Anthony Hook » uncategorized

New Theme

anthony — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:20:40 +0000

I’m trying out a new look. This is mostly a test.

Broken Site

anthony — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:35:27 +0000

Yes, I’m aware my site is broken. No, nobody will probably read this. I’ll get on redoing a theme sometime in the near future. Thanks!

Why I’m Leaving Facebook

anthony — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:56:27 +0000

I’m going to delete my profile in two weeks. Here’s why.

I don’t really use it to keep in contact with people. Email is much more personal. If you want to get a hold of me, email me (anthony.hook3@gmail.com) and ask for other ways I can be contacted. (Email, messenger, phone). If I need to get a hold of you, I’ll find a way. Or, heck, drop me your email address if you don’t think I have it.

Short list: I don’t want to be your corporate whore. I’m sick of these tests/quizzes/how-well-do-you-know-me/applications. Facebook is realizing they may have screwed up in adding all of this garbage (lite.facebook.com). They’re late on @replies (Twitter, Identi.ca). I honestly don’t care which celeb you look like or “what your name really means.”

Here’s a longer list of reasons I’m getting rid of Facebook:

Privacy Policy:
When you use Facebook, you may set up your personal profile, form relationships, send messages, perform searches and queries, form groups, set up events, add applications, and transmit information through various channels. We collect this information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalized features. In most cases, we retain it so that, for instance, you can return to view prior messages you have sent or easily see your friend list. When you update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that information.

Who defines ‘reasonable period?’ Thirty seconds? Thirty years?

Also things like Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (e.g., photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.

This is your data they collect and sell so that you can get more advertisements suited to you. I understand they’re doing it to make money; it is, in fact, how they make their money. I just don’t like it.

They don’t own your content, but they can do whatever they want with it:

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy andapplication settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

This last sentence means you can delete all of your content, but if you’ve ever shared it, it isn’t “gone” until everyone you shared it with deletes it.

When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).

Again, “reasonable period of time.”

The only half-way plausible argument is that with such enormous masses of users dumping media into facebook, the odds of your data being used in a way that directly hurts you is unlikely. This is masking the symptoms, yeah, and at that point it becomes a crime of society, wherein the people as a whole give up a part of themselves willingly.

There have you.

-Anthony Hook.

Charter to Add Bandwidth Caps

anthony — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:29:51 +0000

Via DSLReports.com

Charter’s Eric Ketzer confirmed the plans, and informed us that Charter’s new, $140 60Mbps tier will not have any limitations. Speeds of 15Mbps or slower will have a 100GB monthly cap, while 15-25Mbps speeds will have a 250GB monthly cap. “In order to continue providing the best possible experience for our Internet customers, later this month we will be updating our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to establish monthly residential bandwidth consumption thresholds,” Ketzer confirms. “More than 99% of our customers will not be affected by our updated policy, as they consume far less bandwidth than the threshold allows,” he says.

I really have a hard time believing that less than 1% that is creating enough of a disruption for the company to put some sort of limit. In the 21st century, we seem to be moving from “unlimited” internet plans and text messaging rates to more expensive capped plans. I would like it more if they were honest and said, “We do not have the resources to give everybody unlimited plans as advertised,” but instead I feel like we’re being lied to. If they cannot offer the products and services they are advertising, don’t advertise it. Plain and simple. Curiosity got to me so I went on Charter.com’s website to see if they had any updates or information there. Surprise, they didn’t. The following conversation is brought to you by their “Chat Live” button:

