Comcast annual Xmas gift

Dan Cottler · 2004-11-28T21:00:23+00:00

Here we are, just after Thanksgiving... And Comcast has started its annual Xmas screw job!On the plate this year we have:1. Netnews is shutting down. The Ex-ATTBI customers, who have been enjoying virtually unlimited USENET access, will be transitioned to Comcast's crappy dealio with Giganews.2. To soften the blow, Comcast is granting us a boon - they're increasing everyone's Giganews service from 1 GB/month to 2 GB. And now it won't include headers. Of course, that's still only 2/30 of what we had under @Home. And it's Giganews' short gigs.3. Comcast is beginning to roll out 5.9% price increases.It's the Comcast way - less service for more $.Happy Xmas!- Dan.

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Dave C. 21 years ago

Yeah, I did it a long time ago. The actual details are a little fuzzy, but I seem to remember . . .

I had to call earthlink to activate my accounts (e-mail, etc.) on the Earthlink end.

Then I was given a special number to call to talk to Comcast. That is, not the regular Comcast number but a Comcast number that was only for Earthlink members to call. During that call, I was told to activate my web browser (remember, I still had the comcast cable modem) and direct it to a certain url. I hit a few links, and it asks me if I want to activate Earthlink service or some such. (yes) Then the modem was re-provisioned, and I started getting billed by Comcast for "earthlink" service. Done. -Dave

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Warren 21 years ago

People hear what they want to hear. And if they're looking for someone to blame, they'll twist-around anything to make it appear that they've found someone to blame. I'm sure SBC did not tell him he couldn't use a firewall, but I'm also sure that something they told him he interpreted to mean that.

And yeah, you gotta wonder just what's going through the mind of someone who responds to a simply virus by deleting the OS. And lack of firewall or anti-virus software notwithstanding, it's still fairly rare for someone to get a virus without doing something stupid (whether because they're stupid, or just accidentally).

That's why I've come to hate the company/product opinion sites. The negative opinions seldom are very helpful. Far too many of them are some guy going off the deep end, ready to blame the company in question for everything up to, and including unrest in the Mid-East. Truly constructive criticism, good or bad, is usually missing.

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Read below before mailing 21 years ago

Yes, but before you take the plunge, take a look at this:

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If you see a 'X' in my address, please remove it before e-mailing me. Do not add me to any MicroSoft address book; let's stop the viruses. Do not send me unsolicited mail. I track and report spammers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The FAQ files v1.21 for the Tropez, and v1.01 for the TBS-2001 sound boards can be obtained from:

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Never anonymous Bud 21 years ago

Trying to steal the thunder from Arnold, "Read below before mailing" on Mon, 10 Jan 2005 22:44:25 GMT spoke:

While I'm NO fan of SBC, for phone or internet, you have to take THAT story with a grain of salt...

:That night, I connected via dial-up to read some urgent e-mails that :had been piling up. Within 5 minutes of being connected, my PC was :infected with the "Wellchia" virus, and connectivity ground to a halt :while the virus took up all bandwidth. Delete OS, restore from back up, :one night wasted. Strike two.

A) WHOSE fault is it he wasn't using an anti-virus program and firewall??

B) WHY did he need to strip his OS and reinstall for a SIMPLE virus??

:they insisted that they would not allow (much less support) having a router :between my PC and the DSL modem. This is coming from a network that infected :my PC with a virus within 5 minutes of my original connection; they don't :want me to use a firewall.

I know a number of people on SBC DSL, most use routers. They KNOW they need to remove the router before contacting tech support, JUST so that's NOT a factor in any way.

SBC did NOT tell him he couldn't use a firewall.

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Read below before mailing 21 years ago

I've answered to this on my follow up to Bud.

Restoring the OS to its state in a former point in time is a recovery technique that "goes on" in the mind of advanced users who have heard of Roxio "GoBack", Windows XP, or other more sophisticated system administration tools

And it takes a lot of naivete (or stupidity) to assume a Windows system cannot be infected by a net-borne virus or worm, just because there is no user actively surfing the InterNet or executing programs. If you know enough about the RPC weakness that existed in all NT 4.0 and 5.x before the latest critical updates, you would also know how viruses exploit this and infect systems just by their being connected to the InterNet.

If you're not calling me stupid, I am not calling you that either. We are all speaking in general terms.

If you see a 'X' in my address, please remove it before e-mailing me. Do not add me to any MicroSoft address book; let's stop the viruses. Do not send me unsolicited mail. I track and report spammers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The FAQ files v1.21 for the Tropez, and v1.01 for the TBS-2001 sound boards can be obtained from:

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