[Landmines and Manholes]
Hi Pat,
Re: <<Is there any warranty? A way to get your money back? I couldn't handle having to reconfigure each time I signed on>>
There probably is a warranty yet but I have become so proficient at the configuration protocol I could do it in my sleep. The current modem is my 3rd. The first two could not be installed with the help of Motorola's Huntsville engineers. I was urged to get their just released Bitsurfr 'Pro'. 'We' couldn't install the Pro either until an engineer sent me his own configuration program on a floppy. This worked fine until I installed Explorer 4.0. Now I go through my routine. I think of this current dilemma as an additional layer of security. No one can sign on unless they know just where to click, slap and spit.
Your article on how the internet is altering the nature of social conflict is cause for thought. "Peace through knowledge" sounds so pretty. This is probably because I think I'm pretty knowledgable and peaceful. In actuality I'm probably neither but I conceal my violent ignorance pretty well. For example, I think the damage land mines have inflicted upon innocents is horrendous--it would be far more "compassinate" to just drop the "big one". Actually, I think we're all much too intertwined to be mining our neighborhoods OR dropping the big one. Guess we'll just have to learn to get along.
And, here's a novel use of a long neglected appliance.........
Mitsubishi Exhibits Manhole Cover Antenna
December 16, 1997 (TOKYO) -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. exhibited a manhole cover-shaped antenna for personal handyphone system (PHS) base stations at the 1997 Microwave Workshops and Exhibition held Dec. 9-11 in Yokohama.
The show was held under the auspices of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers.
The antenna is built in a manhole cover and connected to a center station via optical fibers stretched through the sewer system.
The company said using manholes works well in midtown areas, where sites for establishing base stations cannot be easily obtained.
The company intends to establish a mass-production system and supply the antenna at a price of about one million yen (US$7,690) per unit for base stations, if it is accepted by PHS business operators.
Moreover, at the exhibition, Matsushita Electronics Corp., Fujitsu Quantum Devices Ltd., Mitsubishi and NEC Corp. displayed ICs for realizing the downsizing and low power consumption of mobile phones, reflecting the boom of mobile phone services.
(Nikkei New Media)
Cheers! :-) |
