License and registration
Wed Sep 23, 2009 21:53 (UTC -5)Last Wednesday, September 16, my roommates and I each got a notice from the management:
This letter is to inform you that as of Thursday, September 17, 2009 in the afternoon, Pavlov Media will be changing its network formatting. As a result, you will be required to register. Registration is a simple, one-time only process that takes anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. …
The letter went on to give a URL for registering and a phone number in case there were any problems or questions. Naturally, I thought this sucked. I was looking forward to getting away from these shenanigans when I moved out of my dorm.
Pavlov, the company that provides cable and Internet service for my apartment, doesn’t actually seem that bad. Prior to last week, I ran the Glasnost test to see if they were screwing around with BitTorrent traffic, and it seemed that they weren’t. But still, having to register your hardware is a bad idea. Real ISPs don’t make their users do it. (Oooooh!)
Nonetheless, I had to do it. It actually took longer than 15 minutes. Registration consists of identifying yourself and the devices you plan to use to connect to the Internet. And apparently, you can have only two devices authorized to connect at any given time. You have to provide their MAC addresses, which you’re told how to find on Windows, Mac OS X, and every Internet-capable smartphone and video game console in existence. Yep, that covers it!
Despite this infantile infantility, I haven’t noticed a degradation in service since handing over my information. I was going to repeat the Glasnost test right now for the purposes of journalistic integrity, but they’ve changed the test so it takes way longer. I’ll do it later.
I write about a lot of stuff all the time, and sometimes I don’t tie loose ends, so I’d like to do that here. Almost a year ago, I wrote a letter to a Marine in Iraq. The followup: well, there was none. I never got a reply, and that makes me sad.
Is the Internet making our kids dumb? Wired‘s Clive Thompson points out evidence that they’re better writers than previous generations.
Is there anything shell scripts can’t do? Linux Baby Rocker. (Via The Presurfer)
Filed under Computers, Internet, Linux, Musings and Observations, Programming, Stuff
4 comments
#1 by Kristen B.: Wed Sep 23, 2009 22:35 (UTC -5)
I just read Thompson’s article on Digital Intimacy- it was really cool.
#2 by Jordon Kalilich: Wed Sep 23, 2009 22:52 (UTC -5)
Sounds interesting. Do you have a link?
#3 by kristen B.: Sat Oct 03, 2009 20:11 (UTC -5)
my bad, i just saw this… here you go: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?_r=1
#4 by Jordon Kalilich: Sat Oct 03, 2009 21:40 (UTC -5)
Thanks; that was a good read. You might just see it at the end of a post sometime…