Not to be a troll or anything but my experience with Comcast cable broadband has been eye opening as far as their business practices. If you order their straight-up normal 6Mb/768k connection it's $42.95 after whatever special they're running is over. After 4 weeks of daily testing of that connection not ONCE did the upstream speed surpass 384k. (And other/.'rs are right, their "powerboost" thingamahoober skews the downstream tests to the point of utter uselessness.) Using the Speakeasy test, the upstream "needle" would hit 384k and simply hover there. When I called and complained (multiple times, after being transferred around, hung up on, etc) I eventually hit a salesperson who, in essence, informed me that that is the best I could get without upgrading to their more expensive $59.99/mo package.
*Boop* *Beep* ...Aaaand lo and behold the upstream hits 768k with no effort at all. I now pay the greater rate and have for a while now and while I'm satisfied with the speeds and don't care all that much about the price, their bait-and-switch tactics are disgusting. So, anyone pulled into this thread who has Comcast cable broadband and is curious about their upstream speeds, I'd give em a call and raise hell. There *is* something they can do. While saturation may play a part in what you're seeing, there is plenty they can do as well.
I just recent signed up for the service again after a lull of a few years. I don't enjoy cable TV as most of whats on is, as you know, crap. So instead I watch movies. Usually about 1 a day after work as I'm making/eating dinner. I'm on the 3 disc plan and I definately noticed that as I've been continually sending in one disc a day my returns are getting slower and slower.
If the average NF user is getting 11 discs a month and I'm looking to get about 22 discs a month (I don't usually watch on the weekends) then that makes me a very high demand user. I chose Netflix because going to Hollywood video and renting one a day is an incredible hassle and the fact that the rentals cost me from $3.00 to $4.00 each. At my rate thats $77.00 (22 rentals x $3.50) a month! As far as I'm concerned, Netflix can charge me more. Hell, charge me on a per-disc basis. Charge me once for my monthly fee ($19.00) then when I exceed, say, 12 discs (my cost then is $1.58/disc), begin charging me $1.50 for each additional film that's sent to me. That would make my average month $34.00 ($19 fee + $15 in additionals). If it costs NF.78 a dvd to ship, their cost would be $17.16, making their profit for the month $16.84.
I'm sure, though I don't really know, that TiVo has a caveat in the contract for lifetime service that the terms of the agreement may change at any time. In effect saying that you're not paying for anything solid because they could change all the rules on you tomorrow and you couldn't do anything.
At least, if they were a mildly intelligent company they would.:)
Most of the time your TiVo is recording the content thats too large to simply transfer to your unit. You don't honestly think it downloads those trailers and such when it dials in, do you? This is the only viable way TiVo has of getting the content to the machine. They've set up deals with broadcasters to air the programming late at night and to have the TiVo invisibily (at least when most people are asleep at 1-2am) record it for your convenience. It can be a hassle for us night-owls but I rather enjoy the extra trailers, show teasers and the like so I usually don't eff with it. *shrug*
If it's something you absolutely cannot live with, then yeah, I guess a DIY approach will be best for you as you'll gain that control. Cheers.
Well, I think in some ways you have to make some allowances for the recent episodes. I mean after completing a whole cycle with Mulders sister two shows ago, I think the producers are trying to move us out in different directions now. Hell, this show *never* finishes anything and they managed to give us a fairly concrete finale to that whole saga-piece of the story. So, after that they aired that ridiculous COPS spin-off which was more hilarious than anything else, and now the Video Game spin-off. Theyre just trying different things to get off the main story-line for a bit. In effect, I cannot really blame them. *shrug* -oMaT
Unfortunately, the "damage" done to the children is that of engaging in what would be considered a sin by the church. I myself am agnostic, so I hold no such predispositions, but it is a definite fact that religious or not we live in a Puritan/Christian society here in the States. Not necessarily by acts, but by enforced morals. The damage is in breaking that moral code.
These people see the system as completely ridgid. One lapse leads to another, and another, and another, ad infinitium. Its a sad fact that a moral authority dictates to us whether we know it or not, even if we do not adhere to or believe in that authorities' reason for existing.
Youre right in that its a virtual certainty that a majority of us have had analogous experiences to yours. It is indeed a shame that their argument is completely nullified by our experiences and heretofor lack of violent tendency.
Go see it or dont. Pay attention to the hype or dont.
Yes, its a damn shame that Lucas has chosen this route to pitch his film. It is a sort of slur against the 'soul' of the original film(s)... But is it so bad?
