"Unlimited Internet Usage" not actually "Unlimited"

Yup, just as the title describes; Unlimited doesn't actually mean unlimited! I'm in the UK and of course, we have many different internet companies such as "TalkTalk" and such. i'm currently with a company known as "British Telecoms" (BT for short, a.k.a Bloody t**ts)

Now then, you've probably heard all these internet companies giving away "unlimited usage of up to MB broadband". As I recall, these can sometimes include "Unlimited Phone Line Usage" and of course, the cheap television service. Usually, I would be one to jump at the chance of being promised "Unlimited Internet usage for £18" but of course; theirs always a catch!!!

I used to be with AOL at one point, after the Asian telephone person told me the same technological bo**ocks over and over again thinking i didn't know he was taking the mick and hadn't a clue what he was on about! (which, to be honest, he sounded as confused as a cat with a bird on the other side of a window)

Now then, im currently on BT's "Total Brodban Option 3" which gave me the promise of unlimited usage with up to 20mb speeds... big emphasis on the "UP TO" (lets face it, i only know one person who gets just over 19MB and they life in the middle of no-where...) Now then, i recieved the most ridiculous email ever:

Dear Customer,

We thought you'd like to know that your broadband usage in June is now above 80GB.

In accordance with our Fair Usage Policy, and to protect the online experience of all our customers, if your monthly broadband usage goes over 100GB, we'll restrict your broadband speed at peak times (typically this is between 5pm and 12am, but these times may change depending on the demands on the network) to 1Mbps for 30 days.

Please note: your service won't be affected in any other way - we'll restrict only your speed, not the amount you can upload and download.

We'll email you again to let you know if your usage exceeds 100GB. For more information, please see our Fair Usage Policy.

HOLD IT!! (Good ol' Phoenix Wright) I was promised that i would get unlimited broadband, surely that can't be right? well, looks like the fish is stuck in the net... I've been had!!

on BT's fancy lil web page, it doesn't mention anything about my downloading having a limit!!! oh but it does, i missed one tiny little problem... the little symbol next to each little detail. not many people want to read small print so they ignore those symbols (such as ^ and *) but, unfortunately you have to take note!!! so what did i do? i decided to flick through a few of the pages.. and when i found this "Bt Option 3" it didn't mention anything about a download cap! only that the offer was extended to date xx/yy... i even looked for this so called "fair usage policy" and in the end... my old friend Google had to lend a hand...

oh no what do we have here!!! monthly usage is still "Unlimited*" for my option... and the little * leads to a "subject to netwrok management"... no help at all! so is this email REALLY genuine? hmm well the email address states it is... but wait theres more!! if you scroll down to the "network management" section... it clearly states the following:

BT Total Broadband Option 3 and BT Infinity Option 2 allow unlimited downloads and uploads within the monthly rental price, so customers on these products will not be charged for over-use. However, this does not preclude BT from reducing your speed if you are a heavy user in order to protect the experience for the rest of our customers.

so now what? i wont get charged if i go over the "100gb" limit but i will get my speed capped for 30 days if i do... well kiddos, looks like the "Unlimited web usage and up to 20mb download speeds" is a arce... leave up some comments on what you think of this and ill gladly reply! why not leave a message about a bad experience with internet providers and ill post it up in my next article and what i think?

Changing the Location Of Special Folders

Changing the Location Of Special Folders

You can modify the registry to change the location of special folders like:
My Documents
Favorites
My Pictures
Personal
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
Double click on any locations you want to change and alter the path
Logoff or restart for the changes to go into effect

Note: TweakUI from Microsoft will allow you to make these changes from a dialog box as well

Check Personal Firewall Status Tip:

Check Personal Firewall Status Tip:

How can you check the status of the connection and the firewall? Simply open Control Panel from the Start Menu, open Internet and Network Connections, then Network Connections. By default the view is of large icons.

Click the View Menu, and choose "details" in order to reveal several more columns of information about the connections that your computer has. Check the Status column to see if your connection is currently connected, and whether or not it is "firewalled." You can even drag the column headings around (I like to slide the Status column right next to the Name column. You can even remove entire columns by right-clicking the column heading and unchecking it.