If you want to put your pipe through the paces, check out the Internet Archive’s Feature Films collection: http://www.archive.org/details/feature_films

That process will involve some interesting choices, such as whether I allow certain nearly-hidden documents to disappear altogether… (and whether the new site should be a mirror or dark archive for C&I, for that matter). Too much to think about right now…

And, Seth, I should have thought of that: I can do my own tests over a couple of weeks. (I know the DNSSTUFF site already: it comes in handy at work once in a while…) If I care, of course. Since I can’t legally and don’t want to use my computer as a server, and since the router presumably shields my actual IP address, I’m not sure it much matters.

Look at the bottom of the page. It’ll tell you your IP address.

You appear to be located in … based on your IP of …

The only mildly unnerving parts of this:

1. Norton tells you to turn off XP’s firewall before installing NIS. If you’re relying on XP’s firewall (I wasn’t, since I had a previous Norton Personal Firewall) and don’t have a robust hardware firewall, that’s dangerous: the time it takes to install NIS is plenty of time for a cyberattack.

2. The “dance of the guardians” was a little difficult to cope with, with SpySweeper windows popping up from time to time during both DSL and NIS installs–but it’s comforting to know that nothing can wind up in my startup queue without my knowledge. (Actually, one registry value that NIS wanted to set was prevented, I suspect by Spybot registry-locking techniques, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem.)

3. I find it unfortunate that the software for this wireless router, apparently like the software for most wireless routers, doesn’t ***suggest*** that you change the network name away from the brandname that every wouldbe WiFi freeloader will know. Not to suggest that router makers are subtly promoting freeloading, but that’s the effect.

Here’s a question, if I have a knowledgeable reader out there: This is a dynamic-IP-address account. But the modem/router doesn’t have an on-off switch (and SBC explicitly says to leave it on for at least 10 days so they can optimize the circuit). Do I wind up with the same IP address as long as the router is powered up and connected, or do I get a new one each time the computer is powered up (which re-establishes the LAN)? (I really am an ignoramus on this sort of thing.)