The Lights Are Back On!
Utility power was restored at 4:15pm CDT today. Power went off at around 2am Saturday, Sept 13th. That means we were off-grid for 10 days and 12 hours.
Encouraging Signs: Utility Crews Down The Street
We are ever-so-pleased to report the presence of Baltimore Gas & Electric (BG&E) crews working at either end of our street as of 11:30am today. Word from the crew boss is that power could be restored later today or tomorrow…
English Is A Dynamic Language
For example: Ike has new verb context. To be "Iked" is to be left in the dark for a long time as the result of a de-regulatory process.
Conference Call Etiquette
Listening to the recording of last Friday's Calliflower conference call with Alec Saunders on Skype & SIP peering I must say that I was embarrassed for the host. There's a tremendous amount of background noise in the call recording from…
Skype vs Gizmo5: On Open Networks
Over the past week Skype has been making some waves, starting with a speech at ITXPO where they declared “VOIP is Dead.” Then Michael Robertson of Gizmo5 fired back in response to their petition to the FCC arguing for more open wireless networks (aka cellular.) What folly, a closed network operator (Skype) preaching open networks to other closed network operators (cellular carriers.)
Dan York has collected up the actions & reactions, as well as the Calliflower conference call on the matter from last Friday. Michael Robertson was on that call. It’s definitely worth a listen.
Houston Utilities In The Post-Ike Period
Now I still have a major issue with AT&T, and very much prefer to not give them my business. However, in The Woodland Heights neighborhood where I live we have now been without electricity and cable tv for 9 days. That in an of itself is bad but not entirely unexpected.
The unexpected part is that we have not seen ANY Centerpoint or Comcast branded vehicles in the area. Accepting that Centerpoint, the electrical distribution utility, is using help from utilities all over the state I can say that we have not seen any kind of electrical utility vehicles in the neighborhood, branded for whomever.