Topic: Calling All Internets (Read 47402 times)

Kayma · « **Reply #460 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:50:51 PM »

I listen to This American Life pretty religiously.

Also, John Oliver from The Daily Show does a podcast called The Bugle that's great, but as you might imagine deals exactly with politics and you told me not to recommend such a thing but I did it anyway.

Janet Varney (voice actress of Korra, and all around cool lady) has The JV Club which I'm having trouble describing.

Everything else I listen to is about video games. Player One Podcast, Giant Bomb, the 1up.com stuff etc.

Lottel · « **Reply #461 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:53:08 PM »

Ugh. I love John Oliver and his comedy but politics make me sad.
Ugggh.

Kayma · « **Reply #462 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:59:55 PM »

Mostly they make fun of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. It's really great.

Ocksi · « **Reply #463 on:** September 25, 2012, 10:26:52 AM »

My subscription list (all through iTunes):

Radiolab - "Radiolab is a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience."

This American Life - "There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always."

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn - "Bullseye is a public radio show about what's good in popular culture. With a keen editorial eye, Bullseye sifts the wheat from the chaff, and brings you hot culture picks, in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary creative people and irreverent original comedy."

Jordan, Jesse, Go - "Jordan, Jesse, Go! is a freewheeling comedy podcast about life in your twenties and everything else."

My Brother, My Brother, and Me - "My Brother, My Brother and Me is an advicecast for the modern era featuring three real-life brothers."

Judge John Hodgman - "Have your pressing issues decided by Famous Minor Television Personality John Hodgman, Certified Judge."

Mike and Tom Eat Snacks - "Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh eat snacks and talk about it!"

Hang Up and Listen - "Slate's sports podcast."

TEDTalks Audio - It's TED talks without any visual.

Comic Book Club - Live comic book talk show with great guests.

Selectbutton.net - A so-so discussion of old games.

Stop Podcasting Yourself - "Vancouver's top comedy podcast? Hosted by Graham Clark and Dave Shumka, with weekly guests."

Also, I think the thread you're thinking of was Mothra's trapped in a box thread.

R^2 · « **Reply #464 on:** October 02, 2012, 06:19:44 PM »

Looks like the Internet service I signed up with a few years ago in hopes of trouble-free movement from place to place has backfired: my whole apartment is a dead zone for Clear service.

So what's the state of broadband Internet service these days? Do I have any better options than -- ew -- Comcast cable?

(Posted from my Blackberry, which is a poor solution.)

Thad · « **Reply #465 on:** October 02, 2012, 06:57:51 PM »

Without knowing your location, I'm going to have to go with "Probably not." Broadband competition is basically an oxymoron in the US. In my location we've got two options: overpriced cable and slightly cheaper, vastly inferior DSL. It is not much of a choice. And from what I've read that's true in most of the country.

Which is why anyone who says we don't need net neutrality regulations because the free market will take care of it is completely full of shit. I expect that if we HAD a free market it would take care of it, but we don't; there is no broadband competition to speak of in this country, and when there's no competition there's no incentive to treat your customers halfway decently.

R^2 · « **Reply #466 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:38:08 AM »

What's the disadvantage of DSL? All I know about is that the speed slows down if you're far from the local hub, but I live in a metro area (Denver, CO, incidentally) so I can't be THAT far. I think.

Apparently the options around here are Comcast and CenturyLink. :/

Thad · « **Reply #467 on:** October 03, 2012, 07:30:44 AM »

'Round here, at least, DSL is significantly slower than cable. (Like, at my address, I can't get more than 3Mbps. I check this routinely because I would very much like to switch to something that isn't Cox.) YMMV.

It also uses the phone lines, so my understanding is they're usually pretty pushy on wanting you to pay for a land line with it, to the point of sometimes not allowing Internet-only service. Again, YMMV.

R^2 · « **Reply #468 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:53:11 AM »

That's disappointing.

R^2 · « **Reply #469 on:** October 05, 2012, 01:41:44 PM »

Got nine emails from Clear today trying to get me to pay my missed back payment and restore service. I'm on automated payments, but some problem leading to the legit cancellation while I'm moving is just the sort of :trollface.jpg: that life likes to throw my way.

