ISP High Speed VS Good Customer Service What is More Important?

Internet Service providers are interesting.  In some areas there will be dozens of providers of high speed internet in others there will be next to none.  Growing up in a rural area we got cable internet when I was about 13 years old.  In those early days we had @home service through AT&T.  After a while @home went away and then ever since we have had Comcast internet service.  The nice thing about Comcast is that generally they have a stable connection and they also are able to give you 20MBPS versus 3MBPS with Century Link in the same rural area.  While most people do not need a connection faster than 3MBPS it is sometimes nice to have especially when one likes to design websites.

In most urban areas all ISP’s have similar connection speeds and various packages available however over time I have learned that customer service makes a drastic difference when choosing an internet service or any other service for that matter.

I have one experience working with customer service for Century Link while hooking up a network for a family friend.  Their service people are quick, reliable and were able to solve the connection problems very quickly.  I don’t know what they did but in a matter of minutes all problems were resolved.  I cannot say from ongoing experience how they are however I have had lots of experience with Comcast.

Comcast is a great dilemma to me, I enjoy the fact that their internet has higher speeds however, they make it easier to discontinue service than it is to get it set up.  After my parents left for Guam it was necessary to get their internet and phone service switched over to our names.  We already had the equipment however, for some reason Comcast would not allow us to just switch the service over, instead it was necessary to call them, go in and visit their store, and even get a different phone number than the one my family had used for the past 14 years.  After visiting the store, it took two days to get service up and running because for some reason I needed to have and FCC pin which I was not able to receive online.  Through this experience I found out two things.

    1. Comcast service over the phone for creating a new connection does little good.  They say they are busy and that if you do such and such they will call you back when are available.  They never called back.

     

2. Comcast IM service works really well however, throughout the process they will feed you advertisements and try and get you to buy services you do not really want.

Despite these setbacks my recent experience has been better than my previous mentioned learning experience.  Moving to Utah, I decided to have one of their service people come and set up our internet service.  Although I had the same experience as before with the IM service trying to sell me stuff I really didn’t want (which made it take about twice as long to get through the process) it was easy set up and worked out quite well.

One the flip side as part of moving we got rid of our phone service.  To do this I called Comcast.  What is interesting is that unlike setting up a new service it is extremely easy to get rid of service.  Not only is it easy but its quick and simple.

Overall I am not a fan of Comcast customer service however; they are reminder to me of why I need to provide good customer service.  The other issue is truly deciding what is important to me meaning a fast internet connection over poor customer service.

The Children of Hurin

J.R.R. Tolkien’s greatest known work is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  While this work is know all around the world it is also probably one of my least favorite works by Tolkien.  Along with the Lord of the Rings the Hobbit and the Silmarillion Tolkien wrote many other shorter works and poems.  While most of these stories like the Children of Hurin were published after Tolkien’s death they also represent some of his greatest work.

Expanding on the story of Turin Turambar found in the Silmarillion; the Children of Hurin is the story of the adventures and misadventures of Turin. As the title suggests Turin is the son of Hurin, who was once a ruler of men in the first age of middle earth.  Hurin is captured in battle by Morgoth (for all practical purposes this is the devil of Tolkien’s fiction before Sauron) who curses Hurin and his family.

In a sense this story is very reminiscent of the tale of Oedipus Rex.  While the tale is a tragedy it is well written, and interesting.  Unlike the Lord of the Rings this tale is very fast moving and as the appendix states is probably the pinnacle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work.  This work is not as light hearted as the Hobbit however for anyone interested in classic British literature or any fans of Tolkien’s mythology this is perhaps one of his best works.

The Hobbit Part 1

The Hobbit Part 1 by Legendary Frog
 (picture is Property of Legendary Frog)

The Hobbit Part 1 is a flash short from about 5 or so years ago.  It was one of Legendary Frog’s last projects before starting Toonwerks.  The hobbit part 1 is a comedic movie that is about a Hobbit Bilbo Baggins who like other hobbits likes to smoke Pipe Weed.  It parodies the book the Hobbit very well and makes fun of its shortcomings like the fact that Golem and Bilbo play a strange game of riddles where if Golem wins he gets to eat Bilbo.  The video is worth the 10 minutes of your time it will take to watch it however it only covers half of the book and ends in the middle of Bilbo and Golem’s game of Riddles.

In a similar sense The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey covers the Journey of Bilbo Baggins about 2/3 through the book (basically up to Mirkwood) it is a well-made  movie with lots of action, humor, and follows closely to Tolkien’s original story.  Unlike most movies this movie has extra characters and parts added.  While some would find this annoying I would say that it only adds to the movie as Peter Jackson tries to make the movie not only the story of 13 dwarves and Bilbo Baggins but also a prequel to the Lord of the Rings series.  In addition to the book there is a white orc in the movie and also the character Radaghast the Brown makes a few appearances but instead of distracting from the main story the added portions make sense for the most part and add to the story line.  Overall if they were to have made the Hobbit into a one-part movie that was as good as this first part of three it would have had to have been at least a 5 hour movie so the Hobbit an Unexpected Journey as an Unexpectly good movie and is well worth your time.

