Ah, the joy of internet data caps! Because nothing says 'welcome to the 21st century' like being throttled for actually using your broadband. CNET explains how to avoid those sneaky overage fees. Ever hit your cap mid-download? Share your pain!
#Internet #DataCaps #Broadband #TechHumor #ConsumerTech
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/internet-data-caps-explained-avoid-extra-charges-and-make-most-of-your-internet-plan/#ftag=CAD590a51e
#dataCaps
Ah, the mythical 'unlimited' data plan. It's like finding a unicorn that only eats data after you hit your 'soft cap.' This CNET piece spills the beans on how to dodge those sneaky overage fees and find a truly bottomless pit for your internet needs. What's the most outrageous data cap story you've heard? #Internet #DataCaps #TechHumor #Broadband https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/internet-data-caps-explained-how-to-avoid-overages-and-find-unlimited-plans/#ftag=CAD590a51e
Weekly output: Mark Vena podcast, Verizon customer service, AI fair use, Comcast ditches data caps, Aurora’s autonomous trucks, age verification for porn sites, Universal Service Fund, Trump tariffs
The first half of this year is almost in the books, which means I’m thinking of a few longer pieces that I’d meant to have seen published and paid for by now but instead have yet to start writing.
Patreon readers got an extra post from me this week: a recap of how Uber rides in Mexico City helped me realize how much trouble cheap Chinese EVs are going to cause for Tesla.
6/23/2025: Ep 112 SmartTechCheck Podcast — Apple WWDC 25, Apple Intelligence, OpenAI device, Trump phone, Mark Vena
I suggested that this podcast cover the exercise in commercialized cult worship that is Trump Mobile. Two days after we recorded the show, that site’s description of the T1 phone that it plans to sell changed from “proudly made right here in the USA” to “brought to life right here in the USA.”
6/24/2025: Verizon Touts Upgraded Customer Service Push: Will It Make a Difference?, PCMag
Put me down as a skeptic of the difference that customer service can make in broadband: I can’t remember when I last called either my wireless carrier or my Internet provider for help.
6/24/2025: Judge: It’s Fair Use to Train AI on Books You Bought, But Not Ones You Pirated, PCMag
I found this case interesting for two reasons: It did not involve any claims of AI plagiarism and it allowed for a distinction between training AI models on purchased content and training it on pirated material. That last point should have Silicon Valley nervious, since so many large firms–hi, Meta–could not resist taking that copyright-infringing shortcut.
6/26/2025: Comcast’s New Plans Dump the Data Caps, PCMag
This is a post I have wanted to be able to write for years. I guess seeing enough subscribers flee for unlimited-data offerings of fiber and fixed-wireless services had a persuasive effect on Comcast’s management that my own posts denouncing this exercise in abuse of market power did not.
6/27/2025: Aurora hits a self-driving trucking milestone, Fast Company
One of my editors suggested that Aurora launching commercial deliveries via its self-driving trucks meant it was time to revisit the company I’d profiled for Fast Co. last summer. Conveniently enough, Aurora’s president Ossa Fisher was one of the speakers at Web Summit Vancouver, allowing me to interview her IRL during that conference.
6/27/2025: Sorry, Pornhub Fans: Supreme Court Upholds Texas Age-Verification Law, PCMag
I had this case on my list of opinions to look for on the Supreme Court’s site Friday morning, with an idea that my lede would have to reference Avenue Q’s “The Internet Is For Porn” regardless of the outcome. I’m surprised nobody else seems to have gone with that. After publication, my editor added statements about the decision from a few interested parties.
6/27/2025: That ‘Universal Service Charge’ on Your Phone Bill Isn’t Going Away, PCMag
As I was working on a post about the Texas case, I saw this opinion pop up and realized that I should write about that as well. In the hours that passed, my inbox accumulated comments from a variety of groups–including telecom trade associations that in other scenarios want the government to butt out–applauding this decision.
