Pollywogs!

So, you may or may not know that Comcast has a hard limit of 250GB of data download a month (I assume it is download and not total transfer).  You exceed that once, you get a note saying ‘Don’t do that again.’  You do it again, and they shut off your internet for a year.  Incredible, yes.  Absurd, yes…

I only learned of this recently, and decided to check our usage (long story made short, I managed to use some social engineering and lax Comcast security to gain access to the Comcast account we access the internet through).   Guess what I found (with me being through season three of Battlestar Galactica streaming HD via netflix on my computer, Kelley streaming SD content to our TV, and all the other internet browsing that goes on over our network)…

171GB in February.  237GB in March.  214GB in April.  Perilously close…I was four episodes of BSG away from getting the letter in March!

So, I decided to drop Comcast a short note.  I’m sure it’ll quickly reach the digital equivalent of the circular file, but at least I pissed in the wind….

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This is concerning your fixed 250GB cap with no option of adding additional GB of data transfer.  I wanted to express my displeasure that the only result for a customer exceeding the limit more than once is having their service disconnected.  In the majority of places (by area, not by density) cable internet is the only option.  Living in Pennsylvania, the majority of the state is not covered by DSL or other high speed options.
In 2008, 250GB may have seemed like a reasonably high cap.  In 2011, it is perilously close to being inadequate.  Our household has come very close to exceeding it in the previously three months.  Between a Netflix enabled Wii, a Roku box that streams SD video to a TV, computers that stream HD content from Netflix and Hulu, and normal day-to-day browsing and gaming, 250GB is simply not enough.
Before streaming HD video content became widespread, it was adequate.   Today, in 2011, it is simple unacceptable.
If we stream two or three hours of SD content on our Roku and Wii, and an hour or so of HD content on our computer, we blow through our 250GB through streaming video ALONE, BEFORE ANY OTHER BROWSING.
Please, address this outrage and either raise the cap to something that allows for HD video streaming, or allow customers to add 50GB blocks for $5 a month when they exceed the 250GB limit.
This is 2011 and we live in the United States.  We should have the best broadband in the world.  Instead, we have one option…an option that will effectively revoke our internet access for a YEAR if we use our service a few hours a day.

shit like my blog post disappearing into a black hole when I press ‘publish’

I’m not the easiest person to get in touch with when our customers have issues.  Often, by the time I return a call, they’ve figured out the problem themselves…but when they do finally track me down with a complicated problem I am thorough, I listen carefully, and I continually drive to the underlying issue.  I’m not sure if it is better or worse to immediately be put in touch with someone who has no place providing assistance on navigating out of a wet paper bag…

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So, I wanted to buy an MP3 today.  Specifically, the song Woodpecker From Mars by Faith No More as it came up in a shuffle and I really enjoyed it…right up until the MP3 was garbled.  I took out the original CD, thinking I’ll rip the track again and sighed at a small but very unfortunately placed scratch.  Any normal person would just go steal/pirate/torrent/acquire a digital copy online for free, but for some reason lately I’ve been very particular about micro-transactions and artists…anyway, I go to mp3.rhapsody.com as it is my latest favorite place to buy MP3s and attempt to buy the MP3.

Halfway through the checkout I run into a fatal error, one that I reproduced on four browsers across two computers.   So, I figure that I’ll find out if this is a common issue (website, account or otherwise some kind of back-end issue) and get in touch with Rhapsody’s ‘customer service’.

rhapsody issue #1

Yep, that’s right: after a half hour of letting them hold my hand through basic troubleshooting that I’d already accomplished, their customer service left me in limbo (after repeatedly failing to comprehend pretty much anything I was typing, apparently) until the session timed out.  Wow, professional!  So, after  I take a bunch of deep breaths, I try again.

rhapsody issue #2

I literally said out loud “You have got to be fucking kidding me”.  The amount of time between “I’m listening.  Please go ahead” and my reply was not more than 45 seconds…no way it was anything close to the vague “a couple minutes” I was threatened with.  I can type very quickly, and notice my entry came in before their operator disconnected?  Finally, if their web app is anything like say, Crafty Syntax Live Help,  it is more than likely actually transmitting what I type as I type it out into the text entry box.  Yes, it seems they disconnected me on purpose.  More deep breathing…

I take a break, and try back in a bit.   This time, I get a different operator and we quickly roll through the issues, they are competent, seem to understand English, and we quickly determine that I should try back later because his script says that is what I should do when he can’t figure out what is wrong.

