This is a non technical post to add even more pressure on myself than the actual investment of my new bike and associated equipment.

I found it was about time to add some physical fitness to my life other than moving from the computer to get coffee or to and from the car on my way to work

So this is a promise to myself (and now to the rest of the world I guess) that I will ride my new racing bike to and from work whenever the weather permits (read not snow or ice).  However, I might need a few weeks of training to actually physically be able to get to work on a bike

Scott Hanselman suggests a new term to use among us geeks to save time. Scott propose:

We need a word that says "I know tech" when you're on the phone with tech support, you'd just say "Fizzbin" and they'd know.

His preferred conversation would go like this:

"Hi, Internet Tech Support...what's your issue?"

"Fizzbin."

"You have an IP?"

"No. Your DHCP isn't passing out IPs. Am I banned?"

"Looks like your MAC is xxxx, you've been running a torrent?"

"Yes, I'll stop."

"Cool. You're un-banned. Fizzbin."

"Sweet. Catch you later."

Neat!

PS! This article is about Norwegian wireless broadband's, but you might find similar solutions in your country.

A couple of years ago I considered buying a subscription for a wireless broadband from ICE to use when I was out traveling or at our lodge. ICE uses the old mobile network in Norway (NMT 450) at 450 MHz which had and still has a great mobile coverage in Norway (though not used for mobile phones anymore). This network has a max down speed of 3,1 Mit/s and upload of 1,8 Mbit/s. However, at the time the subscription was too expensive (around 400kr/$80/£50) per month. It was not an option to have both a fixed broadband at home and the wireless subscription on top of that. Recently though they have started to offer a different subscription based on usage. Or actually it's a subscription where you pay for one week at the time, which is more attractive but still quite expensive if you're just using it in the weekends. However, having this as an option to get on the Internet when you absolutely have to is of great value. DinSide.no has an article about ICE.

Another company offering a similar concept is Telenor. Telenor offer wireless through normal GSM network (EDGE/3G/Turbo-3G). They has several subscription options from monthly, weekend to just usage. You can find more info here. There's also a test by DinSide.no here.

A third company (NetCom) also provide this service. Their subscription services is very similar to Telenor's, except they don't offer usage only.

Common for all of these is that you'll need a USB modem that your provider will provide as part of your subscription. Some providers let you use your mobile phone or your PC modem with a SIM card instead.

1. Open the command windows (DOS) (Somehow all our customers knew how to do this)
2. Write A: followed by Enter (Return)
3. Write install.bat followed by Enter (Return)
   

My internet provider (NextGenTel) sent me an email about 10 months ago, informing me that my speed was upgraded with no additional cost, which is quite normal for internet providers. My down speed isn’t that important, but the upload speed hasn’t been that great, so an increase here was good news (probably good news for my blog readers as well). Anyway, from time to time I visit a Norwegian site (www.dinside.no) to check my up/down speeds. I’ve done this both before and after the upgrade and the speed has always been the same. So I thought I had to call my internet provider some day. As time passed I finally got around calling them 10 months later and it turns out I was right.

“Your internet connection has not been upgraded. We will issue an order for “them” to fix it, and you’ll get a refund for the 10 months that has passed.”

Jeff Atwood at Coding Horror raises this question in his blog. Are we in a new bubble right now? Will it burst? What’s different in this bubble compared to the previous one?

Personally I think the amount of companies that are in today’s dot-com bubble is fewer than in pre 2000. I defiantly see some signs from the previous bubble. E.g. the value on companies like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and the like are ridiculously high. I think most of us are not in a dot-com bubble, but that we are in some kind of bubble I’m sure of. At least here in Norway, IT-consultants probably have more to do now than back in 2000, the stock market is great and the salaries are climbing to new heights. But is this because of dot-com’s? I don’t think so. My understanding of the stock market and the financial side of this debate is not my strong side, so I’ll rest my case and won’t analyze it, but you may feel free to do so.