Veazer

My connection is really <deleted> today. I can usually manage 50-55 KBps on my maxnet 512/256 connection but it is hovering between 5-15 today. This is a 10 connection link to a Usenet server, I could never manage 50-55 on a single connection.

I'm in Chiang Mai btw....

More questions:

1) In Chiang Mai, what internet service would be recommended if the primary concern is VOIP quality?

2) Do Thai ISPs actually use QOS tags? My equipment supports QOS but I am under the impression that many US isp companies will strip them unless you are explicitly paying for that. I wonder what the thai policy is regarding this.

3) My calling area will be mostly in Seattle. I currently have 1 VOIP provider in Seattle and a few in California. As I understand it, LA is generally the first hop into the west coast. Which provider is most likely to give me the best service?

If anyone in CM could give me some ping times I would greatly appreciate it!

69.25.143.141 (Seattle)

147.135.8.128 (L.A.)

64.71.129.77 (Walnut Creek)

67.43.159.38 (Newport Beach)

On a side note regarding latency, here is some info regarding MTU I've found:

VoIP Problems - MTU

Some people suggest that lowering MTU in the router is sufficient and others say it must be coordinated with the ISP. Any thoughts?

...Is this America all of a sudden LOL, ?...

Last time I checked you could get drinks in the US until 2 AM. In the UK however........

I am a newbie to this forum (first post etc,etc). That said I have Slackware 10 and 10.1 (boxed set) also FC2 and RH9 on disk for anybody in Phuket who needs/wants them.

I have a Thinkpad R51 laptop running Slackware 10, at work I dual boot a Thinkcentre with XP and a Compaq something-or-other desktop dual with FC and XP.

I have a fair amount of OSS software which I'll be more than happy to share with anybody who wants it :-)

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If you like slackware you should checkout Vector Linux, it is quite speedy. I'm still new to linux but I have been happy with this distro.

vectorlinux.com

I'm assuimg anyone who actually has the gmail storage thing working is on broadband? I tried saving a CD of mp3s - - set it going and went to sleep. When I woke up I found it had only uploaded 6M in just a little over 4 hours and then disconnected...

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It would be painfully slow on dialup unless you were just using it to backup documents or other small files. The performance of the gmail drive is simply a matter of how fast your upload and download speeds are.

I have been using one of my gmail accounts purely for storage purposes.

Do you also use Picasa and Hello?

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No, i tried picasa but didn't care for it. IIRC I couldn't get the program to show images in full screen mode, not sure. I use an ancient version of ACDSee (3.x). It is much faster than anything else I can find. The new ACDSee versions are ridiculously bloated and slow.

I've just been told of this  gmail online storage, Haven't had time time to really look at it tho'. Is anyone using it?

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I use it quite a bit, it's great. It has some limitations that the programmer could get around if he were a bit more creative (40 character file limit including path, no spaces, 10 mb file size limit) but it is still a great deal to have 2GB + of free online storage.

I use it to backup some of my files by first zipping them (or .rar) into 10 mb segments and then uploading the whole lot. This lets me get files on the gmail drive in the largest size chunks possible and I can ignore the filename problems because they are contained within the archive.

If you are paranoid about the gmail spider looking at your archives, just encrypt your .zip and .rar files first.

It's also a great way to share files with friends. I have an extra account that my friends all know the login and password for. It is just kind of a semi-private folder that we can swap stuff back and forth. Of course it wouldn't work if someone isn't trustworthy and changed the password, but that's a whole different matter...

What many appear to be seeing on both new and burned CD's is corrosion on the reflector.

If the reflector has any corrosion, the laser will not be able to burn data to that area. If the corrosion occured after the CD was burned, the laser will not be able to read the previously recorded data.

Many CD blanks use a silver reflector. Silver has a very high corrosion (oxidation) factor, especially when exposed to air containing minute quantities of sulfur componds. These sulfur componds are present wherever hydrocarbon fuels are burned; eg: trucks, autos, power plants, and home's with gas heating/cooking/cooling appliances, etc.. Humidity accelerates the corrosion.

Overall CD construction is a crutial factor. The reflector itself is positioned very close to the top (label side) of the CD. Some CD manufacturers only spray a very thin layer of lacquer on top of the reflector. Minute scratches or even fingerprints can damage this coating, allowing air and moisture to attack the reflector. Some CD-R's manufacturers do not seal the outer edge of the CD. Failure to seal these edges also allows air and moisture to attack the reflector.

Many name brand CD-R's (ie: TDK) carry a lifetime warrenty. Check your favorite brand for warrenty details and examine them carefully to insure none display corrosive spots on the reflector and their edges have been sealed. Where possible, store burned disks in an airtight (preferably glass or metal) container.

Multiple backups using similar and different media is always adviseable when dealing with critical or irreplaceable data.

cheers

I have noticed that once my silver cds begin to corrode they go very fast. I can see the corrosion spread in a 24 hour period. I also live in a rather polluted area next to a busy street, probably compounding the problem.

