My cable modem is from Roadrunner / Times Warner. They called last week, said my connection appeared to be slow,  and could they come and fix it free. Today, they replaced the wire from the pole to the house, and swapped the old 3 mbps modem for a new, faster, 5 mbps modem. No charge. I’m impressed.

Sure, they’re doing this because they need a bigger pipe to feed more customers, however their service, in the several years I’ve had it, has been rock-solid with practically zero downtime. And when I call tech support, they know the answer. This is a company that gets it.

Friends with DSL usually say their connection can be a bit flaky, with highly varied response times and download speeds. Cable modems appear to be both faster and more dependable.

On downloads, I generally get 300-400 kps. With the new modem, it’ll probably be faster. I’ve noticed that Firefox  downloads way faster than Internet Explorer, like sometimes it’s so fast I can’t believe it downloaded a 4 MB file in 2 seconds, so I check and sure enough, it’s there. Anyone else notice this?

Update: The new modem just downloaded a 3.8 MB file at 560 kps!

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Dr. Bonner’s wins DEA battle to allow hemp in its soap.

(Actually, commercial hemp, which is legally grown in Europe and Canada, has no THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and is all stalk and no leaf, which makes it completely useless for getting high.)

And I for one, am not even slightly startled by learning that Dubya smoked weed. He grew up in the 60’s. Next question. That he lied about it is unsurprising, given his general penchant for lying and the hypocrisy of most middle aged politicians, including Bill “I didn’t inhale” Clinton, about their past.

Full disclosure: I consumed mass quantities of alcohol and drugs and have had neither for many years now.

Update: (emphasis added)

California Legislature Considers Industrial Hemp

NORML is pleased to announce that Assembly Bill 1147, an act to legalize the licensed cultivation of industrial hemp, has been introduced in the California Assembly. Now is the time to contact your state Assembly Member and urge him or her to allow licensed farmers to cultivate this important agricultural commodity.

The United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop, according to a 2005 Congressional Resource Service (CRS) report. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa that contains only minute (less than 1%) amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Farmers worldwide grow hemp commercially for fiber, seed, and oil for use in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including food.

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Hunter Thompson’s political instincts and radar were scary. There were few in American politics anywhere near him. A couple years ago, he released two volumes of letters from the 50s and 60s. In 1965, Thompson was living in San Francisco and had covered the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. The Hippies weren’t even happening yet, and General Electric’s Ronald Reagan was just beginning to add politics to his long running television career. But in a letter he wrote that year, 1965, Thompson looked into America’s future, he didn’t see Berkeley, he saw Reagan – that’s deep, heavy political mojo Bubba.

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A US marine, captured on film shooting a wounded Iraqi at point blank range during last year’s assault on Falluja, will not be formally charged.

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