Insanity Part 2.0

I’ve moved into my new apartment just a week ago, and got our cable installed a few days ago. I have been less than pleased with the cable modem service so far.

• The service is spotty, and goes in and out occasionally.
• I have no idea what our modem service is rated for, but I can say that I’ve seen it as low as 500kbps and as high as 2.5Mbps. Imagine my surprise when I’m wondering why some files are downloading extremely slowly.
• The cable modem/router given to us (a Netgear/comcast WGR614v2 for those of you keeping score) is a piece of crap. I’ve had to reset it a bunch of times already.
• I don’t know if comcast actively blocks bittorrent or if the router is a true turd, but I can’t run a torrent for any meaningful length of time or our internet drops. An powercycle to the router fixes this, which makes me think it’s more a case of the router being a turd than anything else.
• I also can’t play on any game servers at the moment, as once I connect to the server and load a map the connection drops. Again, I’m thinking the router at the moment.

Hopefully we can get a normal modem unit and I can plug in a WRT54GL as its companion. It’s a shame I left my usual WRT54G unit in Ithaca, but oh well, these things happen. I’ll consider the extra expense for a 54GL worth it if it’ll work right

EDIT: This is really getting quite annoying, with no fix in sight.  This router sucks.

Can’t motivate self to study

• Come on feel the Illinoise! – Sufjan Stevens (iTunes)
  This is certainly an interesting album. Not a favorite off the top but it does grow on you after a couple of initial listens. The “Come on feel the Illinoise” track is really nice to listen to.
• You Could Have It So Much Better – Franz Ferdinand (iTunes)
  Despite a friend mentioning to me that this was an amazing album I have to say that I’m not really impressed with the album after a bit of time. I really like the opening track and one of the last few, but that’s about it. The rest just feel like meh to me.
• Plans – Death Cab for Cutie (iTunes)
  Despite their flavor-of-the-past-few-months status, I like this album. A couple catchy tracks on this one. “Marching Bands of Manhattan,” “Soul Meets Body,” “Crooked Teeth.” The lyrics to the last one caught me off guard at first.
• Twin Cinema – The New Pornographers (iTunes)
  Electric Version – The New Pornographers
  I like both of these albums, but for some reason I’m enjoying Electric Version more than Twin Cinema.
• The Antidote – Morcheeba (iTunes)
  This is a fantastic album, quickly became one of my favorites. Lots of catchy tracks: “Everybody loves a loser,” “Wonders Never Cease,” “Lighten Up.”
• My two favorite individual tracks for various reasons are probably Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Come Out Right – The Decemberists and This Year – the Mountain Goats.

Oh, sorry if iTunes isn’t your cup of tea. I tried using Amazon links but they were being stupid and not coming out right. Those of you at Cornell should know how to find these on Napster if you want.

Despite the recent trend towards warmth in Ithaca, it’s still rather cold at night (eg 40F).  What does this mean?  Coming home in nothing more than a t-shirt and shorts is not a very enjoyable experience.

That said it does serve as an excellent motivator to run home as fast as possible

A good friend of mine just left us for good as he heads to Texas for basic training in the Air Force.  It’s sad to see him go, but such is life.