I feel like from what I have seen in the infosec world, there are two camps seemingly at odds. Those who support anonymous free speech on the internet and see it as an inalienable right of free people’s and a staple of liberty in any society. And those that see anonymity as a veil they cannot pierce forever allowing their enemies to strike at them from the shadows. And so they are locked in this battle to see who will win, assuming all the while that the internet will succumb to one of their wills.

Such arrogance is both infantile and stupid. But more to the point it is dangerous. The internet is not a thing that can be controlled, if anything China proved that by splitting the bloody thing into two pieces. And as a result there is now a massive divide between the Chinese people and the rest of the world. To quote princess Leia of Alderaan, the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your grasp. And as with any web, grabbing at it like an oafish baboon will end only in tearing it apart. And doing so will have cast you still further into the darkness, and the shadows will follow you growing darker and ever more ominous yet.

We’ve spent the past 20 years getting everyone plugged into a planetary communication network. It allows finally for a truly global community to emerge. And the people that would profit most from that are hell bent on destroying it.

Why?

Fear, uncertainty and doubt remain forever demons on the shoulders of those with much to lose.

And yet at the same time because of this, I am forced to ask…

Are we over reacting to the antics of a cat picture sharing site?

And I ask this because there is so very much to lose. The Internet is the greatest step our society has taken into true maturity since the advent of the printing press. To tear it apart now because of unfounded fears, and exploitative reasoning would be tantamount to the burning of the Library at Alexandria. Should any person live to see that day, the shame would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Fear follows those with much to lose. Wisdom is the lamp that can guide you in your dark hours on the path to understanding. And the Internet can be the greatest lamp we have ever known. So if you fear the shadows. You need only look to the internet to find the understanding you need to acknowledge that those shadows have never held any monsters. Just more scared people, crying in the dark and stabbing blindly at their own weakness.

Also… pictures of cats.

Here’s some 6432 Display code for the Arduino I have been using. Figured I’d start posting some code to github. I have a lot of odds and ends floating around that I really do need to get a proper handle on.

Code Here

So once upon a time, I had time warner cable in Manhattan. I consider them to be the worst ISP I have ever dealt with. I’ve had comcast, and to be honest… comcast customers are treated like royalty compared to TWC customers.

Anyways, one night when my internet was back to dial up speeds ( as was often the case ), I contacted twc. But I got tired of sitting on hold so I did a chat conversation with them. I figured it would work better for transferring diagnostic info anyways.

What occurred was the first time in history it actually dawned on me to attempt to open a trouble ticket on a ticketing system itself.

Anyways… here is a REAL chat log of me being refused assistance by TWC as usual… and of course me attempting rather hard to force them to address their shit network.

Colleen L: Hello! Thank you for choosing Time Warner Residential Road Runner Internet Technical Chat, My name is Colleen. Before we begin, I would like to bring up your account. May I have the following three pieces of information from you please?
Colleen L: Thank you, what technical issue may we assist you with?
openfly: 41544267
openfly: is my ticket number
openfly: i am experiencing extreme latency and sporadic drops in bandwidth
Colleen L: Please go into DOS (command prompt) and type ipconfig/all.
Colleen L: Paste the results into this chat session.
openfly: Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : nyc.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI
Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-09-6B-2D-2D-B8
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 69.201.146.138
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.254.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 69.201.146.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.33.96.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.29.103.10
24.29.103.11
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, November 05, 2006 4:20:58 PM

