"The best theory I've seen so far is that Flash is bit like quantum soup with a black hole in hiding in the extremely odd extra dimensions."
That is not just a joke, it is a direction of useful inquiry.
We need to philosophize about why a company would be so horrible toward its customers. Okay, probably not involving the quantum soup and black holes of Physics, but instead the quantum soup and black holes of Sociology.
"In Chrome it took me 60 seconds to figure out how to delete Flash cookies or view which sites are using Flash cookies."
Translation: In Chrome a highly technically knowledgeable person, who knows that Flash cookies must be deleted, took only 60 seconds to delete them.
"In terms of uploading content to the server, Flash is essentially capable of what JS is capable of. Companies don't need Flash to upload user information."
No JavaScript engine installs a system service. Flash does, and, according to Adobe, new vulnerabilities are discovered in Adobe software every 2 to 4 weeks. So, even if Adobe is not abusive, there are plenty of opportunities for others to invade a system.
"A quick look at cookies on my system shows that the vast majority of websites are storing information with regular cookies, not Flash."
Cookies on the system of a technically knowledgeable person are not representative of the cookies on the systems of average users.
"Wrong. Flash developers specify the minimum API version for their applications. Nothing has changed here. I can still run apps in old versions of the player."
Not wrong, because we've seen the problem with several domains. I'm guessing that Flash development software now automatically includes that limitation, and that the Flash development software updates without user intervention or knowledge. Most people who develop with Flash don't have the technical ability to know the "minimum API version for their applications".
"... many of the criticisms [directed] toward Flash... can also be aimed at Chrome"
I agree. That's why I stopped using Google's Chrome browser. One one computer I checked, Google installed 3 system services: Google Update Service (gupdate), "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe"/svc
Google Update Service (gupdatem), "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe"/medsvc
Google Updater Service (gusvc), "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe"
Normally, software requires an update only if new features have been developed, or in rare cases when a vulnerability is found. I'm guessing, and it is just a guess, that a lot of the vulnerabilities found in Adobe's Flash software are due to extremely poor management of Adobe that began about halfway through Bruce Chizen's period of being CEO. I imagine that the best people at Adobe left because of not liking Chizen's management. Certainly now, when I talk with people at Adobe, they seem very much out of control, as though there is no real management at Adobe or even understanding of technology management.
However, although Google's management has been degrading rapidly in recent years, in my opinion, Google has historically been much better managed. Someone checks Google software before it is released. But there are such frequent updates in Chrome that it seems possible that Google is being forced by some secret agency in the U.S. government (There are many more than just the NSA.) to deliver software to get information directly from user's computers. (I've been studying the degradation of management of formerly excellent companies since the downfall of Fairchild Semiconductor and of Tektronix.)
Also, there is an abuse that is becoming much more common: It is possible to give a name to a service (or an Internet domain) that is misleading or un-informative about who is in control of it. The sneaky, dishonest, abusive people are becoming more powerful, as in other areas of U.S. society.
So, we need an open-source operating system that has a far better security model. (Open source so that we can try to prevent hidden agencies from being in control.) We need a federal law that all software components must be labeled with their true supplier.
The Flashblock extension apparently is not supported by Firefox v35. With the extension enabled, YouTube videos won't play. When the Flashblock extension is disabled, YouTube videos play immediately, without user permission. Is that a Firefox problem, or is Adobe checking for Flashblock and refusing to operate if the Flashblock extension is installed?
Adobe's Flash software is abusive to users, in my opinion. From the Better Privacy Firefox extension web page, re-written for clarity:
Some properties of Flash-cookies (LSOs):
1) They don't expire. They stay on each computer for an unlimited time.
2) By default they offer a storage of 100 KB. Normal cookies, 4 KB.
3) Browsers are not fully aware of LSO's, They often cannot be displayed or managed by browsers.
4) Using Adobe's Flash, companies store and access highly specific personal and technical information (system, user name, files,...).
5) Flash sends the stored information to servers without the computer user's permission.
6) Some Flash applications are not visible to the user. Not all Flash applications display anything.
7) There is no easy way to tell which Flash-cookie sites are tracking you.
8) Shared folders allow cross-browser tracking, LSO's work in every flash-enabled application.
9) Adobe doesn't provide a user-friendly way to manage LSO's. Management is very cumbersome.
