JLaver.com http://jlaver.com TODO: Blog Stuff Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:48:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 en Cox Communications Internet is Crap! http://jlaver.com/2009/02/09/cox-communications-internet-is-crap/ http://jlaver.com/2009/02/09/cox-communications-internet-is-crap/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:02:44 +0000 Jason.Laver http://jlaver.com/?p=51 It’s been a long time since I’ve made a post and I will once again make an effort to change that. Though, it’s interesting that I use the internet and computers and do programming and all that (horrible grammar aside), but I simply cannot seem to maintain a regular pace with the whole blog thing.

Anyway, Cox Communications sucks! I’m paying for the highest tier of residential service and I am getting horrible performance!

This is a speedtest image from 10pm!
I understand that this is due to peak traffic hours and blah blah blah, but this is absurd. When I’m paying $60 a month, I expect some damn good speeds! Plus, ‘powerboost’ is a complete joke!

For those that don’t know ‘powerboost’ is a marketing term that describes bandwidth throttling. Basically, as you begin a download, your speed starts out rather high. However, as the download continues your bandwith begins to dwindle to a trickle. This keeps people who make large downloads from using all of the bandwith of the system. Marketing cleverly hides this fact by calling this phenomenon ‘Powerboost!’ Cox then claims that the poor speed at the end of your download is your actual speed. Therefore, that initial surge of delicious bandwidth is actually a feature! It’s the POWERBOOST! My main problem with this is that if you stream a lot of video, this COMPLETELY destroys common buffering algorithms. Your machine thinks, “Wow! Look at all this bandwith! I can totally start this movie early since I can just download the rest at a tremendous speed!” Unfortunatley, this is incorrect and your viewing pleasure is eventually cut short as your video meets your buffer!

So, I’m leaving Cox for the moderatley better fields of Qwest. I’m sure they’ll eventually suck as well, but such is the state of broadband in the US!

UPDATE
So now I’m on Qwest and things are … better. I still don’t feel like it’s good enough, but I’m out of options. How depressing.

]]> http://jlaver.com/2009/02/09/cox-communications-internet-is-crap/feed/ Website Upgrade http://jlaver.com/2008/05/06/website-upgrade/ http://jlaver.com/2008/05/06/website-upgrade/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 22:56:40 +0000 Jason.Laver http://jlaver.com/?p=48 Fluid Solution 1.0 by Viktor Persson

While relaxing in my hotel in Seattle I decided the time had come to go ahead and upgrade my Wordpress install. This of course means it’s time for a total re-design as well. For a place to start, I’m using a template called “Fluid Solution”.

Fluid Solution 1.0 by Viktor Persson

Totally liquid three-column layout, clean and simple. Based on the free website template Fluid Solution.

The design is so clean and simple that if appeals to the minimalist in me while still being readable and functional. Also, the three colums layout will allow me to use more widgets to convey the myriad of data that is my online self. Information such as my Twitter, Del.icio.us, Last.fm, Google Reader, Xbox Gamercard, and more.

]]> http://jlaver.com/2008/05/06/website-upgrade/feed/ How Geek Are You? http://jlaver.com/2008/03/29/how-geek-are-you/ http://jlaver.com/2008/03/29/how-geek-are-you/#comments Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:28:06 +0000 Jason.Laver http://jlaver.com/2008/03/29/how-geek-are-you/ 80% Geek


28

Probably old news for some, but I found a bunch of hilarious quizzes on this site. I’ll add some more as I do them!

]]> http://jlaver.com/2008/03/29/how-geek-are-you/feed/ Agua Stacks for Your Dock http://jlaver.com/2008/03/17/agua-stacks-for-your-dock/ http://jlaver.com/2008/03/17/agua-stacks-for-your-dock/#comments Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:13:33 +0000 Jason.Laver http://jlaver.com/?p=43 Aqua Stacks

One of the more interesting features in Leopard are the stacks in the Dock. For a while now I’ve been using the Drawer Icons to sit on top of the stacks to give me a quick idea of what they each are by more than just the contents. Well, I’ve just found something even better!

Agua Stacks

One of my favorite artists David Latham has created a set of Stacks in his Agua theme! They’re even easier to read and identify than the drawers! The icons are available for free via the IconFactory.

