WLM Help

anyone know if/when WLM will ever get a local help facility - ie a chm file.
Not only is the web implementation useless but it cost us bandwidth.

I don't think WLM will ever get a local help. Most products (not just WLM)
seem to be going towards online help. It's easier to maintain, all the
information is up to date so need need to worry about distributing updated
help files via Windows Update etc.
Bandwidth costs are marginal nowadays and I don't know of any ISP that still
charges per Kb/Gob or whatever for bandwidth except for mobile phone
companies.

Colin Brown
WL MVP

"Urbane.Tiger" <viking.warrior@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:FYadna8b_afGCc3VnZ2dnUVZ_h3inZ2d@xxxxxx

Don't know where you are Colin but how about this for a list of countries
that charge for or put quotas on downloads

Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong,
Philippines, Japan, China .... I think Singapore and South Korea may not
impose limits.

That's at least 50% of the planets population. I'm guessing you're one or
other side of the North Atlantic, < 30% of planet's population, >60% of the
it's wealth. Rich minority trumps poor majority yet again, as always, just
like in medieval times - stuff you we're alright, eh! And the Bush's and
the Browns, the Merkels and Sarcozzi's bleat on about democracy and bang on
about the Magna Carta - get out of here you're all hypocrites. What the MC
did was to redistribute the wealth more equably amongst the wealthy.

And it is not just download limits. You do not have to travel far from any
major city in Australia to find that your only means of getting a connection
to the 'net is via fence wire phone lines running at 28Kbps if your lucky,
or a 512K satellite link if you can afford it. If you can afford satellite
a round trip for a request response pair is never less than 3-4 secs because
of the delays getting the signal up and down to the birds.

I often travel between Sydney (pop 3.5M) to Toorooka (pop 300), I catch the
train to Kempsey the nearest train station, it takes seven hours - I read
and write emails on the train - without any help facility. Those trains
will never, not in my lifetime nor yours I suspect, have on board high speed
access to the 'net. Maybe where you are the trains have such services, but
not here and not ever - the population is just too sparse.

So don't tell me that bandwidth charges are marginal, maybe for the lucky
few - but not for the vast majority. And beyond those considerations we
should be frugal in our use of all resources, every leader from Buddha, to
Jesus, to Mohammed, to Gandhi has said that this is so.

You say you don't want to worry about having to get up to date help files to
the user, why because it hurts your brain - poor diddums.

That feels better, glad I got that off my chest:-)
--
TUT

WLMail (was WLM Deskop),
Windows Live Hotmail (WLH) (was Windows Live Mail)
Windows Live Messenger (WLM) (not to be confused with Windows Messenger
(vanilla)
__________________________________________



"Colin Brown WLMVP" <Hackersoft1@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4EFAC655-0178-4132-B32C-E4A687F4412A@xxxxxx

Wow, what a lovely little flame there even if your facts are wrong.
Australia (since that is where you say you're from) does have unlimited
bandwidth. I know people that live there and also a quick search on the
internet provided this :-
Unlimited plans with NO shaping! - from http://www.ciadsl.com.au/
I realize that not all areas will have access to this company but there will
be others that offer unlimited access.
Anyway, thanks for the flame, I think I'll just ignore it.

Colin Brown
WL MVP

"Urbane.Tiger" <viking.warrior@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:KO-dneMBZYUTz8zVnZ2dnUVZ_oHinZ2d@xxxxxx

Microsoft is (after all) headquartered in the US, so you can't
blame them for exhibiting somewhat US-centric policies.

From what I hear, several countries including Japan have faster
Internet connections than what's commonly available in the US.
Non-urban American locations have the same dearth of connectivity
as you experience in the Australian bush land.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP


"Urbane.Tiger" <viking.warrior@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:KO-dneMBZYUTz8zVnZ2dnUVZ_oHinZ2d@xxxxxx

This is a major issue in Australia especially for those of us who live in
the "bush". And yes we do get angry at people who assume that everyone
enjoys high speed links with virtually unlimited downloads. I commute
between the bush and the city - not on a daily basis I spend about 1 week
per month at the retreat - so I get to experience both environments.

Regarding Aussie ISP's , "unlimited" bandwidth yes, but I can't get my own
dark fibre so its not really unlimited. I enjoy speeds of up to 20+Mbps here
in Sydney. But I don't know of any ISP that offers high speed (>15Mbps) and
unlimited traffic (downloads + uploads). Traffic volumes were the issue of
my "flame", not speeds - although one can't consider one without the other

My Sydney ISP chokes speed back to 64K if I exceed my quotas (18G peak, 7G
off peak), other ISP's apply a tariff for traffic in excess of quota.