Thank you for choosing Charter Chat Live! A Customer Care representative
from High-Speed Internet Order Inquiries will be with you shortly.
You have been connected to CVW Carlos .
CVW Carlos : My name is Carlos. Thank you for contacting Charter Communications. How may I assist you?
Anthony Hook: Hello. I have heard that Charter is going to cease “unlimited” bandwidth for its customers that don’t have the 60mb plan, is this true?
CVW Carlos : For that, I suggest for you to chat with our internet support. May I transfer you?
Anthony Hook: Sure.
CVW Carlos : Thank you for choosing Charter Communications. Answers to frequently asked questions and self help options can be found by looking in the “Customer Help” menu at www.charter.com. If you have further questions, please chat back with us again. Our chat support is available from 7 AM through 2 AM central time, 365 days a year. Have yourself a great day!
CVW Carlos has left the session.
Please wait while we find an agent from the CHAT – DUMA – HSD Support department to assist you.
You have been connected to TTD Wilmar .
TTD Wilmar : Thank you for contacting the Charter High Speed Internet Chat Support. My name is Wilmar. How may I assist you today?
Anthony Hook: Hello. I have heard that Charter is going to cease “unlimited” bandwidth for its customers that don’t have the 60mb plan, is this true?
TTD Wilmar : Let me check on that.
TTD Wilmar : Before anything else, may I please have your name and phone number you have listed on your account? Also, please verify the last four digits of your Social Security Number and service address with the zip code.
Anthony Hook: Well, I don’t have an account at this time.
TTD Wilmar : Yes, we have launched its Charter High-Speed® Internet Ultra60.
TTD Wilmar : May I please have your services address?
Anthony Hook: I am in Superior, WI
TTD Wilmar : We have launched it in selected areas within the company’s St. Louis, MO, market.
Anthony Hook: I am trying to get information if I would like to sign up for Charter internet in the future, I also have family and friends that ask me about internet services that I would recommend and I have heard that Charter is going to start capping monthly bandwidth usage.
TTD Wilmar : Anthony, I may refer you to our internet sales department for more information about this new product.
TTD Wilmar : Would that be okay?
Anthony Hook: They transferred me to yourself. I am not interested in this new product, I would like to know a little more about this monthly bandwidth cap.
TTD Wilmar : Anthony, I will give you some benefits and feature of this product.
TTD Wilmar : Features/Benefits:

• Upload speed is 5 Mbps which is up to 39 times as fast as a 128/768 Kbps DSL connection.
• Download speeds of up to 60 Mbps and provides customers with the ability to quickly and reliably perform advanced functions such as downloading music and movies; uploading photos; and online gaming – all of which demand higher speeds to have the best Internet experience.
• More speed offers customers an overall better Internet experience – streaming video is smooth and uninterrupted.
• Download music/photos, watch a movie trailer and surf the Internet all at the same time.

Anthony Hook: Wilmar, I am not interested in this product as I have previously stated.
TTD Wilmar : Okay, I am sorry.
Anthony Hook: If you cannot answer my question, that is fine.
Anthony Hook: Is this assumption correct?
TTD Wilmar : One moment please.
TTD Wilmar : Anthony, I am sorry. As per checked on my resources there is no update with regards to bandwidth cap with our internet service.
Anthony Hook: Okay, thanks for your time, Wilmar.
TTD Wilmar : Thank you for choosing Charter Communications. Answers to frequently asked questions and self-help options can be found by looking in the “Customer Help” menu at www.charter.com. If you have further questions, please chat with us again. Our Chat Support is available from 7:00 AM through 1:30 AM Central Time, 365 days a year. Again, this is Wilmar. Have a great day!

We’ll see what happens, I’ll post more about this if I find anything else out.

The Great Pile Up

anthony — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:02:01 +0000

There was something about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill ...

I woke up with some strange dreams floating around in my head this morning.

Brittany, Kyle, and Isaac: You were there. You were all at my Grandma’s house that was on Highway Interstate 8. We had a bridge that crossed over the interstate that was grassy and we would have BBQs out there for events and such. I happened to look down over the Interstate and noticed an accident had occurred involving about 50 cars. The accident had been completely silent; there were no screeching tires, breaking glass.

I frantically whipped out my BlackBerry and called 911. The operator was laughing at me and assured that everything will be okay. By the time the phone call ended, there were instantly firemen, police officers, and medics around helping.

I jumped into the action overturning cars so they were wheel-side-down, singlhandedly pulling a car out of the hillside by its bumper, pulling people out of wreckage, helping in any way I could. Miraculously, nobody was injured in the entire accident. By the time I was finished helping, there must have been some carnival rides that were involved in the accident, and they had decided to set themselves up and offer rides to people. Souvenir and food vendors appeared, trailers with sound systems were set up and playing music in unison, the road slowly disappeared into a grassy field entirely, the bridge had disappeared, and people were celebrating. I tried desperately to take pictures with my camera, but every single one came out blurry, no matter what setting I used.

This would become a yearly event, commemorating the “great pile up” that injured nobody.