10) Many companies make extensive use of Flash-cookies.
Apparently Adobe develops software but doesn't check for flaws. There have been 24 new versions of Adobe's Flash software in one year, if I count correctly, since v11.9.900.170 in January of 2014. (The latest version is v16.0.0.257.) As the Slashdot story mentions, the flaws were found by other companies, not Adobe.
One purpose of the extremely frequent updating may be to push users to allow Adobe to do its silent updating, giving Adobe control over user's computers.
Now, apparently, Flash applications will not work unless the latest version of Flash is installed. That's apparently another way Adobe pushes users to allow Adobe to do silent updating, using the Windows operating system service Adobe calls ARM: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\armsvc.exe"
Apparently the former Adobe CEO, Bruce Chizen became tired of managing, because Adobe was, in my opinion, poorly managed for years before Mr. Chizen was replaced in 2007. Bruce Chizen is on Oracle's board of directors. Birds of a feather flock together?
The present Adobe CEO, Shantanu Narayen, is, in my opinion, a very poor manager. For example, an organization with which we are acquainted paid $2,000 to update to an Adobe CS6 suite. CS6 came with old versions of some Adobe programs, and an Adobe representative justified that practice.
I don't understand how that works. Can someone make a software robot to do searches and visit ads, and then get paid? Why have a job when your computer can make money unaided?
Microsoft pays Yahoo, Yahoo then paid Mozilla Foundation to sneakily make Bing the default search engine, and not Google search, realizing that most people don't have the technical ability to know why their search results have begun to be less relevant.
So:
1) To get people to use its search engine, Microsoft feels that it is necessary to pay. That is an acknowledgement that Microsoft's Bing search is not of sufficient quality to do well without payment.
3) That, basically, is an ad campaign to sell other browsers. As mentioned above, Yahoo paid Mozilla Foundation to change the search configuration of Firefox, without notice. I imagine that most people won't know what went wrong or how to re-configure Firefox. When people have problems with Firefox, they may switch to another browser, like Google's Chrome, or Pale Moon's 64-bit version of Firefox.
4) People may think they are using Yahoo search, but there is no such thing as "Yahoo search". Actually, without being notified, Yahoo customers are using Microsoft Bing search, and their search information is being given to Microsoft.
5) Microsoft pays Yahoo to use Bing. Yahoo pays Firefox to use Bing. Eventually, when the news about why Bing use is increasing is more widely known, people who don't feel comfortable with that sneaky behavior may switch to Google Chrome. In effect, Microsoft is paying for a powerful ad campaign to get people to switch to another browser.
6) Those who want to be paid by Microsoft must use Bing directly, not through Yahoo.
7) The trickiness and dishonesty may cause further collapse of Yahoo. In effect, Yahoo is being paid by Microsoft to decrease the popularity of Yahoo.
8) In effect, Microsoft is paying Mozilla Foundation to make Firefox less popular.
9) That may be a way to artificially increase Bing's search traffic, But It's Not Good (BING). To me, that's another example of Microsoft DIE, the Dastardly Insertion of Evil.
10) And, of course, all of that is bad for Microsoft's already bad reputation because of being adversarial to customers, decreasing the popularity of anything from Microsoft. So, Microsoft is paying to decrease the popularity of Microsoft.
That is so WEIRD that I feel compelled to joke about it. (WEIRD = When Every Idea Rates Dumb)
Rust? Programmers often choose self-defeating names. Imagine going to a top manager and saying you want to program a product in Rust.
What are some of the others? Gimp is one. GNU. LaTeX is written in both English and Greek letters. There is nothing "regular" about Regular Expressions.
NetLoony Apache Server GUI and Tools. (Looney is someone who is "Extremely foolish or silly".)
So, any supposed "popularity" of Bing (But It's Not Good) is at least partly due to the fact that Microsoft PAYS people to use it.
To me, that's another example of Microsoft DIE, the Dastardly Inclusion of Evil.
Bing Rewards FAQ quote: "I'm not a US resident, can I still join Bing Rewards? No, only U.S. residents (50 U.S. States and D.C.) are eligible to join Bing Rewards. Also, you can't earn or redeem credits when you're traveling outside of the US."
