Bell/Aliant High-Speed Internet: You Get an 'F'

I really don't like Bell/Aliant.

It seems that every few months, the problematic issue of a crappy download speed, and an incredibly high ping strikes me. The little time I have to devote to gaming is restricted to offline games because of my outrageous ping. The last time I tried to play Left-4-Dead my ping hit over 1000ms.

Here is a screenshot of my 'ISP Rating' as measured by Pingtest.net. Using a server based in Turo I have a ping of over 350ms.

I don't have the time to call up Aliant and groan about how crappy my service is right now. Each time I've called their 'Support Line' in the past, and was told to do things like "restart your computer" which I know would have no effect on the internet. After an hour or so of doing things like this, the person on the phone will either book a technician to come to the house, or the internet will magically fix itself.

I do use a lot of bandwidth, but I've never received a notification telling me that I have a bandwidth limit, so if they're capping me, I've never been told of it.

I'm hoping that the service quality is magically fixes itself again in the very near future. Aliant changing its operational name to "Bell/Aliant" is a bad omen in my mind, as Bell is known for its shady ISP operations.

Want to Pretend to be a Classical Musician?

This picture cheers me up every time I look at it.

The Anti-2010 Olympic Movement Will Not Gain Momentum Like This

This morning I became acquainted with the anti- 2010 Olympic movement that is taking hold is some parts of British Columbia, and I must say; it didn't leave a great taste in my mouth.

Its hard to sympathize with people who steal the Olympic flag and dress up as Al-Qaeda members, or those who vandalize the Olympic clock, or burst on stage in "gang-like" gear during and Olympic ceremony. Most of all, its hard to sympathize with a group of people, some of which support acts of terrorism against the Olympic infrastructure.

The CBC News report which I watched interviewed a man whose mental well being was questionable. His grammar was poor, he was not articulate, and he didn't appear remotely lucid. He was definitely not doing the cause any favors with his appearance on the network.

Of course, the CBC loves the Olympics, so any report from them concerning anti-Olympic protesters is bound to be biased. They don't elaborate about the main gripe that many of these protesters have; the fact that the Olympics are taking place on land which the aboriginals claim is theirs. I know very little about the issue of aboriginal land-claims, but this issue needs to be brought forward in a professional means which can gain public support.

After watching the segment on TV, I began searching the web for some more information and came across a much less radical group. Instead of posing as insurgents, the group suggests "Intelligent Protest" against the 2010 Olympics. With the present health-care debate in the United States, this may seem insane to some.

To recruit followers, the anti-Olympic movement needs to spread their message through a positive and professional means of communication. Images like the one above will only cause a backlash. Violent and extreme acts orchestrated by any of the protesters will invalidate the entire movement.

I know that if a protester does commit an act of terrorism to protest the 2010 Olympics, the Canadian public will not see this as a justified means of action.

iPhones Games May Compete with Consoles for My Time

I've never really gotten aboard the whole "iPhone/iPod Touch" game craze like many in the US have. Its never appealed to me, as in my mind, I can play better quality games on the PC or on the consoles. Alas, today I found myself spending over half an hour on my little touch-screen device.

Fieldrunners is a tower-defense game on the App Store. I started playing the game out of curiosity as to how it would work. Twenty minutes later, I was still playing this game. Despite sitting in front of my computer, and having access to my consoles, I continued to play this simple hand-held game.

Sure I could have played a similar version of the game on the PC, but I found the experience of Fieldrunners to be comparable to that of which is on the computer. Maybe a little more simplistic, but fun none the less.

From now on, I'm going to be less of an elitist against iPhone games, as I've come to realize that they have come a long way since the jailbroken version of 'Doom' which I once had.

I'm a "Condemned child of Satan"

As I waited at the bus station reading an article about Harper's vocal debut, I was discretely handed a booklet from a young lady telling me, "This is something for you to read". I was too busy reading to immediately think anything of it, so I put the pamphlet into my pocket.

Upon taking a seat on the bus, I took out the booklet which was given to me a few minutes earlier. I skimmed through it and noticed that it was a multi-page comic. I flipped to the back to get the gist of what it was about, and was greeted with the hostile statement that "If you do nothing, you'll remain a condemned child of Satan... and one heartbeat from hell."

I'm surprised that some churches are still condemning people to hell in an attempt to boost membership. If I were looking for a Church, I would choose one a little more friendly than the Rock Church in Sackville. Maybe I'll decrease my "condemnation" rate by following them on Twitter!