Colleen L: We’ll run a trace together to Yahoo. This will determine where a slow point may be. In the DOS window, type in tracert www.yahoo.com (without the quotes) then press Enter. When the trace is complete, please copy the results into the chat window.
openfly: i already did a trace to google
openfly: and to rr.com
openfly: want results?
Colleen L: I would like a new one to Yahoo please.
openfly: not demonstrating the same results I was experiencing 2 hours ago. most likely due to it being midnight and most of the people in the area being asleep
openfly: but it suffices to say it was between 100ms and 1000ms at every hop with failures to several hops inside rr
openfly: and it’s been that way during peak bandwitch useage every night since it’s been installed.
openfly: also my interface is seeing arp traffic for a large portion of manhattan
openfly: over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 4294967272 ms 4294967271 ms 4294967271 ms 10.33.96.1
2 9 ms 38 ms 4294967273 ms pos0-1-nycmnyb-rtr2.nyc.rr.com [24.29.97.1
13]
3 6 ms 4294967270 ms 4294967271 ms pos3-0-nycmnyb-rtr1.nyc.rr.com [24.2
9.101.221]
4 137 ms 114 ms 145 ms 24.29.97.25
5 6 ms 4294967272 ms 5 ms tenge8-1-0.nycmnya-rtr2.nyc.rr.com [24.29.
119.130]
6 * * 95 ms tenge-3-0-0.nycsnyoo-rtr1.nyc.rr.com [24.29.119.
114]
7 * 132 ms 103 ms tenge-3-2.car3.NewYork1.Level3.net [64.156.82.81
]
8 138 ms 106 ms 106 ms ae-1-51.bbr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.68.97.1]
9 139 ms 109 ms 111 ms as-3-0.bbr2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.68.128.206
]
10 169 ms 140 ms 141 ms ae-21-52.car1.Washington1.Level3.net [4.68.121.5
0]
11 143 ms 152 ms 117 ms GOOGLE-INC.car1.Level3.net [4.79.228.38]
12 116 ms 141 ms 114 ms 72.14.232.108
13 124 ms 121 ms 122 ms 72.14.232.106

