Comcast today announced that it was ending its policy of capping data usage at 250 GB per month. The cap policy has been in place since October of 2008, and has caused many to question the wisdom of a business turning turning away customers for using its product. It was a policy to lighten load on the network in a time when streaming video (a major cause of high bandwidth usage) was relatively uncommon and roused suspicions of piracy. Now, people are much more regularly pulling large-file video content from services like Netflix and Hulu, and the caps make even less sense than they did 4 years ago. And Comcast-affiliated services like Xfinity TV and HBO Go that bump up customers’ usage certainly contributed to the issue and a need for resolution.

Comcast’s new plan includes a couple of trial approaches, as the company determines what will work best.

The first plan is a multi-tiered approach, which would give users of the Internet Essentials, Economy, and Performance plans 300 GB initial allotments, and give higher performance plans, such as Blast and Extreme, higher initial allotments. All plans would have the ability to purchase further blocks of data at prices such as $10 per 50 GB.

The second trial approach starts all plan levels at 300 GB and offers the same $10 per 50 GB for additional needs.

In markets where neither of these trials are in effect, the previous 250 GB cap will simply be lifted. Comcast did not have details on what markets will see which treatments.

Will you use your connection any differently now? Did you worry about having your service cut off due to watching too many movies on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.

Tip a Day #22

There’s a whole world of amazing toilets out there, but most people are stuck with hopelessly old tech in that category. Don’t let fear of changing out a toilet keep you using something sub-standard. It’s easy, and I’m going to show you how.

Removal Tip: When you’re taking out the old toilet, make sure you use a dolly to make removal easier, and wrap it in a giant 55-gallon garbage bag to keep it from spilling water everywhere.

Now you’re ready to install:

Step 1 Lay out all the pieces and hardware.

Step 2 Attach the gasket and bolts to the opening in the floor, then lower the toilet onto them. Secure with the included plastic nuts, but only get them hand-tight.

Step 3 Put the seal on the bottom of the tank. Then put the rubber grommets through the bolt holes in the bottom of the tank, then run the bolts through them.

Step 4 Put the tank in place and secure with washers and the special bolts included for this step.

Step 5 Put the toilet lid in place, securing with bolts on the back.

Step 6 Connect the water line.

Step 7 Test the flush – it might take a couple of tries before the water flow is completely primed.

By the way, if you’re looking for a new toilet, I highly recommend the American Standard dual-flush model we installed here. You can find it on Amazon for under $300. Well worth it in my opinion, and after installing 4 of these in our house we have yet to experience any kind of stoppage – which was occurring constantly before.

That’s it, and you are ready to enjoy all that toilet technology the 21st century has to offer!

Learn something new every day!

But that’s not all. Thanks to the Copyblogger team for starting up their new Synthesis Web hosting division! Their service is engineered for speed, reliability, and most importantly can easily handle high traffic sites like OneMansBlog.com. I’m sure you’ve noticed the massive speed improvement on the site in the last couple of days, and that’s due 100% to the Synthesis team.

But wait! There’s more! When Scott and the Synthesis boys were trying to get everything fixed and moved, they encountered some hidden malware in the OMB theme files on the old server. That is enough to freak anyone out; but in this case the boys over at Securi went in and completely cleaned everything up!

Wow! What fantastic service! And if you ever get any sort of WordPress virus, infection, etc. you need to turn to the experts to get it taken care of. Better yet, sign up for ongoing protection and sleep well at night.

Anyway, that is the quick update. What does everyone think about the new design and the site performance?!? I’m loving it. Hope you do to…

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A rare tornado touches down Northeast Of Tokyo, Japan. In this case, the tornado gets so close to the cameraman that you can see the windows blow out next door from the air pressure:

A train derails near Texarkana, Arkansas. While this police officer (And others heard on the radio) surround this nighttime accident site for a bit, one of the derailed cars leaked gasoline which would lead to a dramatic series of explosions:

In this final clip, members of the U.S. Military are traveling in Iraq, when a large underground IED explodes under the road. The driver narrowly misses getting within the explosion:

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Edge.sound Packs Big Audio in a Small Box

Edge.sound is a new Bluetooth speaker on Kickstarter. With 10 – 14 hours of battery time and up to 95db of audio, it looks like it could be a worthy competitor to the Jawbone Jambox.

