Ack some more
Ok, cable tech dude came out and fiddled around with the cable, with the modem, with everything else inside, then went outside and fiddled, and finally said he was calling a line tech to come fiddle outside with the uber cable line (rather than my piddly cable line). So yea...my internet is broken :( hopefully it'll get fixed within 24 hours.
Cheers
~Isabo w/ the broken modem