Also, if you’re not handy with the terminal but still want the icon overlays, just rename them and sort your stacks by name. For example, “Documents Stack” => “!Documents Stack”

]]> http://jlaver.com/2008/03/17/agua-stacks-for-your-dock/feed/ Beauty And The Geek: Firefox 3’s Visual Makeover http://jlaver.com/2007/10/22/beauty-and-the-geek-firefox-3s-visual-makeover/ http://jlaver.com/2007/10/22/beauty-and-the-geek-firefox-3s-visual-makeover/#comments Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:10:21 +0000 JLaver http://jlaver.com/?p=40 The team behind Firefox 3 plans to ditch the unified cross-platform look of the browser in favor of a sexier look tailored to specific operating systems. Rather than a single look across all platforms, which is the way Firefox currently ships, Firefox 3 will feature different skins for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.

read more | digg story

]]> http://jlaver.com/2007/10/22/beauty-and-the-geek-firefox-3s-visual-makeover/feed/ A new fun way of looking at server logfiles - glTail.rb http://jlaver.com/2007/10/08/a-new-fun-way-of-looking-at-server-logfiles-gltailrb/ http://jlaver.com/2007/10/08/a-new-fun-way-of-looking-at-server-logfiles-gltailrb/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:43:51 +0000 JLaver http://jlaver.com/?p=39 A small ruby program which connects to your servers via SSH, grabs and parses data from Apache or Rails,and displays your traffic and statistics in real-time using a simple OpenGL interface.
It’s a bit hard to explain in words, so please have a look at the site for an example movie and more information.

read more | digg story

I found a youTube video of the program in action!

]]> http://jlaver.com/2007/10/08/a-new-fun-way-of-looking-at-server-logfiles-gltailrb/feed/ Type in the Toronto Subway http://jlaver.com/2007/09/18/type-in-the-toronto-subway/ http://jlaver.com/2007/09/18/type-in-the-toronto-subway/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:20:42 +0000 JLaver http://jlaver.com/?p=35 Lawrence Station

An amazing article about the history of, and degradation of, type in the Toronto Subway system by the indomitable Joe Clark. Anyone who loves design, typography, and information design would do well to read this (admittedly, you’ll need an hour or two to get through it all). It also features quotes and ideas from Massimo Vignelli, someone I know from their involvement at RIT.

read more | digg story

]]> http://jlaver.com/2007/09/18/type-in-the-toronto-subway/feed/ if(date==”09/13/2007″)Engadget.Write(”Happy Programmer’s Day”); http://jlaver.com/2007/09/13/ifdate-09132007-engadgetwritehappy-programmers-day/ http://jlaver.com/2007/09/13/ifdate-09132007-engadgetwritehappy-programmers-day/#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:42:42 +0000 JLaver http://jlaver.com/?p=34 “Programmer’s Day is celebrated annually on the 256th day of the year, which happens to be today — so reach over and give that special computer scientist in your life a big bear hug, flowers, chocolates, or a simple “thanks” for making Engadget (and pretty much everything else we care about) possible.”

read more | digg story

]]> http://jlaver.com/2007/09/13/ifdate-09132007-engadgetwritehappy-programmers-day/feed/ Neiman Marcus Builds Brand Via … YouTube? http://jlaver.com/2007/09/11/neiman-marcus-builds-brand-via-youtube/ http://jlaver.com/2007/09/11/neiman-marcus-builds-brand-via-youtube/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:21:45 +0000 JLaver http://jlaver.com/?p=33 NEW YORK (Adage.com) — Neiman Marcus is taking over the YouTube home page today to promote its 100th anniversary via a video showing off the store’s style savvy. If YouTube and the upscale department store best known for catering to the …

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]]> http://jlaver.com/2007/09/11/neiman-marcus-builds-brand-via-youtube/feed/ What your favourite Web sites say about you http://jlaver.com/2007/09/11/what-your-favourite-web-sites-say-about-you/ http://jlaver.com/2007/09/11/what-your-favourite-web-sites-say-about-you/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:55:54 +0000 JLaver http://jlaver.com/?p=32 C|NET.co.uk has managed to enrage slashdot users by calling them spoddy geeks. The article doesn’t mention some of my favourite sites (including digg!) but it does go after some of the easier targets online like twitter and Facebook.

If you have a sense of humour, it’s enjoyable enough to read and well worth a quick five minute click!

read more | digg story

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