Why I quit Time Warner Cable Internet

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It doesn’t work.

For the second time this year the email service from Time Warner Cable doesn’t work right. It hasn’t been working right for a couple of days. Tonight I can receive emails but not send them. This is better than yesterday where for a time I couldn’t do either. No information on when this will be fixed.

I pay my bill on time but I am not getting full service. I did not get a rebate the last time the email went out for days. It was worst last time when getting emails was erratic for days.

Email is not life and death for me like it would be for a small home business but it seems like a simple thing to keep going and if it’s broken enough customers would complain that Time Warner Cable would get it fixed fast.

To irritate me more an article on Cnet this morning talked about how Time Warner Cable was improving service and giving free upgrades to customers in Kansas City. Kansas City has Google fiber so they may be losing customers there and have to do something.

There have been no rumors here about upgrades, free services, or improvements to the Time Warner Cable Internet in this area.

This month’s phone bill had an add on the outside for fiber internet connection much cheaper that Time Warner Cable and it would be more than twice as fast. I will have to accept a two year contract and change to a internet telephone but compared to the current phone bill it will be about break even in cost. The old land line telephone is a back up and I keep it because for many people it’s the only way they know to contact me. It’s not much of a back up, a couple of years ago a backhoe dug up the fiber optic cable that run out of the city I live in. Not only did we lose the internet connection to anyone outside the city we lost internet telephone to anyone outside the city and the tradistional phone could not call anyone outside the city. Gone are the days of mulitiple cable routes and backup of basic services.

I’m also concerned if Time Warner Cable combines with Comcast service could get worse and fee could, most likely will, increase.

Changing ISPs will require a lot of work on my part. I have had my email address through Time Warner Cable for a long time. Time Warner allows an alises to my old Adelphia.net email address and I have had that email address for a long, long, long time. Every company that I have bought software from and every web site I subscripe to will have to have my email address updated. Then I will have to notify friends and relatives. It is a great way to get rid of spam emails.

To prevent having to change all these emails again in two years if I deside to go to another ISP or if the new ISP changes for the bad (promise you one thing then change it after you subscribe) I am going to set up a web page and use the email address for that WEB site as a replacement for the Time Warner/Adelphia email address. The web page will be through a host that has nothing to do with Time Warner Cable or the telephone company and the web page will not change if the phone company does something cheap to its customers or I go another ISP. Of course it’s been years since I developed a web page and things have changed since then. Back to fighting the learning curve.

One web site says code your web site in HTML 5 another says HTML 5 is not catching on don’t use it.

Write on, draw on, code on.               Professor Voltage

Power outages equal telephone and Internet failures

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Power outages equal telephone and Internet failures.

Beware if you have a home business and you are hit with an extended power outage caused by flood, fire, or other disaster. Your fiber optic telephone line and Internet line may be working perfectly but your phone company equipment at your house may fail after a short time and you won’t be able to use your fiber optic phone or Internet connection. This is caused by the phone company is not changing a battery in their equipment at your house. You could be out of business if you do not know about the battery that needs charging or replacing.

This is the same as not changing the battery in a smoke alarm, at least you know about the battery in the smoke alarm and you own the smoke alarm and the battery in the smoke alarm doesn’t cost $30.00.

Last Saturday night it rained. If your not from California you would call it a heavy dew. It was enough that I could hear the rain drops hit the roof in the early morning. At 7:30 Sunday morning it was still lightly raining (hey it was raining hard enough I could see the drops on the sidewalk, wet marks not splashes) and I was working on my computer when the power when out. A split second later there was an explosion so the problem was less than a mile away. Twenty seconds later there was another explosion. This was looking to be another eight to twelve hour power outage. Ten to twenty minutes later there was another explosion. That would mean all three phases were out and this outage could last a while. There were no sirens so hopefully no one was hurt.

It wasn’t much of a rain, there wasn’t any water standing in the street yet the power goes out. I had errands to run and when I returned the power was still out.

