Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the cele domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/hughmcguire/hughmcguire.net/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6170
Comments on: videotron’s *online* hour restrictions https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/ aging idealist. ai and education, open web, open publishing. Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:47:18 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2142 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:47:18 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2142 thinking about it more, i guess their account management system is tacked onto their old system for cable (predating massive web useage… ie 10 yrs old!) … ISP service is newer, wireless newest. still. come on.

re: wireless phones, yes been happy with them. i believe they just repackage rogers’ system.

]]> By: jeremy clare https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2093 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:12:00 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2093 excellent point hugh, regardless of whether they MUST replicate data (in which my solution would help a lot in terms of making it sane) or could avoid it (very likely if they weren’t being noobs, as boris points out), having a static version that says “accurate up to 24 hours” should be well within their abilities.

I didn’t know that they did cellphones, do you find the service good (other than this?). It should be noted that while fido doesn’t have this particular problem, their website is horrendous, and so hard to use that the effect is you pretty much never get the information you want.

]]> By: Boris Anthony https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2082 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:34:43 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2082 I think Julien was being sarcastic too. ;)

but yeah, you’ll find this kind of weird experience with any old/legacy institutions/organizations who made some wrong decisions on how to get online, and their clients suffer for it. Banks are just now slowly getting slightly less bad. I remember yelling at BMO back in ’97… “C’mon you fuckers! What is IBM selling you Jesus H!?”

Anyways, flipping out won’t help. They prolly know… and you know what happens to big megalithic (neolithic?) organisms that cannot adapt, right?

]]> By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2081 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:24:47 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2081 re such a dreamer. show me one online account management system that works that way! if it was that easy everyone would do it like that." ...was snotty sarcasm, because i have never heard of any other company with online account management where they have to go offline for 5 hours everyday to replicate data (as boris explains above). it is crazy, and videotron is crazy. and while banks shut down, their online services are 24h, that's the whole point. banks shut down because paying people to stay in a building is expensive. and just further, if it's REALLY necessary to shut down changes to my account for 5 hours every day, at least let me see a static/non-changeable version of my account. I wanted to see what long-d plan i have on my mobile, to check how much calling home would cost. and I could not see that. it's nuts.]]> ok not sure who is being ironic/sarcastic and who isn’t … but for the record:
“dan, you’re such a dreamer. show me one online account management system that works that way! if it was that easy everyone would do it like that.”

…was snotty sarcasm, because i have never heard of any other company with online account management where they have to go offline for 5 hours everyday to replicate data (as boris explains above). it is crazy, and videotron is crazy. and while banks shut down, their online services are 24h, that’s the whole point. banks shut down because paying people to stay in a building is expensive.

and just further, if it’s REALLY necessary to shut down changes to my account for 5 hours every day, at least let me see a static/non-changeable version of my account. I wanted to see what long-d plan i have on my mobile, to check how much calling home would cost. and I could not see that. it’s nuts.

]]> By: julien https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2076 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:45:20 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2076 yeah, it just isn’t that easy man. banks shut down after like 6 hours of open time FOR A REASON, MAN.

]]> By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2067 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:24:34 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2067 dan, you’re such a dreamer. show me one online account management system that works that way! if it was that easy everyone would do it like that.

]]> By: Boris Anthony https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2065 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:55:51 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2065 not lazy programming (programmers in such organizations just do what they are told), but rather bad planning and architecture, possibly caused by budgetary restrictions, bureaucracy, maybe even security fears and FUD.

Basically, they built their system in such a way that the info on the website is decoupled from the main database, i.e.: data duplication. always a bad idea. Who ever spec’ed this out thought “hey, no one expects service at night, we cna use that window to synchronize databases!” Synchronization is also always a bad idea.
(So Jer your solution doesn’t really solve anything, it just moves execution time around a bit, and that is not as trivial as you may think.)

Heh, I just saved a major news gathering corporation from making that very mistake…

]]> By: Dan Parsons https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2064 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:49:08 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2064 Um, why not update the info in real time? Like, when Hugh changes his address, it goes into their db immediately? Is there something wrong with that? :)

]]> By: Hugh https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2061 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:23:16 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2061 agreed.

]]> By: jeremy clare https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/comment-page-1/#comment-2060 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:21:45 +0000 https://hughmcguire.net/2007/11/08/videotrons-online-hour-restrictions/#comment-2060 Sounds like hella lazy programming to my ears. They have to bring the entire system offline for 5 hours while they run their update code? That’s so stupid it hurts. IF it really takes a long time to update the web database with data from the service’s database (which could be complicated and take a few minutes), then each persons account should be unnavailable for a random five minutes at some point during the day. Otherwise, they should do blocks throughout the day where certain users can’t access their accounts. Doing it all in one go during night is crazy, someone should be fired.

Sheesh.

]]>