sick of Comcast?

I sure am.  

The other day, my internet just "quit."  I am, sadly, used to it.  The internet would often just "quit" but it would always come back within an hour or two.  

So I got used to just walking away from the computer for awhile and when I went back to the computer, voila!  The internet would be back on.  Pretty stupid, huh?

One strange aspect of this is that the internet would ONLY go out during weekdays.  It would almost never go out on weeknights or on weekends.  

But this time, it went out in the evening, I got disgusted, switched to 4G on my mobile phone, and turned off the computer.  The next day, it was still out.  

So I finally call up Comcast and they want me to do the usual "unplug it and plug it back in" bullshit which actually works every now and then.  But not this time.  Nothing worked.  A pulse from the head end?  Nothing.  

So instead of scheduling yet another service call, and being very inconvenienced by it, I decided to just go to the Comcast (Xfinity) office and swap out the modem.

Which I did, with no argument.  Now, it works fine.  But for how long?   (Another problem with Comcast: they have ONE "store" for the entire west side of Houston, when they need four or five, so the place is always packed with people). 

If only we could get broadband by some other means than Comcast.  (And AT&T got onto my shitlist long ago, so they are also OUT).

The link below might work for you. It showed eight different broadband providers for my address, but not Comcast!!??

from the NYT

Q. How do you find a broadband connection other than the cable company? It’s really expensive and the only other option I can find here in my area is the phone company, which has a really bad reputation for reliability.

A. For one quick trip to see an overview of the available services in your neighborhood, visit the National Broadband Map site at www.broadbandmap.gov. The map was first published in 2011 and is the result of a collaboration between the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five United States territories.

When you type your address into the search box at the top of the page, the site displays a chart showing all the companies with wired and wireless broadband service in your area, along with the range of speeds each company offers. In addition to the common cable and DSL connections, the map should show you any other options available, including fiber, satellite and mobile wireless service.

When you click the Expand All link on the page, the chart expands to reveal more information about each provider listed. Although the National Broadband Map does not list the prices for monthly plans, it does include links to each company’s website so you can click through and look for yourself.

Transhumanism

It looks like America, and the world, has a new "political" party: The Transhumanist Party.  You can go here to see the party website.

What is Transhumanism?  

Transhumanism (or H+), broadly speaking, is a futurist movement with a set of beliefs with a common theme of anticipating an evolutionary plateau beyond the current Homo sapiens. The term was coined and movement founded by the biologist Julian Huxley in 1957.

The general expectation is that in the near future greater manipulation of human nature will be possible because of the adoption of techniques apparent on the technological frontier: machine intelligence greater than that of contemporary humans, direct mind-computer interface, genetic engineering andnanotechnology. Transhumanists tend to believe that respect for human agency, even when practiced by humans in their current form, is valuable, however.

They have a logo: 

Here is an interesting, 11-minute video explaining in brief what Transhumanism is all about:

The Transhumanist Party has a Presidential candidate for 2016: Zoltan Istvan.  

No, Zoltan is not a space lizard.  But he is an avowed atheist, so, hey! We have an atheist running for President! Does he stand a chance in 2016? Highly unlikely, but Zoltan knows this, and the goal is to build for the future.

Here's an interview with Zoltan as to why he is running for President of the United States as a Transhumanist.

I'll probably vote for the Democrat in 2016, but the time after that...?

Eurovision Song Contest

Russia's Polina Gagarina sings "A Million Voices" in the video below.  This song was first runner-up in this years Eurovision Contest.

Damn, is it me?  I cried during this song too.   Music can really be special.

The entire 2015 Eurovision Song Contest: Grand Final can be seen here.  All 5 hours and 26 minutes of it. 

Sweden's Mans Zelmerlow won the final vote. His video starts around 01:02:00 of the video. Polina's performance at the 02:05:00 mark. There are some great performances in here.

And, oh yeah.....

the first Immortal

But not if I'm going to be all wrinkled, or lose my mind, or not be able to fuck, etc etc. 

from the May 1st issue of Earth Week 

Earth's First 'Immortal' Said to Be Already Alive

A U.K. gerontologist claims that the first person to be able to avoid the illnesses of old age and to live indefinitely has probably already been born.

This 105-year-old woman from India was born a century too early for technology to someday offer her immortality.

Cambridge PhD alum, author and chief science officer of the SENS Research Foundation Aubrey de Grey believes that the first person to live to be 1,000 is already walking the planet.

But he tells Vice’s Motherboard website that true immortality is probably out of the question.

“The first thing I want to do is get rid of the use of this word 'immortality,' because it’s enormously damaging. It is not just wrong; it is damaging,” said de Grey. “It means zero risk of death from any cause—whereas I just work on one particular cause of death, namely aging.”

He said he’s already working on therapies that could take people aged 60 years and rejuvenate them enough so they won’t be biologically 60 again until they are actually 90.

Mortality

I've enjoyed Christopher Hitchen's sharp wit and tongue for a long while.  It was very sad to see him passing away, in Houston, in 2011.

Sadder still was reading his final book, Mortality, which is a chronology of sorts of Hitchens final years.  Thank you, Chris, for keeping this book short.  It is excrutiatingly painful to read. The book is grippingly gruesome in it's detail of the nasty effects of cancer.  He certainly had a way with words.

The topper was reading the Afterward, penned by Hitchens wife, Carol Blue.  

I cried for a good 10 minutes.  I daresay a book has not affected me this negatively since ... ever.  So far, I can't shake the feeling of impending doom that has befallen me since finishing this book.  

It's also got me contemplating my eventual demise.

My advice?  Do not read this book.  Others may disagree.