Bell pwns ISPs

Last week Bell started to throttle all traffic on their network, including wholesale traffic sold to independent ISPs. This means TekSavvy is screwed. I used to think there were laws that prevented this from happening, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Having open networks encourages competition, which is good for the consumer. It also encourages faster adoption of technology, and in Ontario's case, I think it's worked quite well. I don't have any numbers to back up this claim, but I think Southern Ontario is very highly connected, because of availability and price. Even talking to my sister, who says very few people in NYC have personal connections, even though it is widely available there becauce of the population density. She says most people use text messaging, instead of IM, because of convenience and price, whereas it is opposite here.

Now I can only hope for the CRTC to change the rules, and that will take a long time and might not happen because of government lobbying. Honestly, I think Bell can create a market for this, because there is demand. I wonder if they considered charging even more for bandwidth during peak times. This would be sold through 3rd party ISPs who could provide it to customers who desired this. The pricing would have to be high enough so that Bell would have enough money so that they could reinvest this money into their networks to grow it and handle the extra demand. And for me personally, I don't mind paying higher prices for unrestricted bandwidth. I'm not even against paying higher prices for broadband to compensate artists, much like how blank CD's are taxed.

Anyway, I also wanted to comment on how much I like Ars Technica. Pandemic recommended it to me, way back, when it was a much smaller site, so props to him. In the mean time, Ars must have gotten funding from somewhere, because now the site is vastly improved. Better, because the quality of writing has remained high while adding breadth in coverage and intelligent analysis. They don't just report the news, but also provide analysis, which makes them the undisputed first place to get my tech news. Recently, I've grown to dislike Slashdot more, because of the increasingly lower signal to noise ratio, the lack of quality analysis and the heavy bias.

In conclusion, I want network neutrality and if that ever happens, I'll hear about it from Ars Technica first.

Comments

Comments are the currency of the Internet. That and page views. But for me, comments are much more important. I use it partly as a way for people to keep up with what's going on with me. Facebook also serves a similar purpose, but I think in a different manner (photos and status). Your commenting justifies my effort spent writing. I appreciate it. Even something like saying hello can make my day.

Anyway, I was nice to see people comment on my Super Mario Galaxy Review. The most surprising was that 4 girls commented and no guys! I guess Mario really has universal appeal.

But my dilemma is whether it's better for people to comment in my Facebook notes or on my actual blog. When people comment in Facebook there is the social networking aspect of it, where other people can easily see the comments and are exposed to it through the News Feed. There is also the potential to tag others in the notes, but I don't make use of this feature. On the other hand, if it's on my blog, it's for me to keep, since I have more control over my blog when compared to Facebook. If Facebook were to become unpopular, those Facebook comments will be gone. I think I slightly prefer comments on the blog itself, but it's close. Thoughts?

I Blame Kevin

I got a hit from the US Customs department. I blame Kevin, because he posted about the VT shootings..

BiteMe

I have a second blog! Andrea and I started a photoblog called BiteMe and its theme is food. To quote the site, "BiteMe is a daily photoblog of the food in our lives. No restaurant reviews, no recipes, no fancy photography, just pictures of food." Read more about it here.

If you have gone out to eat with me, you know that I have this annoying habit of taking pictures of food. Why do I do this? I think it's because I really enjoy eating and want something to remember the meals I've had. But now I have another purpose - to share the pics on BiteMe. You might see food that've I've eaten with you at restaurants, fastfood, homemade meals from mom, food that I've made myself or even food that you've gifted to me. There'll be a new photo everyday, so check it out before lunch or dinner to "get in the mood". BTW, that's a quote from Kevin, who helps to host BiteMe and contributes to his own high quality photography blog. Thanks Kev!

If you're interested, add us to your RSS feed here. Enjoy!