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  • in General
  • 2 min read

And…. we're back

So for a week my server kept going up & down. And up & down. It would connect to the ‘net for 10 minuts, and then go down for 10 minutes trying to resolve domain names. I thought it was the server – having only been up for two weeks I was convinced my lack of knowledge around the firewall had to be the culprit. Plugged the Linkys router back in and still went up and down, but not nearly as often. (Linux servers must ping RR a bit more for current information than routers do).

So I broke down and called Roadrunner, and sure enough, they see power problems with the modem. Since I was the first person in Chaska to get Roadrunner service, I asked for a new modem (as Jason’s had been replaced a year or two ago, and the tech at the time claimed the new one was faster), but RR didn’t bite on the new modem.

So the cable tech shows up 2 days later (we’ll be there between 11 and 2, shows up at 2:45, but anyway) looks at the setup in the den and then in the basement, and does a double take. He’s shocked I even have service as my cable modem has a power rating of -10. Since I don’t have cable TV, he disconnects the coax from the house distribution and plugs the line straight into the cable modem. Then he’s pretty confident what the problem is and goes out to the gray box at the curb, and sure enough, the cable inside is completely corroded through. He tells my wife it looks like the box has been flooded, which she responds to “6 or 7 times” as the box sits between my neighbor and myself, right where the water flows down our property line when it rains.

Now my cable modem has a power rating of +4. Not that power ratings mean anything to me, but it’s working perfectly now. (Which is why you can even see this page!) But I still didn’t get a new cable modem. The cable tech claimed they used those during beta testing of RR service, but it was given to me when I got service. He asked my wife if we had gotten at Circuit City, and she laughed and said she was positive we hadn’t.

Fazin fixed the music server page not loading yesterday, so now I’m really happy.

Gatorade commercials

I dig the new Gatorade commercial “Thank You” – the tribue to Mia Hamm.

The Keith Jackson narrating the founding of Gatorade from a year or two ago rocked as well.

I need to find out who their ad agency is!

Re: Packers

So I was close.

Couch gone. Both Ford & Vines gone.

Kept both kickers, good. Jenkins made it.

This R-Kal Truluck guy they traded a 5th and 6th rounder, better be good.

I’m not suprised Kenny Holmes and Larry Smith got cut. Holmes scared me with his injuries after the fiasco of Joe Johnson.

Good to see the practice squad flesh out with Scott Wells, Scott McBrien, and Kelvin Kight.

No word on McKenzie yet, but should be a fun season.

Packer Cuts

Today’s the day the Packers have to get to the NFL mandated 53 player roster.

The only roster spots I’m really interested in:

Cut Couch. He’s not the QB of the future. Cut your losses now.

Keep Sander. He’s kicked pretty darn bad, but only keep 2 QBs, keep Barker for the first 4 weeks of the season, then cut Barker and keep Sander.

Keep Cullen Jenkins.

Keep Scottie Vines, cut Carl Ford (poor Carl, after such a great camp a year ago too).

I won’t touch the defensive line, too hard to call.

Good move trading Marques Anderson.

Be back later today to see how I did with my crystal ball.

Go Badgers!

Badgers looked good today in QB’s John Stocco’s debut. The ESPN crew touched on his story briefly: After passing Matt Schabert last year on the depth chart to #2 behind Jim Sorgi, John was a bit shy and uncomfortable replacing Matt, who was also his roommate. After being demoted to #3, Matt left Wisconsin for a Division I-AA school this year, where he could be the starting QB.

Anthony Davis looked good, until getting hurt, again. Booker Stanley was so-so at RB. The new defensive coordinator’s scheme seemed to work, but nothing stood out about it. Not a lot of blitzing, and Scott Starks at CB will never start in the NFL.

I had told my dad this morning I would be happy to see the Badgers run up the score on University of Central Florida, as they are now the home to disgraced coach George O’Leary. I made the remark because after O’Leary was forced to resign at Notre Dame he spent 2 years on Mice Tice’s staff at the Minnesota Vikings, with the second year as defensive coordinator. Turn on the game today, and O’Leary isn’t even at the game as he’s attending his mother’s funeral. Oops.

Badgers should have a good year. If Stocco emerges in the mold of how Trent Dilfer played for Baltimore a few years back, as a steady, mistake free QB who doesn’t have to put up big yards, the Badgers could make a run at things. With Ohio State and Michigan struggling early in their wins today, there may be hope yet!

  • in General
  • 1 min read

More Gmail

A couple days ago I posted on how fast Gmail was re-stocking invites. I’ve sat on one last one for the past few days, got rid of it last night, and guess what? 6 more this morning.

Chaska offers city-wide 802.11 for $16

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an article this morning about the city of Chaska’s wireless broadband service for $16. Discussed previously in USA Today and Slashdot, I’ve looked into it, but I don’t think it’s for me.

It’s more than half off of Sprint DSL, and almost 2/3 less than Time Warner’s Roadrunner service. I’ve had Roadrunner since it launched in Chaska 4 years ago, and it’s been rock steady. I used to average 2.5 megs down, and recently they upped it to 3.5 down. With Chaska.net offering 800k – 1.2 megs down, the reliability, but more importantly (as a gamer) the speed of RR will keep me with RR’s service.

Chaska.net does give me hope for the future, as more cities in the U.S. adopt this model and can make broadband affordable for everyone.

Let the music play

And the music server is back!

At a slightly different address, but symlinks worked perfectly.

I’m still using Netjuke to power the site. I’m disappointed, the developers have been promising Netjuke 2, with a tentative date of July 15th which came and went without a peep. Love Netjuke 1, I’m just disappointed they haven’t communicated anything yet.

Let The Music Play: Join EFF Today