Jasper Jones

Sorry I don’t have much sympathy for Comcast when they are whining about some of their internet subscribers using large amounts of bandwidth. This company is huge and is already making an obscene profit, and they have created a huge dependency on their services for millions of users all across the country. And they are charging a pretty penny for this service already.

Today I read in the newspaper that Comcast has announced they are going to limit usage to 250 gigabytes of traffic per month. Now, that sounds like a lot of traffic but I honestly have absolutely no idea how much “traffic” I use and it really torks me to think that I have to start watching and budgeting my internet usage. I want an “all you can eat” type of service and I really don’t see why it’s a problem for Comcast.

None of the other internet service providers are whining about this. And it concerns me that if Comcast puts this policy into effect that the other providers will follow along. It seems like a ploy to charge some people or companies more money and I don’t like it. It’s technology moving backwards and corporate greed.

With the advances in technology you would think that services would be getting cheaper and that the whole country could eventually have free access to the internet. Maybe the government should take over the internet service providers and change things from corporate profitablility to a free public service. I think everyone should have the right to get online just like TV and radio is free and our public libraries are free, and not everyone can afford the $50 - $100 per month being charged by the private companies. What is the breaking point for being able to afford having internet access at home? Why should we have to pay anything? Take the profit motive out of the picture and make it a public utility or public service just like the schools and libraries are free to all citizens.

Found an interesting web site called, “Web Hosting Geeks,” that rates the top web hosts and has even given some of them awards for different categories, such as “Best Budget Hosting” and “Best Ecommerce Hosting.” I think there are about a dozen award categories. I think that’s an interesting way to put the different web hosting companies into the spotlight.

The site has independent reviews of the different top web hosting sites which are all under $10 per month and have a variety of features and options. I used the list to compare my web host against their top picks, and I was surprised to see that mine is #2 on their ratings list.

I think being #2 is probably good enough for my needs, but it raised my curiousity about what might make the other site rated #1 better than the one I have and I wonder if I should switch to the #1 site? Right now, their #1 choice is a company called “Inmotion” and they have 27 user reviews that I read through to find out what the users have to say.

I haven’t had any problems with the hosting site that I use, but my needs are pretty basic. I suspect that if I wanted to start doing more advanced things with my site, like E-commerce and using shopping cart technology, that I will have to upgrade my server to one with more features and really good support. My idea of good support is access to a live person 24/7. My current hosting company uses emails to provide support. Thank goodness I haven’t had any serious issues yet and haven’t had a need for immediate support. I’ve only noticed a few times when my site was slow to load and once it was down for about 5 minutes. But so far it’s met my needs.

If you are thinking about changing your web hosting company, this rating and review site might be helpful to you, too.

After class this afternoon I headed to the hospital for my second interview. This time I met with the doctor in charge of the Emergency Room. I think I got about 6 minutes of face time with him. He’s very busy and very stressed and very distracted. Although technically he would be the boss, I would report directly to an administrator and he would be the one who handles serious issues. I don’t plan on having any serious issues, but I respected the way he wants to meet each prospect and have a say in the people who work under him in the ER.

The HR Manager says that I can start next week and gave me an example of a work shift schedule to make sure I can work my shifts around my class schedule. All my classes are early in the mornings so there’s no conflict with second and third shift work. All I have to worry about is making time for homework, a couple of labs, and enough sleep. A little party time, too.

So far it all looks good and I’m ready to jump in.

Went to the hospital today to fill out an application and see if I can get a part time job there. The position I applied for is registering people who come into the emergency room. It’s mostly data entry from interviewing people or their relatives to get the vital information and insurance verification. They have a second shift and third shift available, and I’m hoping to get the second shift spot. I interviewed with their Human Resources Manager when I turned in the application and I think ti went really well. She wants me to come back next week and do a second interview with the guy in charge of the ER.

She also told me about a website that a company called Development Dimensions International (DDI) is hosting that has a survey about job interviews. She said that anyone who has gone on a job interview within the past year is eligible to participate in the online survey and that everyone who completes the survey is entered into a drawing for a free Apple ipod. I thought that was pretty cool that she would mention that to me.

So I checked that out and the survey is easy to do and I’d really like to win that ipod. Click here to take the survey. I even had my roommate, Alex, go with me on the interview and now he’s taking the survey, too.

The Mapco near me where I buy gas has a great convenience store with a large deli section. I try to avoid buying the prepared foods there, as they aren’t all that healthy and they are very expensive, but the place is great for a cup of good, inexpensive coffee. They have a frequent buyer club card that they’ll punch for you so that every 10th cup of coffee is free, and they have a refill program that if you buy their mug or insulated cup with their logo all over it you can get the coffee refill for half price as a reward for dragging their logo around town.

I like the fact that they promise a fresh pot of coffee made every 30 minutes. They keep the coffee in carafes just like I would at home. They don’t put them in those vacuum pots like the other c-stores. So when you come into the store the aroma of fresh coffee wraps itself around you like a morning hug.

This store has an entire coffee fixin’s bar off to the side of the cashier. You can pick from a dozen different flavored creamers to add to the coffee and a variety of different types of sweeteners. And for people who want the flavor without the creamer, they have a lazy susan with squirt bottles of all the popular flavors, like french vanilla, hazelnut and caramel.

I’m starting to consider this place my little hangout. I can sit around here sipping coffee for under a buck instead of the Starbucks place down the street that charges me $5.