Called customer support, the automated answer told me they sent those emails to everyone by mistake, then hung up.

Comcast is coming out on Tuesday. Sigh.

A² · « **Reply #470 on:** December 16, 2012, 10:24:04 PM »

Okay I found it.

Beat Bandit · « **Reply #471 on:** January 01, 2013, 09:33:56 AM »

I'm going to be on all wireless internet soon. From what I've seen there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between wireless receivers for desktops, but does anyone happen to know one that really stands out from the crowd?

I'll also have access to the router so if there's a reciever / router combo that work particularly well together I should be able to get it set up.

Nickasummers · « **Reply #472 on:** January 01, 2013, 10:31:17 AM »

I don't know a TON about receivers for desktops, but I have used a couple, and here is what I do know:
If you have room in your computer, get a card, not a usb one.
If you have to get a usb one, don't get a tiny one so it is "out of the way". I made that mistake. The problem is they heat up like mad because wifi takes a lot of power, the really small ones will overheat and be damaged because of it. My old one was the size of a very small flash drive and it actually got hot enough to burn me once. It broke after about 8 months of heavy use.

Brentai · « **Reply #473 on:** January 01, 2013, 10:50:11 AM »

Your best bet is probably to just go with whatever brand the router is. They all should work about the same but you know the manufacturer is going to be testing against its own receivers when they build the transmitter.

Also what Nick said - if you use a USB 2.0 device you're going to be bottlenecked by the 35 MB/s data rate minus whatever else is on the same bus (802.11n has a data rate of 75 MB/s - layman's terms, you're getting jacked). If you have a USB 3.0 port/device you should be fine, but the ideal is to just get a PCIe card. 1x is more than enough.

Beat Bandit · « **Reply #474 on:** January 05, 2013, 01:59:13 PM »

The success of a wireless connection can probably be summed up best by the fact that I'm on my netbook in the room with the router in it right now, asking a new question.

Powerline networking. I know nothing about this technology, and even though it's been around a while I'm skeptical. Does anyone know if it really is as easy to set up, compatible, and fast as advertised? I'm specifically looking at this guy right here and rather not get burned again right after buying a 60 dollar network card that's going to be sitting in its case.

Brentai · « **Reply #475 on:** January 05, 2013, 02:03:48 PM »

what did you dooooo

Beat Bandit · « **Reply #476 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:01:23 PM »

I don't know if it's just the distance or the number of things in the way, but the cisco card seem horrible anyway. It interfered with my speakers and mouse/keyboard even when it wasn't getting a signal.

Thad · « **Reply #477 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:41:14 PM »

Have you tried changing the frequency of your router?

Kayma · « **Reply #478 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:45:31 PM »

Addendum to Thad: There are programs you can run (inSSIDer on Win., Wifi Analyzer on an Android phone, etc) to check out WiFi networks in your area and see what frequency they're on. Set your router to the least congested one. This is a necessity if you live in an apartment.

François · « **Reply #479 on:** January 05, 2013, 10:51:50 PM »

Quote from: Beat Bandit on January 05, 2013, 01:59:13 PM

The success of a wireless connection can probably be summed up best by the fact that I'm on my netbook in the room with the router in it right now, asking a new question.

Powerline networking. I know nothing about this technology, and even though it's been around a while I'm skeptical. Does anyone know if it really is as easy to set up, compatible, and fast as advertised? I'm specifically looking at this guy right here and rather not get burned again right after buying a 60 dollar network card that's going to be sitting in its case.

I set up a powerline network for my brother a long time ago, using a dlink DHP-300 (I'd link you to it but it's no longer being made). It was pretty rad, I don't think it ever dropped the connection in the several years we ran it. It ended up only connecting a PS3 and an XBox360 most of the time so I can't tell you how it holds up under real heavy use or anything, but it was stable for what we used it for and it required virtually no attention whatsoever once it was up and running.

In any case, if you ask me if I personally trust the technology, then I have to say yes.

News:

Author Topic: Calling All Internets (Read 47402 times)