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Comment Re: He also forgot to mention... (Score 1, Interesting) 343

The point is that, in both cases, the sender/content provider has already paid. If there's an additional cost to transmitting the content across a boundary (different country or different peering service), then in both cases that has already been factored into the cost of sending it, and paid to the local provider (post office or ISP).

Excellent point. I totally understand how you can feel this way. However, in reality, things are a bit different:

In the case of the mail, the USPS has contracts with carriers all over the world, where either someone pays the other, or they both agree to forward each others mail without charging. The equivalent of this on the internet is called "peering". With two networks peer with each other (i.e. Netflix and Comcast), they mutually agree to provide access to each other's network. (In this case it is slightly more complicated, but that's irrelevant at this point).

The problem that is occurring between Netflix and Comcast is that Netflix is sending so much mail to Comcast, that Comcast would need to upgrade its infrastructure to handle all that mail. In your analogy, that would be the USPS sending 10 times as much mail to the Canadian Post than vice versa, forcing Canadian Post to hire more personnel, expand distribution centers and get more people on the road.

Is it really that unfair? And don't get me wrong, in other threads I've been called a "corporate apologist" for defending Comcast in this matter. I'm not, I don't like Comcast. They're an overpriced underperforming service with horrible customer service. However, from a technical point of view, I can totally understand their point of view.

Comment Re: As someone who... (Score 1) 154

The reason is that no one pays the full price of a phone in the US. In most other countries you'd upfront (or per month in a payment plan) the phone, and pay $20-30 in network charges. Americans have an expectation of $100/m in phone bills, and a *free phone*.

You mean "free phone". I recently (December) bought a new phone at AT&T. My contract was month-to-month as I used a phone that I already had. The choice that I had was:

- pay $99 for my phone (HTC one mini) and sign a 2 year contract;

or

- pay the full $399 for the phone and get a $15 discount on my bill

Obviously I paid the $399. Not only did I get it unlocked with one phone call to customer service, but it is also cheaper in the long run...But even of the phone would be "free", I'd still prefer to pay the full price. I like having the flexibility to say bye-bye to any carrier...

Comment Re:Go outside. San Francisco underwater by 2010? (Score 1) 298

while high wispy clouds reflect little sunlight but will trap the infrared heat beneath them.

No no no no you are mistaken my friend. These high wispy clouds are the result of the Chemtrails! This is being used by the government to make us obey. Look around, some people are now even wearing apparel that brings this message. *folds another aluminum hat*

Comment Re:Yeah, but.... (Score 1) 1198

It does give me the right to call bullshit on anyone who claims that this incident targeted primarily females.

I think you should watch the shooter's Youtube movie. After that, you're more than welcome to come back here and apologize.

Spoiler: he clearly states he seeks revenge on the girls for making him feel lonely, unwanted, and being a virgin well in his twenties. He had never even kissed a girl. Obligatory.

Comment Re:Yea, I'm sure he gives a rat's ass. (Score 1) 304

Zuck could afford to hire a private army to follow him around if he wanted.

Of course he could. But (and I don't know the man personally) he probably doesn't want that. If you need protection, you are not a happy man, even if you can afford it or get it from the government.

I'm quite sure that even Mark Zuckerberg would be happy to enjoy walking in the streets with his wife without a bunch of ironpushers around him.

Comment Re:I wonder... (Score 1) 250

ts somehow ok that we help other nationals; but what about our OWN?? look, they have a shithole of a country, granted. but leaving the country and coming here is not going to fix india. what it does is help ruin the workforce here for those who are invested HERE and want to stay HERE.

Very fair comment, and I totally understand where you're coming from. There is a big but. Being an immigrant myself, I'll explain a bit myself, but first:

this is how EVERY OTHER COUNTRY WORKS. find me another country that favors immigrants over its own nationals. go ahead - I'll wait.

The Netherlands. A tiny little country in Europe, with approx 17 million people. In The Netherlands, there is a big problem with primarily North-African (read: Morocco) immigrant workers who migrated in the seventies and eighties. Exceptions aside, most of them did not adopt it as their home country and raised their children accordingly. This has ultimately lead to the Dutch government favoring these immigrants in jobs, social security (sometime the government pays for trips to their home country and send healthcare workers provide care abroad).

When I left The Netherlands for the U.S., I too came on a temporary visa (L1A, for those who care). I had no intentions of migrating, but merely upgrading my resume with U.S. work experience. However, when I saw how things were different here, and my wife became pregnant, we made the decision to apply for permanent residence as well.

Sure, that does not make The Netherlands a better place. But, in the grand scheme of things, most people will chose a better life for themselves and their children over being a tiny drop of water on a wildfire the size of Poinsettia. Me being here or me being in The Netherlands will make little difference on either country, so I opted for the country which I loved the most. Someone once said in one of those famous /.-H1B threads: support the country you live in, or live in the country you support. I am definitely in the country that I support, and that so far has been very good to me as well.

