Originally posted over at rgbFilter.

As we've covered many times in the past, Bell has continued to put a stranglehold on innovation in Canada's DSL infrastructure, as we've seen our rankings in the world continue to slip further back. Although slow in coming, the CRTC hearings continue regarding Bell throttling 3rd party wholesale customer, and public input for round two is open, until June 22nd.

The following letter was sent out by TekSavvy CEO Rocky Gaudrault to all customers, and details exactly how to submit your comments to the CRTC.

Dear Customers,

In March 2008 Bell started throttling its Wholesale Customers (TekSavvy among a group of many) without notice. We attempted to have the CRTC force Bell to stop as it removed our ability to do business and give Market choice. The throttling was done in the name of congestion, even if Bell, at

the same time launched higher speeds (which they did not share with their
wholesalers) and also dabbled with launching IPTV, which consumes even more capacity.

The CRTC sided with Bell in November 2008 but launched a Public Hearing to discuss Network Management Practices, clearly showing they made a decision on throttling without having all the details in hand to do so. As a result we launched a request to reverse their decision from November (The Review &
Vary) in May 2009.

The only way we are going to make a difference at this point is to get full public support to stop companies like Bell from bullying the market and the regulators! The Telecom and Cableco Monopolies control 96% of our marketplace, so if we don't stand up and voice our concerns, this will become a two party dance where choices and services are going to be completely removed and rates raised to unreasonable levels!

Here are the details on how to submit your comments:

1) Go to:
http://support.crtc.gc.ca/crtcsubmissionmu/forms/Telecom.aspx?lang=e

2) Select "Part VII / PN " from the drop down list and then click "Next"

3) In box entitled "Subject" line, insert "CRTC File #:
8662-P8-200907727"

4) In the box entitled "Description / Comments / Questions", insert any comments that you may have on the review and vary application.

5) If you would like to attach a document, select "yes" and follow the instructions for attaching a file.

As indicated in the Title, I believe the deadline is June 22nd, so don't wait to long

PS - R&V details here:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/recherche-search/?q=8662-P8-200907727

Couldn't agree more!

The latest episode of the rgbFilter podcast...

If you were planning on upgrading to a new smart phone this summer, we recommend that you give a listen to the mobile section of this episode to get an overview of what's new or soon to be released.

We also take a look at Sam Raimi's "Drag Me To Hell", "inFAMOUS" for the PS3 and "Punch Out" for the Wii, and more!

This episode marks some upgrades and changes to the production end of the show, so you'll see and especially hear a marked increase in quality (so we hope). We'll also be adding a WMV feed at a full 720x408 resolution.

Labels: podcast, rgbfilter

Ash is back, in infomercial form.

Today marks the first time that the United States has marked Canada as a 'priority' problem in the fight against intellectual property theft. This puts the largest trading partner of the US in the same rogues gallery of pirates that includes Algeria, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela amongst others.

What is most interesting about the Jolly Rogers of the North though is that of major concern is...

Washington also wants Canada to put an end to the flow of pirated and counterfeit movies and DVDs that cross its porous borders. In particular, Washington wants Canadian customs officers to be given the authority to seize pirated materials rather than have to seek a court order each time they suspect a shipment. The flow of pirated and counterfeit material not only enters Canada from abroad but much of it winds up crossing into the United States. [from The Globe & Mail]

Colour me skeptical, but if illegal DVDs getting into the US is a major concern, shouldn't the US do a better job of defending it's border from the discs? It's not surprising that the IIRA (Illuminati of the copyright world) that encompasses the MPAA, RIAA and major software makers such as Apple and Microsoft are all pleased as punch about the decision, even though in the opinions of some Canada actually has better copyright laws than the US as IP lawyer Howard Knopf pointed out last year.

The same Mr. Knopf also points out in an article today that the US has also ignored WTO rulings and quotes Sir Hugh Laddie from a London Times article...

