purchased for my C-64 in about 1983-84 when I was 12 or 13.

Except ... living in Canada at the time meant long distance charges for connecting to the servers in the US.

When my parents got the bill for my "free" service they took away the modem :(

... but, thankfully, not the C-64. BASIC and the Zork series kept me occupied enough until they gave it back to me. Except when I got it back my allowance didn't go too far with the long distance charges. Something like 2 or 3 hours a month, as I remember.

Hmm, I feel like I need a shower after reading this.

I also feel like this is Slashdot's answer to "Penthouse Letters".

Because it's become an ideological issue. It's a Labor party policy so, ipso facto, rusted on conservatives hate it.

So they sit in waiting for the inevitable cost blowouts, delays, pork-barrelling, and logistic implosions that befall every large infrastructure program and use them to hammer the Labor party over the head with. And the faithful take their cues from that.

Had the conservatives introduced the NBN it would be the other way around.

I predict that once the NBN is completed and its value demonstrated it will become like Medicare - both sides of politics, regardless of ostensible ideology, will regard it as a "good thing". I mean, can you imagine the Coalition ripping out the fibre from people's homes?

Pro Tip: Never call an individual or group "ignorant" in the same sentence you confuse "their" with "they're".

It detracts from the rhetoric somewhat.

we want everyone to know it.

will now have its address block(s) added to the blacklists of Hulu, Netflix et al

I mean, seriously, how many times will the "tech savvy" users of this site fall for ruses like this?

As if anyone who reads Slashdot wouldn't be able to find out;

• 1) How to use a VPN, and
• 2) What VPNs are out there.

Please ... just stop.

or step the fuck off this site

Of course ... the simplest explanation is that a magical sky-daddy waved his hands around and created everything. Case closed.

Let's get over our silly preoccupation with gaining systematic knowledge through observation, hypothesis, and experimentation and just say "God did it".

I mean, since scientists only possess a faith analogous to your average Christian's (for instance) faith, we know science has achieved nothing.

Vaccines? God did it.

Electricity? God did it.

Modern agriculture and food production? God did it.

The myriad of other "advantages" humans now have at their disposal? God did it.

Let's stop this ridiculous pursuit of "knowledge" when we can all just sit back and say "God did it".

I have mobile broadband in Australia through 3 mobile. Maybe this post will help someone else in my shitty situation.

The connection I got was a lifesaver because I had locked myself into a 6 month lease on a flat and found out the complex was on a RIM and/or a pair gain system (from a quick google seems this is mostly an Australian problem?). Every company I contacted told me this precluded me from getting ADSL, and there was no cable in this area.

And yes, I had asked the owner if I could get ADSL at the property first. "Sure" was, of course, his answer.

I can survive connecting at 48.8Kbps or so for a few months, I thought. Then I hooked up my trusty 56.6Kbps modem to find out because of the RIM (or pair gain) I could only connect at 28.8Kbps max. On a good day. And in the week I persisted, there weren't many good days.

Long story short; I wanted a no-contract broadband(ish) connection, with no cancellation fee and with minimum outlay for hardware as I was going to move the hell away from the place as soon as the lease was up.

My solution was to buy a mobile phone that did UMTS and get a no-contract broadband plan with 3 mobile. Yep, I could have splashed out for an HSDPA enabled phone, or even 'modem', but all these options were $200+, and I'm a poor student. Boo hoo for me.

I picked up an LG 8138 that had the common non-working microphone problem for $10. This would only do a theoretical 384/128Kpbs, but that beat the hell out of 28.8Kbps. The no-contract plan I got with 3 mobile was $49/month for 4GB upload and download combined, with no cancellation fee. Yes, in other countries this would be considered akin to consumer rape, but in Australia it wasn't *too* bad. My other reasoning was that I sure as hell wouldn't be downloading 4GB on the other connection.

Observations after 2 months of usage? Forget online gaming, the latency is just too high and packet loss is a constant problem. Also, you ain't gonna crank up your favourite *nix and act as any kind of a server. Ok, maybe an NTP server.

However for browsing, email, IM and the occasional youtube video (and yes, some porn goddamit) it has been a real saviour.

I almost always get the maximum 384Kbps download and 128Kpbs upload, which has amazed me as it seems there is little-to-no overhead. I've learned to be more selective in what I download, as well as how to best take advantage of friends, family and the account I get at university to download bits and pieces.

The things to watch out for are usage fees over the 4GB limit are charged at $0.10/MB. I use NetMeter to monitor my usage, as well as the 3 mobile web site. NetMeter is preferred as the website takes up to 48 hours to update. NetMeter is always spot on with the measurements.

The main thing to watch out for is to make sure the phone is on manual network selection, and select only the 3G network, as the 'roaming' charges when 3G isn't available (in my case only ever happened intermittently due to high wind) are $1.65/MB. Yep, that's right $1.65/MB or $1689.60/GB. Remember the rape analogy?

Other than those caveats it suffices, and will easily keep me happy until I move. I spoke to other residents in the complex who had been using 28.8Kbps and less connections for years and turned them onto what I was doing. 6 other people are now experiencing the internet at close to what they should be and are very grateful. Of course their palms are getting a little hairy.