openfly: that’s indicative of what I’ve been experiencing for the majority of the day every day when I am at home.
Colleen L: Please paste the traceroute you are getting right now when going to Yahoo.com.
openfly: Tracing route to www.rr.com [24.28.193.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 137 ms 51 ms 136 ms 10.33.96.1
2 783 ms 435 ms 603 ms pos0-1-nycmnyb-rtr2.nyc.rr.com [24.29.97.113]
3 362 ms 235 ms 63 ms pos3-0-nycmnyb-rtr1.nyc.rr.com [24.29.101.221]
4 706 ms 1120 ms 681 ms 24.29.97.25
5 97 ms 429 ms 26 ms tenge8-1-0.nycmnya-rtr2.nyc.rr.com [24.29.119.13
0]
6 1033 ms 587 ms 254 ms pop2-nye-P13-3.atdn.net [66.185.141.37]
7 974 ms ^C
openfly: No.
openfly: it’s pointless
openfly: due to the current time in New York
openfly: use what i’ve given you
openfly: those were taken at 8-10pm
openfly: EST
openfly: when the problem occurs
openfly: i have been waiting for tech support since then
Colleen L: When the issue is happening is the time to contact us since we can get you to call in to be transferred to the network specialist after we gather a current traceroute and ping. The hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the phone number is 718-358-0900 or 212-674-9100.
openfly: That is impossible.
openfly: you do not staff enough techinical support to field calls in any logistically sane amount of time.
openfly: I am incapable of predicting the problem appearing two hours in advance
openfly: so i can call you and be answered in time to diagnose it
openfly: i have given you at time diagnostics
openfly: use them
Colleen L: If the issue always happens during those hours call our voice support just before it and then it can be troubleshooted.
openfly: it’s sporadic
openfly: as I said.
openfly: and therefore your solution is no solution at all stop trying to get rid of me and file a trouble ticket with the next tier.
Colleen L: In that case call us when it’s occuring and you should be able to get an agent on the phone within the time that it is happening.
openfly: you are the second person to try to get rid of me.
openfly: no
openfly: i gave you diagnostic info
openfly: i even have pcap logs
openfly: there is no reason to wait
openfly: you have all the info you need to troubleshoot.
openfly: do your job.
openfly: you can see where packet loss is occuring you can see 100ms latency problem across all hops and you can see where there are long delays and at what hops
openfly: you don’t need anything else to know the problem is either an overloaded line or that your cisco core switch is misconfigured
Colleen L: Unfortunately, we can not escalate a slow connection issue unless it’s happening during the hours you contact voice or chat support so we can gather the current traceroute and ping results for the ticket to be approvied.
Colleen L: Sorry for the typo.
openfly: so enter the ticket.
openfly: You know there is a problem
openfly: you know where it exists
openfly: you know when and i have given you all necessary diagnostic data
openfly: what is your solution?
openfly: and don’t give me one that is a technical impossibility.
openfly: 3 days into use here and already I am starting to really despise this company.
Colleen L: We gather connectivity information when the issue is happening and then if we see an issue at that time we get a ticket approved to be sent off to the network specialist to look into this for you.
openfly: you have diagnostic data from the time of the issue
openfly: enter it
openfly: fill out the ticket
openfly: it’s not a difficult problem
openfly: I’d love to be on the line with you when the problem happens
openfly: but you can’t answer your phones.
openfly: so you have to deal with diagnostic data like this
openfly: it’s your problem
openfly: deal with it.
Colleen L: We require a traceroute from Yahoo.com and a ping test from the same site during the time the issue is happening. Also, we need to run connection tests on the modem during the time in which it’s happening. This information will only show up on our end when the issue is occurring.
openfly: Okay here’s the deal… either say I am sorry I refuse to help you, and cannot provide any solution to your problem. or fill out the ticket.
Colleen L: We will be happy to assist you with this issue if you can contact us back when the issue is happening so we can gather a traceroute and ping tests from yahoo.com as well as run a test on your cable modem.
openfly: You will not be happy to do that since you are incapable of that.
openfly: we’ve covered your overloaded tech support lines in detail.
openfly: that is not an option.
openfly: so either let me know you refuse to help for no reason at all
openfly: or help me.
openfly: pick one.
openfly: it’s midnight
openfly: seriously.
openfly: either do your job or don’t.
Colleen L: Unfortunately I can not create a trouble ticket without the information I have asked for during the time in which it’s occurring.
openfly: You don’t have any ability to assist me even if I called at a time when the issue was occuring
openfly: this is pure beaurocratic workarounds so you don’t have to service a request.
openfly: you don’t have access to any of the network infrastructure necessary to diagnose a network issue
openfly: so just enter the ticket
openfly: so that someone who does have that access can check the stats on the line confirm its not overloaded
openfly: and check the switch to make sure it’s not misconfigured.
openfly: if you do that the problem will either go away or at least be exposed.
openfly: if you can’t do that then you are hurting timewarner and me.
openfly: just say you want to hurt me and time warner and its cool.
openfly: otherwise do what I am asking.
Colleen L: I can not create a trouble ticket for a connectivity issue unless the information we have asked for is provided. We have procedures to follow.
openfly: So you would agree that your procedures are impeding solving my problem, and consequently hurting me and timewarner?
Colleen L: We do have procedures to follow before any connectivity issues can be escalated. They are a traceroute, ping during the time the issue is happening. No home network can be connected (direct connection to cable modem from computer). Diagnostics from the cable modem that we can check during the time in which the connection is having an issue.
openfly: We’ve been over that. That doesn’t solve my problem. So lets talk about how you are going to solve my problem. Nothing else.
openfly: If you say something that can’t solve my issue I am going to ignore it and ask you for a solution again.
Colleen L: I can only gather the information and the escalate the issue to our network specialist if the steps indicate an issue.
openfly: That’s great how are you going to help me?
Colleen L: I can help you by creating a trouble ticket when you contact us when the issue is happening and we have the information that is required.
openfly: But I can’t you aren’t available immediately.
openfly: How can I contact you immediately?
Colleen L: Try calling our voice support and chat support when the issue is happening. The one that answers first can assist you with this.
openfly: No
openfly: because the wait time on phone is between 1 and 2 hours average