Many of those who live in the bush have 2 choices - dialup or satellite. I
know this because of my involvement with the retreat at Toorooka, which is
40K from the eastern seaboard. The only phone service we have is land line,
the carriers will tell you that we have 3G, the retreat has 5 such phones -
they don't work. Hence we get local call tariffs to any number in
Australia, if/when 3G works then I anticipate we will lose that deal.

Our nearest DSLAM is 40K distant, and the link thereto is copper - DSL will
not work in that environment. Hence we use the Optus Satellite, the other
choice (other than dial up over copper) is the IPSTAR sat. Our government
did not give rebates on IPSTAR installs (approx $5,000) 3 years ago, IPSTAR
tariffs are not substantially different to Optus, certainly not enough to
warrant outlay of $5K. I am not sure if IPSTAR installs are subsidised
today.

Our Optus satellite service runs at 512K down, 64K up with a download limit
of 2G, after which we pay a tariff of about $1.50/MB.

CIADSL do not have a DSLAM at my local exchange in Sydney
CIADSL unlimited plans are Slow DSL(1.5Mbps) and cost $150/month,
CIADSL offer a Medium DSL(8Mbps) plan, that has a 5G limit, it too costs
$150/month.
CIADSL do not offer a Fast DSL service.

My Fast DSL (theoretically 24 Mbps) service with its 25G download quota
costs $40/month.

Telecommunications was a factor in last years change of government in
Australia. Not because we believe the Labor government will give people in
the bush a better deal, they wont, but at least we know they wont. The
National (nee Country) party which was in the previous government coalition
is just as much in the pocket of big business as the other parties, so we
gave them the flick.

The scenarios I give you here are from a rich developed country, if its like
this here imagine what its like in the developing world. Our retreat has
associates in India the situation there is worse - sure the rich cats in
places like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi can get high speed links, but once
again beyond the cities the situation changes. However India does have one
advantage over Australia, its dense population means that things like 3G can
have widespread use, our small population, that is the most urbanised in
the world mitigates against getting half decent telecommunications outside
the metropolitan cities.

This post is not a flame, but a genuine attempt to inform those who may have
influence in these matters. In the hope that they might get the likes of
Microsoft to consider customers living outside of the North Atlantic basin
and especially those who live outside of major metropolitan cities.
--
TUT

WLMail (was WLM Deskop),
Windows Live Hotmail (WLH) (was Windows Live Mail)
Windows Live Messenger (WLM) (not to be confused with Windows Messenger
(vanilla)
__________________________________________


"Colin Brown WLMVP" <Hackersoft1@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BE579B08-F9E5-42DA-992F-04DF47CF0D65@xxxxxx

Well I do blame them mate, they are a global company, where they are
headquartered should make no difference to there "thinking" or policy
making. I know that's utopian, but hey, I want this to be a perfect world.

My primary original issue wasn't speed but traffic volumes, Japan ISP's do
have very quick links but I don't think they offer unlimited down/up loads
(traffic). I think Singaporeans and South Koreans can get high speed links
(20+Mps) with no traffic limits. Nowhere can you get unlimited bandwidth,
we'd need dark fibre into every premise to get that.

I am very aware that folks living in rural America have similar problems to
Aussies living in the bush- chat to them all the time. Not on Skype of
course, we have to use networks that support RFC's 1149 and 2549.

We wont get better services if we wait for the governments. They are all in
the pockets of the big corporations e.g. Unclue Bill gets to address the
Aussie cabinet, whilst I find it hard to get meeting with my local member,
and godammit I live here.

The only hope we have is to influence big business and I will never lose an
opportunity to do that.
--
TUT

WLMail (was WLM Deskop),
Windows Live Hotmail (WLH) (was Windows Live Mail)
Windows Live Messenger (WLM) (not to be confused with Windows Messenger
(vanilla)
__________________________________________



"Gary VanderMolen" <Gary@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:#nLtX7LzIHA.2184@xxxxxx

On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:55:04 -0500, Colin Brown WLMVP wrote:
TWC is evaluating metered bandwidth in Texas, and AT&T and Comcast are
talking about doing it, as well. Could be coming to a U.S. neighborhood near
you RSN.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum