When did it get to the point that our computer systems became our masters? After recently moving, and being assured by the technician from my local cable company that all was well at my new residence, I find that my digital cable is not working, and port 80 (thats the one that does your web browsing) is being forwarded to the now infamous “Walled Garden” landing page.
I call the automated (ugh) phone system, click through 15 different steps in 3 different languages, wait on hold for an hour, wait on hold again, talk to a “senior technician (he finished the ENTIRE 7 day training program) only to be told there is a problem with my account. They send out another technician the next day. This guy is actually smart enough to figure out what is going on, and after some discussion with my local cable office, I find out what has happened. The previous resident did not officially disconnect their telephone service through the cable company, and since this service is not scheduled to be turned off for another 4 days, the COMPUTER SYSTEM won’t let the “senior technician” turn my service on.
The tech that actually came to my house was nice enough to bring me what he called a “hot box” that allowed me to have all the channels the cable company offered until they get this resolved, (supposedly in 4 days) but in the meantime I am without internet. (I mean.. i can go through a proxy to get around their walled “garden” or VPN into work, or use one of the open wireless connections from some surrounding houses), but the service that I pay over $140 dollars per month for is not working.
I am amazed that the computer system is actually in total control of the cable system…maybe Skynet is not such a far fetched idea after all.