HTTP to HTTPS Forwards Please

Posted on the June 27th, 2008 under Rants, Technology / Computing by Joshua Glemza

Why do some sites that require a secure connection not automatically forward you to the secure site? How hard is it to do? Not very! (with Apache at least)

#How about a simple .htaccess file in the webroot?
#Force SSL for example.hwarf.com
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} example.hwarf.com
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} !443
RewriteRule ^(.*) https://example.hwarf.com/ [R,L]

Hopefully some sites will pay attention to this. I’m not mentioning any URLs.

Digital Photo Frames

Posted on the June 17th, 2008 under Rants by Joshua Glemza

What is the deal with the majority of digital photo frames having a 16×9 aspect ratio? The vast majority of digital cameras take pictures in either 2:3 or 3:4. So who was the genius that though we should stretch our pictures when we view them on a device that’s sole purpose is to display pictures! I guess my PowerShot does have a 16:9 mode, but I’m probably one of very few who actually use that feature. And what about my DSLR? Pictures from that should be what this device is designed for!

Time Warner Cable / Road Runner - The Rip Off

Posted on the May 30th, 2008 under Rants, Technology / Computing by Joshua Glemza

After 6 months with Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner Internet service at home I was hit with a nice surprise. Month 7th would cost me $70.95, instead of the $44.95 that was/is advertised on their site. For some reason my location does not get their standard pricing. While my initial service was great, below I’ve identified some issues I have with Time Warner that has led me to cancel my account.
  • Their 800 Number - Whenever I try to call their customer support number I have to call at least five to ten times to get through. For some reason I keep getting a busy signal. Annoying!
     
  • Hold Times - It takes about 10-15 minutes to get someone on the phone. I really wish I would’ve bought a speakerphone.
     
  • Getting Bounced Around - During my first of three calls I was bounced around to three different operators that could not help me. However, before I reached the third person I was conveniently lost in phone-space and had to call back.
     
  • Lack of Logic - There was no good explanation as to why the Road Runner service costs so much more in my area than someone who lives a couple miles from me.
     
  • Customer Support Staff - While the staff was very nice, they were unable to help me. It was quite frustrating having someone tell me, “I agree that $70.95 is ridiculous and I have no idea why it is priced that way. I can understand why you would want to cancel.”
As of next week I will no longer be a Road Runner customer and have since signed up with the Windstream Greenstreak service. The biggest disappointment about their DSL service is that they claim I only qualify for 3Mbps service. After living with 7Mbps and 15Mbps for the last year and a half, 3Mbps is going to feel pretty slow. I guess no more streaming HD movies from the iTunes store to the AppleTV.