\o/ customer service \o/

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So, I’m not wild about Rhapsody as they can’t tell when their service is having internal issues, nor can their technical support escalate issues beyond “Is the computer plugged into the wall?  Have you tried turning it on?”.  Man I miss lala.com’s MP3 store, fuck those corporate cocksuckers at Apple.  I wish Amazon hadn’t grabbed their ankles as soon as the government looked their direction.  Finally, no way in hell I’m going to buy music from Wal-Mart.  7digital.com is promising, but their website performance is inconsistent.   Most of the other smaller MP3 stores have absolute shit websites.  Man, I miss lala.com…

So we’ve had Netflix for just about forever: we really like effortlessly getting DVDs in the mail.  It has had a streaming service available that we signed up for pretty much as soon as it was released, but we’ve never made much use of.  Recently, Kelley started using the streaming service more often, and mentioned it had a decent number of TV series available as well as a reasonable selection of movies.  The conflicting notions of inexpensively streaming a decent selection of entertainment versus with the fact we were spending $80 a month for DirecTiVo service in exchange for what felt like $20 a month usage stewed in my head for a long time…apparently I’m not alone: “In last year’s fourth quarter, the number of people between ages 18 and 49 watching any kind of TV on a traditional set was down about 1.3% from the previous fall, according to Nielsen Co, the biggest decline in at least four years.”

I’d read about cord cutters, but kept getting hung up on the fact that Kelley liked a bunch of shows that weren’t easily available…as in, you could only watch them on a network website through Internet Explorer in a Windows OS one week after they aired on TV.  I’d fallen in love with the streaming video service Hulu back when Always Sunny was available (it has since been yanked, I suppose it might be available on the Always Sunny website but I’m lazy and fuck them)…even between Netflix and Hulu, there were still shows that were a PITA…and Kelley would have to watch it (regardless of the source) on her netbook, with our entertainment center  underutilized…

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Enter the Roku…a dedicated internet video streaming box the size of a small paperback that can output 1080p video while consuming about 10 watts.  Streams from your Netflix account, from a paid Hulu service called Hulu Plus, from some Amazon video service (fuck Amazon), streams Pandora if you have a Pandora radio station configured, a couple other minor items available at the moment.  It’s not a perfect solution as some networks and shows have pulled their offerings off of Hulu, but it’s not bad.

The box we got is called a Roku XD, and it cost $80…what we paid for one month of DirecTiVo.  We add on that a monthly fee for Netflix ($10) and Hulu Plus ($8).  So, after the first month we’re a hair under $20 and get probably 80% of the shows we’d give a damn about to watch.  I’m notably missing How I Met Your Mother, Always Sunny, The Daily Colbert…Kelley is additionally missing CBS/MTV series.   Holy shit ABC blows donkey cock…ohes noes The Bachelor!!!11!11oneoneone…

The interface is snappy and responsive, and does everything we’d want it to do without fuss.  The video quality is great on our ancient cathode ray tube television, like watching a DVD.  I was streaming it wirelessly over a 801.11g network but the little Edimax EW-7206APg I have was choking, needing rebooted daily.  A night or two ago I made an Ethernet cable for the Roku, and everything has been perfect since.  Most likely, any decent piece of 801.11b equipment could feed it, I think I’ve seen the Roku pull around 5 Mbps peak.  Modern 801.11g and beyond, you’re set!

For what it’s worth, the 7206APg is fine for light duty as a universal repeater and acting as a wireless bridge into the small wired lan that serves our living room, doesn’t mind all the wired traffic I can throw at it…just hates repeating wireless data WHILE also feeding that wireless data into the wired network.    If that doesn’t make sense, this is how the internet reaches my computer, don’t tell our ISP… internet > modem > 233Mhz Pentium MMX running m0n0wall / WAP covering my parents house / switch >  150′ of underground cable > switch > WAP covering our shop + 24 dBi parabolic  > 2000′ of mostly open space > cantenna + my EW-7206APg > switch > my computer / kelley’s comp / VOIP / roku / wireless around the house.   Ok, it still might not make sense.