However, unlimited immigration is a bad thing for any country, and I totally don't understand why people here are so ambiguous when it comes to immigration and immigration enforcement. By itself, the current rules are quite limiting: no more than 265000 permanent residence permit each year, and no more than 80.000 H1B workers. Yet, once people find a way to come to the U.S. without border inspection, all of a sudden it is politically incorrect to talk about "illegal immigrants", but mainstream media is full of discussions an how to provide a path to citizenship for "undocumented people". And don't get me wrong, I totally understand every single individual who crosses the border that way. I'm just saying that if you want to start somewhere, either fix the hole in that fence or find a way to make those folks pay taxes on their income. I'm sure that this will improve the economy more than deporting a bunch of Indians.

Comment Re:Is this an ad ? (Score 3, Informative) 304

You should go to CES sometime

I don't need to go to CES. I bought that monitor three weeks ago when Fry's had it for a little under $1k. It is huge, I did not really like it. Much of the monitor is in my peripheral view, and moving the mouse from far-left to far-right is a pain. I decided to use my "old" 1920x1200 again and use my 34UM95 for my flight simulator.

The idea of having a gazillion xterm's next to each other is great, but it didn't work for me.

Comment Re:I wonder... (Score 1) 250

Looking at your post history, you seem to be some sort of corporate apologist, for everyone from Facebook to Comcast. You also seem to be something of an expert on US immigration law. From this, we can infer that when you say "culturally diverse," what you really mean is "mostly Indians." Does the shilling pay well?

I'm not an apologist, I'm merely explaining how stuff works. If you don't like Facebook, don't create an account. If you don't like Comcast, don't get it. Everywhere in the US you have alternative options for internet access.

When I say "culturally diverse", I don't mean mostly Indians. Even if it were, the way you formulate your comment is as if people from India are some sort of plague. You may not agree with the US immigration policy, but you should take that up with your congressman, not with the individuals who take the opportunity to get out of that rape-infested shithole. The legal way, using a visa and employment based permanent resident permits.

Comment Re:I wonder... (Score 4, Informative) 250

how many minorities Facebook hired between when the request was made and when they finally complied. Would be interesting to see before and after data.

I don't work for Facebook, but I have been on their MPK campus as a contractor many times. I can tell you from first hand experience that Facebook is a very culturally diverse environment where everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender, is welcomed. It looks like a mini San Francisco.

Comment Re:Use confiscated drugs (Score 1) 483

The purpose of incarceration is supposed to be reforming the prisoner,

Selective reasoning, and not always true.

Imprisonment has three purposes:
- rehabilitation
- protection of society
- the punishment aspect

The rehabilitation part of incarceration is the exact opposite of the seriousness of the crime: the more serious the crime, the bigger the parts of punishment and protection of society are. This means the rehabilitation will not be a huge part of the sentence. This is especially true in the case of life-without-parole, and in capital cases.

Let me give you an example:

Lisa Montgomery. This offender admitted to strangling a pregnant woman, then cutting the 8-month old fetus out of the womb, then strangling the victim again as she regained consciousness. Again, she admitted, and there is an ocean of evidence against her.

She received the death penalty, but let's say she would have received life without parole. Would that really be any different? Would there really be any aspect of rehabilitation? I don't think so.

On a side note, these are the type of cases that flip the balance in favor of capital punishment, in many peoples opinion. Is that justified? That's up to the voters, who can change laws. But as long as recent votes continue to support capital punishment, it is up to the proponents to come with arguments and get voters to change the law.

A good example of where I personally would not find the death penalty a good idea is the Sierra LaMar case, in Santa Clara county, CA. No body, only bits of DNA found in connection to the suspect. Prosecutors are going for the death penalty. Brr.

Comment Re:One person a bottleneck doesn't create... (Score 2) 238

10gb ports for backhaul? What century are you in? We can now DWDM over 1,000 10gb links over a a single industry standard fiber and without signal regeneration or repeaters with about 700km ranges. Keep up with the tech.

Yes, read again. 10GB ports for backhaul. As you are saying yourself:

100gb and 400gb ports are now entering telcoms and 1tb is slated for next year.

Exactly right. So at this time, most equipment will be limited to multiple 10G links in a LAG-group. No matter how great your 1Tb DWDM device is, your layer 3 router (and by that I mean Cisco CRS or Juniper MX960) will still be limited to multiple 10G ports. And yes, I am aware that there are 100G ports, but they are not nearly as common as 10G ports. On top of that, Netflix telling Comcast via a Level 3 proxy to upgrade their 10G LAG to multiple 100G ports because Netflix wants to send their traffic to Comcast customers is exactly my point. I'm not arguing who is right or wrong, but I am saying that this is basically what is going on.

--
Sabri
JNCIE #261

Comment Re:One person a bottleneck doesn't create... (Score 1) 238

Comcast was dropping traffic on the floor. Traffic that their customers had paid to receive. If Comcast is unhappy with the traffic patterns generated by their customers, they should not do business with those customers, or they should raise the price for them. Deliberately dropping paid-for traffic on the floor is exactly what a decent ISP never does.

Your statement is factually untrue. Comcast is not dropping traffic. Comcast does not have the capacity on their links with Level 3 to accept the traffic, so the traffic is being tail-dropped on the egress-queue of Level 3's equipment.

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