Google Web Accelerator & My Home LAN Internet Connection

Good Evening, my fellow readers!
For some reason, I have a little bit of an upset stomach at the moment. But that of course, is not what this blog is about.

Let's talk about Google Web Accelerator.
For what it was made for, this application is great. What it does is a bunch of incredibly intuitive things to make your web pages load a lot quicker. I like it a lot, and apparently (as it says) I've saved (at the moment) 29.3 minutes of browsing time.
Great, right?
Well, unfortunately, (and it pains me to say this, since Google is, in my opinion, on the leading edge of web technology development), Google Web Accelerator is, in some ways, Grossly Incompetent.

First of all (and really, this just made me laugh when I saw it), my computer was cut off from the internet a few days ago, for the first time since I recently installed Google Accelerator (which wasn't long ago. Being cut off from the internet is a regular, constant occurrence in this house, and I use a LAN line--I'm not talking about a wireless connection, which we don't even have. More about all this in the next segment of this entry). When I was cut off, there was this little page that popped up from Google Accelerator, replacing the usual Firefox "Server Not Found" page.


HAHAHA! Silly Google, I can't search for Google on Google if I can't access Google to search for Google!
Google Google Google.


Hehehe.

Anyways, that's not the part that made me angry. The part that made me angry at Google Accelerator is what happens when you try to watch one of over an estimated 50% (or probably even more) of Youtube videos:


Source: http://youtube.com/watch?v=irp8CNj9qBI
Now, the first time I started to encounter this, I thought "Huh. I guess this particular video has been removed or something. Maybe youtube didn't like it, maybe it was copyrighted. Oh well."
Then it started to happen more. And more. And more. And more. It wasn't even just when I went to Youtube either, it happened for embedded videos on people's websites, in blogs and on random StumbleUpon pages. I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. I took a little time researching, and guess what?


Sources:
http://ask.metafilter.com/89722/Were-sorry-this-video-is-no-longer-available-YouTube-error
http://babbledog.com/thread/d8e357c8e6b6ba7123915d3a05cfe5ec/
http://www.sem-answers.com/were-sorry-this-video-is-no-longer-available/

And sure enough, as soon as I disabled the Accelerator (and refreshed, of course):


Good lord, I must have missed out on watching around 30 Youtube videos because of this error that I'll most likely never see now! GAHHH!!
Come on, Google! You're better than this! You've got a team of brilliant brainiacs working night and day coming up with amazing pieces of software! Why does Google Web Accelerator still not let most Youtube videos work after over three years of testing? (Google Accelerator beta was released mid-2005)
What's even WORSE is Google OWNS Youtube, so two of their OWN PIECES OF SOFTWARE CAN'T WORK TOGETHER. I mean, come on, Google, stop pulling a MICROSOFT! (I got this from one of the above links, but I had to use it. Thanks, Jim!)

Anyways, I'm sure that if Google knew about this problem, they would have fixed it by now. Problem is, they should have tested it and found it themselves before a up-and-coming blogger found their problem on his own and blabbed on and on about it in his blog, boring everyone within a 50 foot radius of a computer.

The real sad thing is--remember those ~30 minutes Google Accelerator said I saved because of its internet speeding technology? Well, I already used up much more time than that trying to figure out why the heck my Youtube videos weren't working.

Overall Gross Incompetence Rating:

Alright, that about does it for Google. Let's talk about something else--namely:

MY HOME LAN INTERNET CONNECTION

GOOD LORD this is something that, every time it acts up, it just throws me for a loop. This type of thing happens at LEAST twice a day. It's horrific.
Usually, whilst I'm minding my own business on the web (recently, it's StumbleUponing), I'll suddenly and inexplicably lose my internet connection. The first sign that something is up is a message that says something to the effect of 'StumbleUpon is currently experiencing problems, please what a few minutes and try again.' Or something.
At this point, a sudden jolt of silvery cold runs through my spine.
"Oh no...not again...!"
My fingers fly to open a new tab and type in "google.com [Enter]" Only to be treated with a loading bar, loading WAY longer that it should be to load up the simple Google home page.
"...no..."
Then, finally, pops up the tell-tale "server not found" page.
Oh man, that page is terrible.