More about DIE, the possible Demonic Insertion of Evil:
If Microsoft eventually stops providing Bing search to Yahoo, Yahoo would no longer pay Mozilla to trick Firefox users into searching with Bing by switching to Bing as the default search engine, instead of Google search.
Then Mozilla would have less money to develop Firefox. Would Microsoft's Internet Explorer then become the most-used browser?
"The problem is that it [the ACA] is actually a system of graft from stem to stern. The health insurance companies must be eliminated if we are to have working health care in America."
For example, the "Affordable Care Act" is, in my opinion, in the direction of other recent changes in government. Instead of 2 organizations between you and a health care provider, there now are 3 or 4. The ACA gathers money from those like myself who never get sick. See, for example, Oregon Health Care Cost Increases under the Affordable Care Act.
The ACA was announced and pretended to be in operation before the software was ready: How Obamacare's epic fail exposed our government's biggest tech problem. Whoever is at the top of the U.S. government was obviously completely incompetent. (Often a U.S. president merely pretends to be in charge, hiding what is actually happening, and who is arranging it.)
Quoting: Oregon's suit, filed Friday in state court, alleges that Oracle, the largest tech contractor working on the website, made falsely convinced officials to buy "hundreds of millions of dollars of Oracle products and services that failed to perform as promised." It is seeking $200 million in damages.
If you love the U.S. like I do, help deal with the immense problems and lack of good leadership.
There is already a "global sat network": GPS satellites. All that is necessary is that each aircraft radio its position and sensor indications every minute or less.
That's easy. There should be better computer tracking. There should never be a "search". Some of us will need to write the code and design the electronics for that.
"08:45 PM
In a separate incident later Sunday, an AirAsia flight carrying more than 150 passengers experiences a technical problem about 10 minutes after taking off from Penang, Malaysia, and has to return to the airport, AirAsia says. The flight takes off again for the short flight to Langkawi island and safely reaches its destination."
"... one may reasonably conjecture that MS is not exerting strong efforts on quality control."
One may reasonably conjecture that a Microsoft employee deliberately caused problems so that people will buy new computers, with another version of Windows. If that was done at the request of top management is not known.
I like the Numion speed test. It measure the actual data delivery speed by downloading from numerous web sites. That real speed is very different from the speed Comcast advertises.
I've had good luck with the Motorola SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 modem. (The SB6121 is apparently an obsolete model.) Eventually DOCSIS 3.1 modems will be available.
It took me an estimated 9 hours of communicating with Comcast representatives to get Comcast to bill at the advertised rate, instead of far more than Comcast advertises. This is what works: Call the Comcast executive offices at 215-640-8960. Be very polite and logical, but insistent.
Don't check your internet access speed with Speedtest.net. Apparently that web site always reports the advertised rate, the connection rate, not the data delivery rate. DSLReports Speed Test shows that I get one-seventh the speed Comcast advertises.
Comcast has apparently found that most people don't spend the many hours Comcast makes it necessary to protest over-billing.
It's interesting to me that Comcast apparently expects employees to abuse customers, and Comcast employees hear that as permission to abuse Comcast, also.
Apparently the U.S. government no longer protects the people, but just allows any abuse that will make the rich richer, or allow the violent to be more violent.
Slashdot Mirror
"The best theory I've seen so far is that Flash is bit like quantum soup with a black hole in hiding in the extremely odd extra dimensions."
That is not just a joke, it is a direction of useful inquiry.
We need to philosophize about why a company would be so horrible toward its customers. Okay, probably not involving the quantum soup and black holes of Physics, but instead the quantum soup and black holes of Sociology.
There is some recent Slashdot sociological inquiry about Bill Gates and a cancer cure.
Then there is WEIRD, When Every Idea Rates Dumb.
Thanks for the additional info about AdBlock.
Thanks for the info about AdBlock.
"In Chrome it took me 60 seconds to figure out how to delete Flash cookies or view which sites are using Flash cookies."
Translation: In Chrome a highly technically knowledgeable person, who knows that Flash cookies must be deleted, took only 60 seconds to delete them.
"In terms of uploading content to the server, Flash is essentially capable of what JS is capable of. Companies don't need Flash to upload user information."
No JavaScript engine installs a system service. Flash does, and, according to Adobe, new vulnerabilities are discovered in Adobe software every 2 to 4 weeks. So, even if Adobe is not abusive, there are plenty of opportunities for others to invade a system.
