Comments on: Our New Biology

By: Buddy Larsen

Buddy Larsen — Thu, 12 May 2005 20:24:55 +0000

Omigosh, McEnroe, off-work online average 70 hours/day is way too much!

By: Cap'n Billy

Cap'n Billy — Thu, 12 May 2005 14:38:25 +0000

For those of you who have DSL, I would strongly suggest you check out cable service. Cable lines are far more capable of broadband service than phone lines, and more reliable. For instance, when Earthlink offered DSL in my area some years ago I eagerly signed up, and was immediately disappointed. I see now that it was my phone lines, although the phone company had reported that they were capable of providing the service. After struggling with it for about a year, I signed up for cable service with Earthlink when it became available, and have been a happy camper ever since. My downloads are now averaging 500 – 600 kbps, and the service has been very reliable after a couple of occasions when there were some problems with the lines, owned by Time-Warner.

I share the positive opinion of several others here of Earthlink, with whom I have been for a long time, starting with MindSpring before they merged. The latest PC World customer satisfaction figures confirm this, giving Earthlink the highest rating.

By: richard mcenroe

richard mcenroe — Thu, 12 May 2005 01:54:57 +0000

When I hooked up with Earthlink, one of their features I noticed was that you could track how many hourse you actually spent online per month.

Seeing as how I don’t have internet at work, is 213 hours a lot?

By: richard mcenroe

richard mcenroe — Thu, 12 May 2005 01:50:50 +0000

Roger ó Do you have a laptop? Maybe get one of those Verizon wireless cards Glenn Reynolds is always hyping as a lifeboat….

By: Brian H

Brian H — Thu, 12 May 2005 00:48:06 +0000

Nick;

It’s “hoofprints”, not “hooves”. The latter would be attached to the relevant animal directly.

Next stage is free WiMAX everywhere. No jacks required.

By: Jonathan Sabin

Jonathan Sabin — Wed, 11 May 2005 22:02:18 +0000

I too have Earthlink and have been generally pleased with the service. I must confess, however, to a “D-uh” moment of my own. It involves activating the PPPOE. I had rearranged things in the office and after getting everything hooked back up, I forgot to log in (which I found out later is required for PPPOE to activate) and spent 3 hours getting progressively frustrated and about ready to pick up the computer and hurl it into a wall. The earthlink trouble shooter was more than happy to correct my mistake. Needless to say, it was a lesson that I learned well and will never make that mistake again.

By: Archpilot

Archpilot — Wed, 11 May 2005 15:39:58 +0000

Chuck’s comment is the one that immediately came to my mind….I’ll be lost!:

I trust the news I get from scanning blogs.

I conduct much of my business, both personal and vocational, via computer.

Most of my family communication is via email.

Can I remember how to dial a phone?

Oh, yeah……those won’t work either!

By: Luther McLeod

Luther McLeod — Wed, 11 May 2005 15:33:46 +0000

Same here as well. We are starting planning for a cruise to Mexico in October, ‘unconsciously’ the first thing I was looking for in the brochure was what type internet access they have aboard the ship. Cannot anymore envision 7 days without hi-speed and/or visiting here. Sad really, I suppose, oh well.

Buddy LOL – long sleeved white jacket!

By: Peg C.

Peg C. — Wed, 11 May 2005 12:17:17 +0000

Same experiences here. Cable goes out, tempers flair and panic runs rampant in the house – not because of loss of TV but loss of high speed access! Now hubby says we need to buy a laptop before our trip to Vegas next month. (I refuse to bring my work laptop because I’m responsible for it and it also weighs 2 tons.)

We will become ever more dependent on and connected to high tech and ever more woeful when it goes awry.

By: Buddy Larsen

Buddy Larsen — Wed, 11 May 2005 06:18:24 +0000

This has been a VERY comforting thread…the web has totally shattered my life-time habit of spending en-famille time manicuring yon yard, keeping vehicles spic n’ span, running pointless errands, reading paper newspapers and magazines, arranging sundry visually-encountered items for aesthetic efficiency, and stupifying in front of the boob tube. Sure, things look a little more slack than they used to, but I’m visiting the whole planet in the time-slot I used to fill keeping just one little living area about 5 times spiffier than nature intended it to be. After reading this thread, I’ll continue to resist with renewed passive-agressivism these familiar-looking but strange people in this house who keep trying to get me to try on that new extra-extra long-sleeved white jacket they bought for me.