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Occasionally we’ll need to gather around my computer so we can watch a few shows via a network website that the corporate pricks refuse to stream through Hulu, but for $60 a month that’s a hassle I’ll gladly put up with…poor Kelley is missing a few more shows than I am, but she still has an impressive library immediately available at her fingertips, piped through our entertainment center.

If you’d like more information, allow me to direct your attention to this concise infographic: http://i.imgur.com/H7l8R.jpg

Making Soap at home, Part One.

Making Soap at home, Part Two.

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Making Soap at home, Part Three.  -by Kelley

We made three more (one pound) batches of soap Friday night. Experimenting with cheaper oils, the first batch we made was 50% olive oil and 50% soybean oil, with a hint of lime essential oil. The second batch was 50% olive and 50% canola with a hint of pink grapefruit. The third batch was a bit more expensive and complicated as it included coconut milk and I used coconut oil, olive and canola. I am hoping for a creamy soap that lathers quite a bit, and smells slightly like coconut. Mixing the lye with the coconut milk was kind of a pain because scorching the milk is quite easy, this necessitates keeping the temperature below 100′F. I froze some of the coconut milk to help keep the temp down and put the container on an ice pack surrounded by cold water but the temp still shot up to 150′F. I read that it won’t effect the smell or quality of the soap though, hopefully this is true.

L: OO/Soy, M: OO/Canola, R: Coconut

Saturday I still felt like I wanted to experiment and since I had just over 1/2 an ounce of cocoa butter (burning a hole in my pocket so to speak) I decided to incorporate that into a recipe. I used cocoa butter, coconut oil, olive, canola and a touch of lavender essential oil. This was a very small batch, only 5.5 ounces. I’m really excited to see how all these soaps turn out, compare them to each other and determine which combination works best, has the best lather and leaves my skin feeling soft. Also I can’t wait to hand out samples to friends and family to test out and give us feedback.

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Maybe you’re wondering “why bother making your own soap when you can just purchase it at the store”, some very cheap at that (Ed. Note: olive oil + soybean + lye without fragrance can be made for the same price as buying the cheapest commercial bars of soaplike-product). My favorite bar of soap used to be Dove pink, I loved the smell and it lathered nicely but it always left my skin feeling really dry especially in the winter. I still used it though because I loved the smell so much. Then I became vegetarian (mostly vegan) and did lots of research regarding animal products in food and various other products, including soap. The ingredients in my beloved Dove pink: 
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Coconut Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, BHT, Red 17 (CI 26100), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

The first ingredient is a salt derived from coconut oil, basically it’s a surfactant. The second ingredient, Stearic Acid, may be animal (from rendered fat of farm and domestic animals, euthanized shelter animals) or vegetable based, I think I’ll just try to stay away from that ingredient unless it specifically says it’s plant derived. Sodium tallowate on the other hand is definitely animal derived, it is the product made from the saponification of beef fat, water and lye. Beef fat? In my pretty pink bar of soap? Yuck. (Check out what’s in your soap and all your bath products: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/)

After finding out that sodium tallowate is in practically all commercial soaps (even Ivory is tainted) I started buying real soap online. But soon I began to feel that paying $5 for a bar of soap was just too much, not to mention then paying for the shipping. Since I had begun to make my own laundry soap which involves grating up bars of soap and mixing with borax & super washing soda, I needed to find a cheaper soap. After trying several commercial soaps that are not made with beef fat I decided to go with Kirk’s Castile for the laundry soap and Dr. Bronner’s bar soap for my body. I like Dr. Bronner’s but it still seems a tad expensive ($3 and some odd change per bar) and it doesn’t seem very moisturizing.

So coming up with our own soap seemed like the obvious solution, along with the fact that I have aspirations (perhaps far fetched) of turning it into a business someday. I dragged my feet for a while then decided what the hell, let’s just try to make some and see how it goes. It seems to be going good, it’s fun and addicting. And best of all we get to decide what ingredients to use (beef fat will not be one of them).  There are many different oils and butters (no not that kind of butter, solid plant oils such as shea or cocoa) one can use to make soap, they all effect the end soap differently. I would go into more detail about this but my brain is fried and I need to do some house cleaning…