For those of you wondering, yes, PlateWire is down, has been down for over 15 hours at last count. Why is PlateWire down you ask? Thanks to the great folks @ 1 and 1 (Note: Sarcasm). Since January I have experienced numerous outages with the server where PlateWire lives and everytime 1 & 1 claims its this or the other, most often blaming me. Turns out they have faulty network hardware and don't care much for honoring their 99.99% uptime clause in their contract.

Please, if you are looking for a hosting provider, dedicated server, virtual server, web hosting, whatever, please DO NOT even consider 1 and 1 unless you enjoying getting jerked around by incompetent, inempt individuals who could give a damn that your livelyhood is going down the tubes.

Apparently I am not the only person that has been affected by their incompetence, Dmitri from San Fran launched 1and1Sucks.info which delves deep into issues with this joke of a company.

On a lighter note:

Yes, It has been a while since I've updated my blog, but have setup a plan to update more frequently. I plan to publish some technical articles, especially focusing on Microsoft Silverlight, a wonderful new product that in my opinion will revolutionize web development as we know it. I'll also be delving into LINQ and all of the neat new features of Orcas.

 

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It's been a long time since I felt like myself, my health has improved greatly over the last week due primarily to "The Gentleman Physician" from eHealth Wealth. His knowledge and treatment have vastly helped me to regain my strength and well being!

I took the time this weekend to spend with my family; we're in the process of looking for a safer, more enviromentally sound home. I think we've found a cozy townhouse which we all agree on. It's somewhat less room than we currently have, but also cheaper and much newer. It's also not on well water, which is a relief to all of us. The bathroom actually has a jacuzzi style tub, which my wife has always wanted.

I want to send thanks out to each and everyone of you that included us in your prayers and thoughts, my family sends a warm hug to all of you!

"You talking to me?" - London

"I'm too cool!" - Alena

"I just lost my first tooth!" - Aya

"No, We are not sisters!" Alena and Mommy

"Time to find us a new home!" - Dad

Last year I decided to upgrade my laptop (An Averatec with a 15" screen), for something more lightweight. I had seen several ultra portables which made me drool! After some research and bargain shopping, I came across a nice unit, the HP Compaq NC4010 (CNET's Review). One of the selling points of the unit, was that it came "Windows Vista Ready". I was certain I would be making the move to the new operating system as soon as it launched, so I figured I may as well purchase a notebook which will be ready for the future. This option actually overweighed the short battery life (I purchased an extra battery, which doesn't affect its portability much).

Well, after much waiting, Vista finally arrived. I eargely loaded the OS unto my trusty nc4010, only to find that the video drivers were not found, all that was listed in Device Manager was a Standard VGA Adapter! What the truck? After scouring HP's Support web site I was unable to find Vista drivers. After several calls to HP's support center and hours wasted on hold, I've been told that HP does not support Windows Vista on the NC4010!!!

Excuse me? So this "Windows Vista Ready" sticker on the machine and the packaging means absolutely what? It was my impression that false advertising was considered a crime in the United States? Well, I guess from HP's executive actions, crime is not a concern. Well, I guess it's back to XP for now, 800 X 600 at 8 Bit just doesn't do Vista justice.

 

So I'm playing around with yet another video social networking site Stickam. I do like the live video chat and IMHO it has promise, although there are still quite a few bugs to work out.

Here is a quick video I uploaded for testing, it's just me playing some guitar and improvising, so please don't be too harsh

So, the time is here, America's political history is about to change dramatically; historic events are about to unfold before our very eyes, I for one am excited. I intend to research each canditates' position thouroughly and choose the individual who I feel will make more positive impacts in our country's future.

Tonight I plan to participate in Hillary's Web Cast
(http://www.hillaryclinton.com/action/conversation/conversation.aspx?sc=8)
which is a good use of technology, hence the question that I pose:

My question to Hillary is two-fold: What is your opinion of the growing trend of web sites that are forming communities of online citizens who are aligned towards similar goals in regards to social reforms?
What is your technology stance; how do you feel technology will shape and color your campaign and possible term in office?

UPDATE: Jan. 16th 2007

They seemed to have corrected their error, so I would not recommend entering email addresses in as they are probably selling them, slimy bastards!

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So I came across this ad for National Lampoon (Spy Cam (NSFW) it looked like a scene out of one the movies), in order to continue, it asks for an email address, as usual, I am not one to use my real email address, so I just pulled a name of thin air and attached '@aol.com' to it. Lo and behold, the next screen I was an address input screen, already filled in!

I could not believe this! This had to be a fluke!

No, after several very common first names, each and every on returned a real persons first and last name, their full address, phone number, and sometimes their date of birth! I quickly skimmed through my contacts searching for AOL addresses, each and every one returned correct information!

Now at first I thought this might just be AOL email addresses, but then I found that it did return information on emails from other domains, like Hotmail, Mac, etc. More than 60% of the valid email addresses I used brought back VALID information on individuals, including myself!

This is a prime example of irresponsible handling of data. Who is responsible for this?

This is what a quick WHOIS of the domain name returned:

  Funny Free Clips
   Customer Service (pr@companywebmaster.net)
   954-337-9221
   Fax:
   13900 Jog Road Suite 203-251
   Delray Beach, FL 33446
   US

I've contacted "Customer Service" in regards to removing my personal information, I recommend you check to see if any of your email addresses show up as well.