Mazda 3

Shopping for a new car can be a hassle.  Dealing with Salesmen, reviews and opinions can cause quite a big hassle.  There are some good resources and everyone has an opinion about what car to buy and who to get it from.  This review isn’t about buying a car however, if I get enough requests I could write a review on that in the future.  Instead this is a review of the 2012 Mazda 3 i touring with Skyactive technology.

Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Mazda 3 is the available Skyactive technology.  There is a lot that goes into this technology however suffice it to say the car is lighter and averages about 36MPG according to its onboard dash. (See http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/skyactiv/ for more information).  The car gets this mileage using new engine technology which makes it more efficient without a hybrid engine.

While the exterior of the car is sporty what really matters the most is the interior.  The Mazda 3 comes with what seems to be a high quality cloth material.  While it may not have the greatest technology it is easy and fun to drive.  There are controls on the steering wheel for radio, and Bluetooth and space for optional navigation.  One of the biggest supposed downsides to the Mazda 3 is the legroom for the backseat.  While this may be a problem for some the car seems to offer a better interior, and more legroom in the back than the highly popular Toyota Corolla.  There is some road noise but it is not to the point of being bothersome.

While everyone has different tastes for vehicles the Mazda 3 is fun to drive, gets excellent gas mileage and is an overall great car.  If anything the one downside is that the car does not come with built a built in USB port for MP3 players (the 2013 model does have this feature though).  However I have not found this to be a problem because one can simply play music over the Bluetooth system. 

For anyone in the market for a midsized sedan I highly recommend considering the Mazda 3.  While it may not be the best car in its class according to reviews the people at Mazda took great car to create a good car that gives the competition a good run for its money.

Online Resources

This week I am going to review some resources available online.  Most of the below resources require a subscription so go to your library and check them out.  I have tried to highlight databases/ features that not many people are familiar with.  Do you have a favorite database?  Share it in the comments below.

As many people know most libraries have online databases available for use by their patrons.  However, these databases are not widely used in many cases because people don’t know what they have to offer.

For instance did you know that many library systems will allow you to download music for free?  Some libraries subscribe to a service called Freegal which allows individuals to download three songs per week for free.  Some of the artists in their selection include former American idol winners, popular groups like Train and also YouTube artists like the Piano Guys.  Not only can you use this on your computer but you can also use it on any android or ios phone.  Note that while Freegal is a new service and did have a rocky start they are growing their selection rapidly and while they don't have all the music you may like to listen to they have a lot and are worth looking into if they are available at your library.

Most individuals who went to college are in some sense familiar with EBSCO host; however one feature that most people are not familiar with is the visual search function.  Visual search is fairly new to EBSCO however it is immensely helpful in finding quality resource.  While a regular search will give you quantity visual search allows the individual to break their search down using keywords that they may have not thought of previously.

While more common in a college library another favorite database is Natural Standard.  This database has lots of pieces of information about different dietary supplements, including research information, usages, and drug facts.  While it is hard to find it in a public library I would highly recommend this website for anyone who is interested in essential oils and their effectiveness and proven by doctors and scientists.

The above databases are available only with a subscription which in many cases a library will have however, there are also many free tools available as well:

Are you looking for a book?  Do you like to read classics? Project Gutenberg has lots of classic books that are in the public domain.  The public domain is a term used to describe books where the copyright on the book has expired and so it is now available to any individual for free.  There are thousands if not millions of free books available on project Gutenberg as well as in the Google play store.

What do you get when you cross all the good parts of the Hunger Games, Inheritance Saga?

A really really good book.  The book in mind is Orson Scott Card's Pathfinder, the first book in a new series.  This is the seventh book I have read in the past couple of years by Card however, and while the writing style does have some of the juvenile humor of some of his previous series this book is drastically different than any of his previous books I have read.

Pathfinder center's around one year in the life of Rigg who is a young boy from a small community in a larger empire.  Rigg has the special ability to view the paths of animals and individuals.  Rigg's fathers last request is for him to go meet up with his sister in the empire's capital city.  With this instruction and his inheritance Rigg sets out on an adventure not only to the capital city but also through time itself.

One of the more interesting points in this novel is the time travel that happens.  instead of focusing on the problems that time Paradoxes create and many other Science Fiction time travel novels/ movies to Pathfinder embraces those to show how small or large parts of the future can be changed.  The book also embraces the idea of inherited magical abilities with all of the main characters having a unique "magical" ability.

Another likable point about this book is the introductions at the beginning of every chapter that explain the founding of the planet garden.  the adventures and mystery surrounding the colonization of garden are not only intriguing but also interesting and easy to follow.

