Why am I posting this? Because I called Comcast this morning and they gave me a really hard time. I was trying to figure out why my internet was down, and they told me that I did not have internet. They said my account only has TV, and thats all I am being charged for.

This annoyed me because I ordered Internet + TV on a promotion price, not just TV, andI had called them to fix this mix up before.

The guy on the phone kept insisting that I was wrong and that I needed to upgrade to the “Triple Play” for $120. That annoyed me even more. I do not want your freaking Triple Play. Who the hell still uses landlines, let alone buy landlines through their cable company. Stop trying to sell me some bullshit I don’t want. My internet is not working, this is an emergency you jackass! 

I told him I just wanted to fix my internet connection, but he started insinuating that because I did not have internet service on my account, I am stealing internet service!

Now I am extremely annoyed.

I told him that I ordered TV + Internet and they had a technician come install it a couple months ago, so how the hell are they going to tell me I didn’t have internet?!?! I’ve been using it all this time!

I then asked to be transfered to cancel my account. At the Retention Department I told them my story and told them I wanted to cancel because it doesn’t seem like they care about their customers. Then the retention guy started questioning why I think they don’t care about me. But he did it in a way that made it feel like he wanted to prove me wrong. Damnit you idiot. I am a customer. I pay you for service. If I am not happy, don’t give me an attitude about it.

I only signed up for Comcast because I used to like their service, not anymore.

So I am sharing this with you because I think this is how you can hook yourself up with free comcast internet. I only discovered this because I couldn’t contact Comcast to setup my new cable modem, so I fooled around and found this menu. Enjoy! Tell me if it works for you.

Update: Before this incident I called to ask them about an outage. They told me I did not have internet, I told them I have Internet+TV for $59.99 (I had a receipt from the technician). They told me that is not possible and wanted me to upgrade to Triple Play for $120. I said, no. I want my $59.99 Internet+TV as promised 2-3 months ago when I signed up. I am not going to pay $120. That’s why I asked to be transferred to the retention department. Honestly, I would have paid up to $70 dollars if they had offered me another plan that is comparable to what I was supposed to have. But they did not. They tried to up sell me.

Here is how to set yourself up for Comcast internet. You will need Comcast cable TV, so get that first. Not guaranteed to work.

Step 1: Buy a cable modem, hook it up, and connect it directly to your computer. Open up your browser and try visiting comcast.net. You should get this screen:

Step 2: Since you are technician – select it, then you will get this:

Step 3: Your cable modem will show up on that list. Notice the matching MAC address? Now click “Next”

Step 4: Click continue to begin:

Step 5: Activation Complete. Enjoy!

Note: You might get charged an “returned equipment fee” because every time you change your modem, they charge you. But since you didn’t use their equipment, they will reverse the fee if you call them.

Source:  Here

Ever want your linux box to make you a sandwich or at-least respond to your requests for one?  Just do the following and your a command line away from a sandwich.

wget averad-blog.com/docs/makemeasandwich
chmod +x makemeasandwich
mv makemeasandwich /bin

Original Idea: Here

1) CONFIGURE MODULES TO LOAD AT BOOT
Add the following to /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
hv_vmbus
hv_storvsc
hv_blkvsc
hv_netvsc

Generate a new initrd image
# update-initramfs –u

2) CONFIGURE NETWORKING
Add the following to /etc/network/interfaces
auto seth0
iface seth0 inet dhcp

Above assumes that you installed 10.04 with a Synthetic NIC installed, if you had an Emulated NIC installed and have switched to Synthetic NIC you can change eth0 to seth0.

That is it, once these changes have been made you can reboot and will be able to see the modules loaded.
# lsmod | grep hv_*

Note:  If using a static IP make sure to iface seth0 inet static and edit /etc/resolv.conf to include your nameserver address. (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)

Source: http://blog.allanglesit.com/Blog/tabid/66/EntryId/53/Hyper-V-Guests-Ubuntu-10-04-Alpha-3-Synthetic-Devices.aspx

So here is a link so I wont forget: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Guide

Also there is the Eloquent JavaScript Tutorial: http://eloquentjavascript.net/

I was browsing today and found an interesting link @ Hackaday.

