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12.25.2007
Needless to say, TDS didn't leave things alone. More later.

I can't get enough of this:

[2:07 PM] post a comment

12.15.2007
I'm not holding my breath, but it looks like TDS is finally ready to roll out WiMAX around here, nearly 2 years after it was first announced:

TDS will introduce its own version of wireless, high-speed Internet service in late January, said Dave Wittwer, president and chief executive of TDS Telecom and subsidiary TDS Metrocom, both based in Madison. And it will feature an advantage that's not currently available in the Madison area: upload speeds as fast as those for downloading data.

"I think it will clearly trump any speed in the marketplace today," Wittwer said.

The signal will be available primarily on the West and East sides, in areas not covered by Mad City's WiFi signal, TDS spokeswoman DeAnne Boegli said.

She said the service is meant for TDS customers who are outside the company's DSL territory. DSL signals travel over telephone lines but extend only about three miles from a switch.

I've been told there isn't yet a tower to serve this area, but that supposedly there should be soon. We'll see.

In related news, after yet more TDS incompetence, they finally processed the speed change order for the DSL. It doesn't seem to be any more error prone than before (which is why they kept *lowering* the speed), and now it's twice as fast. In fact, it's even faster than it was before this whole ordeal started in August. Here's hoping they just leave it alone.

Ok, time to finish up my homework for the semester.
[10:46 AM] post a comment

12.10.2007
I guess it has been a while. Lately I just haven't been feeling very inspired. Homework has taken up a decent chunk of my time, along with stuff like dealing with snow and fixing the snow blower. Christmas is only a few weeks away, but I really haven't thought about it too much.

I suppose one recent minor miracle was I (hopefully) eliminated the spam registrations on FLO. The default CAPTCHA is essentially useless, as bots have learned how to read it. I was getting at least 10-20 bogus registrations a day. Since I upgraded on Friday I haven't had a single bogus registration. <keeps fingers crossed>

I've kind of given up trying to get anywhere with TDS. The second line was finally installed and was actually worse on most counts than the first one. The wireless service is *supposed* to be available by January, but I'm not holding my breath. For the moment I just told them to jack the speed up as high as they could and we'd see how that went, but that was 11 days ago and they still haven't done anything. I spent 43 minutes on the phone this morning trying to find out what was going on, finally to be told "it should be done by 5" tonight. As always, I'm not holding my breath.

The counter needs more work, but I don't have the energy to get into that now.
[12:41 PM] post a comment

Vital stats:
DOB 2/16/79. I'm a web developer at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. I like lots of old music, including The Who. I spend a lot of time working with computers. And my favorite TV show (when I actually decide to watch TV, that is), obviously, is The Simpsons.

Education:
In May 2002 I officially graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BS in computer science. In 1997 (man that seems like a long time ago) I graduated from Washington Park HS. Yes, I know, that site isn't very impressive, and no, I haven't touched it for several years.

WFS:
One of the best experiences I have ever had was on a trip called Western Field Studies. This is a 33 day adventure throughout the western United States. Students travel on a school bus to national parks, monuments, forests, and places of historical interest and camp out (in tents or under the stars). I was a part of trip 25, which took place in the summer of 1996. A first for WFS was we took along a laptop computer and kept up a web site. That link will take you to the 1996 site, where there is a link to the current site.