What to do in a power outage? Go someplace where there is power. Not something you can do after a flood, hurricane, or major disaster. I grabbed my paper notebook and a pen and pencil and headed to a fast food place a short distance away. The library is not air conditioned and didn’t have power anyway. People who say they work in a coffee shop must not get much work done. Between the girls on cell phones complaining about boyfriends and self centered guys on cell phones talking loud I had trouble writing or drawing. It was to hot and humid outside to sit and work so I headed back home.

Back at the house I found the phone was dead and the Internet was out. This is only after four hours of power outage. I have fiber optic for both the phone and the Internet service. With fiber optic they cannot send electrical power down the fiber optic cable to power the fiber optic converter that hangs on the outside of the house (the converter translates the fiber optic signals to something my computer and telephone can understand). The fiber optic converter has to plug into my house’s power. There is a backup battery that provides power to the fiber optic converter if the power goes out. The battery is a gel cell and is suppose to keep the converter going for at last eight hours. Well the gel cell for the fiber optic converter is a couple of years old and gel cells need to be replaced every two years to maintain full capacity.

Off to a coffee shop that has wifi. The doctor told me I can’t have anything with caffeine in it. Oh well there always a scone. The power outage come down to how long I can make a bagel last. At least I brought a cube tap, a thing you plug in the wall so more than one thing can plug into an electrical socket at the same time.

Power didn’t return until after midnight. That’s almost 17 hours without electricity (if we every get any rain around here the power outage could last for days).

The next day I get the phone company technician out to my house to replace the battery. They are going to charge me to replace the battery. It’s their battery, it’s inside their equipment and the phone company repair guy had to pry the equipment open with a screw driver (they don’t want people poking around inside the equipment). I’m upset, they’re charging me for keeping their equipment going.

I didn’t need to get on the Internet the day of the power outage. A day without Internet could hurt and hurt badly anyone who runs a business from home. If you have the technical skills and know where to stick the screw driver you can open the phone company equipment at your house or place of business and replace or recharge the battery. Mine is a 2 volt 8 amp hour battery. I have a very small gasoline generator and a gel cell battery charger that I could connect to the battery to get the phone and Internet going again. Most people would not know how to do this. The generator is big hassle, the generator is heavy, noisy, and smells up the place. Don’t use a gasoline generator inside a house or enclosed area.

If you have children at home do not depend on cell phones. Children will talk on their cells until the battery in the cell goes dead and if the house phone is dead they will be out of contact. Just try to get a kid to not talk on the cell phone when the power is off, there is nothing else to do.

It’s going to get worst. The phone company technician told me the CEO of the company told everyone at the company that the only thing that matters to the phone company is making money for the company and the shareholders. So much for the customer. The phone company pressured me to convert to fiber optic telephone years ago. Now it makes sense, the phone company get free electrical power from me and does not have to build or maintain the ability to power all the telephones of their customers like they did in the days of Ma Bell. Saves the company lots of money and if the customers phone go dead because the power is out for a long time that’s the power company’s problem.

Draw on Write on. Professor Voltage.

 

Frankentooth tooth repair with electricity

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On the Osgood File radio program on KNX 1070 (an LA based radio station) I heard of a new process using electricity for repairing teeth. They did not say how many visits it would take to make a repair so I thought that a dentist office could turn into an over crowded assembly line for people getting their week jolt. There may be the need to drill out the bad stuff before beginning the electric repair so it may not be a totally painless wonder treatment. The report did say that the new process could be in your dentist office within three years.

Then a week or so later I read about a process that uses lasers to repair teeth. See

http://www.gizmag.com/low-power-laser-stem-cell-tooth-repair/32309/

The article does not say when this will be ready for prime time but soon your dentist could ask if you want to be Zapped or Jolted.

Will the dentist office of the future have a car battery and a set of jumper cables next to the chair or will you have to go in for a weekly visit to have the tech shine a super laser pointer in your mouth. Either way it’s better than drill and fill.

