For the second day this week we have exceeded our ISP’s “download allowance”. We are not prevented from accessing the Internet; it’s just very very slow and some websites won’t load at all – sort of like being on dial-up again. So there’s not much I can do online right now other than sit here and complain. And since I have enough to do in realspace I won’t be doing much of that.
It’s funny how Internet access has become almost a necessity, like electricity. We know we can live without it because people lived without it for thousands of years but it’s really, seriously inconvenient. I have gotten used to being able to look stuff up any time I want to. Everything from shopping to reading the news to looking up names of actors I recognize but can’t place to checking obscure facts to recipes and on and on. Life without the Internet or with limited access is primitive. I know some people would say I’m “addicted”. Okay, so I’m addicted. I’m also addicted to electricity and running water.
This slow-down shouldn’t last long though. HughesNet apparently calculates bandwidth by the day instead of by the month so we don’t have to wait until September to be back to normal like we would have on Wildblue. As soon as we’re back up to normal speed I will definitely make up for lost time.
August 24th, 2011 - 12:57 pm
This is probably not a good time to mention that I can get on the internet at home, at ridiculous speeds, but also I can get online, using Firefox, on the device that some people insist on calling a “Phone”.
August 24th, 2011 - 3:06 pm
Yeah. For faster Internet access I can drive 5 miles to the little store on the highway where I can get a signal on my “phone”.
August 24th, 2011 - 7:21 pm
Seriously, why do they still call them phones? Mine will take videos, take pictures, play a ton of games, I can use it as a level, a speedometer, a GPS, a flashlight, a dog whistle, an e-book reader, mp3 player, 8 gb portable storage, web browser, it has a compass, star charts and a tricorder for crying out loud. Of course if I have to I can make a phone call with it I guess.
August 24th, 2011 - 8:03 pm
Good point; so……… What should we call them?
August 26th, 2011 - 4:50 am
I don’t know. I’ll have to read/watch some sci fi to see if anyone has thought of an idea before me.
August 26th, 2011 - 6:28 am
I used to be disappointed that we didn’t all call them “communicators” but I think they’ve gone beyond that. Maybe we should do what we’ve always done when we need a new word – borrow something from Latin.
August 26th, 2011 - 2:33 pm
I call my Android “A Electronic leash”