Has any company ever produced a writeable cd with the reflector and dye encased inside the disc like a standard pressed cd? it seems like this would help to prevent a lot of the problems that people have with cd-r media. Corrosing aside, just one sharp bump to the top surface is enough to scratch the surface and destroy part of the cd. People are always worried about scratching the cd's underside but this is a minor problem compared to the damage that can be done from the top.

I have for the first time, after months of searching how,  stimulated by this thread sent two free SMS messages to a Thai mobile phone, via Yahoo. ( I don't know as yet whether receiver has been charged anything.)...

Last time I checked (almost a year ago) it was 40 satong to receive a yahoo sms. Another bugger about yahoo is you'll eventually get an sms that states "If you wish to receive any more messages, please respond to this message" or something to that effect. I accidently deleted the message and have been unable to receive anything since...

I have horrible luck with optical media in Thailand, even with high quality media brought from home. I can't figure out why. CD-Rs, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R etc. They have all been a complete nightmare. I definitely get some kind of 'cd rot' on my discs that looks like some kind of oxidation.

I backup all my data to an external HD, they are fast, fairly cheap and quite reliable. I have tried about 4 different types of external enclosures available in thailand and the "metal box" brand/style has been the most successful for me. Some drive controllers have a tendancy to have "delayed write failure" errors and this can result in data loss. The best enclosure I have found is called "Speedzter" but i have never been able to find them in thailand. They even turn themselves off when you put your pc in standby mode.

If you want 2 gig+ of free online data storage, checkout gmail drive: Gmail Drive Gmail drive has a few limitations that you might find annoying: maximum file size is 10 meg and maximum name, including path, is limited to 40 characters. Gmail drive will convert any spaces in a filename to an underscore. Also, the gmail drive cannot be mapped to a drive letter which makes it difficult to use with most backup programs. Stll, despite these limitations I think you'll appreciate having that much free space available. If you do need to backup files bigger than 10mb, just split them with a file splitter. Even winzip can do this for you.

I recommend you check out blackviper.com and turn off services you don't need. I haven't used Win2K lite, but 98 lite was impressive.

Unfortunately, I just checked and the site is currently down. Not sure why.

Review of BV

Black Viper's Website

In the meantime, use a cached copy of his website.

Don't think your safe just because your using you internet from home. As you know, some thai apartments have local LANs with shared high-speed connections. I was recently helping my friend configure his laptop to access the network at his apartment building. I was sniffing around the network amazed at how many people left shared folders wide open for everyone to see. Most disturbing of all was the download folder on the apartment's main computer used as a router/firewall for the building. They had download multiple packet sniffing applications and I can only assume they have installed them and use them.

While most connections to online banking sites are (I hope!) encrypted to an adequate level, I still find it upsetting to see that they are doing this. And if I remember correctly, if you monitor an encrypted connection from the point that it is initiated you can decrypt the communication that follows. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can elaborate on this...

I pay 99 baht for 30 MB on DTAC.  Or you can get 12 hours for 250 baht on AIS, or the unlimited thingy. 

I think often it's also the phone that has a problem in getting you proper speed.  Sometimes a firmware update might do wonders.

Anyway.. any word on EDGE ?  Phones are here, but I think it's only experimental and in BKK only at the moment?

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Is this price available to prepaid customers as well?

I was doing a little laptop buying research on the net and found this on the the Fujitsu website. This is so pathetic, I can't believe they are actually boasting about this. It is stupid in so many ways I don't know where to start. I hope there is something missing from the article or something I am simply overlooking...

Fujitsu Contribution to Tsunami Disaster Relief Efforts

ITV, Shinawatra Tower 3, Viphawadee Road, Bangkok, 28 December 2004 —

On Tuesday 28, 2004, Fujitsu Systems Business (Thailand) Ltd. presented donation of 700 Fujitsu T-shirts costed 100,000 Baht to Mr.Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, Executive Director of ITV Public Co.,Ltd. in "Ruam Mue Ruam Jai (Hand in Hand)" TV program broadcasted during 3.00 pm-4.00 pm on ITV channel for helping the Tsunami tidal waves victims in the south of Thailand.

Original link here.

Well how much is a fake then?...but really once you have entered that aerial number would you still be able to upgrade via the Microsoft site?

Really I wouldn't trust a fake copy...I'm sure it wouldn't work properly!

Microsoft has openly stated that WinXP Service Pack 2 is available for all XP users, including those who didn't pay for it. If you think about the security implications of it all, it makes sense. They want their OS to be seen as a secure OS and that means making sure that as many installations are updated as possible.

The same is NOT true for copies Office and other apps. In my experience I have found that the Service Packs detect that it is a corporate edition with a hacked installer and refuse to update. Of course it is always just a short matter of time before this is circumvented...

I lived in the Seattle area before. I went to the MS campus in Redmond and found a MS employee willing to take me into the employee store (You cannot go in by yourself). I purchased a full version of XP Pro for $30 and a nice optical mouse for $15.

Shameless bump.

Sorry, I am getting desparate!

I'm trying to find a location in CM with a decent quality A3 B&W laser printer. Color seems to be easy to find but it won't do, I need more than 400 dpi. 1200 dpi is preferred but 600 would be just fine.

Any suggestions?