Hopefully back on line

(Posted on all my major blogs)

Yesterday, after some 33 days of being without my internet connection, I was put back on line. Several errors were found at the connections outside our premises and also in the Gateway.

The first thing I did after getting back my connection was test my speed. I pay for a 8 M line, but I was shocked to find my upload and download speeds were less than 500 kbps.

Additionally, I have a fixed IP and I found that the IP that I was using was not mine.

Thirdly, all my computers are connected to the internet through a Router. i found that if I went on to connect my router, I lost the internet connection.

Lastly, during the last 7 years I have used DHCP to connect to the internet. I have not used PPPoE. I found that I was unable to connect using DHCP and my own Fixed IP but only through the PPPoE which was assigning me the random IP.

All these problems has made life continue to be difficult as I am using just a single computer to connect to the internet.

I have a backload of about 6 weeks of work. With this situation I will only be able to catch up by the end of April.

I have lodged my complaint with my ISP .- and hopefully I will get some action by the end of this week.

Please bear with me till I get back into full swing.

Almost 2 months in silence

Although I have been quiet here for almost two months, the Oulu Chaff Google Group has been active in that I have reported on two lunches, one in the Greek Restaurant, Crecian, and then one in the Indian and Chinese Restaurant, The Royal Garden.

I had a bit of a disappointment about the participation of Old Timer Chaff Participants in these lunch events, which I addressed in a Discussion Entry on the Oulu CHAFF Google Group.

There has been a spirited discussion and as a result we held a special meeting at the Ville Victor International Activity Centre last Sunday.

Ildikó has summarised this in her email sent out to all those on the CHAFF mailing list.

Dear CHAFF members,

Last Sunday around 8 members were present at Villa Victor to discuss the future of CHAFF. The following decisions were made:

1. At this point, we opt for an open group instead of a registered organisation.
2. We will create a new mailing list. For that I will be in touch with Artem and you will all get an email explaining how to register.
3. We will create a homepage, which Artem and Osku will be responsible for. The text input will be provided by Jacob and me in the first stage about the history of CHAFF etc, but anybody is welcome to participate in the work. Artem and Osku will be in charge of the technical solutions mainly.
4. We will kick of the new CHAFF in May with a CHAFF-party. Instead of formal lunches, we opted for CHAFF-parties, held by at alternating places with always different hosts and people in charge.
5. As soon as we have info about the new CHAFF, Lauri will put some information about it into Wikipedia.
6. We will continue having the blog, where anyone interested in contributing to it is welcome to do so. For that, Jacob will provide info about how to apply for a contributing position.
7. We agreed on creating a virtual forum on the homepage where everyone can and should post their own profile with picture. It will also function as a contact-creating base, where we can suggest events and search for people interested in the same things.
8. I promised to find out what multicultural kids and parents groups already exist in Oulu. I know there is something going on at the youth centre, the Mannerheim kid´s protection association, Setlementti and the International Women´s Club. After we know that, we can decide whether we need something separate or want to tap into existing resources.

I hope I didn´t forget anything at this point. Anybody willing to contribute to the homepage, please let me know. We need everybody!

Best regards

Ildikó
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Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo

Anybody wanting to write regularly on this Blog can please contact me and I will add you as a "Contributer".

You can still use the Oulu CHAFF Google Group to discuss anything you want, but it will only go out to those who have joined that group - which is about 41 people.

Anyone interested can join the Oulu CHAFF Google Group if they want!