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Here's another such robotic builder concept.

Here's another such robotic builder concept.

And what you do mean, it only runs on PutriDOS??!

This should give you a decent idea of how I'm connecting. There's no need for 250 microwave dishes.

In my local area, midcoast Maine, there is a dearth of offerings for consumer broadband. The local solution involves an ISP, Midcoast Internet Services, which employs line of sight breezecom hardware to build a network. It's not a very cheap solution, but since our area's phone system is a hodgepodge of small rural carriers and Verizon, it's almost impossible to get the telcos to provide decent broadband.

The only other option, which actually is a newcomer in the area, is Adelphia cable, which is only available in the more urban areas. Adelphia thinks of itself as a monopoly in Maine, so the quality of service is terrible, and the terms of service are worse.

This is an actual case of a smal ISP using WiFi to work their way around a system that protects these large, unfriendly corporations. And making quite a decent profit while doing so.

A local ISP in midcoast Maine has an underwater lobster trap-mounted webcam, the Lobstah Cam. The page is somewhat sparing in technical details, only that the camera itself is all that's submerged, the computer itself sitting 60' away on the dock in probably a slightly climate-controlled room. Also uses Midcoast's famous (locally, at least) wireless internet connections for internet connectivity (mentioned here), as well. Still interesting to look at from time to time though. At least for a Mainer, maybe...

This company was mentioned on /. a while ago; I don't have THAT link, but here's a link to their home page at: Midcoast Internet Solutions (MIS). For more details, check out their about page which provides info on their dialup, ISDN. DSL, and wireless solutions.

MIS provides high-speed wireless internet access along the mid coast of Maine (USA). The up-front fee is kind of stiff, ($795; but there is a $300 discount with a one year commitment) but that gets you service at $50/month at speeds up to 20 times 56K dialup access. (Taken from their High Speed Wireless Internet Access page.

DISCLAIMER: I've not personally used this service, nor do I have any financial interest. But I did grow up in Maine and the thought of high-speed internet access in an area of breathtaking scenery (and much lower home prices than the Boston area where I am now) is VERY tempting.

This company was mentioned on /. a while ago; I don't have THAT link, but here's a link to their home page at: Midcoast Internet Solutions (MIS). For more details, check out their about page which provides info on their dialup, ISDN. DSL, and wireless solutions.

MIS provides high-speed wireless internet access along the mid coast of Maine (USA). The up-front fee is kind of stiff, ($795; but there is a $300 discount with a one year commitment) but that gets you service at $50/month at speeds up to 20 times 56K dialup access. (Taken from their High Speed Wireless Internet Access page.

DISCLAIMER: I've not personally used this service, nor do I have any financial interest. But I did grow up in Maine and the thought of high-speed internet access in an area of breathtaking scenery (and much lower home prices than the Boston area where I am now) is VERY tempting.

This company was mentioned on /. a while ago; I don't have THAT link, but here's a link to their home page at: Midcoast Internet Solutions (MIS). For more details, check out their about page which provides info on their dialup, ISDN. DSL, and wireless solutions.

MIS provides high-speed wireless internet access along the mid coast of Maine (USA). The up-front fee is kind of stiff, ($795; but there is a $300 discount with a one year commitment) but that gets you service at $50/month at speeds up to 20 times 56K dialup access. (Taken from their High Speed Wireless Internet Access page.

DISCLAIMER: I've not personally used this service, nor do I have any financial interest. But I did grow up in Maine and the thought of high-speed internet access in an area of breathtaking scenery (and much lower home prices than the Boston area where I am now) is VERY tempting.

I'm going to wake my wife up at 4:15 or so for the peak, and hope it clears again!

I live in Owl's Head, Maine, which is where Midcoast Internet Solutions was founded - Midcoast was featured on Slashdot recently for its forward-thinking work on installing wireless in Midcoast Maine.

I was talking about this with my neighbor, a midcoast dialup subscriber, and he told me that the founder of Midcoast did it while he was still in high school.

(I'm looking into getting wireless finally; however there is a hill between me and the transitter so I'm not sure yet I can get the signal).

When you cross the border into Maine you will see a big blue sign that says "Welcome to Maine, the way life should be." And I think it's true.

It's very peaceful here, the people are nice, there seems to be a lot of interest in the arts and music.

I was able to buy my first house here after renting for 15 years in Santa Cruz, California. I'm paying substantially less in mortgage payments to own a 4 bedroom house with a 2 car garage on a bunch of land than I did to rent a cramped 2-bedroom half of a duplex in Santa Cruz.

Of course there is the winter to contend with. And I never imagined the summer would be as hot as it was. The climate is much more even in Santa Cruz. But I found last winter to be tolerable and incredibly beautiful.

I recall reading on my power bill recently that electricity rates had dropped slightly. Take that, California!

I live in Owl's Head, Maine, which is where Midcoast Internet Solutions was founded - Midcoast was featured on Slashdot recently for its forward-thinking work on installing wireless in Midcoast Maine.

I was talking about this with my neighbor, a midcoast dialup subscriber, and he told me that the founder of Midcoast did it while he was still in high school.

(I'm looking into getting wireless finally; however there is a hill between me and the transitter so I'm not sure yet I can get the signal).

When you cross the border into Maine you will see a big blue sign that says "Welcome to Maine, the way life should be." And I think it's true.

It's very peaceful here, the people are nice, there seems to be a lot of interest in the arts and music.

I was able to buy my first house here after renting for 15 years in Santa Cruz, California. I'm paying substantially less in mortgage payments to own a 4 bedroom house with a 2 car garage on a bunch of land than I did to rent a cramped 2-bedroom half of a duplex in Santa Cruz.

Of course there is the winter to contend with. And I never imagined the summer would be as hot as it was. The climate is much more even in Santa Cruz. But I found last winter to be tolerable and incredibly beautiful.

I recall reading on my power bill recently that electricity rates had dropped slightly. Take that, California!

She wasn't all that impressed, it was just a brief note to compliment my page, and I get such notes all the time.

What mattered was that we began corresponding, and after a month or so I asked for her phone number, and we began talking on the phone occassionally. I really impressed her by calling her in Nova Scotia while I was visiting a friend in Rome.

She lived in Truro, Nova Scotia, I in Santa Cruz, California. I soon discovered the need for cheap long distance - before I got my rate lowered I received a $2500 bill for just one month, and even after getting AT&T one rate international my bills were running $1100 per month.

She didn't own her own computer so voice over IP wasn't an option, and I tried to make it one by sending her my old 486 and Speak Freely. While she was able to negotiate Speak Freely's complex UI the 486 wasn't up to the task of the signal processing.

I also made three visits to her (the first on January 18, 1998, in wintry Canada from sunny California, bringing a rose with me all the way on the plane), and she made two to me.

It was when I offerred to buy her a brand new Pentium-II machine to run Speak Freely on that she decided to finally come out to Santa Cruz and live with me.

She soon found work doing biotech and was able to stay for a year on a TN-1 visa, an option also available to americans and mexicans in each other's countries who hold bachelor's degrees and work in various professional fields (tip - computer programming qualifies).

We were married July 22, 2000 in Pippy Park, St. John's Newfoundland just outside the Fluvarium where we held our reception. It was a beautiful day - outdoor weddings are not common in Newfoundland because of the northern climate, and in fact we rented a big tent.

We moved back to the U.S. a few weeks ago and now live in Owl's Head Maine in a house we could have never hoped to have afforded in Santa Cruz.

Mike