Apparently Ti gave out a discount code allowing anyone to get a $149 robot for $25. I was lucky enough to get one ordered before the Ti store crashed and Ti updated the discount code as invalid.

I hope I get my little robot before next year.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQPyZPQcyKI

Stellaris ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller on a board with a bunch of goodies.

Features

• Evaluation board with robotic capabilities
• Mechanical components assembled by user
• Stellaris® LM3S9B92 microcontroller
• MicroSD card connector
• I2S audio codec with speaker
• USB Host and Device connectors
• RJ45 Ethernet connector
• Bright 96 x 16 blue OLED display
• On-board In-Circuit Debug Interface (ICDI)
• Battery power (3 AA batteries) or power through USB
• Wireless communication expansion port

Robot features

TI EvalBot Assembly walk-through @ ti-evalbot.proboards.com

Here

Training files (from the book EKB-UCOS3-BOOK) :
http://micrium.com/page/downloads/os-iii_files

Ti Docs:
http://focus.ti.com/mcu/docs/mculuminarykitsapps.tsp?sectionId=95&tabId=2488&familyId=1755

linux related info:
http://www.arm.com/community/software-enablement/linux.php
http://www.linux-arm.org/LinuxKernel/LinuxM3

ARM Cortex M3 and Cortex M0 Development Tools
http://www.coocox.com/

uclinux
http://uclinux.org

10 Low level bit hacks

http://www.catonmat.net/blog/low-level-bit-hacks-you-absolutely-must-know

http://micrium.com/page/home
Click the download link. You will need to register and use an email address that is NOT gmail, yahoo, etc. Those are not accepted. After registration click on companion book downloads. The very last one is the one you want. It contains all the pdf files for the bot, including datasheets and the necessary files for IAR embedded.

Ti E-Store Phone # 1-800-336-5236

Notice from TI posted at Hackaday:

As some posts already note, the coupon code is only available to ESC Boston attendees. That said, we’re psyched about all of your interest and understand there seems to have been some confusion, so TI plans to fulfill all of the finalized orders to date. We’re working on some logistics in getting the code up and running again for ESC Boston attendees, but proof of ESC registration will be required. Stay tuned.

We hear you about the e-store and are working as quickly as possible to avoid issues in the future. Thanks for your patience.

Bottom line – we’re glad to see the excitement around EVALBOT and look forward to checking out your projects! We encourage you to share them on our e2e Forums athttp://e2e.ti.com/

-Jean Anne Booth, Texas Instruments

ZCB-Datasheet

Looks like this low cost option is really going to work well for us.

Everyone should check out http://inventwithpython.com/ its free!

Here is a guide that I found helpful while setting up a Munin node and Munin server.

http://www.darkcoding.net/software/setting-up-munin-on-ubuntu/

Example “lynx http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.520_all.deb”

http://www.kelvinwong.ca/2010/05/22/installing-webmin-on-ubuntu-server-10-04-lts-lucid/

I am looking forward to implementing something similar to this as a start to server hosting.

http://www.n00bunlimited.net/server-tech-talk/1617-webmin-game-control-panel-guide.html

Yeah its basic but its a start and I have to jump in and learn.

He says, “Stage6 began as an experiment, and we always knew there was a chance that it might not succeed.”

Upload functionality has been disabled, and videos will only be available until Thursday.

Companies hosting their videos on Stage6 are being helped to migrate their videos to other pages, DivX says.

Users are quickly attempting to mirror videos from Stage6 to other video services.

Veoh currently allows uploads from a URL and because of this users are able use Stage6′s bandwidth when moving the videos.

So if other video services are still around why is Stage 6 shutting the service down?

