers, so YMMV (probably downward). The people I know with cable modem are happier than I am, I think, since it's a bit cheaper, and I'm not sure my connection speed is any better than theirs when taking a time average.
It is also important to note that all naturally occurring biological molecules have one chirality (right-handed, I think, by convention), though this seems to merely be an accident of the initial conditions of the formation of life here.
Ratings are apparently pretty good.
I would not be surprised if the cipher really is Poe. He was very interested in such things and by all accounts was more than capable of coming up with an intelligent encryption. (Also equally capable of coming up with a complete hoax, as he did on at least one occasion...)
Astin (as Poe) read from his last work, the obscure and hard-to-find work of metaphysical speculation called Eureka, and Poe's philosophy sounded very much similar to Frank Tipler's Omega Point Theory. Very interesting, very much ahead of its time, and I'd like to get a copy of it, except it doesn't seem to be in print anywhere.