I mean, Katz just said it.. Lucas is no longer portraying himself as a hollywood rebel. So he's gone mainstream. So what? The guys got a right to do so. We stand here and covet a movie made twenty years ago for its beautiful values and ahead-of-its-time special effects that gained popularity through its purity more than anything else... And then we decide to make Lucas the villian today when he has grown up and grown into his station in Hollywood. A station he has because WE gave it to him.
Its his life. Its his movie. He's hardly Gates-ish.
I think its less megalomania, and more that they have simply resorted to brute scare tactics to get what they want accomplished. Problem is, the Net in general doesnt like to be manhandled or bullied.
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Not to be a troll or anything but my experience with Comcast cable broadband has been eye opening as far as their business practices. If you order their straight-up normal 6Mb/768k connection it's $42.95 after whatever special they're running is over. After 4 weeks of daily testing of that connection not ONCE did the upstream speed surpass 384k. (And other /.'rs are right, their "powerboost" thingamahoober skews the downstream tests to the point of utter uselessness.) Using the Speakeasy test, the upstream "needle" would hit 384k and simply hover there. When I called and complained (multiple times, after being transferred around, hung up on, etc) I eventually hit a salesperson who, in essence, informed me that that is the best I could get without upgrading to their more expensive $59.99/mo package.
...Aaaand lo and behold the upstream hits 768k with no effort at all. I now pay the greater rate and have for a while now and while I'm satisfied with the speeds and don't care all that much about the price, their bait-and-switch tactics are disgusting. So, anyone pulled into this thread who has Comcast cable broadband and is curious about their upstream speeds, I'd give em a call and raise hell. There *is* something they can do. While saturation may play a part in what you're seeing, there is plenty they can do as well.
*Boop* *Beep*
If the average NF user is getting 11 discs a month and I'm looking to get about 22 discs a month (I don't usually watch on the weekends) then that makes me a very high demand user. I chose Netflix because going to Hollywood video and renting one a day is an incredible hassle and the fact that the rentals cost me from $3.00 to $4.00 each. At my rate thats $77.00 (22 rentals x $3.50) a month! As far as I'm concerned, Netflix can charge me more. Hell, charge me on a per-disc basis. Charge me once for my monthly fee ($19.00) then when I exceed, say, 12 discs (my cost then is $1.58/disc), begin charging me $1.50 for each additional film that's sent to me. That would make my average month $34.00 ($19 fee + $15 in additionals). If it costs NF .78 a dvd to ship, their cost would be $17.16, making their profit for the month $16.84.
Not too bad an idea, if I do say so myself.
.02
At least, if they were a mildly intelligent company they would. :)
If it's something you absolutely cannot live with, then yeah, I guess a DIY approach will be best for you as you'll gain that control. Cheers.
Well, I think in some ways you have to make some allowances for the recent episodes. I mean after completing a whole cycle with Mulders sister two shows ago, I think the producers are trying to move us out in different directions now. Hell, this show *never* finishes anything and they managed to give us a fairly concrete finale to that whole saga-piece of the story. So, after that they aired that ridiculous COPS spin-off which was more hilarious than anything else, and now the Video Game spin-off. Theyre just trying different things to get off the main story-line for a bit. In effect, I cannot really blame them. *shrug*
-oMaT
These people see the system as completely ridgid. One lapse leads to another, and another, and another, ad infinitium. Its a sad fact that a moral authority dictates to us whether we know it or not, even if we do not adhere to or believe in that authorities' reason for existing.
Youre right in that its a virtual certainty that a majority of us have had analogous experiences to yours. It is indeed a shame that their argument is completely nullified by our experiences and heretofor lack of violent tendency.
Hopefully this was .02 and a little help.
-oMaT
Go see it or dont.
Pay attention to the hype or dont.
Yes, its a damn shame that Lucas has chosen this route to pitch his film. It is a sort of slur against the 'soul' of the original film(s)... But is it so bad?
I mean, Katz just said it.. Lucas is no longer portraying himself as a hollywood rebel. So he's gone mainstream. So what? The guys got a right to do so. We stand here and covet a movie made twenty years ago for its beautiful values and ahead-of-its-time special effects that gained popularity through its purity more than anything else... And then we decide to make Lucas the villian today when he has grown up and grown into his station in Hollywood. A station he has because WE gave it to him.
Its his life. Its his movie.
He's hardly Gates-ish.
.02
I think its less megalomania, and more that they have simply resorted to brute scare tactics to get what they want accomplished.
Problem is, the Net in general doesnt like to be manhandled or bullied.