Wow, It Has Been HOT

I don’t think I can stand this heat wave much longer. Oh wait, yes I can, thanks to the AC in my room. Then I read some article about how AC makes people fatter. Don’t know if it’s actually true but I guess it kind of makes sense. If you’re indoors enjoying AC the whole summer, you’re not outside sweating your ass off. No sweat means you’re not burning calories. No burned calories means more fat deposits. Yup, there you go. Anyway, I was outside today to run errands and man the few moments walking from my car to buildings was unbearable. I felt like passing out.

The heat is all around you and not to mention the sun bearing down on you. At least it’ll start to cool down now. I’ve been really busy the past 2 weeks working on client projects but I’ve finished them all up. Now I can get a good night’s sleep again. Some new work coming in now, but I’m definitely not piling them all up during the same time again. There’s a lesson in time management and scheduling. Live and learn, whatever doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger and smarter.

Cancelled Verizon DSL and got Earthlink Cable
I also cancelled my Verizon DSL and have now signed up with Earthlink cable (likely resold Time Warner capacity since it’s offered on the TW website). It’s pretty cheap - $29.95/month for 6 months and $41.95 after that and it’s 3 times faster than DSL. My first year of Verizon DSL was up so the promotional price of $29.95 a month went up to $37.95. Either way, doesn’t matter if it’s cheaper I was switching anyway.

Rep Kept Trying to Convince Me Otherwise
What’s funny is that when I called to cancel the rep wasn’t overly pushy or anything, but these reps are trained to try and retain the customer so she was feeding me some bullshit. She was explaining to me how cable is not necessarily faster than DSL because DSL is a dedicated connection while cable is “shared” with the neighborhood. Okay, I already know that. Cable is still way faster than DSL on any given day even if all your neighbors are using the connection. Then she told me because the cable connection is “shared” you’re more susceptible to viruses?! Alrighty then, I think you’re just as vulnerable either way - it really comes down to what protections you have locally on your computer. And then she said I could keep my Verizon email address and emails if I switched to a dial-up account - I didn’t even know Verizon offered dial-up service, plus I NEVER logged into my Verizon email account.

Yahoo Launchcast?
Which reminds me, I wonder if my free premium Yahoo Music account will continue working now that I cancelled Verizon DSL. It was a new member feature that they started a couple of months ago when they partnered with Yahoo. That’s probably the only value I got out of it, besides being able to go online.

New, Awesome Router with Custom Firmware (from Newegg)
I picked up a new Linksys WRT54GL router and a 50′ cat5e cable from the always great Newegg. I actually ordered these separately because I didn’t think I needed a longer cable. Get this - Newegg seems to have some special distribution relationship with UPS so their standard ground shipping actually gives you a 3 day delivery guarantee - a lot of times you get this shipping free. Both of the items I ordered came out of their NJ facility and got to me the NEXT DAY. Seriously, if I can find it on Newegg I don’t go anywhere else. They are usually the cheapest or almost the cheapest, with the fastest shipping around. Newegg’s actually run by some Asian guys (I think they’re Taiwanese but I’m not sure) so kudos to them for running such a tight ship.

So yea, the great thing about this specific router is that it’s designed to support 3rd party firmware, which is kind of like the “operating system” of the router for you non techies. By installing custom firmware you can greatly enhance the functionality of the router and turn it from a $60 router to a $600 one.

I flashed DD-WRT on it and it’s working great. If you don’t need any specific, technical features, this probably wouldn’t benefit you. I can now set up advanced QoS (Quality of Service) rules so that if I’m using huge chunks of bandwidth downloading and a call comes in on my VoIP line, it’ll still sound clear because QoS will reserve a chunk of bandwidth for the VoIP data.

Anyway..
I’m still working through this Dunkin Donuts coupon book I have. The store opening on the next block is really coming along fast. They’ve already got all the signage up and the interior is mostly completed. I think they may open by or before the end of August. Alright, I’m out.