"Of course there is counterfeiting in China, but the same goes on in the US and Europe. Pro rata, the biggest source of pirated computer software in the world in the US.”

The song remains the same though...

Dug up this little ditty that shows the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Labels: after effects, animation, ash, music

This should bump up release times for new 6.5 devices, and clear the way for Windows Mobile 7 development. Not afraid of hacking? Versions have been available at xda-developers.com for a while.

read more | digg story

Youtube video

Have another AshRants video extravaganza here. This time it's remixing corporate weasels with Vince of ShamWow fame to an original track laid down by the Asphalt Potato Jam Band. Can you dig it?

Labels: animation, ash, music

The above is an official tourism video for the city of Hakodate, Japan. Giant squid battling giant robots with local landmarks as collateral damage is nothing short of genius.

According to a survey of 100 aliens, Hakodate is the number one city they would most like to invade.

To see more videos in the series, all equally brilliant, you can hit up the Pink Tentacle link, which offers a breakdown of the back story. You can also find the rest on the official YouTube channel.

via Engadget.

Labels: destruction, giant, giant robot, japan, squid, video

A new online gaming service called OnLive was announced this week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), promising a new way to play video games via digital distribution, but will it undermine the hardware based consoles?

Instead of worrying about keeping that tricked out gaming rig up to spec, or having a big old console sitting under your TV, OnLive actually runs the games on their own servers and streams the video to you through a 1Mb browser plug-in for your computer or a "microconsole" hooked up to your monitor/HDTV. They also have a very Xbox 360-like wireless control to control the games (though I'm guessing that keyboard and mouse support will be there too), and promise a number of online community features, such as being able to watch others play a match without owning the game, their own version of achievements and much more.

Pricing for games will include a combination of subscription and purchase options, which offers a lot of flexibility, with a number of big name game developers already signed on, such as EA, Take Two Interactive, Warner Brothers, THQ and Eidos.

The idea of being free of the hardware hassles of keeping up with the Pwnses is may be liberating, though it may come with a price.

“OnLive is the most powerful game system in the world. No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence,” said Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive. “With OnLive, your video game experience is always state-of-the-art.”

[OnLive]

According to OnLive's President and CEO Steve Perlman, to get the maximum image quality of 1280 x 720, you'll need about 4 megabits worth of bandwidth, with image quality dynamically scaling back when bandwidth decreases, which would be more than a little annoying when fighting of hordes of the infected in Left 4 Dead. In comparison, a 2+ year old system with a low end Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86 GHz) and a similarly old Nvidia 7950 can run the same game at 1920 x 120o (the equivalent of 1080p).



Graphics quality isn't the only question raised by the OnLive system.

The bandwidth requirements work out to be over 1.4Gb per hour, which is equal to downloading a full copy of the game in after about 3 hours of play. In comparison, online games takes up much less data, in most cases by a factor greater than 10.

Now you'll be fighting for that bandwidth in much the same way you used to fight for control of the remote, or both suffer the pixelated consequences, even if you're playing a single player game that shouldn't require any bandwidth at all. Imagine your ISP being down, so you can't finish off the final level of Prince Of Persia.

That would be more than a little irritating.

In short, I doubt that Mr. Perlman's goal of unseating console hardware is going to happen. Gamers already used to 1080p or greater gaming experiences are not going to give up hardware for what will be an inferior visual experience that is tied to bandwidth.

It's not the OnLive product, but the dependence on the availability of real broadband from ISPs who are slow to upgrade network services, while enforcing ridiculously low monthly caps.

Don't get me wrong, as OnLive looks like it could be a decent supplement for the 'hardcore' gamer, and may also be an entry point for people looking for something more than a Wii with a lower barrier to entry than a PS3, Xbox 360 or gaming rig. With the video game industry continuing to experience solid growth every year, there's more than enough room for OnLive, without the 'hardware is dead' hyperbole.

Originally posted @ rgbFilter

Labels: games, online