Use Your Cell Phone in Flight

Want to use your cell phone on a commercial flight? You can! On one airline, on a single plane, under very specific conditions.

Sea Lion Brings Speed on Land or Sea

If you you’ve got a spare $259,500 and a desire to drive the fastest amphibious vehicle around, check out the Sea Lion.

Are you in the mood for a movie tonight? How about taking in a screening of one of the all-time classics of American cinema, “Casablanca”? The good news is, it’s showing near you. In fact, you won’t have to go any farther than Facebook to see it.

The social network is teaming up with Warner Brothers to help promote the 70th anniversary of the film, and the associated Blu-ray/DVD set of “Casablanca”. The film will be shown twice the evening of May 16th, at 7 PM Eastern, and 7 PM Pacific, but don’t plan to hang around and catch it twice, each Facebook account is limited to only one viewing. Even online, the ushers will chase you out.

Full details can be found in this press release from Warner Brothers, and on the Facebook page for “Casablanca”. Unfortunately, the Facebook showings are US-only.

It seems like the world of high-end geek toys always has a few things like cool cars and personal watercraft available. But when you get the two combined, it’s really worth taking note. And if you have a free $259,000, it could be yours.

Sea Lion was created to be the world’s fastest amphibious vehicle. The current amphibious world record is 125 mph on land and 60 mph in the water, and Sea Lion’s builder, M. Witt, says the current engine and configuration are capable of exceeding that. It is geared for land speeds of up to 179 mph and weighs 1280 lbs less than its fastest competitor. The shape is somewhat reminiscent of the Porsche 917, with the additions of water-tight hatches, and even more aerodynamic shaping. It’s crafted from brushed aluminum and stainless steel, with power provided by a Mazda 13B – 1974 RX4 engine. The builder suggests that the next engine should be custom built with a capacity for 300 – 600 horsepower.

For more photos, and full details on the car – and the opportunity to buy it – check out its page at Fantasy Junction.

(via The Verge)

Tip A Day #22

Okay, so you’re on YouTube watching your favorite show, Geek Beat, but you’re constantly being distracted by everything AROUND the video. All you want to do is watch the video, and then after it’s done you want to explore the site to see what else there is. Am I right? Here’s how you get rid of the distractions.

Use a browser extension called Turn Off the Lights. There are lots of options, but this is the one I use.

They have versions for most browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer and Opera.

Step 1 Choose the browser you use.

Step 2 Download and install.

Step 3 When you’re watching a video, click the lightbulb button at the top of your browser.

The background will go dark so you can focus on the video. When you’re ready to see the site again, just click anywhere on the page.

The one downside is that you can’t pause and rewind while the extension is active. But it is free!

When things explode, it’s quite a sight to see from a distance. However with these three clips, the people operating the camera were far too close in these instances:

A rare tornado touches down Northeast Of Tokyo, Japan. In this case, the tornado gets so close to the cameraman that you can see the windows blow out next door from the air pressure:

A train derails near Texarkana, Arkansas. While this police officer (And others heard on the radio) surround this nighttime accident site for a bit, one of the derailed cars leaked gasoline which would lead to a dramatic series of explosions:

In this final clip, members of the U.S. Military are traveling in Iraq, when a large underground IED explodes under the road. The driver narrowly misses getting within the explosion:

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TV Works to Integrate Social Media

TV’s been trying to integrate with social media for a while now, but judging by the strong message coming out of last month’s National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, the push is just beginning.

Your Tablet as “Second Screen”

One strategy is to feed social content related to your shows to tablets, making them a second screen to bring a social experience to your viewing.

Integration in Live Sports

For a lot of people, live sports is what makes them hang onto their cable subscription. Sports programming has already done a lot with social media, but there’s room for much more.

Do You Want TV to Get More Social?

This is all coming your way – how do you feel about it? Would social integration enhance the viewing experience and make you more likely to watch? Or would it just distract from the program?