Tom says, “The short answer is that Stage6 is very expensive and requires an enormous amount of attention and resources.There are a lot of other details involved, but at the end of the day it appears to be as simple as that.”

However, Stage6 has been known for users uploading full copies of movies that are still in theaters, many in HD quality.

They have complied with all take down requests when copyright infringement is in question, but this has not saved them from costly lawsuits.

In our article “Divx’s Stage6 Walks Closer To Piracy Plank” we looked at Universal Music Group’s lawsuit accusing Divx of digital piracy.

Legal battles such as this could surely cause a company to close its doors.

Stag6 was launched in 2006 by Divx with the mission of empowering content creators and viewers to discover a new kind of video experience.

Like Youtube & other video services, users are able to upload videos and share them with others.

It’s to bad that one of the only HD streaming video site is closing its doors.

Please take a moment to read over the official announcement here and if your looking for some discussion head here.

Link: Stage6, Quicksilverscreen

A H-2A rocket carrying the satellite was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center at 17:55 (0855 GMT) on February 24th, 2008 with no reported glitches.

The communications satellite separated from the rocket approximately 35 minutes after the launch and was maneuvered into orbit.

The $342 million dollar satellite will allow super high speed data communications of up to 1.2 Gbps, which would make it the fastest in the world.

That rate would be about 150 times that of the average high-speed ADSL connection rate of about 8 Mbps, or 12 times the speed of a fiber optic communication delivery to a person’s home.

The launch was delayed by one week after the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it had discovered a problem with the gas jet thruster for its launch rocket.

The “Kizuna,” which translates to “bond” in Japanese, is expected to begin transmitting and receiving data with terrestrial infrastructures in July after completing preparations and confirming the satellite’s safety.

With a small antenna you can receive data at up to 155Mbps and transmit data at up to 6 Mbps.

With a larger antenna mainly for organizations and companies super high speed data communications of up to 1.2 Gbps will be available.

Aiming for a society where anybody can get information anytime, anywhere the KIZUNA will serve 4 major functions over its life of five years.

Even when a ground-based network is severed by a disaster in Japan or in other Asian countries, broadband network communications can still be secured by the KIZUNA using an additional small antenna. By installing a small antenna high-resolution images can be securely sent to a disaster countermeasures office via the KIZUNA. Therefore, the satellite is expected to function as a reliable pipeline between a disaster stricken area and a countermeasures office.

The Internet’s infrastructure is well-established in urban areas in Japan. However, a similar Internet environment is not available in many mountainous regions and remote islands in Japan and in other Asian countries. The KIZUNA can provide a broadband Internet environment and super-high speed communications that are at a level with those in city areas to regions where such communication methods are currently out of reach.

The satellite-based Internet is also expected to become a useful tool in the educational field. Using conventional satellite communications, a small time lag often exists between conversations because communications are conveyed via relay stations. With the KIZUNA, conversation will be smoothly exchanged, thus, when terminals in various schools in Japan or even in Asian countries are directly connected, students can communicate as if they are all in the same classroom.

By connecting with urban areas via the KIZUNA, residents who live in mountainous regions and remote islands where no major hospital is available can receive the same level of medical treatment and physical checkups as those who live in cities. The KIZUNA will enable remote diagnosis, as the conditions of a patient can be transmitted by high-definition images to a specialist in an urban hospital, who can then diagnose the problem and advise a local doctor in a rural area to provide appropriate treatment.

Sources: JAXA (English KIZUNA Launch Site)

U.S. officials wishing to remain anonymous have said that the Bush administration’s top choice is to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite. The Navy would likely shoot it down using a special missile modified for the task.

Details about the missile and the targeting were not available and will likely be publicly discussed at a Pentagon briefing.

Known by its military designation, US 193, the spy satellite was launched December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it dead in space. It carried a very expensive, sophisticated secret imaging sensor. US193 is said to have been built by the Lockheed Martin Corporation and operated by the secretive National Reconnaissance Office.