As the introduction hints at I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Young Adult Science Fiction/ Fantasy.  Plus it is a much more interesting read than the books mentioned in the title of this review as it cuts out a lot of the unnecessary travel dialog or monologue that they have.  I give this book an overall rating of 8/10.

Windows 8

Previously I have reviewed the Release Preview version of Windows 8 however this review is for the full, actual version of the operating system, and might repeat some stuff stated in the previous review.

To make mention I will not be writing much about the security upgrades to Windows 8 they are present and useful however, they run behind the scenes and have not been visible my last week of using the OS.

To move on first I will mention that similar to early versions of windows there is a duality of Operating systems as Microsoft moves from the common desktop to their new UI there are lots of changes and lots of confusion, similar to how early versions of windows relied on MS-DOS as part of their code and in order to run many programs.

Because of this factor I am separating this review into a review of the desktop and then a review of the new UI. but first I will review some general changes.

CHANGES

If you install Windows 8 from 7 one of the first things that you will notice is how the OS does not want to use all your software that is "system built" on my Samsung laptop this means all the volume and screen brightness control software that came pre-installed had to be uninstalled.  This however, is not a problem because Windows 8 has all of this software built into its system which means better use of hardware resources.

Another noticeable improvement came while I was playing Skyrim on the new OS.  often times while playing this game on Windows 7 my laptop would get extremely hot up towards the fan vent, and while it will get warm using 8 the computer does not seem to run near as hot.

THE DESKTOP

The "Desktop is not a new idea, and has really not changed since windows 95, sure the graphics have gotten better but the overall design has stayed the same.  Windows 8 gets rid of the "Aero" graphics that bogged down windows Vista and 7 and has instead gone to a more basic layout without the 3D effects that the previous operating systems had because of this it runs using less memory.

One important thing missing from the desktop as can be seen from this picture is the presence of a start button.  Instead of using these buttons Windows 8 relies on your putting your mouse in different corners to get different effects.  This can at times be obnoxious as the OS does not seem to sense the corners immediately or if you are trying to exit out of a window and the charms bar comes up.

Other than the aesthetics and lack of start menu it would be very difficult to tell the difference between Windows 7 and 8 by looking at the desktop.

THE NEW UI (METRO OR START MENU)

The most radical change with windows 8 is the introduction of the new start menu and while the desktop and start menu work in conjunction with one another they are also very independent of each other.  In a sense newer applications will run in the start menu while older applications or apps without a new UI interface will run on the desktop.

When you first load windows 8 it will come with lots of smart tiles that will automatically update for things like news, E-mail and Calendar. for anyone who uses Microsoft applications for such things these tiles would be very handy however being that I am more Google oriented using Gmail and Google Calendar the smart tiles seemed to have little use to me so i removed them from the start menu.

Although the new UI is not perfect it does have some nice features.  for example all programs run in the it run full screen.  by moving the mouse to the upper left corner you are able to switch between applications however I see no way to close the apps while you are in them other than switching out of them and then right clicking to close them.

Skype in the new UI

Despite the minor annoyance the applications I have used look really nice and function better or the same as an application would on the desktop.  the main problem is that the Microsoft app store does not have many apps available compared to Google Play or legacy apps that will run on the desktop.

Skype on the Desktop

Just to mention on of the major annoyances to me with the start menu on the release preview was that I could not scroll across the menu using the scroll button on my mouse, however this feature has been fixed in this version. this makes the new OS manageable and sometimes even fun to use.

Another interesting point is that switching between the desktop and the start menu or visa verse is almost instantaneous.  Similar to loading a program I expected the new OS to have problems with lagging while changing the screens.

Overall after getting rid of all the junk that came pre-installed on the computer I was easily able to adapt to the new OS

CHARMS BAR

One other difference that I will mention here is the charms bar.  similar to being able to search for programs using the start bar in windows 7 the charms bar allows you to search for programs on your computer and in the windows store however you do not have to bring it up just in the start menu, by dragging to either of the right hand corners the bar will come up.

Along with allowing you the search the bar also has social media options and settings options.

As can be seen in the picture the Charms bar is simple designed however as stated above will sometimes come up when you go to close a program.

LEARNING CURVE AND IS IT WORTH IT?

Over the past couple months the press has really pointed out that there is a steep learning curve for Windows 8.  While this may be true for those who are not "computer literate" the differences in Windows 8 are easy to adapt to and the learning curve is really not as steep as they make it out to be.  the only real differences which are outlined above make sense and while some of annoying most make sense and will easily have future benefits for customers.

Until January 2013 you can buy Windows 8 pro upgrade for $40 as stated in a previous post I stated that this is a good deal especially for those with Windows Vista and XP and I still hold to this ideal however, I might also add that with the performance and security upgrades included with Windows 8 even if you are not set on the new start menu it is well worth the $40 upgrade price.  This new OS is sleek user friendly and functional and I would highly recommend that those considering it at least take the time to test it out it put it on their computer.  Updating from windows 7 was seamless and all of my settings, saved games and documents were carried over seamlessly.