1. January 2009 by Myke.

I own 2 of the 30GB Zune players and as of yesterday morning they are both dead and frozen on the Zune splash screen.  Why?  Because for some reason you could not figure out how to make an MP3 player deal with 366 days in a year.  Are you kidding me with this crap.  And your answer to all of us is “Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware.  We’re aware of the problem and are working to correct it.  The Zune Social might be slow or inaccessible. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!”…ISSUES?!?  The issue is there is no fix to this and we are supposed to just sit down and go about our lives while you figure out what you did.  I guess I will be going to Best Buy today to exchange them for something other than a MS player.  And you wonder why people hate you as much as they do.  I live and die by MS everyday and when I called you all I get is some dumb ass Indian from India saying it is a known issue and we are sorry.  Thanks for blowing sand in my face you f**king sand monkeys!

Microsoft Corp., maker of the Zune, said a bug in the internal clock driver, related to the way the device handles a leap year, caused the malfunction in older Zune 30GB models.

Matt Akers of the Zune Product Team wrote Wednesday on Zune.net that the problem should resolve itself after 7 a.m. ET Thursday. The Zune support page says users should allow the internal battery to fully drain, then recharge by connecting the Zune to a computer or AC power after noon GMT (7 a.m. ET) on New Year’s Day.

Guess what Matt Akers, I still have 2 30GB players that are dead as Windows ME…oh wait, Windows ME actually booted up unlike my MP3 players.

CNN.com story

Geeks Are Sexy Story

Microsoft, I am very disappointed in this.  This is very sad and pretty much like the old days. 

Posted in Rant, Microsoft | No Comments »

11. December 2008 by Myke.

If you are the proud owner of any Lexmark product you may wonder why you have a program called lx_Cats on your PC.  Well after further investigation and tracking what this file does, it is Spyware.

A user calling himself “Commander” has posted to the printer-focused Usenet group, comp.periphs.printers, that:

“Just the other day I purchased a new Lexmark X5250 All-in-one printer. I installed it as per the instructions and monitored the install with Norton as I do with all new software.

On reviewing the install log I noticed a program called Lx_CATS had been placed in the c:program files directory. I investigated and found a data log and an initialisation file called Lx_CATS.ini. Further investigation of this file showed that Lexmark had, without my permission, loaded a Trojan backdoor on to my computer. Furthermore, it is embedded into the system registry, so average users would likely never know it was there and active.”

Commander noticed that the spyware was programmed to surreptitiously report back to a URL, www.lxkcc1.com, every thirty days. lxkcc1.com is registered to Lexmark International, Inc..

When Commander called Lexmark to demand an explanation, the company first denied that they had installed any spyware at all. Ultimately the person with whom he spoke conceded that Lexmark installs “tracking software” on their users’ computers“to report back on printer and cartridge use for survey purposes.” While the Lexmark representative avowed that they did not transmit any personal information, they also admitted that the program does transmit the printer’s serial number, which of course is registered to the user. No personal information my foot!

Rumours of the installation of spyware along with their printer software have swirled around Lexmark for several years, and posts to Usenet complaining of Lexmark spyware date from as early as 2001. Some users complain of their computer trying to connect to the Internet every time they print a document; others worry that the program is reporting not only their cartridge usage, but whether they are using non-Lexmark cartridges, or even refilling their own cartridges, thus possibly setting the stage for a denial of warranty service.

According to “Commander”, the offending files include a program file called lx_CATS, and a related .ini file, lx_CATS.ini, as well as 2 DLL files in the c:program fileslexmark500 folder.

In order to remove Lexmark’s spyware from your system, delete the file (probably in your c:program directory) called “lx_cats.exe”, and also search for and remove a file called “lx_cats.ini” (and, for that matter, any other file including the term “lx_cats”).

Nice job Lexmark…really.

posted by: Myke Reinhold

Posted in Security, Internet, Rant, General Hardware, Desktops, Laptops | No Comments »

30. August 2008 by Myke.

After the FCC ruled against Comcast and it’s illegal bandwidth throttling, they moved forward with publishing that all “excessive users” will be subjected to a possible warning and/or disconnection of service. Now granted the usage threshold you get to hit is 250GB per month, but those of us in the IT world know we can hit that with ease.  For the average Joe at home using the Internet for his bills, surfing and day trading this will be just fine as they will never hit that mark.  I still hate Comcast and their service and their lack of customer service.  Let’s just say I am one of MANY dissatisfied ex-customers of Comcast.  Just like my favorite Comcast haters Travis “Sugar Bear” Sarbin and Mona Shaw.

Let me give some advice to those over at Comcast that make the high level decisions.  A very large community of IT professionals and hard core gamers used/use your service because it was good and it worked great.  But then you basically slapped all of us in the face and said, “sorry, we no longer want your business”.  Ever since a group of us in Denver, CO switched over to QWest DSL we have been made happy again.  We can do business/work/pleasure all at the same speeds without any interference from QWest.  Do not crap on the best customers you can have.  We will hardly ever call you for service unless it is down or being throttled so you spend less money working with us.  You screwed up and are now are paying for it with large amounts of us leaving your service.  Goodbye and good riddance.

posted by: Myke Reinhold

Posted in Internet, Rant | No Comments »

21. July 2008 by Myke.

I would first like to say that not only did I say it but so did Travis. Comcast is filtering traffic and they should not be doing so as it is not their business. Especially when they do not let you know but say to you, “It is your equipment, not ours that is causing your issues”.

