internet Archive

Back in November 2007, we wrote about a free WiFi service provided by CBS in Times Square. I am not sure if the program is still continuing as I haven’t had a need recently to use WiFi in Times Square. Today I have a couple of new ways to get free WiFi in NYC.

This first option is actually available nationwide. If you have an iPhone and download the new Starbucks mobile application, you can use the WiFI service at Starbucks for free for up to two hours each day. Apparently the mobile app can also be used to pay for coffee as well.

The second option is available in Midtown from the Sheraton NY Hotel and Towers which is located on 49th street and 7th avenue. The hotel has been upgraded as a Link@Sheraton  which includes a Microsoft-equipped lobby. The Link includes free WiFi for guests and locals. Gloria Sin at NY Convergence has more on the Link opening.

The Link includes computers running Windows 7, Silverlight-powered web cams and televisions. There has been a lot of chatter about Windows 7 “parties” for the launch while I like this Link concept better. Sheraton hopes that WiFi users will pay for drinks and food along with the goal of drawing in more hotel guests.

Back in 2006, I stayed in a hotel in Munich that offered daily Internet access for $79. I took a photo of the information card but can’t seem to locate the photo. I declined the service and used the $10/hr Internet cafe down the block.

It seems today hotel Internet is either free or ranges in price from $10-17/day. Over the past month I’ve stayed in four hotels, two offered free Internet and two charged (one at $14.95/day – the other at $12.95/day).

I had to speak with tech support at each location – at one hotel the connection died, at two others the SMTP (mail) server wouldn’t allow me to send email and at the last the WiFi connection didn’t connect. The support was actually the same company for all four locations (in different cities) and the support personnel noted they were either in Manilla  or Montreal. It was pretty shocking to me that the operator had mail service turned off when the only way to get on the network was to pay using your name and room number combination.

It’s always interesting how the “family” hotels offer free access while the “business” hotels charge. I guess that goes to the idea that people staying in the business hotels have an expense account to charge and won’t moan or bitch.

At the brand new hotel I stayed at in SF, the $15/day got me a very fast connection while the free connection at another hotel was also fast enough to be acceptable. The other two connections (free and $13/day) were piss slow and even basic surfing was nearly impossible for the majority of the stay. The new hotel forced a toolbar and no matter what I did, it kept popping up every other minute.

With all of that said, I am curious to hear thoughts on the following questions:
Continue reading “What Should We Expect With Hotel Internet Connections?” »

I nearly lost my lunch when I saw the chart below. It’s a comparison chart between Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), Firefox and Chrome. I should note that I am an IE user – I run different things in IE and Firefox.

Microsoft took an internal comparison look at the following categories: security, privacy, ease of use, web standards, developer tools, reliability, customizability, compatibility, manageability and performance.

I am using IE7 so I can’t comment on how good or bad IE8 is but it’s a bit odd that a company would show a chart that makes their browser look amazingly better than the competition. IE8 wins or ties in every category and some of the comments seem like an agency was involved. Here are a couple of examples, “Of course Internet Explorer 8 wins this one”  and “Neither Firefox nor Chrome provide guidance or enterprise tools. That’s just not nice.” Is there really not one area that Firefox or Chrome is better than IE8? (I have no idea so someone educate me plz)

My advice to Microsoft is to just sell us on why IE8 is great – don’t worry about comparisons – we will take care of those as users.

It looks like Microsoft is trying to come across as cutsie but it just didn’t work for me. Did it work for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Continue reading “Microsoft IE8 Comparison Chart – “Of course Internet Explorer 8 wins this one”” »

Back in January, cable television and Internet service provider RCN announced that they were closing their portal website. Last week I was notified by mail about a price increase to my account. Please note that this is at least the 2nd price increase in a year and I actually think it’s the third.

Here’s the email they just sent me to confirm I know about the price change:

To ensure we are providing you with the most up-to-date products and services at a competitive rate, we are implementing changes to your RCN account. We are adjusting your current package and will provide you with a new plan. You will see this change in either your May or June bill depending on your regular billing date. Your new plan will offer the same high level of service, plus a redesigned, easier-to-read bill. By updating our packages, RCN will be able to simplify your services and make sure you receive enhanced customer care. Your current and new monthly charges are listed below for your convenience. Your new monthly charges reflect a 12 month promotional discount.

We’re constantly striving to bring you the best in cable, Internet and phone. We thank you for being an RCN customer and hope that you’ll enjoy our growing array of services. RCN Customer Service is available at (866) 540-1575 between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM EST.

When I read the postcard I laughed as it appeared that they were trying to justify a 10% increase by saying that we will have a better “easier-to-read” bill. I already pay $18.00 monthly for a dvr which is absolutely pathetic. It’s amazing how the cable providers continue to get away with highway robbery on their prices and I fear it will only get worse as people move more of their viewing needs to the web and also want faster connections.

I wonder what “enhanced customer care” means – once the change goes into effect I will need to call customer care to experience the enhanced opportunity.

BTW, the “new package” actually has less channels and less offerings – so not only are they charging me more, they are taking away some of the channels.

I wonder how many executives had to come up with this spin on why they are raising rates.

Cable Internet provider RCN has announced that on February 24, 2009, they will close their portal site. After this date the rcn.net site will redirect to their payment and information site. Their email to customers noted, "We’re stepping away from providing a destination for world news and entertainment in order to focus on what you really need to easily manage your RCN account. True, you’ll have to look elsewhere for the latest Britney Spears news, but you’ll be the first to know about new customer offers and promotions and upcoming TV programming events."

It’s interesting that they didn’t offer any options for other portal/start page sites to use. While Internet geeks probably aren’t using the RCN page as their start page, the average RCN customer probably is. They could have worked a deal with one of the new startpage providers or even a larger provider like MyYahoo.

Akamai is out today with their third quarter 2008 "State of the Internet" report. The report is well worth a read as it covers a variety of topics including: security, connection speeds, geography, network access, and Internet penetration. Some of the interesting stats include:

• Akamai observed attack traffic originating from 179 unique countries around the world, up nearly 30% from the second quarter count of 139 countries. China ranked first with the U.S. right behind in second.
• In the third quarter of 2008, nearly 380 million unique IP addresses connected to the Akamai network – almost ten percent more than in the second quarter.
• Delaware has the highest fast Internet connectivity with 97% over 2 Mbps. Washington D.C and Washington State had the highest level of slow Internet connections (less than 256k) at 12% each.

Here are a couple of the charts from the report.

High Broadband Connectivity: Fastest International Countries

South Korea remains in the lead but drops from 64% to 58% of connections to Akamai occurring at over 5 Mbps. South Korea is down 10% in over 5 Mbps connections this year. Japan ranked second and the U.S. drops two slots to eighth.

Slowest International Countries

For those countries on some form of broadband, here are the countries with the slowest (less than 256k) connections. Mayotte moved into first place while former leader Rwanda dropped to sixth. The U.S. comes in just over 5.8% (down from 8% of all connections at this speed – my mother is one of those 5.8% as she is still on a 56k modem.

comScore has released new stats for European Internet usage based on their World Metrix audience measurement service today. The report shows that Russia is leading Europe in Internet audience growth followed by France, Spain and Ireland. Russia’s Internet audience grew 27% from June 2007-June 2008.

As for Internet penetration in Europe, The Netherlands leads with 82% of the total population online. The Netherlands is followed by Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Switzerland. Based on what I am seeing, Switzerland appears to be pushing out the most new startups out of the top 5 European Internet penetration countries.