Random Drivel

Using two different bandwidth tests and using wired/wireless connections, I’m still not sure what my actual bandwidth is from Brighthouse Networks. I’m pretty sure I’m paying for 7mbps down speed, but I’m not sure under what circumstances. Obviously, wireless has a higher latency and slower speed than wired, as shown by the below tests connecting to a server in Los Angeles:

Wireless:

Wired:

The other test, from Bandwidth Place, told me I had 3mbps down wired and 1mbps down when wireless. I’m still not sure which is right, but I spend most of my time on wireless from the laptop. Anyway, the whole reason I did this test was because I pay an obscene amount of money every month for this so called 7mbps service, and I’m not sure if its worth it. I can save $15 a month ($180 a year) by downgrading to the Road Runner Lite, which is I think 768kbps (more than 7 times slower, but about 15 times faster than dialup). I seriously think I’m being ripped off.

2 top GOP hopefuls to skip Iowa straw poll:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/07/iowa.straw.poll.ap/index.html

Romney has claimed that he will win this poll due to Guiliani and McCain opting out. I think that is a blantant show of hubris, because, Boy! Won’t he have egg on his face in the event that he does not win.

Again, no mention of any of the so-called “2nd-tier” candidates, all of which have a shot at taking home top honors.

I’ve been paying attention to the Presidential debates, and the most recent set of Democrat and Republican debates on CNN exhibited a noticable amount of disparity among the candidates speaking time. After a bit of searching to find if anyone logged their times, I discovered that the team for Chriss Dodd (D) catalouged time for not only the Dems, but also the GOP! If that’s not unbiased, I don’t know what is. Thank you, Dodd. Here are the GOP results:

http://www.chrisdodd.com/node/1382

My candidate for the 2008 elections is GOP candidate Ron Paul. Dr. Ron Paul ran for the Libertarian party in 1988, but has been a 10 term congressman for the state of Texas. The self-described “Champion of the Constitution”, he believes strongly in individual rights. He is the only candidate who opposed the Iraq War, and favors an immediate withdraw. He is against Income Tax, the PATRIOT Act, and is in favor of reduction of Government.

According to the graph above, it appears as if moderator Wolf Blitzer is leading the pack of GOP candidates, despite not even running for office. Closely following him are the Media annointed chosen candidates of Giuliani, McCain, and Romney. Ron Paul and the rest of the so-called “2nd tier” candidates trailed by halfway or more. Despite this, Ron Paul consistently gains ground in online opinion polls, with popular vote claiming he won all three debates. It remains to be seen if, when the time comes, his online popularity will translate to the ballot box as the GOP Primaries begin.