Then comes the tooth and bone repair gel.

See

http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2014/03/new-shrinking-gel-steers-tooth-tissue-formation

Sometimes progress is great.

 

Write on, draw on,   Professor Voltage.

Great line, not so great feel for a pencil

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I watch too many how to draw YouTube videos. One video features a guy from England and he uses Derwent brand pencils. So the other day I was in the arts and crafts store and they sold Derwent brand pencils. I picked up a couple, 2B, 4B and a 6B. They make a OK to good line but the pencil just doesn’t feel right. The paint on the pencil is thin and you can feel the lumps bumps and grain of the wood under the paint and you can see and feel any manufacturing defects in the wood. After so many years of using a yellow number 2 Dixon Ticonderoga with its heavy slick coat of paint the Derwent feels rough. The Derwent also feel lighter than pencils I’m use to. Derwents do sharpen well. I’m back to using the 25 year old Skilcraft 0.7 mechanical pencil.

Worlds greatest pencil

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At the San Diego comic fest (not comic con) a couple of years ago I met an artist and he raved about the Blackwing pencil. The pencil has a big square eraser on top that can be replaced. He felt that the pencil drew smoother and made a better line for drawings. Researching it I found they are the Palomino Blackwing pencils. They sell for $22.95 a box. You want the ones with the white eraser not the Blackwing 602 or the pearls, both of which have a harder lead (graphite). On the other hand Mark Crilley (he does drawing videos on YouTube) uses a plain old Dixon Ticonderoga number two pencil. They sell for $15.02 for a block of 96 pencils.

Don’t use a pencil that has been sharpened down so much that it cramps your hand to draw with it. Get a pencil extender or a new pencil. With a Blackwing you have to saw the eraser off to use a pencil extender, not a big deal.

Me, I use ordinary mechanical pencils. Either 0.7 or 0.5 mm leads.

What is the worlds best pencil? What ever is in your hand and your drawing with it. Whether you found the pencil on the ground or paid big dollars for it, if you’re using it then it’s the best. It took me to long to figure that out.

 

Write on, draw on. Professor Voltage.

24 inches of haven

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I just bought a new LED monitor. 23 and some odd parts of an inches diagonal. There’s not enough room on the old computer bench for anything bigger. This thing is big. I’m finding that there is stuff to the side of web sites that has been always there but I didn’t see it with the old monitor. You can get a stiff neck reading text on this monitor, your head goes back and forth reading. The old monitor was so small that you could get a line of text in one glance with out having to move my head. This monitor is HD TV format. I wish it was a little taller for making drawings on it. This monitor is much better for drawing, much more drawing space. I don’t think I can use a 10 inch tablet, even with blowing the image up will not help.  If I get a laptop it’s got to be 13 inches minimum with a Wacom screen. Save your pennies and get the biggest monitor you can.

Write on, draw on.  Professor Voltage

e-book pirates are alive and thriving

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At the last meeting of the screenwriters group I belong to one of the members who runs a mirco-traditional-publishing business had some bad news for another writer in the group. The other writer has written and published several novels both in trade paper back and e-book. The bad news is someone is selling print on demand copies of his books and he wasn’t aware of it or getting any money for the books sold. Seems it common for people to scrape e-books off the net and offer them for sell. They sell the books through large used book web sites but not Amazon. Self published authors and other small authors would not expect to find their books on used book web sites so they never check. One site we were shown claims the books (taken from other authors) were printed in the USA. The books from the dealer using print on demand were selling for less than the author sold them for or the price on the book jacket.

Are you a small book author that has e-books or know someone who is, then check the used book web sites and see if this is happening to you or people you know.

 

Write on. Professor Voltage.

