iPod’s coming announcement rife with speculation

Although speculation has ranged from a video iPod to a new beefed up iPod Shuffle, it now appears that it will be an iPhone for iTunes, says at least one expert on Apple’s big announcement scheduled for next week. Hey, knowing Steve Jobs, maybe it will be all three.

How fast is your Internet connection?

My NBC-TV High Tech Talk report this week shows you how to find out how fast is your Internet connection.High Tech Talk - Measure your Internet connection speed

Comcast doesn’t deliver on speed “gift”

I got a very nice card from Comcast in the mail today, thanking me for my business and saying:

We can’t thank you enough. So we’ll stop for now - and give you more speed instead.

The card goes on to say:

“we’ve increased your Internet speed to 6 Megs (that’s a 50% increase!), without increasing the price.”

Note that it doesn’t say we “will” or we are “planning.” It flat out says they have.
Except they haven’t.
Just to be sure, I power cycled my modem. Then I did a speed check. I’m getting just over 3 Megs (that’s 50% LESS than what they claim to have given me!)

Hurricane Katrina on the Net

WIth Hurricane Katrina taking a direct bead on New Orleans and the Gulf Shore as a Category Five storm, the Net is bustling with great coverage.
My favorite site for keeping tabs on Hurricane Katrina is Hurricane Track, run by Mark Sudduth and his “Hurricane Intercept Research Team.” Mark’s out bloggin’ by cell phone right now and has a live Web cam as he takes up position along the coast.
New with this storm is a subscription-based service he set up called HurricaneLive Net. He has a slew of live cameras steraming video as the hurricane hits. Cheapest fee is $9.95 for access until the storm passes.
And for the latest updates, news and multimedia coverage, check out Billy Young’s WX Nation, always a solid site for weather coverage.

Anybody tried Talk America DSL?

Hmm. They claim 4 mbps download speeds for $24.95 a month. Anyone used this service? This sounds too good to be true. Talk America DSL

New eBay phishing scam is tricky

If you are an eBay user, you how how important a good rating is. Scammers and identity thieves know this too and are now trying to take advantage of it by sending fake e-mail that spoofs a real message from an eBay member.
(Click on the image to see it full-screen)
It threatens to report the recipient for not paying for an item and has a button to click to respond. That’s the clue that this is a phishing trick: The URL goes to a non-eBay address.
But I bet a lot of eBay users respond to it. Clicking on the button then asks them to enter their eBay user name and password. If they do, it goes to the phisher and another identity theft scam has succeeded.
These scammers are serious sleazes.
I tried for 15 minutes to report it to eBay but their online security system is so cumbersome - and not very friendly to the Mac Safari browser - that I don’t think they’re very interested in getting tipped off to new scams. I gave up. If the company that pioneered online auctions can’t make it relatively simple to report fraud, what’s the point?
No wonder these scam artists are so out of control.

Comcast gripes keep coming in

Comcast continues to say it knows of no serious or widespread problems with its high speed Internet service in Southeastern Michigan. Tell that to these people whose e-mailed complaints to me seem to paint a pretty clear picture that something isn’t right in Comcast land.

How to get a free credit report

My NBC-TV piece this week shows how to get a free credit check to make sure you are not a victim of identity theft. Just click the link to see streaming video of the piece. High Tech Talk - Get your credit report.

Google finds another area

Just what part of the Internet ISN’T Google into? Google looks to get into IM business.

Tapping into citizen journalism

This piece in a broadcasting trade pub - Why everyone is a reporter - really gets me excited about what could be as media struggles to reinvent itself.
I think the opportunity to leverage all this citizen journalism, to help distribute it and wrap in in the credibility of a large news-gathering organization is just waiting to take off.
As newspapers and broadcasters fight for a future and the Internet, podcasting and multimedia streaming media keep creating new and enthusiastic niche audiences, some big media outfit needs to be very bold and decide to embrace the future and pioneer a whole new way of providing truly local coverage with some of these technologies.

Comcast speed/connection issues

I’ve been hearing from lots of Comcast high speed Internet customers over the past few weeks who are complaining about erratic speed and connection issues, Many are also growing impatient that the company hasn’t implemented the big speed boosts to 6 and 8 mbps as promised earlier this summer.
At my home, I find connections are dropping off frequently throughout the day. These interuptions last for only a few seconds to a a minute or so but the flaky connections are making it frustrating to use the Net. Last night was the worst I’ve experienced in years.
And instead of the 4 mbps I’m supposed to getting now, using the speed tests on broadband reports are showing just a little over 3 mbps, sometimes way less, like 1.5 mbps.
I suspect someting is not going well with Comcast, at least in southeastern Michigan.

How many telecommute or want to?

Seeing stories like the one linked below makes me wonder how many are already doing this or see it as a viable alternative to the ever-rising gas prices. What’s your company policy?
Gas price increases spur interest in telecommuting - Computerworld
I’ve been essentially working from my home or the road via the Internet for five plus years now. Whenever I have to drive to the downtown office, I’m stunned by how much time is totally wasted by commuting - in my case up to two hours a day roundtrip.

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