Blowing Past The Comcast Cap
I continue to monitor my home Internet data usage closely since receiving notice from Comcast that we are near the 1024 GB monthly cap. I enabled Traffic Stats on my home router so that I can compare that to Comcast’s usage meter. Traffic stats is an approximation because it doesn’t only show traffic coming in from the Internet but also traffic within my home network, but I think it can give me an indication of whether Comcast’s usage meter is accurate. (If caps are going to be a thing, Home Routers need a feature that shows download and upload traffic to the Internet.)
After the first day, it seems the Comcast usage meter is accurate. If that is true, somehow we doubled our Internet data usage and the only thing I know changed is that our bandwidth jumped to 100 Mbps in the last month. The usage meter only shows data going back to June, so it looks to me like Comcast just started enforcing this data cap in our area, probably coinciding with the increase to 100 Mbps. Something doesn’t feel right, my usage as around 775 GB per month and with no other change other than the bandwidth increase I don’t know what we have been doing differently. It’s as if Netflix detected I have more bandwidth and decided on its own to use it and I don’t see an option to throttle it back to 1080 or 720.
The data cap is annoying, and frankly I think the lack in detail in Comcast’s reporting is a problem that needs to be addressed by regulation. If you have a cap you can’t just report a monthly total, I think you have to at least show daily usage. Given that increase in streaming providers supporting 4K video, 1024 GB (1 TB) per month is really not enough.
Comcast will be happy to remove the cap if I pay them $50 more per month. I will probably end up paying that for the benefit of not needing to constantly monitor data usage.
The Truth About Greatness
The campaign slogan for Donald Trump was Make America Great Again, iconized by red hats. We ought to have substantive conversation about what is America and how it might be great, but we don’t.
Here is a problem, greatness is not something one can self-declare. My constantly saying that I am great does not make me so, that makes me arrogant. Greatness is only determined by people other than oneself, and the same is true for countries. This is something Americans don’t seem to understand, but it is a truth.
Unfortunately, I think most people add the words “for me” to the end of MAGA, which ironically is the exact opposite to a quote from a Democrat President, John F. Kennedy. A quote that frankly conservatives should recognize as their own rather than a liberal’s. Please think about that when you complain about entitlement.
We ought to aspire to greatness, but that aspiration needs to be framed in the understanding of how greatness is truly determined.
Comcast Scrooge
Today I received an email from Comcast informing me that we have consumed 90% of our 1 TB data alotment for the month. While I had been vaguely aware that Comcast has data caps, I had not encountered an issue with it until today.
What I find odd is that we have been averaging about 650 GB of data per month, and now mid-month Comcast is saying we have already consumed about 900 GB? What changed? Frankly, it doesn’t make sense.
Coincidentally, I noticed that mid last month our Internet download speed increased from around 70 mbps to 100 mbps. There seems to be a relationship between the increase in our bandwidth and how much Comcast claims we are now using. I didn’t ask for the bandwidth increase. I am wondering whether now that our speed is faster the streaming services we use have flipped over to higher data rate video streaming than we’ve been using previously?
What is frustrating is that the data usage meter Comcast provides is just a total consumption per month, it doesn’t show me a per day or even per week breakdown. In fact, I don’t know how I have any way to confirm that what Comcast is claiming I am consuming is what I am actually using!
Comcast provides 2 months of “free” data overage before they will start charging me $10 for each 50 GB we go over the cap per month, so I don’t have to do anything drastic right now. Right now I don’t even know how to begin to fight this thing, I am going to have to study the topic and see if there is something that I can implement on my end to show how much data we actually do consume per month.
“We’re creatures of both dark and light, suffering and healing, joy and sorrow. The goal isn’t necessarily to extinguish the less-palatable option entirely but to find hope in the basic, simple, elemental stuff of daily living. It’s only in such deep, patient presence that the rush of really living—and not just being alive—comes breaking in.”
— Surviving the Bible: A Devotional for the Church Year 2020 by Christian Piatt a.co/5lLecwN
It’s the busy weekend with rehearsal and performance today of this year’s Christmas Musical at church. Back at it tomorrow.
I needed to buy a new smartphone this week that I did not want to spend much money on because I really just needed it to handle phone calls and text messages, so I bought this Nokia 6.
It’s my first phone from the new Nokia and I have to say that I am really impressed. Solid construction with a very nice display. Best of all so far is the Battery life… it’s been running for more than 30 hours since I charged it and still has 40% left… although I don’t have many apps (particularly apps like Facebook) installed, so that may be a contributor.
A bonus with this phone is that it is dual SIM, unlocked and it can also use a SD card, although if you do you cannot use the second SIM as it uses the same slot.
While the phone ships with Android 7.1.1. installed it upgraded to Android 9 immediately upon set up. It is stock Android with only an FM Radio and My Phone apps added to the standard apps you find with Android.
I don’t think this phone will upgrade to Android 10 and Google may not be pushing security updates for Androids 9, but I have found this to be a great phone for the price!
