Thoughts On Net Neutrality

If you are unaware of what exactly "Net neutrality" is read the following snippet from wikipedia.


"Net neutrality (also network neutrality or Internet neutrality) is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication. "

 This is good for you because it prevents ISP's like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T from charging you or anyone else a premium for carrying a certain type of traffic. This means that you shouldn't be charged more money for making a Skype call to your grandmother in New Jersey than you would for reading this blog. This would be like the electric company charging you more for using electricity to cook your food or watch television or the local water utility charging you more for water to bathe your newborn child than washing your car. This is a bad model for consumers and only serves to line the pockets of these providers.

Some of you may be saying that this is the nature of business. If you have a service, you should be able to charge what you want for it. For the most part, you are correct. However, when your service is access to something as critical to the current state of civilization like the internet or electricity, or water or gas, charging premiums for using the service as it was intended should be restricted.

I pay roughly $70 a month for my internet service. Some people pay more, some people pay less. But lets say you pay what I pay for the sake of this argument. What is to stop Verizon from telling me that I am now only able to access websites that align with their business interests. Now, I cannot not get access to eBay, or GoDaddy or my online banking. This sucks for me because I've been making a few hundred bucks a month selling widgets through my website and eBay store. Now I have to upgrade my access plan for an extra "$19.99 per month" to include a subset of out of network websites which after reading through the offer still doesn't allow me access to my online banking. Not to mention, after the service fees, and service access fees, and the account service access fees and the one time (per month, hidden in the fine print) dip-shit surcharge comes out closer to $45 bucks.

If you want to make sure you aren't bent over and screwed because you want to read about Linux, just because your ISP is partnered with Apple this quarter, sign this petition.

Wiring your house for internet is easy... if you have patience.

For most people wi-fi signal blasts through their houses with no problem. For those of us who live in much older homes wi-fi can be a fickle mistress. Any connectivity or weak signal issues can typically be fixed by adding more powerful antennae or using a signal repeater, however, sometimes it may make the most sense to wire a floor of a house or room(s) for internet. 

Running Ethernet cable through your house is fairly easy if you have the right tools and plan appropriately. I recommend starting at the bottom and work your way up. You can purchase everything you need online or at your local home improvement store. Below are a few lists of common tools you will likely at need at some point when tackling this project. 

• 25' Wire Fish Tape - pulls cable through wall
• 25ft Tape Measure
• Flashlight
• Utility Knife
• Drywall/Keyhole saw
• Drill with 3/4" paddle bit and extender
• Stud Finder w/electrical sensors
• Wire cutters
• Punchdown tool (plastic version typically included with patch panel 
• RJ45 Inline Coupler
• Gangboxes for each location
• RJ-45 female jacks and matching wall plates
• Cat5e or Cat6 ethernet cable, as much as you need... 
• RJ45 connectors (optional if you would like to make your own patch cables)

It's considered best practice to pick a single place where you want all of the cabled in your house to meet. This is probably best placed closest to the Cable/FiOS/DSL modem. For this, I chose my basement as this is where I had the Verizon Tech install the router etc. Make sure wherever you chose has easy access and provides the easiest places to run the cable. I do this to prevent having to patch to many holes in the walls or ceiling from running cables across the house. This also helps prevent unsightly bald spots and bruises on your forehead.  

Pending on the size of the house, you will probably need considerably less  than 500' of Cat6 cable. I live in a 3 three story row-home in Philadelphia and I've used about 130' of the 400' purchased for the project. In total, I've run one cable each to the 1st floor living room.  and 3rd level of my house from my patch panel which is in the basement and two in my office which is on the second floor.

When looking for places to terminate your  cable, use the stud finder to find the closest stud to your ideal location and make your hole right next to it This will give you place to mount any boxes/cover plates. I cant say this enough. Measure twice, cut once. Be sure to remove enough drywall so it is easy to run your cable, but not so much that you need to spend hours patching and painting, because let's face it, it never looks right again...

The last tip. It may seem tempting to run your cables right next to your electrical lines.  Do NOT do this. Aside from risking electrocution, EMI (electromagnetic interference) can cause spotty connectivity and decreased bandwidth. I try to keep at least a  a foot away from my electrical lines if I can help it, but as long as the electrical wiring and Cat5/Cat6 cables aren't touching in any place, you should be fine.

Take your time, don't yank too hard on the cables, and double check your work...

Linux: Year Two. & The Future of FFTB

 My second year with Linux was even better than the first. I've not only been able to begin resolving my own issues without help, but also able to help others by contributing suggestions on public forums and even at work regarding the OS. I'm easily able to identify, locate and extract problem files from our gateways. I spent some hours in the fall and early winter, writing a Basic Linux Commands guide for our custom kerneled appliances.
With the move newly implemented systems at work, all I need is a browser and I am good to go. Between the move to a cloud based CRM, rolling out Outlook Web Access for the remote users, and fine tuning my VPN settings, I've gone through a very successful transition form Windows. Even logging into my phone system is done through a remote connection to my work PC. However, Remmina (client) is a little sloppy, but I use it for like 5 minutes a day so I'm okay with it.  I am proud to say that I do not use a single MS product at home. My wife still runs Windows on her laptop but when that one goes, it'll be the System76 Galago for her. Maybe this summer if she gets her homework done before dinner...
I've spent the last year really focusing all of my spare time (not including house work) learn a lot more about Linux. I spent most of late 2013 evenings with my system learning a bit of basics regarding the LAMP stack. For those of you who do not know that stands for, it means "Linux Apache Mysql PHP" (note: The M and the P can sometimes stand for other DB solutions and programming languages. Additionally there's a WAMP stack for Windows servers, but fuck Windows. This here's a Linux blog) . The LAMP stack is most commonly used to and host websites and web based applications though it does have other uses. If you know how to make a website with HTML/CSS/Javascrip/PHP, you can use it to setup your lab environment. It can be daunting, but if you RTFM, backup everything and take lots of notes, you'll be okay.
This is the end of my series documenting my switch to Linux. If you've been inspired to try it yourself. Good! Stand up and tell everyone by registering as a Linux User here. If not, no big deal. Linux already powers a huge portion of your digital life. 

 Keep your eyes out for a few new sections of the blog coming soon. One about Home Improvements and Gardening, and another about DIY guides that can save you time and money.