"A quick look at cookies on my system shows that the vast majority of websites are storing information with regular cookies, not Flash."
Cookies on the system of a technically knowledgeable person are not representative of the cookies on the systems of average users.
"Wrong. Flash developers specify the minimum API version for their applications. Nothing has changed here. I can still run apps in old versions of the player."
Not wrong, because we've seen the problem with several domains. I'm guessing that Flash development software now automatically includes that limitation, and that the Flash development software updates without user intervention or knowledge. Most people who develop with Flash don't have the technical ability to know the "minimum API version for their applications".
"... many of the criticisms [directed] toward Flash... can also be aimed at Chrome"
/svc
/medsvc
I agree. That's why I stopped using Google's Chrome browser. One one computer I checked,
Google installed 3 system services:
Google Update Service (gupdate), "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe"
Google Update Service (gupdatem), "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe"
Google Updater Service (gusvc), "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe"
Normally, software requires an update only if new features have been developed, or in rare cases when a vulnerability is found. I'm guessing, and it is just a guess, that a lot of the vulnerabilities found in Adobe's Flash software are due to extremely poor management of Adobe that began about halfway through Bruce Chizen's period of being CEO. I imagine that the best people at Adobe left because of not liking Chizen's management. Certainly now, when I talk with people at Adobe, they seem very much out of control, as though there is no real management at Adobe or even understanding of technology management.
However, although Google's management has been degrading rapidly in recent years, in my opinion, Google has historically been much better managed. Someone checks Google software before it is released. But there are such frequent updates in Chrome that it seems possible that Google is being forced by some secret agency in the U.S. government (There are many more than just the NSA.) to deliver software to get information directly from user's computers. (I've been studying the degradation of management of formerly excellent companies since the downfall of Fairchild Semiconductor and of Tektronix.)
Also, there is an abuse that is becoming much more common: It is possible to give a name to a service (or an Internet domain) that is misleading or un-informative about who is in control of it. The sneaky, dishonest, abusive people are becoming more powerful, as in other areas of U.S. society.
So, we need an open-source operating system that has a far better security model. (Open source so that we can try to prevent hidden agencies from being in control.) We need a federal law that all software components must be labeled with their true supplier.
The Flashblock extension apparently is not supported by Firefox v35. With the extension enabled, YouTube videos won't play. When the Flashblock extension is disabled, YouTube videos play immediately, without user permission. Is that a Firefox problem, or is Adobe checking for Flashblock and refusing to operate if the Flashblock extension is installed?
...).
Adobe's Flash software is abusive to users, in my opinion. From the Better Privacy Firefox extension web page, re-written for clarity:
Some properties of Flash-cookies (LSOs):
1) They don't expire. They stay on each computer for an unlimited time.
2) By default they offer a storage of 100 KB. Normal cookies, 4 KB.
3) Browsers are not fully aware of LSO's, They often cannot be displayed or managed by browsers.
4) Using Adobe's Flash, companies store and access highly specific personal and technical information (system, user name, files,
5) Flash sends the stored information to servers without the computer user's permission.
6) Some Flash applications are not visible to the user. Not all Flash applications display anything.
7) There is no easy way to tell which Flash-cookie sites are tracking you.
8) Shared folders allow cross-browser tracking, LSO's work in every flash-enabled application.
9) Adobe doesn't provide a user-friendly way to manage LSO's. Management is very cumbersome.
10) Many companies make extensive use of Flash-cookies.
Apparently Adobe develops software but doesn't check for flaws. There have been 24 new versions of Adobe's Flash software in one year, if I count correctly, since v11.9.900.170 in January of 2014. (The latest version is v16.0.0.257.) As the Slashdot story mentions, the flaws were found by other companies, not Adobe.
One purpose of the extremely frequent updating may be to push users to allow Adobe to do its silent updating, giving Adobe control over user's computers.
Now, apparently, Flash applications will not work unless the latest version of Flash is installed. That's apparently another way Adobe pushes users to allow Adobe to do silent updating, using the Windows operating system service Adobe calls ARM: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\armsvc.exe"
Apparently the former Adobe CEO, Bruce Chizen became tired of managing, because Adobe was, in my opinion, poorly managed for years before Mr. Chizen was replaced in 2007. Bruce Chizen is on Oracle's board of directors. Birds of a feather flock together?
