well, actually, the current spate of problems dates back to 31 march of this year when they initiated 2 new "features": 1. anti-spam 2. anti-virus.
I have received some credit for my time in having to deal with this (to the tune of 1/3rd of my monthly internet services for the reason: poor QOS).
The biggest problem in all of this: I cannot use anyone elses smtp server based e-mail because cox (in their infinite wisdom) has blocked all access to port 25 except for that which is directed to their e-mail servers. That pretty much means that the so-called "free service" which is e-mail has become, in effect, a "locked-in feature".
One additional point, it seems that cox.net is using a mail service package that hasn't been vendor supported in close to 4 years (this means no tech support and no updates are available). it would be simpler to just convert their entire server farm to a linux/unix based solution and go with avguard for the anti-virus and spamassassin for the spam control 9and use a decent BL such as spamcop). However, it seems they won't do this, even though the TCO for such would be considerably lower, and the QOS (Quality of Service) would improve.
I guess making all that money does funny things to ones common sense, eh?
well, actually, this was a rather intelligent response to a problem that had plagued arizona for years prior to Ev Mecham and his bunch (we had rampant corruption in this state with regards to contract negotiations prior to 1990). In a lot of ways, the law which prevents the county from negotiating contracts with convicted criminals/entities was designed to prevent even bigger problems. Lets hope it works in this case. BTW, anyone happen to have the e-mail addresses of the county board members handy?
I begin to wonder about a few thinsg regarding idle hands being the devils workshops. looks like the hands of the FBI have been very idle of late. Case in point, a young teen in highschool being constantly ridiculed for his "abnormal intelligence" and coming from a disfunctional family may already be considered dangerous. Well, according to the profile test, in 1983 I would have met all those criteria! Consider, I had an IQ well into the low 150's, had very few friends, just wanted to get by because there were no real oportunities for me, and already had a penchant for games like D&D and regularly used weapons (firearms) on various outings (I am a lifetime member of the NRA since age 13 too). Couple this with the fact that I was labled as "trouble from day 1" by some highschool administrators, and viewed with distrust by most of the other students in my class, you;'d get an idea of how I felt. Now, here I am, at age 34, blind, and unable to gain meaningful employment. If you think that the geek profile would have suggested I was dangerous in highschool, you should look at the results such a profiling says about me now. By all accounts, I would currently be labled a "terrorist threat" to the nation. As the old saying goes; "Something is fishy in denmark". I leave you folks to ask the questions that you need to ask. IMHO, I think that profiling of this nature creates unfounded fears and paranoia and is deliberately invasive on the part of our government. Just so you know, I was part of a small circle of friends (before things went to hell in a handbasket). they were called the viper militia (or Viper Team) of Phoenix Arizona. Go figure? proudhawk@proudcyber2k.net
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well,
actually, the current spate of problems dates back to 31 march of this year when they initiated 2 new "features":
1. anti-spam
2. anti-virus.
I have received some credit for my time in having to deal with this (to the tune of 1/3rd of my monthly internet services for the reason: poor QOS).
The biggest problem in all of this: I cannot use anyone elses smtp server based e-mail because cox (in their infinite wisdom) has blocked all access to port 25 except for that which is directed to their e-mail servers. That pretty much means that the so-called "free service" which is e-mail has become, in effect, a "locked-in feature".
One additional point, it seems that cox.net is using a mail service package that hasn't been vendor supported in close to 4 years (this means no tech support and no updates are available). it would be simpler to just convert their entire server farm to a linux/unix based solution and go with avguard for the anti-virus and spamassassin for the spam control 9and use a decent BL such as spamcop). However, it seems they won't do this, even though the TCO for such would be considerably lower, and the QOS (Quality of Service) would improve.
I guess making all that money does funny things to ones common sense, eh?
- Proudhawk (aka Technomage Hawke)
well, actually, this was a rather intelligent response to a problem that had plagued arizona for years prior to Ev Mecham and his bunch (we had rampant corruption in this state with regards to contract negotiations prior to 1990). In a lot of ways, the law which prevents the county from negotiating contracts with convicted criminals/entities was designed to prevent even bigger problems. Lets hope it works in this case. BTW, anyone happen to have the e-mail addresses of the county board members handy?
proudhawk (aka Technomage)
I begin to wonder about a few thinsg regarding idle hands being the devils workshops. looks like the hands of the FBI have been very idle of late. Case in point, a young teen in highschool being constantly ridiculed for his "abnormal intelligence" and coming from a disfunctional family may already be considered dangerous. Well, according to the profile test, in 1983 I would have met all those criteria! Consider, I had an IQ well into the low 150's, had very few friends, just wanted to get by because there were no real oportunities for me, and already had a penchant for games like D&D and regularly used weapons (firearms) on various outings (I am a lifetime member of the NRA since age 13 too). Couple this with the fact that I was labled as "trouble from day 1" by some highschool administrators, and viewed with distrust by most of the other students in my class, you;'d get an idea of how I felt. Now, here I am, at age 34, blind, and unable to gain meaningful employment. If you think that the geek profile would have suggested I was dangerous in highschool, you should look at the results such a profiling says about me now. By all accounts, I would currently be labled a "terrorist threat" to the nation. As the old saying goes; "Something is fishy in denmark". I leave you folks to ask the questions that you need to ask. IMHO, I think that profiling of this nature creates unfounded fears and paranoia and is deliberately invasive on the part of our government. Just so you know, I was part of a small circle of friends (before things went to hell in a handbasket). they were called the viper militia (or Viper Team) of Phoenix Arizona. Go figure? proudhawk@proudcyber2k.net