Excuses, one million and two, plus drawing practice

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Chris Hart said in an interview with Jazza that it is better to spend one hour a day drawing than to draw for eight hours one day a week. One hour a day isn’t much, but last night I sat down to put in an hour but before that all I had to do was write one check to pay a bill. There was money in the bank to cover the check, I just had to fill out the check and sign it. I opened the check book and was too tired to fill out the check. After a day full of taking care of family, working around the house to keep it from falling into more disrepair, keeping the plants in the garden from dying, and keeping the fish in the fish tank clean and healthy I was tired.

I went to bed. The next morning I filled out the check over a half a cup of instant oatmeal (Trader Joe’s with extra cinnamon and some raisins). Later I hand delivered the check.

They say there are no excuses, well some days there is more day than there is me. Missing a day of drawing is like going off your diet for a day or two or three. It’s not the end of the world, it isn’t even a big set back but you have to get back to it.

Tonight it’s write and draw but only for an hour, I’m tired.

Write on. Draw on. Professor Voltage.

Company Merger Less Service

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I just received an email that Time Warner Cable will kill the free web site I have with them at the end of the month. I’ve had this web site for a long time, through three ISPs. Why are they doing this, they didn’t say. I believe they have to eliminate all freebies so Comcast can report good financial numbers next quarter. Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable and Comcast debt will increase, big time. To pay the interest on the new debt’s loan and still report an increase in profit Comcast will have to cuts out everything it can from the cable service while keeping the price the same (less service same price). Does the storage requirements for a web sites cost that much. I don’t think so, Google offers ton of free cloud storage for gmail accounts and other companies offer free storage to. Does it matter? Not so much for the web sites. People don’t use personnel web sites like they have in the past. Now people use FaceBook pages or use a web site hosting service. Even Blogs are declining in popularity. But this could be a warning that new fees are coming for things that use to be free. The end result is some people at Time Warner Cable will get an unreal amount of money while the customer will get less. Is this unique to Comcast? No, Union bank bought out Santa Barbara bank and simple things have been stopped. My mother still complains that they no longer print pictures of checks on the monthly bank statements and if the computer is ever hacked or crashes she will not have a record that bills were paid. How much could it cost to print the pictures of cashed checks on the statement? If Union bank wants to act like a major bank then their customers could end up going to a small bank that will go the extra distance to give them simple things that they want. Time to call up Verizon and see if I can get a good rate on plain internet service. Write on.

Using WordPress for a Webcomic for the beginner 1

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When I started this Blog for a Webcomic I wanted nothing between a new reader and the Webcomic. No splash page, no adds, no pop ups. I also wanted a simple easy to remember URL or web site address. I built a web domain name (which is part of the URL) and obtained domain hosting for a web page. I named the WEB page/site/domain for the location where the comic takes place. This web site transfers the reader to the WordPress site for the web comic so the URL doesn’t need a /wp after the domain name. The transfer is very fast.

You can get a domain name from many companies. Most of the companies will also sell you hosting. Shop around. You can ask other Webcomic authors where they get their services. I get my hosting and domain names from register4less.com. They are located in Canada. The service desk has answered my questions quickly and I have asked them a bunch of questions. I use them to support another Webcomic “userfriendly.org” by Illiad. Hey Webcomic creators should support each other. Is this the best hosting service? No, that would depend on you and your coding ability. Look for reviews of any hosting service before you go with them. register4less.com is banner-free so that’s a big plus for me. Monthly and yearly charges vary all over the place. I pay extra for e-mail capability for all my WEB sites so be aware of extra charges. You can move a domain from one hosting service to another if the hosting service doesn’t work out or changes after you get a domain name. Make sure the domain and hosting service allow you to move domain names.    Side note, Illad the creator of the webcomic userfriendly has a major project going on and has been running old comics on the userfriendly site. I wish him the best of luck and can’t wait for him to start running new comics.

The web site, not the WordPress site, has several pages. The pages are not active yet. The code for the additional pages is like hot, shaken, nitroglycerin. They blow up all the time. I’ll get the code fixed one of these days but I got a comic to write. I am planning to have the ability to jump from the WordPress site to the different pages of the first web site. This should keep the response time of the WordPress site very fast.