From here, I have a few options. Please refer to the image below for more information:


All the computers in the house are connected to the internet in different rooms. The Black Vista Desktop computer in the middle is the one I use normally (and am on right now), whilst the vista laptop to the left is my brothers', the Mac Tablet to the far right is my other brothers', and the XP laptop to the middle right is also mine. (Tablet Laptop, baby! Yeah, that's right, watch it swivel.


Source: http://www.laptops-reviews.com/images/Gateway-M285-Convertible-notebook.jpg
Aww yeah. And yes, it's a Gateway, and YES, I've learned my lesson! SHEESH. I've also learned a new lesson about Vista very recently...soon, I'll be saying "Hello, Kubuntu!")

My first option, once I am undeniably severed from the internet, is to go check and see if the other computers can connect to the internet. If they're connected, that means the problem is my COMPUTER! (i.e. X number 1 on said diagram above) This usually results in a full reboot, because no matter how much I fiddle with the little "Diagnose and Repair" option, it WILL NOT REPAIR! (And it does a pretty lame job of diagnosing as well. "Something's Wrong, but we don't know what it is! Why don't you tell US what it is!")

GAAAAHHHHH!!

Now you know why I'm going to download Kubuntu soon.

(Note: Very recently, as in, JUST TODAY, I've finally been able to fix the internet on my computer ONCE. It was amazing, utterly amazing, that I actually re-connected while fiddling with my completely broken Vista internet situation. Come to think of it, I should have thrown a party for myself or something.)

*sigh* So. If it turns out that the other computers around my house are NOT receiving the internet connection, I still have two more problems to choose from that might be occurring. The first would be THE ROUTER AND MODEM (i.e. X number 2 on said chart above).
To solve this, I have to first unplug the internet cord from every single computer in the house. Next, I have to go into the deepest and most secluded corner of the upstairs, find the--

...oh COME ON! Take a look at this! This JUST HAPPENED!!


I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING YOU RIGHT NOW.

*sigh* Thankfully, it wasn't a real shutdown of internet, only a small lapse, so I didn't have to follow these stupid instructions.
ugh. Where was I? OH--

...I have to go into the deepest and most secluded corner of the upstairs rooms, find the router and modem, and turn them off separately in a very annoying and PRECISE way, or it won't work. This is:
-turn them both off
-wait 30 seconds
-turn the modem on, wait till it loads
-then turn the router on, wait till that loads
-go back to the computers, plug the internet cords back into them
-wait for THEM to load, and PRAY that it works now.

If it doesn't work, I get a few more tries at X number 2, hoping that's actually the problem--if that's not it, then oh, good LORD...It's X number 3:

PROBLEM WITH THE INTERNET COMPANY.

I've only had to deal with this once. One, horrific, overwhelming time. I called them about three times trying to figure out what the heck is wrong with my internet. Finally, I get put through, and the problem turned out to be that there was some error they were experiencing, that the guy didn't even know about yet. I had to do this whole NEW combination of off-on-unplug-replug-wait-to-load-retry-GOTO-10 crap for my modem and router, which sent a reset code or something to the company, and finally made it deliver internet back to the computers.

Ughhh.

I can't say any more. I'm already way too riled up about this. And it's late--I should have submitted this hours ago.

*sigh*

Thank God I'm moving soon, away from this horrific LAN network.
Oh, I just realized:
Kubuntu will replace Vista (X number 1)
New network replaces Old network when I move (X number 2)
New Cable company replaces Old cable company when I move (X number 3)

Hopefully only ONE of those messes up frequently.
Sure feels good to get that all off my chest.

Overall Gross Incompetence Rating: