Well that lasted for a month or so. Now I’m down again. I replaced my modem entirely after the last occurrence of problems so that I could be better “supported”…. yes I put supported in quotes, because AT&T’s “support” is a joke to begin with. Now that I’m down again, the modem is giving some pretty good indicators as to why: “Could not find an ATM circuit.” Cute.

I call in and an automated message tells me that they’re “working to resolve a network outage in my area. The estimated resolution time is 12am.” I called at 3:30am. So, 3 1/2 hours have passed since their estimated resolution time. I know that this is an “estimate”, but seriously… 3 1/2 hours off? Some estimate, they might as well have simply said “We’ll be down for a while. In the mean time, play boardgames and jerk it to Playboy like the good ol’ days.”

I pressed zero and got to a support tech… we’ll call him “Albert” (real name was probably something closer to Habeeb Mohammednirishnikahnapali). I told him that I’m aware there’s a network outage, but the estimated time was midnight, it is now 3:30…. is my issue related to something else? He went through the motions like a good little AT&T drone…. ran the line test and attempted to get more information about the outage for me. He came back with the results of the line test: Line is good, but my area is still affected by an outage. And unfortunately the NEW estimated resolution time is “Monday.”

MONDAY!?!?! What the hell! I’ve been down since Thursday! I guess it will be pretty difficult to do things like pay my bills, turn in my school work, and perform my job functions. This is terrific. I should sue for lost wages or something… if any lawyers out there are planning to issue a class action lawsuit against AT&T, count me in. I don’t care what its for, count me in. I want to hit AT&T where it hurts. They only thing they value is money and I’d love to get mine back.

Luckily for me, I have T-Mobile cell phone service (because I dropped Cingular before the AT&T buy-out). I also have a Google Android phone with a tiny app called PdaNet. I’m forced to use the 2G internet connection that I have through my cell phone in order to do any online stuff. At least I have something, but I still can’t do any work-related stuff over this connection. I need a broadband connection for that.

Anyway, I’ll be calling AT&T and asking for a credit. I will only be paying AT MOST 87% of my bill if I am indeed down until Monday. I’m sick of paying for a full month of service, when I’m actually only getting about 20 days or so. This is a great way to start off the month of October… 4 day outage without a single notice to their customers.

Please somebody save me.

Because this, Google put my site on their shit-list. Which is apparently used by a large amount of web filters and things of that nature. So my site traffic had dropped drastically last week. Hopefully people have checked back and realized I’ve cleaned the threat. I got Google to remove my site from their shitlist so it shouldn’t be flagged anymore.

Again, I will re-iterate: I am a PC… and I got hacked… 3 times now.

About a month ago, I decided to save myself some money and cut off my home phone line. I wanted to keep my DSL line so I switched to AT&T’s DSL Direct—DSL without home phone service. At the time I wanted to switch, I had 3MB DSL. I did the math and found that if I cut out my home phone service and upgrade my speed to 6MB DSL, I’d still save some money. So I had them upgrade my speed to 6MB as well as cutting off my home phone service.

I was told at that time that it will take up to 48 hours for the new speed to take effect and that after 48 hours I should power-cycle my modem. So I followed their instructions.

So after the 48 hour wait and the power-cycling of the modem, I still didn’t have my 6MB speed. I called them up and said I’m being billed for 6MB DSL now but I’m still only getting 3MB. As it turns out, the lady who took my call initially when I cut the home phone service off had done something wrong and now their billing didn’t sync up with my class of service. This service call took care of that and I had my 6MB almost immediately.

Then just yesterday, the 1 month anniversary of upgrading my speed (new billing cycle), my modem dropped back down to 3MB. After digging around on their site for 20 minutes trying to find a way to contact them, I decided to try to handle this problem via online chat with a customer support rep.

This encounter with support started off OK. She got my account information and verified that I’m supposed to be getting 6MB. She directed me to a speed test website that they could use to verify the validity of my claim of only getting 3MB. I ran the speed test and it came back with 1.5Mb down and 153Kb up. I relayed this information to the support agent and she said that this is indeed way below the allowable speed for my account. I said that this number didn’t jive with what I had been getting previously (just 10min prior) at Speakeasy’s speed test website. So I told her I’d run the test again real quick. This time it came back with 2.9Mb and 163Kb.

After relaying this information to the support rep, she said that this could be a problem with the line and that I needed to call in to talk to a support person live so that we could schedule a service call. I then said “So you mean you will no longer be handling my case?” to which she replied “I assure you that we will get your problem resolved if you call in.” Then I was in the middle of typing “So is there a ticket number or anything that I need to give them?” when she ended the chat session. I said out-loud “You bitch.”

After cooling off for an hour or so I followed her instructions and called in. I had to re-explain my entire problem to Eddie, a support rep. He didn’t quite understand what I was telling him at first, so I re-iterated “This is happening every billing period. My speed gets dropped back to 3MB. I’ve called in before and they’ve taken care of it.” Then he understood what I was saying. But because I never had a support ticket, I had to go through the whole rigmarole of doing the speed test and all that jazz. Then after I again proved that I wasn’t getting the speed that I was supposed to be receiving, Eddie tried to call the “Digital Services Department.” After about 10min he came back on the phone and said he wasn’t able to get ahold of them. Then I said “Is there a number I can try them on?” He said yes and gave me the same number I used to get ahold of him. I told him that can’t be right because that’s what led me to him. Then he realized he made a mistake and gave me another number. I thanked him and we ended the call.

I spent the next hour doing my own thing for a while, taking a break from the hold music and broken English that is AT&T support. Then I tried to call this number Eddie gave me. This number was not a support number, it was the number for “Electronic Payment Claims Center”, and was closed until Monday morning.

So I’ll be going through this same bullshit again in a few hours when I start this entire process all over again. I need to chill right now.

Q: “But Cale, why don’t you switch to cable?”
A: Because I can’t. There isn’t a cable provider in the subdivision where I live and there isn’t any cable infrastructure near me. I am in an area of town that isn’t incorporated, technically not within city limits—though this is one of the more busy areas of town. I’ve tried Charter and I’ve tried Comcast, both of which tell me they don’t serve my area.

Q: “Ok, what about using Clear?”
A: Yes, Atlanta has Clear (WiMax provider) which I WOULD use if they offered home internet service in my area. Where I live, they only offer Clear as a mobile broadband. Plus, have you talked to their customer support? They’re just as bad as AT&T! They don’t know their elbows from their assholes. I looked into getting Clear last month, this led me to a few questions which I decided to talk to a customer service agent about.

Q: “Alright, well that’s a punch in a crotch. What about FiOS?”
A: I’d LOVE to get FiOS. But again, I can’t. Verizon has no infrastructure where I live and can’t support even home phone service where I’m at.

Q: “Holy hell! Ok, what about satellite internet?”
A: LOL. Internet from outter-space… yeah right. 1MB is the highest speed I can find, and its more expensive.

Q: “What the hell! Where do you live?”
A: A seemingly under-developed area of un-incorporated Lawrenceville, GA which I have dubbed “Little Mexico”.

I am currently forced to resort to my G1 for posting because my laptop got infected with several trojans and a couple of root kits.

These infections led to my websites being attacked with malware injection. So needless to say, I am a bit pissed. However, trying to find the light side in all of this, I feel like I am important enough for someone to want to do this to me. That is probably a delusion, but it is sort of fun to think like there is a virtual ‘hit’ out on me.

Anyway, I will post more later after my laptop rebuilds.

I am a PC, and I got hacked.

For some reason, I felt like checking out Serj’s solo album (even though its been out for a while) after listening to a few System of a Down songs. I’m a metal head, with a little bit of industrial, techno, and alternative mixed in but my roots have always been metal (of the Metallica, Pantera, BLS, Diecast, Acid Bath, and Rapture variety). So naturally, I’ve heard quite a bit of SOAD and happen to like a good bit of their music. Some of it is a little too ‘wacky’ for me, but I figured maybe there’d be a few pretty kickass songs on Serj’s album. I couldn’t have been more wrong. So wrong, that I feel like blogging about my blunder.

So I’m spreading the word. If you love metal, and like your ears (because if you’re a metal head, you _can’t_ LOVE your ears), do NOT download this album.

If you use MozyHome, and have ever seen this message for an un-explained reason, keep reading:
 

This error, according to Mozy support, means that the temporary location for caching the backups is full. Now, that may be the case for a lot of users, but it wasn’t for me. You see, Mozy is SUPPOSED to use the Windows environment variables to determine where to store its temp files (See the %TEMP% variable). In my case, this variable is set to %SystemRootTemp which is C:WindowsTemp. Where was MozyHome storing its cache? Try G:TEMP. I couldn’t figure out why this is the case, but now that I know, I’ll be sure not to delete it.

So before I realized all of this, I did a little “house cleaning” a few days ago and G:TEMP happened to be one of the directories which I removed completely. Then today I figured, maybe I should make sure my files are backed up (because I like getting warm and fuzzy feelings). So I look and sure enough, they weren’t. I did some hunting into this error and discovered all of the above mentioned information. 

I have since sent a response to MozyHome’s KB article on this error message explaining that this error can crop up if there is plenty of space, but the TEMP directory is simply missing. I then proceeded to jab them with a stick by saying that their backup software was completely ignoring Windows environment variables. Then again when I told them “Why not just create the temp directory if it doesn’t exist?” They shouldn’t be making their software complain about free space when that has nothing to do with what is going on. It is a very misleading error and they need to fix it. This error sort of seems like a “cach-all”.

Anyway, I start downloading it and since I didn’t PAY for DAP, I have to see all these stupid ads on my screen whenever I download a file. Well today, one of the ads was the following (highlighted in green):

[Begin arrogant jackass]

So, if I know who the president is, I can get a green card. HOLY CRAP! I’m glad this is just a gimmick ad, or this country would be full of immigrants. Or… wait a minute…. it already IS! In fact, I really don’t have a problem with immigration, I just found it funny that someone is using an ad like that to try to (eventually) get personal information from someone by tricking them into thinking their simply choosing the president. When in fact, it’s not a choice. The whole thing is a single image, with one link; presumably to a form where you enter personally identifiable information or sign up for other bogus ads.

I just find that kind of crap mildly entertaining because there are actually people on this earth who believe that garbage. 

I don’t really have much of a purpose to this post… most of a service announcement to any gullible individual out there who is naive to the scams on the Internet. Not only are they scams, but probably loaded with viruses and spyware and other crap you really don’t want ever touching your computer. I come across too many people, too many times, who have clicked on something they shouldn’t have, and gotten themselves screwed by a virus, malware, or root kit.

Maybe I should start charging for a class that people can take. It would only be 2 minutes long. The first minute of me introducing myself and telling them why they should listen to what I have to say. The second minute being a full minute of me repeating “Don’t click that!” followed by a swift kick to the back of the head. The world would be a smarter place.

[/end arrogant jackass]

So I signed into MSN Messenger today and found a headline that read “Oldest man in America dies at 112″. I thought that was pretty amazing that he lived so long, so I clicked on it. I was greeted with this wonderful story about how this man lived through “three centuries”, part of the 19th, all of the 20th, and part of the 21st. I continued reading this man’s story and was very impressed at his longevity.

Then it got into politics. This 112 year old man actually got out and voted; major kudos for having the drive to do so in the condition he was in–a wheelchair. He went on to say that he voted for Obama and when he found out he won the election he “felt like jumping up and down.” His words were “He is going to give black men a break in the world, and give them a better opportunity to live and make more money”. 

Here is my response to this 112 year old man, may he rest in peace: With all due respect, the races have been pretty damn equal for the last few decades. I’m not sure when he watched the news last, but as it turns out whites and blacks DO get along after all! It is comments like that which keep fueling racial tensions; in fact, it infuriates me when black people try to play the slavery card. It would be a completely different story if they themselves were enslaved and people of this current generation were the ones enslaving them. But this is not the case anymore. Yes race was in issue well into the 60′s and 70′s but it began to decline in the 80′s and (dare I say) is nearly gone in this day and age. There are still some white “extremists” yes, but even white people think they’re crazy. It isn’t a matter of race anymore, it is a matter being open minded and looking at people in the human sense, not the color sense. 

A black man gets a job because he has the skills to get the job done. He is denied a job because he does not have the skills to get the job done; same as white people. Now, this is not without exception, I understand that there are some smaller companies who fly just under the radar of needing to comply with equal opportunity and affirmative action laws. But seriously, have you seen the workforce lately? It’s a pretty darn good mix of folks.

Now, as far as this “break” and “making more money” goes. I don’t think this guy has heard of 50 cent, or his song “I Get Money”:
 

I mean c’mon. He’s just as rich as the next white pompous jackass so let’s stop bickering about “how the white man holds the black man down” and how Obama is going to save the black race. The fact of life is, public schools are available for everyone, and colleges are all over the place. Find a skill, get good at something, and kick the white man’s ass at his own game if you feel you have to, fair and square. Don’t pull out the slavery or Obama trump cards. They’re worthless. I never heard a white person say “Gee, I’m glad Bush was in office. He’s going to keep the white man richer than everyone else.” That is completely not the case. Obama is still a politician, the president at that. Presidents are largely controlled by their cabinets, and he still has to abide by the separation of powers that the US government has in place to keep the president from going nuts and ordering tax breaks for everybody to the point where the government can’t fund itself anymore.

Wake up people… this was just another election with a different face. As far as the race issues go, the president can’t fix that, even overnight. It took 143 years after slavery was “abolished” to get to the point where we’re at today. Do you think it will be truly abolished in the 8 maximum years Obama has in office? I doubt it. And I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic. Race will always be an issue so long as there are people around the US claiming the color of their skin is what cost them their job or why they can’t get into school. Again, I’m not saying this was NEVER the case, I’m just saying that now, in this day and age, that is getting increasingly harder to claim. White people aren’t perfect either, we complain just as much about things that “aren’t our fault”. It’s human nature to protect one’s self and one’s dignity. Sometimes people can’t face that they’ve simply made bad decisions which cost them their luxuries.  IE: The high school diploma that led to the college degree which led to the good paying job.

I spoke to a friend of mine yesterday about an old mutual friend of ours who recently dropped out of college because she got pregnant. I can expect that she’ll blame her lack of a college education on her kid. The reality of the situation is SHE dropped out of college, her kid didn’t make her. Yes, pregnancy is tough, I can understand that. But don’t drop out, seriously. Take fewer classes, go part time, or even take a break to resume the education later. There are even government grants for single mothers to go school, there’s a ridiculous amount of help for stuff like that. Saying “My kid is the reason I didn’t go to college” is a terrible excuse. It is basically the same as saying “The color of my skin is what cost me my job or why I don’t make any money.” If you’re skilled at a task that I cannot do myself, I’ll hire you regardless of what color your skin is. Most white people don’t care anymore! Maybe the reason that a black person isn’t getting a job is because they never finished high school? Or how about not having the experience required? The same shit happens to white people to, but we call it what it is: lack of education or skill, not color of our skin. When a black man shoots a white man in the street for something, we call it a murder. When a white man shoots a black man in the street is all of the sudden becomes a “racially motivated crime”. Why is that? Do you think it is white people saying that specific crime is racially motivated? No. It would be a different story if the suspect was associated with the KKK or Neo-Nazi parties, then we just put two and two together and come to the same conclusion that black people did: race, because it is evident. 

