I’ve been faced with Streamyx connection problems lately where I could not access certain websites. Again, I hate problems like these because the websites that could not be accessed are always websites that I NEED to use like RIGHT NOW!

I called up Streamyx Customer Care and could you believe it, no one picked up the phone and after just a few redials, I was asked to call them again? I tried and tried and ended up TRYING for a full 24 hours. I wonder if they even pick the phone up!

I stopped calling them and decided to just sit on the problem and wait for it to resolve itself like it normally would. It sure did but my patience was severely tested. I think they purposely do not pick up the phone because they know there is a technical error or glitch somewhere.

For a couple of times already, Microsoft has announced that they will no longer develop Outlook Express or offer support for the program. They also mentioned that soon, users will no longer be able to retrieve Hotmail email with Outlook Express and instead, we are encouraged to use Windows Live Mail, a free program that is feature rich and performs better than Outlook Express in the long run.

A couple of days ago, I was having connection issues with retrieving my Hotmail email with Outlook Express. I thought that Microsoft has finally pulled the plug and I did not know about it. I searched all over the web but there was no fresh news on the issue. Going to Microsoft website was a chore.

So I thought Windows Live Mail would do the trick but it was the same. Windows Live Mail isn’t as smooth as it’s touted to be. I suffer from intermittent connection problems with my three Hotmail accounts as well.

Luckily, the issue resolved soon after and I was able to retrieve my Hotmail email with Outlook Express, to my delight. I dread to think what happens when Microsoft really stops this service.

I really cannot recall since when this problem started but the funny thing is that it is affecting my desktop computer which is still using the old version of Internet Explorer, version 6.0 I think, and my laptop which has an upgraded version of Internet Explorer.

I find that a lot of websites crash my browser, from PayPal to Public Bank to some websites that I access via Google Search and worst, even accessing the WordPress admin pages of my WordPress self-hosted blogs, after I upgraded them to version 2.7. Imagine my frustration!

I know, I should use Firefox, which I do for websites that crash my Internet Explorer as and when I discover them but I really prefer Internet Explorer for its speed in loading the program and websites. In my experience, it’s way faster than Firefox.

Anyway, I did a search on the web which says that the trick for a more stable Internet Explorer is to disable all non essential or unverified add-ons. I did that promptly and am still facing the IE crashes for the same websites. Super frustrated!

I read that Yahoo! is planning a homepage redesign and this time, they are allowing more apps and better customization. I think it’s high time they do that.

While I have to admit that I rarely visit the homepage of Yahoo! anymore, if they have a better design, I surely would try to spend more time on Yahoo!

Right now, I feel that it is way too crowded for my liking and I find myself wasting too much time looking for information, or the latest news. Perhaps, after so many years, I still did not spend enough time trying to get used to Yahoo! but the many, many links just tune me off.

Seriously, I can’t wait for a new design for Yahoo! Let’s hope that it’s user friendly enough this time!

Did you read about premium ticket brokers who made a killing on eBay recently with AC/DC Australia concert tickets? I don’t recall the how much the tickets were sold but I remember the difference in price was quite huge!

I don’t understand why people would pay premium for such tickets when they could pay cheaper and more “normal” prices even for really hot tickets from Miami Heat tickets to other sporting events and mega concert tickets by buying these premium tickets directly from Premium Seats USA and similar companies.

If I had wanted to attend such events, I surely would not go through ticket brokers on eBay and other online auction marketplaces where ticket prices fluctuate by so much. Call me cheap; that is just smart shopping.

Gmail has come out with a new Gmail Lab feature yet again. This time, enabling this Lab will allow us to preview our Gmail inbox even before it finished loading so that we will know if there is new email for us. If there isn’t, we could just close the window.

This feature is great for people who are accessing the internet on a slow connection. Admit it, even on broadband connection, loading the full view of Gmail inbox could take longer than necessary. Isn’t it frustrating to discover NO email waiting for us after sitting for long minutes waiting for the inbox to finish loading? This is definitely something that I would try out.

I have been facing connection problems with both Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Messenger. I don’t know if it’s setting problems or what as I could not access any of my Hotmail accounts from Windows Live Mail for the past few days. Things were fine previously.

I tried to log into another account for my Windows Live Messenger and the problem is intermittent. I could connect to account A sometimes but could not connect to account B totally.

Obviously, this drives me crazy. With technology so advanced, one would expect things to work smoothly. At least I do. I don’t know about you! Moreover, Hotmail is my primary email address and I hate to access my email from the website of Live. It’s so unfriendly!

Is anyone else having the same problems? I checked the web and noticed people having similar problems off and on but I cannot say if we are all dealing with the same issue. And oh, the system concerned is running on Windows Vista Business.