6/28/2025: For Electronics Makers in Latin America, the Roller-Coaster Ride Is Worse Than Just Paying a High Tariff, PCMag
I started writing this piece from my hotel in Mexico City hours before my departure and then needed another week to check with NielsenIQ to see if they had any stats about the effects of tariffs on the country and then find time to finish and file the thing.
#ageVerification #AITraining #Anthropic #Aurora #autonomousTrucks #autonomousVehicles #Comcast #ComcastDataCaps #copyright #dataCaps #ElectronicsHomeMexico #FirstAmendment #LLMs #MarkVena #podcast #SupremeCourt #tariffs #UniversalServiceFund #USF #VerizonCustomerService #VerizonSupport #Vz #Xfinity
Stung by customer losses, Comcast says all its new plans have unlimited data https://arstechni.ca/yPor #datacaps #Comcast #Policy
Oh, cable companies are comparing data caps to restaurant menus? Imagine if Olive Garden charged you $10 every time you exceeded their "unlimited" breadsticks limit! 🍝
Next they'll tell us buffet restaurants should charge by the bite. Nice try, ISPs. Internet access isn't a luxury menu item. #DataCaps #BroadbandAccess
Please ban data caps, Internet users tell #FCC
#isp #datacaps
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/please-ban-data-caps-internet-users-tell-fcc/
The FCC is looking into the impact of broadband data caps and why they still exist
FCC approved a notice of inquiry to examine whether data caps harm consumers and competition, as well as why data caps persist “despite increased broadband needs” and the “technical ability to offer unlimited data plans"
#FCC #broadband #internet #ISP #connectivity #datacaps #data #technology #tech
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24271148/fcc-data-cap-impact-consumers-inquiry
The FCC takes aim at broadband data caps | PCWorld
"it’s important to note that this new FCC inquiry covers both standard “landline” internet access and mobile access, the latter of which the Commission has been more hesitant to regulate over presumably justified limits to manage ballooning wireless traffic on limited spectrum. It’s a big change in the scope of the FCC’s authority."
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2491457/the-fcc-takes-aim-at-broadband-data-caps.html
#FCC #Republican opposes #regulation of data caps with analogy to coffee refills
#datacaps
data caps should be illegal. I shouldn't have the equivalent of 1990s dial-up in the 2020s.
Most internet companies are failing cable companies that can’t keep up with the costs of infrastructure so speeds are lagging behind and prices are going through the roof. (I pay $30 a month for 2GB fiber and zero data caps. What are you paying and what are you getting for that?)
Data caps are an example of artificial scarcity because bits themselves aren't a finite resource. This is different to bandwidth and storage which can genuinely be limited.
Everybody gets to play the little storage game I play now.
Baldur's Gate 3 just got a HUGE update - Desk Chair Analysts
https://dcanalysts.net/baldurs-gate-3-just-got-a-huge-update/
#BaldursGate3 #Bandwidth #DataCaps #LarianStudios #Storage #Update #GamingNews
Me to #Xfinity : I can haz unlimited data?
Xfinity: Sure
Me: Thanks!
Xfinity: ...you need our super duper special router tho.
Me: ...Why? I'm not getting a speed increase, I just want you to turn the data limit off.
Xfinity: 🤷 💰 ?
#news #fcc #datacaps #evilinternetproviders
FCC Wants to Investigate Broadband Data Caps and How They Affect Consumers
It's about damn timem!
The FCC is preparing to take a 'fresh look' at internet data caps | Engadget https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-is-preparing-to-take-a-fresh-look-at-internet-data-caps-084245899.html?src=rss
#FCC chair to investigate exactly how much everyone hates data caps
#isp #datacaps
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948619
The FCC is starting to turn its eye to internet data caps. If you care to offer them your input about your caps experience, here's the form for you!
Data Caps Experience Form – FCC Complaints https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/16136257875348-Data-Caps-Experience-Form
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