racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

There are a lot of bandwidth checking tools around, but speakeasy.net/speedtest and speedtest.net are a few of my favorites because of their simplicity. Also, speedtest.net lets me compare the speed of my local connection to the speed of my actual connection to the world (see my previous post ranting about Sky’s speed problems of late).

I’ve been trying to do some speed testing just recently, when I noticed I couldn’t access both speedtest.net and speakeasy.net . I initially thought that either these two services were down or I was having problems connecting to the rest of the world (much like during the December Taiwan earthquake, where the country’s major pipes were severed).

But I tried accessing these sites from a remote server I had management access to, and I could connect fine (speed was really fast, actually). I asked friends on other ISPs and the sites were also okay from their end. So I got suspicious and did some more network testing. It seems that whenever I try to access either of these sites, I just keep going around in circles, and I don’t really get beyond the Bayantel / SkyDSL servers. I’m stuck between 7600-gw4.bti.net.ph and gatewaynet-v50-rsvt-7606.bti.net.ph, which I assume are both Bayantel’s servers because of the bti.net.ph domain.

See screenshots of traceroute operations below.

Trying to access speedtest.net

Trying to access speakeasy.net/speedtest

I’m wondering if this is a deliberate move by Sky to prevent users from testing their DSL vs. practical connection speeds.

There are still alternatives, of course. There is dslreports.com/stest and bandwidthplace.com/speedtest . Of coures, there’s ookla.com, but as of my last checking, that site isn’t accessible either! And guess what–I get the similar traceroute results.

Something’s fishy here, Bayantel. You know I often recommend you guys whenever someone asks me about broadband/DSL. Now I might point people elsewhere.

Close to a decade ago, several of my dad’s high school friends who migrated to the US came home to the Philippines for a reunion of sorts. They were here to introduce a new web-based business system they were part of, called SkyBiz. This was actually a multi-level marketing system for selling web space and web builder packages (remember, that was the late 1990′s; think Web 0.9). We bought in, thinking of the great opportunities. I was, after all, techie-oriented. Dad was business-minded (ten years after, we’re a little of both!).

It turned out the business was a scam–a classic pyramid scam. True, a great number of MLM and direct-selling based businesses are legitimate (and big business worldwide), but this was just not one of them.

Distribution of $20 million dollars in consumer redress will begin in the near future for victims of SkyBiz, an alleged massive international pyramid operation based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The money for consumer redress is part of a settlement between the pyramid’s promoters and the Federal Trade Commission, which charged that their scheme violated federal laws. The settlement also bars the defendants from participating in pyramid schemes in the future, and bars them from misrepresenting business ventures. It bars one defendant from engaging in any multilevel marketing programs for life and bars three others from engaging in multilevel marketing programs in the for periods ranging from seven to 22 years.

I had actually forgotten about this for a few years, until I got curious about my online dealings in the past and Googled up a handful of names I could remember. SkyBiz was one of them. And the first few results were about the class action suit for SkyBiz. So I signed up. I couldn’t remember our actual account numbers and names, but the people over at the law firm were glad to help us get our needed information (we gave our full names, addresses, telephone numbers at that time, and the few keywords we recalled from our account names).

I then shelved the idea of receiving funds from them since we were advised it might take long to process.

So I was surprised to receive email just a few minutes ago that the SkyBiz Redress program was already sending out funds in the form of Mastercard debit cards. I’m not expecting a big amount, but the thought of justice being served, and that we were part of some benefits package, is comforting. I’m thinking the refund amount would at least cover for some hosting/domain expenses, and hopefully a full tank (or two) of gas!

But it’s in US Dollars, so I do hope establishments here won’t have a problem processing transactions with the card. Nonetheless, I do hope we get our cards soon!

My brother B.A. ran into some persistent callers a few months back, and he found out these callers were part of MLM business trying to recruit him. I advised him that there are legit MLM businesses, and I’ve actually tried these (another company, not SkyBiz), and there are scams. I posted a couple of comments because the comment thread had turned into a flamewar zone, I had to intervene (supposedly neutral, but hey I’m opinionated).

I quote a paragraph I wrote there. This is how I do business, the Web 2.0 way.

True, business almost always entails networking. But some people misconstrue “networking” to be the ol’ pyramid/binary type recruitment where you have to recruit at least two people, who would have to recruit two each and so forth. To me, networking means connecting to people, and connecting people. You don’t necessarily have to have business dealings with anyone. But the fact that you’re connecting–as friends, associates, business partners, colleagues–builds up your reputation and your network of people. You will almost always find people to help you out this way.

If any of you guys are part of the redress program, congrats! Tell me if you’ve received your gift cards already.

Global Knowledge Associates will hold a seminar on Ethical Hacking this Friday, March 3, from 1 to 5 p.m.

If you’re interested, please get in touch with Sandra at (632) 637-3657 / 683-0969 or via email at Sandra@globalknowledgeph.com.

Course fee is PhP 500.00 and will include materials, snacks, CD & certificate.

(via email from Sandra Medalla)

Global Knowledge Associates slashes its Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures course fee by almost 60% for Pinoy.tech.blog and the J Spot readers! Check it out at PTB.

Just when you think the only trouble you can get from vieweing pictures on your computer is getting caught by your boss while viewing pics deemed NSFW (or worse, getting caught by your wife), here comes the Windows Metafile (WMF) exploit.

Just any attempt to display images, even those teensy thumbnails (info on which are actually contained in the WMF) makes you vulnerable. You don’t even have to click on anything to be infected. Just viewing an image on a website or inline in an email message makes you vulnerable.

Check out my latest post on Pinoy.tech.blog.