openfly: from my trend data leastways
openfly: that would not make it possible to trouble shoot this issue properly
openfly: and would be a waste of my time and time warners.
openfly: I need to be able to contact you immediately if your procedures require me to be able to provide immediate diagnostics of the issue.
openfly: if you cannot provide immediate access you must accept old log and capture data.
openfly: there’s no other way to solve the issue.
openfly: so you either provide me with a way to contact you immediately.
openfly: or you file the ticket now with the diagnostic data I have.
openfly: or third option you just tell me you are refusing to help me because your procedures prevent you from helping me.
openfly: because in reality those are the only options here.
Colleen L: When you are waiting for support gather the information that we require when the issue is happening. Once you get a hold of a phone agent of chat support then provide the results at that time.
Colleen L: The wait times are not always 1-2 hours.
openfly: So your procedures are preventing you from helping me?
openfly: Is it the case that you cannot help me because your procedures are preventing you from doing so?
openfly: I am cool with that if that’s the case. I just want you to admit it instead of dancing around the subject.
openfly: Pretending that isn’t the case is kinda like lying.
openfly: it’s deceptive.
Colleen L: I have provided to you what we require to escalate this type of issue. Are there any other technical issues with which we may assist you?
openfly: Yes who can I call to inform them I am experiencing a denial of service attack from the roadrunner technical support script?
Colleen L: If you want to make a comment regarding the service your being provided please email our customer care team at customercare@ndc.rr.com.
openfly: No i’d like to open a trouble ticket.
openfly: Where can I open a trouble ticket.
openfly: I need service restored.
Colleen L: Unfortunately, I can not create an open trouble ticket for this issue until the information requested is provided.
openfly: this is a new issue.
openfly: what information do you need.
Colleen L: Are you wanting to speak with your local office in regards to the service?
openfly: I am experiencing a service failure in the technical support system
openfly: would you like me to provide details?
openfly: lets get this ticket rolling
openfly: I know how to replicate the error.
openfly: I can list the conditions necessary.
openfly: if we enter this as a trouble ticket.
openfly: it can be escalated and dealt with.
openfly: otherwise this continued service outage will affect my ability to work with technical support to service issues.
Colleen L: I can not create at trouble ticket at this time with regards to your connectivity issue but if you wish to speak with the local office in regards to the procedures we have to escalate tickets I will be able to create an open ticket for that.
Colleen L: I can not create at trouble ticket at this time with regards to your connectivity issue but if you wish to speak with the local office in regards to the procedures we have to escalate tickets I will be able to create an open ticket for that.
openfly: no I would like to open a trouble ticket regarding my denial of service issue resulting from a set of defineable conditions within the technical support system.
openfly: due to latency issues in response to requests for support it is possible for a problem to enter a state where it is no longer capable of being diagnosed when technical support finally responds.
openfly: in this instance technical support is unable to provide support.
openfly: it’s a real denial of service issue.
openfly: I say we open the ticket
openfly: and get it resolved.
openfly: this is a technical issue.
openfly: if we can address your latency issues on the support queue
openfly: the issue should resolve itself.
openfly: so lets enter a ticket.
Colleen L: Other then your connection being slow is the cable modem dropping connection from the server?
openfly: nope.
openfly: just high latency
openfly: and sometimes far less bandwith than I pay for.
openfly: earlier with another tech i was only pulling 300K/s from your backbone file transfer test system
openfly: i have an 8Mbps line.
Colleen L: One moment.
openfly: so that’s roughly half what I should be getting.
Colleen L: Thank you for holding. You can email our customer care team at customercare@ndc.rr.com with regards to technical support not creating a trouble ticket for you issue at this time. We will be happy to assist you if you can contact us after you have the traceroute and ping results from yahoo.com when the issue is happening. Also, no home network can be connected during the tests.
openfly: So you are refusing to help me?
openfly: I have two issues.
openfly: One I can recreate right now for you.
Colleen L: What exactly is the other issue at this time?
openfly: I cannot recieve technical support due to delayed response times. I think if we enter this as a trouble ticket we can elevate that and deal with the latency in your response time. That will make it possible to solve my other issue.
openfly: Do you want me to traceroute the supportcenter?
Colleen L: You can email our customer care team with regards to the hold times of phone and chat support. The email address is customercare@ndc.rr.com. Are there any other technical issues with which we may assist you?
openfly: will they open a trouble ticket for me?
openfly: do I get a trouble ticket for this session?
openfly: maybe I can refer it to them
openfly: so they can be aware of the problem and that it’s already seen tier one support.
openfly: actually
openfly: lets make it two reference numbers.
openfly: or i can just queue up again for a seperate reference number.
Colleen L: You can ask them that during the message. The current ticket for this chat session is 41545672 .
openfly: I think it will be easier to deal with the problem if we divide and conquer
Colleen L: Unfortunately, we can only create one ticket for each chat session. Are there any other technical issues with which we may assist you?
openfly: as the romans always said anyways.
openfly: can I get two tickets?
openfly: one for the first half
openfly: one for the second?
openfly: or does your software not support that?
openfly: Aside from those 2. Not really.
openfly: It’s too bad you couldn’t be of support.
openfly: But thanks for giving it your best.
openfly: Maybe Customer Service can open the support tickets
openfly: if They can’t I’ll call back.
openfly: I look forward to resolving these issues in a speedy time.
Colleen L: All the best.
openfly: Thank you for all of your help.
Colleen L: If you have no further issues that we can assist you with, you may end the chat session by clicking on the Hang Up button and a chat transcript will be displayed for you. Once again thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable – Road Runner!

In an ongoing effort to continue improving our quality of service, we are conducting a customer survey. If you would like to participate, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://csat.rr.com/chatsurvey.html .
openfly: Goodnight
openfly: or good morning