The present Adobe CEO, Shantanu Narayen, is, in my opinion, a very poor manager. For example, an organization with which we are acquainted paid $2,000 to update to an Adobe CS6 suite. CS6 came with old versions of some Adobe programs, and an Adobe representative justified that practice.
Maybe it's the evil of the future.
I learned that Microsoft PAYS people to use Bing search! But people only get paid if they do Bing searches directly, not through Yahoo.
I don't understand how that works. Can someone make a software robot to do searches and visit ads, and then get paid? Why have a job when your computer can make money unaided?
Microsoft pays Yahoo, Yahoo then paid Mozilla Foundation to sneakily make Bing the default search engine, and not Google search, realizing that most people don't have the technical ability to know why their search results have begun to be less relevant.
So:
1) To get people to use its search engine, Microsoft feels that it is necessary to pay. That is an acknowledgement that Microsoft's Bing search is not of sufficient quality to do well without payment.
2) 31% of Yahoo's revenue comes from Microsoft paying it to use Bing.
3) That, basically, is an ad campaign to sell other browsers. As mentioned above, Yahoo paid Mozilla Foundation to change the search configuration of Firefox, without notice. I imagine that most people won't know what went wrong or how to re-configure Firefox. When people have problems with Firefox, they may switch to another browser, like Google's Chrome, or Pale Moon's 64-bit version of Firefox.
4) People may think they are using Yahoo search, but there is no such thing as "Yahoo search". Actually, without being notified, Yahoo customers are using Microsoft Bing search, and their search information is being given to Microsoft.
5) Microsoft pays Yahoo to use Bing. Yahoo pays Firefox to use Bing. Eventually, when the news about why Bing use is increasing is more widely known, people who don't feel comfortable with that sneaky behavior may switch to Google Chrome. In effect, Microsoft is paying for a powerful ad campaign to get people to switch to another browser.
6) Those who want to be paid by Microsoft must use Bing directly, not through Yahoo.
7) The trickiness and dishonesty may cause further collapse of Yahoo. In effect, Yahoo is being paid by Microsoft to decrease the popularity of Yahoo.
8) In effect, Microsoft is paying Mozilla Foundation to make Firefox less popular.
9) That may be a way to artificially increase Bing's search traffic, But It's Not Good (BING). To me, that's another example of Microsoft DIE, the Dastardly Insertion of Evil.
10) And, of course, all of that is bad for Microsoft's already bad reputation because of being adversarial to customers, decreasing the popularity of anything from Microsoft. So, Microsoft is paying to decrease the popularity of Microsoft.
That is so WEIRD that I feel compelled to joke about it. (WEIRD = When Every Idea Rates Dumb)
"Good luck with pushing 8 to the corporate world... it's about as adoptable as an angry badger with syphilis."
Don't you just hate it when people are excessively positive about Microsoft?
Rust? Programmers often choose self-defeating names. Imagine going to a top manager and saying you want to program a product in Rust.
What are some of the others? Gimp is one. GNU. LaTeX is written in both English and Greek letters. There is nothing "regular" about Regular Expressions.
NetLoony Apache Server GUI and Tools. (Looney is someone who is "Extremely foolish or silly".)
pGina
Bouncy Castle cryptography
"... Bing Rewards points ..."
Microsoft pays people to use Bing!
So, any supposed "popularity" of Bing (But It's Not Good) is at least partly due to the fact that Microsoft PAYS people to use it.
To me, that's another example of Microsoft DIE, the Dastardly Inclusion of Evil.
Bing Rewards FAQ quote: "I'm not a US resident, can I still join Bing Rewards? No, only U.S. residents (50 U.S. States and D.C.) are eligible to join Bing Rewards. Also, you can't earn or redeem credits when you're traveling outside of the US."
More about DIE, the possible Demonic Insertion of Evil:
If Microsoft eventually stops providing Bing search to Yahoo, Yahoo would no longer pay Mozilla to trick Firefox users into searching with Bing by switching to Bing as the default search engine, instead of Google search.
Then Mozilla would have less money to develop Firefox. Would Microsoft's Internet Explorer then become the most-used browser?
"Firefox makes Yahoo default"
No, Firefox made Microsoft Bing search the default now: Advertise on the Yahoo Bing Network.