So let me start by dancing around in the best white boy routine possible…running man…sprinkler…tug-o-war…lawnmower…while “Play that Funky Music White Boy” is playing in the background. Second I would like ot say to Comcast, “Please do not try and lie to the technical community out there that was faithful to you for years. We promoted you and used you for personal and business accounts. Now I am no longer your customer and I have also taken a total of 38 folks with me in the last 6 months. Enjoy your sanctions/punishments by the FCC.”
FCC Chief Says Comcast Violated Internet Rules

Several readers sent in word that the FCC chairman, Kevin Martin, is calling for sanctions and enforcement actions against Comcastfor resetting BitTorrent traffic. “Mr. Martin will circulate an order recommending enforcement action against the company on Friday among his fellow commissioners, who will vote on the measure at an open meeting on Aug. 1… Martin, a Republican, will likely get support from the two Democrats on the commission, who are both proponents of the network neutrality concept. Those three votes would be enough for a majority on the five-member commission.”

FCC chairman says Comcast punishment will serve as warning to other Internet providers

Na na na na na na, stick your head in doodoo.

You can find this story from the following two links. Please read and enjoy, and always remember…Qwest - The spirit of service…and the best Internet available.

FCC Chief Says Comcast Violated Internet Rules

FCC chief hopes Comcast sanction serves as warning

Just for grins, here is another story about the FCC gut check to Comcast.

FCC - Have a Comcastic day

UPDATE: TorrentFreak.com - Comcast Uses Hacker Techniques

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21. July 2008 by Myke.

So I had a scheduled pick-up time of 8AM to 10AM today and to my surprise, :-), they never showed up. I even called and they said, no problem sir he is going to be there before 10AM. Well, since he never showed up I decided to go drop off the hunk of junk modem to them personally. I get there and walk right up and turn it over to the lady behind the counter. She was so wonderful she wanted to know why I was returning it. I explained that even working with their technicians they could not explain why the speed was cut by 70% over the last 3 to 5 months. Then she proceeds to tell me…”I see in the notes of your account that the last tech who worked with you explained that your PC’s were the issue. Did you get that resolved? Because that might help to get new PC’s to handle the 6MB Internet.”..Please hold your laughter in folks. I kid you not, she said that word for word. I did not yell at her and I did not blow a head gasket in their office. I told her that with 15 years in the computer industry I think I would know if my PC could handle 6MB Internet or not. I also explained that since moving to Qwest DSL 12MB I have seen speeds that are pushing over 12MB for downloads and 900K uploads. I told her to just return the damn modem so I could leave.

Dear Comcast: The worst mistake you can make is to blame the customer for your wrong doing. I know that the FCC will have you head soon enough. I am not too worried as I have a real ISP now and everything is wonderful. I can speak on my behalf and 19 others in the last 1 month that have switched from Comcast over to Qwest because of my stories and others just like it. If you want to earn business then do as you claim and stop blaming the customer. If you decide to e-mail me again about talking to me so you can get to the bottom of the issue…don’t. I will post every single email you send me so the world can see how dumb you really are.

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21. July 2008 by Myke.

Due to come questions about my personal experience with Comcast and what issues I was seeing and why I switched over to Qwest, I decided that maybe a follow-up post to the first “Comcast - You are not my keeper”.

I started to read deeper into this issue and maybe lend a helping hand where it is needed. Comcast has come out said, “Comcast does not block access to any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services like BitTorrent.” and a little more side stepping “We have a responsibility to provide all of our customers with a good Internet experience and we use the latest technologies to manage our network so that they can continue to enjoy these applications.”

I personally tested their service and from my conclusion I saw a huge difference in speeds from Comcast and Qwest. I hooked up a PC directly to the Comcast modem and sure enough every single P2P or FTP file I would upload would average 100 to 200kbit. My actual download speeds on my 6MB line were averaging 1.2MB to 3.4MB. I was used to seeing an average of about 5MB to 6MB pretty much every day all day long. So when I tested the Qwest line my upload speeds were averaging 768kbit to 950kbit and my downloads were averaging 10.5MB to 12MB. Um, Comcast that looks pretty bad for you.

So I started to read the Internet and see what else was being said and what issues people were seeing. Here is a few links that really hit home.

http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-throttles-bittorrent-traffic-seeding-impossible/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13739_3-9769645-46.html

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/10/comcast-traff-1.html

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/comcast_filtering_for_profit_a_three_phase_plan_to_right_size_consumer_bandwidth

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080108/151810.shtml

http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/14548/comcast-filtering-file-sharing-traffic

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/comcast-were-delaying-not-blocking-bittorrent-traffic/

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/01/09/att-to-filter-intern.html

I know my Blog is not all that or that large…yet. But after spending about 4 hours reading on-line I came to the conclusion that maybe I am right and Comcast is in fact wrong. You know you are doing wrong and once the truth comes out, you will have to eat some serious crow. “The truth shall set you free!”

I then noticed a very good friend of mine (http://travis.sarbin.net/) was going through the same damn thing and he also received a message from Comcast themselves. Basically from what I read, you are just trying to play PR to tech world. Guess what, we only have one thing for you to do Comcast. Please read the following statement out loud for all to hear.

I AM SOFA KING

WE TODD DID!

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21. July 2008 by Myke.

So Comcast has started this whole “bandwidth restriction” which in fact is a way to play big brother and stop all P2P, FTP and various downloads from sucking up the bandwidth. I mean seriously, is the RIAA paying you to Big Brother and report on people who use too much Internet?!? Basically they are taking away the ability to use high speed Internet and putting us back to the old 1.5MB Internet. Okay, so 1.5 is still nice but dammit, I wants what I pays for and that is a 6MB Cable Modem line. Why is it that in the US, we have the most expensive Internet and the slowest Internet??? Well Comcast, you just lost yet another customer. I called QWest and will have my new 12MB line with a dedicated IP address installed this coming Monday. Oh yeah, and for the same price as Comcast was already charging me. I really hope the RIAA can pay for your lost customers. DE-DE-DE

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