So the FCC has found another way to meddle with the internet… I’m already paying taxes, fees, fines, whatever you want to call them on my phone line, AND my DSL connection, AND to my ISP, and now I have to pay taxes on top of all that for what I use those services for? Something just isn’t making sense here.

According to the article, only calls terminated to or originating from the PSTN will be required to contribute to the Universal Service Fund – but my argument is that the company or service providing the Internet -> PSTN connection is already paying into the USF for their connection to the phone network (and their internet connection) as am I for my connections, so why charge them again?

Also from the article:

By one VoIP industry estimate, customers could owe as much as $2.12 extra on a $30 monthly bill because of the changes, said Jim Kohlenberger, executive director of the VON Coalition, which represents the Internet phone industry. Traditional wireline users would pay $1.38 on a comparable bill, while wireless users pay an average of $1.21, he said.

This higher rate for VoIP calls is because they require providers to calculate what they owe based on the percentage of their total long distance calls…

...based on the assumption that 64.9 percent of their total revenues represent long-distance calls. The safe harbor option for cell phone providers climbed to 37.1 percent from 28.5 percent under the FCC’s order, but it remains far lower than the VoIP share.

So, on top of an idiotic tax they are just guessing at how much to charge?

You can go read all about it yourself…

CNet News Article

Slashdot | FCC Approves New Internet Phone Taxes

  

I’ve had my Linksys wireless router for a while, and never really though much about security on it beyond a 128 bit WEP key, but while playing around in the setup screens, upgrading firmware, etc. I noticed now I have the option for WPA-Radius…

With my curiosity peaked, 2 FreeBSD boxes sitting around not doing much, and some free time I managed to get radiusd installed, configured it with a single client (my AP’s IP) and setup 2 users with the same login passwords Jamie and I use on our laptops. So regardless who is logged into which laptop, it will pass our login credentials via PEAP over an encrypted connection to request access from the AP.

After some mindless struggling I realized I needed to open the ports on the freebsd firewall for the access point’s IP to allow it to contact radiusd Otherwise, it was fairly easy to setup – and I feel better about my wireless security now than before. If nothing more than to have a log of any failed login attempts. Besides, with a little more firewall tweaking and routing via one of my static IP’s, I could configure my Mom’s AP in California to work the same way, authenticating over the internet to my radius server…. not that I’m going to do it, that would be overkill and annoying to her if she can’t get on the internet because my server is down. Still a cool idea tho’ ehehe.

  

I’ve found something else to waste my time… WikiMapia!!

If you’ve ever been on a low carb diet, you know how hard it is to find a decent variety of things to eat so you don’t get burned out too quickly. One of the hardest things is going without sweets or desserts. I’m not much of a sweet-eater, but after about 6 months of low-carbing it (and losing about 35 lbs I might add!) I begin to have severe chocolate withdrawals. Forget the sweets, I just want chocolate!

Among things like Hershys sugar-free dark chocolate (oh-so-good) and Russel Stovers net-carb line of products, I found Mootopia at HEB. Their chocolate Mootopia is about 11g carbs per cup. This was good, but not great. Still, a cup once in a while was acceptable – and when mixed with ice and whipped cream in a blender – a cup goes a long way towards a nice cold shake!

  

Sure, you’ve all seen “themes” and “skins” for Windows… But this one beats them all, hands down! I’ll be the first to warn you, to get the full effect, you will need a decent computer – but it’s oh-so-worth it!

FlyakiteOSX v3.5 is the most amazing windows mod I’ve seen. I’m not a “mac person” but I have been curious, and even seriously want to get one someday – but I am not (or was not) already hooked on the look and feel of OSX. After installing this FREE program, I was amazed at the added “prettys” that my PC now had. Not just that it looks like a Mac, but the shadows, the animated window effects, and the useful tools like the dock, rollup windows, folder colors, and more are just too much to resist!

You can get FlyakiteOSX from: osx.portraitofakite.com

If you want more details, check out the user guide.