Is the Internet Boring You?

It's been about 30 years now (give or take) since the Internet was invented and I have started to come to a terrible realisation. The internet is BORING!!!

I remember when the internet was young, as was I, and seemed to define a time of endless possibilities. The world wide web was my oyster so to speak. I sat eagerly with my 28.8k modem bleeping and honking, waiting to connect and then surfing, surfing, surfing until the night wore on. Back in those days, of course I may have only ended up looking at two or three sites in that time. Such was the speed of downloads, that it might take ten minutes to download one photo - just enough time to pop out to make a cup of coffee. 

I remember dreaming of the time when we might have fast internet - where you could maybe watch a video! Or see 10 images show up on the page at one time! Oh the possibilities!

Now of course, here we are. Internet videos take a blink of an eye to load. Streaming movies are just a click away. TV shows are available on demand. Shopping sites are everywhere.

This is of course all terrific, so why do I find myself being bored with it all? Perhaps it's just complacency. Perhaps I'm just a spoilt brat. Whatever it is, I increasingly find I am going to my laptop out of habit, looking at the one or two sites I normally go to (Facebook, Gizmodo, SMH) and then.....I'm stuck. Where to? No idea. I find I want to surf, but yet I don't know where.

How about you? Do you find it hard to know where to go on the Web? Or maybe you have some suggestions about sites I should visit? Comment below and let me know.

By the way, I do know about Stumble Upon, and it has been my saviour on numerous occasions, but even that gets a bit boring after a while. Hard to please aren't I?

Optus Premium Speed - Worth the Money?

I'm getting upgraded to the premium speed pack on my Optusnet Cable plan so thought this would provide a good opportunity to do a comparison of before and after.

So, this is my result on my laptop on 14/11/13 though wifi connection before the upgrade using the OOkla Speedtest..




And another from 15/11/13



I will update once I get my new DOCSIS 3.0 modem to see the changes. Hopefully they'll be worth the extre $10 a month!

UPDATE: I now have the speedpack added and a spanking new Docsis 3.0 modem to go with it and I have to say the new speeds are pretty damn impressive. Below are the new speed test results where the results speak for themselves.

Pepperjack Shiraz on its way

As part of a marketing campaign that I am lucky to be part of I have the chance to try some Pepperjack Shiraz...mmm. Just got my email today that my package is on its way. Nothing like free wine!

Can't wait. I'll let you know how it is.

UPDATE: Yum! everyone that tried the Shiraz agree that it is a mighty fine drop!

Ten Play - Ten Don't Play?

Channel Ten have recently launched their new catch-up web page - Ten Play.

Trouble is the title seems misleading. I tried watching something on the browser through the PS3. The whole system crashed. OK, maybe a Playstation fault...the browser never was PS3's strong point.

This morning I'm trying to watch something on the site on my laptop. Waiting....waiting....nada.

Hard to see how ABC can get it so right with IView and to a lesser extent, SBS with their catch-up site but the big boys in Australian TV lag behind.

Seven's site is OK at best, with fairly ordinary quality of the streaming, Channel Nine's is mediocre and I'm yet to get anything on Ten.

Oh well, back to Aunty I suppose.

UPDATE: the teething problems seem to be over for TenPlay. There's only two things wrong with it in my opinion..,.too many ads and not enough shows I actually care that I missed. I did LOVE Puberty Blues though and am quite sad that it has finished. Quality acting and writing on Australian TV is hard to find.

My boy sends me strange messages...

Breaking Bad

Is it just me....or are you champing at the bit for the next installment of BREAKING BAD?

Now...if only there was some way of getting it moments after it finishes screening in the States....

[evil laugh grows louder and louder]

Doing the geoblock

There's been a bit of brow beating recently in the tech areas of the Sydney papers about the morality of geoblocking and subsequent watching of services such as NetFlix and Hulu Plus etc. This is an interesting progression from what used to be written about - namely bittorrenting and demonstrates that as the speed of the web has increased, so too has the viewing habits of the users. Where once, people waited a few hours for a free torrent of their favourite show to download, now we want it instantaneously and more interestingly, are willing to pay for it.

This is where the moral argument comes into play. Is it less 'evil' to pay for a service in the USA than to download a free torrent? Services such as Netflix and Hulu do pay producers for their content, but the rights are for US content and it can be argued Australians are ripping off producers by not contributing to the Australian companies that pay substantial prices for Australian distribution.

Personally, I think that the world is changing, and in this internet age, we shouldn't be limiting ourselves to these ideas of geography anymore. The internet is a medium which joins the globe together, and copyright laws and distribution rights are lagging behind the reality of the everyday consumer. If we want a movie, we'll find it. If we want to see the latest episode of Dexter, we'll download or stream it. TV is old and boring, and cable is better, but too damn expensive. Streaming is the new way forward. Even Foxtel is getting into the act with its new Foxtel Play service, recognising the shift in Australian's viewing habits. However, it is still at the moment a poor cousin to what Australians can access through a bit of simple geo-blocking and a subscription to Netflix and Hulu Plus.

How to geo block? I've tried a couple of DNS blocking services (simply for research purposes for this article of course) - Unblock US and Smart DNS. Both have a short free trial and both work extremely well for the purpose they're designed for - giving access to people outside the U.S. to the popular sites. Setup is easy and you don't have to be locked into your computer to watch, as a simple bit of back door fiddling allows consoles such as Xbox and PS3 to gain you access through your loungeroom TV.

So why wait? Unblock Netflix today!

The world really is your oyster!