China sparked criticism from the U.S. and other countries on Jan. 11 2007 when they shot down a broken weather satellite.

Using a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile the aging satellite was destroyed roughly 537 miles above the earth with kinetic energy (Aka slamming into it).

The concern from U.S. and other countries was due to the resulting debris that could harm civilian and military satellite operations.

Debris is a primary focus now, as the U.S. is determining exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite. By doing this the military can limit any damage to other satellites in the sky.

There is the possibility that large chunks could remain and stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly return to Earth.

In an interview with the NY Times Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, noted that 328 satellites had come down in the past five years without injury to anyone.

Source: Associated Press, MSNBC, CBS, Wikipedia, NY Times

In a legal filing published February 5th,2008, Judge Dana Sabraw denied a request filed by Divx to prove Stage6′s legality outside of the UMG piracy trial.

To understand what this means we have to go back to when UMG first contacted Divx about Stage6.

The dispute started in 2006 when UMG sent a cease and desist letter to Divx. UMG’s letter accused them of providing pirated material on Stage6. UMG, however, did not provide a list of the infringing video’s, but instead expected Divx to review and remove all UMG content.

One month later UMG sent a second letter, but this time identified the specific infringing videos. Divx quickly removed the videos from Stage6 complying with UMG’s requests.

UMG and Divx sat in silence for 8 months until UMG sent Divx an offer. For 30 million dollars UMG would allow Stage6 to show UMG material legally. Divx balked at this deal and decided to chance any legal proceedings UMG would file.

Divx complies with all provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). UMG would have to question the DMCA’s safe harbor provision if they wanted to attack Divx directly.

With possible legal proceedings looming, Divx made a bold move and asked the courts to rule on whether or not Stage6 is protected under the safe harbor provision.

Six weeks after Divx’s legal filing, UMG made good on their threat and filed a lawsuit accusing Divx of digital piracy. This new legal case would allow UMG to regain control of the DMCA safe harbor lawsuit and caused Judge Sabraw to file a judgment.

Sabraw ruled that a separate trial would not be needed and wrote in the discussion section of the judgment that “the DMCA safe harbor analysis Plaintiff seeks here will be more completely and efficiently undertaken in the Central District, where the court will be able to determine Plaintiff’s compliance with respect to particular copyrights the Defendants identify in the course of those proceedings.”

Even though Divx’s lawsuit has been dismissed, they will still have an opportunity to defend Stage6 and the DMCA safe harbor provision in court.

This court battle gives the impression as though both sides will stick it out for the long run, potentially costing Divx significant legal fees.

Links: Stage6

Source: Stage6 Forums, Seekingalpha, Mashable, Technorati

This could tap into a cheap & clean energy, you.

It’s called the Biomechanical Energy Harvester and it fits around each knee. As the wearer naturally walks around the device generates electricity.

At normal walking speed, and with little extra physical effort, the device can generate about five watts of constant electricity. Meaning a single minute of walking could power a cellphone for 10 minutes or an MP3 player for 40, said Max Donelan, a researcher who worked on the Biomechanical Energy Harvester.

This is not the first device to try to capture electricity from normal human movement. What makes it different is it does so without requiring the user to exert much extra effort.

The researchers tested the knee brace on six men walking on a treadmill at 1.5 meters per second. One group had the generator activated at a number of settings while another acted as a control group. In the group where the brace was only activated while the knee was braking, the subjects required less than one watt of extra metabolic power to produce one watt of energy.

The current version of the knee brace is just a proof-of-concept, there are plans to make the device less bulky while still retaining its energy harvesting capabilities.

It’s currently unknown how much the device may cost, but the first versions will likely run in the thousands.

For that reason, the device will likely be most attractive as a way of powering expensive prosthetic limbs or for use by the military. Once the price comes down the general public will most likely see this in the open market.

Links: Newscientist.com