Most reliable, my ass.

You know what pisses me off? Not one, two years ago, wireless phone companies were realistic about the chances of their networks surviving major disasters. They warned people that wireless phones were not to be relied on in times of catastrophe, and that a “plan b” point of contact should always be set up in advance if possible.

Nowadays, not much has changed as far as survivability (that’s just inevitable), but the marketing message certainly doesn’t make it seem that way. Wireless operators now want people to believe that their disaster plans can hinge on reliable communications even in times of crisis. If the voice networks go out, oh, we can rely on text messaging to get our messages through. They even provide nice little news graphics that instill confidence, yet have no bearing in the reality of the situation, whatsoever. In fact, one carrier has had their nationwide SMS operation thrown into chaos as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

The wireless carriers need to stay realistic, and keep the public in the real as well. And our fine American Media outlets need to stop buying into this bollocks as well. People got along just fine without cell phones before, and they should NOT change past tried and true disaster survivability plans just because the cell phone companies say you can keep in touch now. No communications network built by humans yet is inpenetrable.

Note: To be fair, the photo above was obtained by attempting to send a text message to a friend in Louisiana whose home was in the path of the storm. That person is a Cingular subscriber, so I am NOT certain how Verizon’s network in Louisiana fared (Cingular, however, appears to be a total wash out). The fact that as of this writing, not a single press release appears from Verizon Wireless reporting on their network status is a bit disconcerting though. I can only assume that either absolutely nothing happened to their network that was worth mentioning at all, or it’s a total loss.

Hurricane Katrina has caused vast, expensive and lasting devastation in its wake, and with that, one of the biggest real-life media dramas in US history. Clearly, this kind of drama also produces lots and lots of ratings and web clicks for various news agencies that clamor to provide exclusive coverage.

The result? Long hours for reporters and meteorologists who must stay at their desks for extended periods, reporting, re-reporting and even re-re-reporting as new developments unfold. And sometimes, tempers flare on the air as a result:

Media: CNN Weatherman freaks out, 2.38MB MPG file.

Apparently seeking to stem the possibilities of death by gaming, the Chinese government is mandating that hard time limits be imposed on online activity, setting a firm restriction of three to five hours of consecutive play, and a required reak period of at least 5 hours before the gamer can resume:

The new system will impose penalties on players who spend more than three hours playing a game by reducing the abilities of their characters.

Gamers who spend more than five hours will have the abilities of their in-game character severely limited.

Depending on how you look at it, this kind of regulation makes sense. Of course in most western countries, ruining one’s life through obsessive game play is recognized as a person’s God-given right, so we probably won’t see something like this ever in the ‘States.

Think spam is harmless? Think again.

Meet Chris Julian. Or rather, don’t. Because you see, he’s missing, after calling a friend and saying he was being chased by mysterious people, with dogs.

According to Southern California media accounts, Julian, 48, whose real name is Christian Julian Irwin, vanished Sunday after calling a friend via cell phone to say he was being chased down a ravine near his home by pursuers who were out to kill him. The call was made at 3:45 a.m. and no one has heard from Irwin since. One of the few clues that police have is a pair of the missing man’s glasses, “found halfway down the hill behind his house, where it is believed that they fell as he ran,

I hate spam.

Yeah, I know, the above comment is a lot like saying “I breathe air.” But I really do. Not only because it’s well, spam, and it is the epitome of everything that is wrong with humankind (greed, stupidity, arrogance, etc.), but also that because of spam, millions of lines of extra code has to be written into e-mail relay servers, web site comment forms, SMS gateways, and even blogs just like this one, to prevent a wash of useless text from Ephedrine and Viagra-mongering morons, who by the way, think that you really really need to check out their online poker site. Long ago, this site was undefended against such spam, and my “lilo must DIE” diatribe on the matter became site history.
Read the rest of this entry »