That's giving some people the EEDIE Jeebies. Will Microsoft Embrace, Extend, then Demonically Implement Evil?
If Microsoft stops providing Bing search, many people will desert Yahoo, stop seeing Yahoo ads, and Yahoo may slowly (quickly?) die.
It's "retarded" to become hostile when someone doesn't describe things perfectly.
With sensibly designed insurance, like the unemployment insurance our corporation pays, for example, the cost decreases if you never or seldom use it.
Also, drinkypoo's comment just below adds a more clear explanation:
"The problem is that it [the ACA] is actually a system of graft from stem to stern. The health insurance companies must be eliminated if we are to have working health care in America."
"How many times has this administration embraced a petition and moved forward with it?"
How many times has this administration helped make the U.S. government better for its citizens in any way?
The U.S. government has been arranging that the rich get richer, allowing the violent to be more violent, and helping those who want to make money by killing people.
For example, the "Affordable Care Act" is, in my opinion, in the direction of other recent changes in government. Instead of 2 organizations between you and a health care provider, there now are 3 or 4. The ACA gathers money from those like myself who never get sick. See, for example, Oregon Health Care Cost Increases under the Affordable Care Act.
The ACA was announced and pretended to be in operation before the software was ready: How Obamacare's epic fail exposed our government's biggest tech problem. Whoever is at the top of the U.S. government was obviously completely incompetent. (Often a U.S. president merely pretends to be in charge, hiding what is actually happening, and who is arranging it.)
The ACA helped technology companies take advantage of state officials who are completely ignorant about technology development. For example, Oregon sues Oracle over failed Obamacare website.
Quoting: Oregon's suit, filed Friday in state court, alleges that Oracle, the largest tech contractor working on the website, made falsely convinced officials to buy "hundreds of millions of dollars of Oracle products and services that failed to perform as promised." It is seeking $200 million in damages.
If you love the U.S. like I do, help deal with the immense problems and lack of good leadership.
Classic Shell may be of help to you. It's free. Used with Windows 7 and 8.
It is interesting that people sometimes offer free solutions for the huge mistakes Microsoft managers make.
"Microsoft, it seems, just can't catch a break."
Translation: Microsoft is poorly managed.
There is already a "global sat network": GPS satellites. All that is necessary is that each aircraft radio its position and sensor indications every minute or less.
That's easy. There should be better computer tracking. There should never be a "search". Some of us will need to write the code and design the electronics for that.
Quoting from the India Times:
"08:45 PM
In a separate incident later Sunday, an AirAsia flight carrying more than 150 passengers experiences a technical problem about 10 minutes after taking off from Penang, Malaysia, and has to return to the airport, AirAsia says. The flight takes off again for the short flight to Langkawi island and safely reaches its destination."
"... one may reasonably conjecture that MS is not exerting strong efforts on quality control."
One may reasonably conjecture that a Microsoft employee deliberately caused problems so that people will buy new computers, with another version of Windows. If that was done at the request of top management is not known.
Thanks for the tip! I was using an i7-3770, which is not much different.
What speed test do you recommend? Everyone needs a speed test that measures data delivery speed, not raw line speed.
I like the Numion speed test. It measure the actual data delivery speed by downloading from numerous web sites. That real speed is very different from the speed Comcast advertises.
Unfortunately, Numion requires Java.
I've had good luck with the Motorola SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 modem. (The SB6121 is apparently an obsolete model.) Eventually DOCSIS 3.1 modems will be available.
It took me an estimated 9 hours of communicating with Comcast representatives to get Comcast to bill at the advertised rate, instead of far more than Comcast advertises. This is what works: Call the Comcast executive offices at 215-640-8960. Be very polite and logical, but insistent.
Don't check your internet access speed with Speedtest.net. Apparently that web site always reports the advertised rate, the connection rate, not the data delivery rate. DSLReports Speed Test shows that I get one-seventh the speed Comcast advertises.
Comcast was the 2014 Worst Company In America.
Comcast has apparently found that most people don't spend the many hours Comcast makes it necessary to protest over-billing.
It's interesting to me that Comcast apparently expects employees to abuse customers, and Comcast employees hear that as permission to abuse Comcast, also.
Apparently the U.S. government no longer protects the people, but just allows any abuse that will make the rich richer, or allow the violent to be more violent.