Earlier this week we learned that RCS chat was generally available to Android users, and at the time it did not look to me like it was working with AT&T.
As it happened, I set up a new phone on AT&T this week and I was surprised to find that when I started Messages I saw a message saying Chat messaging was available. I then went in to Google Play and saw that the Carrier Services app was installed on the phone.
I still didn’t see the feature available on my Pixel 2, however, so I thought, what if I searched for Carrier Services in Google Play and tried to install it? Turns out that I found it and was able to install it and after that the Chat services connected and was functional.
I now have two phones with the feature enabled, which allows me to test it. You will know if you are using chat if you see “Chat message” displayed in the input box, otherwise you see “Text message”.
I find the chat functions similar to Facebook Messenger. If you are chatting back and forth you see the … indicating a response is being typed. The messages and pictures appear near instantly.
BTW, the two phones I have are on Android 10 and 9, so I know at least one generation older than the current will be able to use the service. I am looking forward to seeing whether/how soon my friends get the service.
The irony is that Trump supporters believe that Democrats are attempting to steal the Presidency just like Democrats are claiming Trump & Russia did in 2016.
Facts & truth do. not. matter.
LinuxLinks.com currently has a series of blog posts about using the Raspberry Pi 4 as a desktop. Added to my RSS subscriptions.
I found that the new Notes and Lists service is now available in the Google Assistant settings on my Pixel 2. The service not only supports Google Keep but also other apps including Any.do, which I just recently started using as my personal list manager.
It’s odd that the service is intended for Notes and Lists, indicating it was probably original conceived for integration with Keep. With it configured to work with Any.do, it doesn’t appear as though I can create and store notes. I don’t doubt that I could create notes if I set it up with Keep.
Does not look like AT&T allows Google’s RCS chat feature. I have the version of Messages noted in this article but I don’t see the Carrier Services app.
So you think that person you are following on Instagram is a human? You might be wrong.
The Verge’s Gadgets Of The Decade
The story of technology in the 2010s is the story of gadgets going from the corners of our lives to everywhere all the time.
Of the top ten, I own #2, 3, and 10.
Dictatorship It Is
Today electing a president is not about issues, nor is it about changing minds, nor is it about who looks better and sounds better of TV. The election is not about a personal popularity contest. Electing a president is now simply about opposition. In short, there is no middle ground just as the middle class has grown increasingly small.
If you identify Republican you are likely going to only vote for Republicans because you think all Democrats are crazy and will destroy the country. Likewise, if you identify Democrat you will only vote Democrat. If you really don’t like your candidate you will not vote, or write in Mickey Mouse rather than cast a vote for the opposing party.
The consequence is that the candidates only say what their “base” wants to hear, and it doesn’t even matter of what is said is true. Candidates don’t really try to change people’s minds. In this environment, do we really need debates? Worse, there is little for few remaing, truly “independent” voters to hear, and frankly doing a bunch of research is too much work for the average voter. Increasing numbers of these disenfranchised voters will simply sit out.
Unfortunately, I think Democrats think the lesson learned from 2016 is to focus on their base and ignore the middle because they think there are more liberal/progressives voters than conservative, Republicans, or independents. An extreme shift left is viewed by their opposition as further evidence of crazy Democrats.
The authors of the U.S. Constitution foresaw this type of fanaticism that democracy enables and thus created a structure to prevent it. Unfortunately, over time political idealogies have trumped preservation of the Republic concentrating more power within the Presidency. A party aligned, rubber stamping Congress and Supreme Court is a defacto dictatorship and this is effectly today’s U.S. government.
Mike Caulfield releases Walkthru;
Back in January I started working on a web-based application to help teachers and others make fact-checking infographics as part of a Misinformation Solutions Forum prize from RTI International and Rita Allen.
Mike had to change course and turn this in to a Windows app, but it is now working and available for those who run Windows.
Given how partisan Congress is, I wonder what would happen if a 3rd party candidate was elected POTUS?
Google announced they are making Pixel phone smore helpful via a series of feature drops.
Actually, I am looking forward to seeing how well the Call Screening “feature” works. Right now I have Do Not Disturb enabled to only allows calls from phone numbers in my contacts. While this is effective for blocking the robo calls, it has also blocked legit calls when I forgot to disable Do Not Disturb.
Today I realized that my 30 year anniversary at work came and went without any recognition by anyone, including myself. The worst thing that has occurred over my career is the institutional de-valuation of people with experience in corporate America. Talk is cheap; actions, or lack there of, speaks volumes.
Upon further review it looks like my Pixel 2 doesn’t know how to display the signal strength when the phone connects to the AT&T Microcell in our home. When I leave the house it displays fine, but when I come back and it connects to the Microcell I actually see it show all bars and then the bars disappear. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that the microcell only provides 3G data, which I don’t care about because I use WiFi for data at home. In the the number of bars don’t really matter so long as my call connections work and don’t drop, but it’s annoying.