Today I just tried to get a modem connection to href=’http://www.singnet.com.sg’>Singnet. First of all, their
dial-up authentication is completely non-standard. Instead of asking
for a username and password, it spews out a bunch of random
characters. Wow, that’s really helpful. If I ever needed an object
lesson on why it’s important to stick to standard procedures, tonight was
it. Trying to connect to Singnet is like banging your head against a
concrete HDB block. It may not help the situation, but at least you’ll feel
better about it. Oh no, wait, you won’t.

The final insult is the so-called ‘technical support’ pages. With such
brilliant insights as ‘Are you sure you have the right password?’ and ‘Remember, the
username goes in the box titled ‘username’, and the password goes in
the one marked ‘password’.’ Well, yeah, but how about if somebody
competent has a question? Geez. It’s a pity people still have to put
up with dial-up…. PPP is a cheap hack.