Archive for category computers

keep track of security!!!

Besides running a good anti-virus and anti-spyware/malware program(s), it’s also good to keep up to date on the latest security vulnerabilities and recommended patches.

I highly recommend the vulnerabilities database at SecurityFocus — http://www.securityfocus.com/vulnerabilities

It’s become even more important to me lately as I’ve helped both clients and customers with hacks to their WordPress or Joomla sites.

I highly recommend BugTraq also — but either subscribe to the daily digest or you might want to archive it to a 3rd party email storage account such as Gmail — because it can easily be a hundred or more emails per day.  BugTraq is the oldest security reports and discussion list on the net.  Very cool!

-Roger

P.S. Many software packages have their own security announcements email list or RSS feed — you definitely need to subscribe if you’re using their software!!!  For example, check out Joomla Security Announcements.

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Broadweave vs. Comcast pricing

Here are my initial thoughts after comparing the ease of finding prices on Comcast.com vs. Broadweave.com:

Comcast.com Broadweave.com
ease of finding standard prices(prices before any discounts!): pretty darn frustrating — all they’ll tell me is what the promotional price is and not what it gets increased to after 6 months or 12 months!!! ease of finding standard prices(prices before any discounts!): it takes 3 clicks to get to their Standard Offerings price list. These are their regular prices BEFORE discounts. No gimmicks! And they don’t require me to enter my personal information before showing me the prices like Comcast hassles me to do.
Internet only; up to 16 mbps download speed = $74.99NOTE, i couldn’t find this price on their website, i had to contact one of their employees to get it — it took me about 15 minutes waiting before i got through to someone that would give me a straight answer on it — they first wanted to tell me the promotional price. Internet only; up to 15 mbps download speed = $44.99*
Dedicated line from home to the “head-end”? NO, only partway, can you say “bogus!” when everybody in your neighborhood uses Comcast at the same time in the evenings!! :( *Dedicated line from home to the “head-end”? YES!

This means that Broadweave’s 15 is definitely faster than Comcast’s 16!  A very important distinction! :)


So you get faster Internet than Comcast for about $30 less! Awesome! Sign me up yo! :)

Check back later for more comparison/contrasts. Some of the contrasts are very striking. Fiber optics is the way to go!
Give me a call at 801-356-1032 if you have any questions.

NOTE: I am not a direct employee of Broadweave. I am one of their direct sales contractors. I am also a consumer advocate and have been involved in some local whistle blower situations that you
can search web/newspaper archives for. In other words, I don’t tolerate anything less than the full truth — I cut through the nonsense gimmicky kind of stuff that too many corporate sales people do and give you the bottom line up front. I can give you an estimate of the all little municipal, state, and federal taxes that get added to your bill too.
Feel free to ask me a question here too. :)
Thanks!

Roger Brown

UPDATE: Feb 5, 2010

I no longer work for Broadweave since the merger with Veracity but I still believe they are the best in town. Most of the people in my neighborhood (South Provost, Deer Haven) have Comcast and since it’s shared amongst the neighborhood then sometimes it really drags.   My current landlord wants to stay with Comcast though because he gets a military discount that is pretty sweet.  Can’t wait to move to a place that has Veracity Networks!

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shopping for computer equipment?

Here are two of my very favorite sites for finding out prices and reviews when I’m shopping for a new computer or computer equipment/accessories:

#1 — PriceScan — awesome site! I’ve been using it since about 1997:
http://pricescan.com/computer-hardware-software-supplies.html

#2 — CNET Reviews — another awesome site:
http://reviews.cnet.com

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