Maybe I am naive, but I’m reflecting on my observations while living here in the US. I really don’t believe that whites are fueling any sort of race war anymore. Like I said, there are some extremists, but they represent such a tiny, minuscule portion of the white population. Thus their stance on race is not representative of the white population as a whole. And the same may be true for blacks, but because racial topics are fairly taboo in this country, I find it hard to have a true racial conversation with a black person without one of us feeling very uncomfortable. Perhaps the Jesse Jackson’s and Rodney King’s of the black population represents a small portion of how blacks really feel about race and should also be disregarded as it is a tiny portion of the black population.

Bottom line, if you want to stop the race war, stop pulling out the race card when it isn’t necessary and take responsibility for your own missed car payments, lost jobs, foreclosed homes, lack of money, etc. because it happens to everybody and not because of the color of their skin.

Again, I’ll close with the following disclaimer: I AM NOT RACIST!

I’m not allowing comments to this, because I can guarantee I will be called a racist even though people who actually know me know that I am not.

Back when I worked on Firearms (for Half-Life 1), I remember having a short email conversation with someone at Valve. I don’t remember who it was though. I want to say it was Robin Walker, but I might be wrong. At that time, the news about Steam was that “No mods will be put on Steam.” I was trying to get Firearms up on Steam so it would get some more exposure. At the time, it was still a fairly popular mod so I didn’t figure it would be too big of a deal.

So I’m jealous now that other mods, like Age of Chivalry and Insurgency get to be placed on Steam and exposed to millions of people world-wide with very little effort on the mod-team’s part. Its great because it gives the games more exposure yes, but this could be a double edged sword here. I mean now it brings more of a “glam” incentive to creating mods when the whole purpose to write them was to build a portfolio, gain experience, and then ultimately apply for a job. Game development studios could face a lot more “riff-raff” than before because now there’s just a serious “glam” factor with making games and mods.

This might sound brash, but I have little respect for game developers who develop only for the glam of making games. I mean yes, glam does come with the territory, but it should NEVER be the sole motivation factor for amateur game developers trying to make it to the big-time. Me personally, I like writing games because it is challenging, complex, fun, exciting, educational, and it lets the creativity juices run wild; it has little to do with the “glam of writing games.” When a game programmer/developer is motivated by grandeur, he/she starts to think less of the game and their role in the grand scheme of things and more about themselves and how they can just get rich and maintain their position on their “high horse.”

So my advice to any new mod team, indie game studio, or hobbyist game developer: Do it for the love of what you do. Even if you don’t make money or gain status because of it, you’ve learned something. You have the rest of your life to figure out how to capitalize on what you’ve learned. As the old adage says: “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.” With a little twist to reflect what I just said: “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again because you love what you do.”

It seems that every time a hurricane hits the south-central US, people panic, gas prices skyrocket, and thus there is a self-induced gas shortage in large metro areas. A few weeks back, gas prices were in the $5.00/gal. range in some places; followed promptly by a complete outage of gas supply. Granted the prices have come back down (still not quite near normal), there is still a fundamental problem: gas shortage.

My girlfriend and I drove around for an HOUR last night looking for gas stations that still had ANY gas left. We drove around in a 10 mile radius near our house only to discover one single gas station had gas, and it was about to run out. I lost count of how many gas stations we passed which had their signs taken down, bags on the pumps, and nobody in the parking lots–lights on, nobody home. This particular gas station we stopped at had gone through 3,000 gallons of gas in 2 hours. Bare in mind this is at around 2:00am, thats practically a mid-day rush twice over at 2:00 in the morning. It is 10 times worse during the day time.

Ok, enough about the problem description, how about the cause? If you recall in my above paragraph I stated “self-induced gas shortage”. The reason I say self-induced is because I’ve lived here long enough to notice a pattern, and certain officials agree, that the gas shortage is caused in part, and probably mostly, by a run on the pumps. It is the simple law of supply and demand. If the demand goes up but supply stays the same, prices go up to protect the remaining supply. Stop topping off tanks and filling up gas jugs when you don’t need it. Stop doing it and the problem will go away!