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Cringely's Bank Shot
Michael A. Lowry writes: "You may remember how Robert Cringely used a couple of directional antennas to get an 802.11b link up across a 10.5 km wide valley. The original Slashdot discussion is here. Well Cringely has done it again. This time, he has set up a passive repeater in an oak tree on a nearby mountaintop to bounce a 2 Mb/s signal around a hill that lies between his house and the acces point in Santa Rosa. Read about it here. Details about the homemade hardware he used can be found here. There's going to be a lot more of this in the near future."
fp biatches
Bastards!
All y'all belong to ME!
Ain't nuttin but a g-thang!
Can we have more links that say "here" please?
they've gotten to Cringely? Shocking.
...nothing but net.
:-)
~Eric
Hey, I have a lot of respect for all you guys who like to eat pussy because there are too few of you out there. And I'm not the only woman who says this. Furthermore, some of you guys who are giving it the old college try are not doing too well, so maybe this little lesson will help you out. When a woman finds a man who gives good head, she's found a treasure she's not going to let go of him too quickly. This is one rare customer and she knows it. She won't even tell her girlfriends about it or that guy will become the most popular man in town. So, remember, most guys can fuck, and those who can usually do it satisfactorily, but the guy who gives good head, he's got it made.
Most women are shy about their bodies. Even if you've got the world's most gorgeous woman in bed with you, she's going to worry about how you like her body. Tell her it's beautiful, tell her which parts you like best, tell her anything, but get her to trust you enough to let you down between her legs. Now stop and look at what you see.
Beautiful, isn't it?
There is nothing that makes a woman more unique than her pussy.
I know. I've seen plenty of them. They come in all different sizes, colors and shapes; some are tucked inside like a little girl's cunnie and some have thick luscious lips that come out to greet you. Some are nested in brushes of fur and others are covered with transparent fuzz. Appreciate your woman's unique qualities and tell her what makes her special. Women are a good deal more verbal than men, especially during love-making. They also respond more to verbal love, which means, the more you talk to her, the easier it will be to get her off. So all the time you're petting and stroking her beautiful pussy, talk to her about it.
Now look at it again.
Gently pull the lips apart and look at her inner lips, even lick them if you want to. Now spread the tops of her pussy up until you can find her clit. Women have clits in all different sizes, just like you guys have different sized cocks. It doesn't mean a thing as far as her capacity for orgasm. All it means is more of her is hidden underneath her foreskin.
Whenever you touch a woman's pussy, make sure your finger is wet. You can lick it or moisten it with juices from inside her. Be sure, by all means, to wet it before you touch her clit because it doesn't have any juices of its own and it's extremely sensitive. Your finger will stick to it if it's dry and that hurts. But you don't want to touch her clit anyway. You have to work up to that. Before she becomes aroused, her clit is too delicate to be handled.
Approach her pussy slowly. Women, even more so than men, love to be teased. The inner part of her thigh is her most tender spot. Lick it, kiss it, make designs on it with the tip of your tongue. Come dangerously close to her pussy, then float away. Make her anticipate it.
Now lick the crease where her leg joins her pussy. Nuzzle your face into her bush. Brush your lips over her slit without pressing down on it to further excite her. After you've done this to the point where your lady is bucking up from her seat and she's straining to get more of you closer to her, then put your lips right on top of her slit.
Kiss her, gently, then harder. Now use your tongue to separate her pussy lips and when she opens up, run your tongue up and down between the layers of pussy flesh. Gently spread her legs more with your hands. Everything you do with a woman you're about to eat must be done gently.
Tongue-fuck her. This feels divine. It also teases the hell out of her because by now she wants some attention given to her clit. Check it out. See if her clit has gotten hard enough to peek out of its covering. If so, lick it. If you can't see it, it might still be waiting for you underneath. So bring your tongue up to the top of her slit and feel for her clit. You may barely experience its presence. But even if you can't feel the tiny pearl, you can make it rise by licking the skin that covers it. Lick hard now and press into her skin.
Gently pull the pussy lips away and flick your tongue against the clit, hood covered or not. Do this quickly. This should cause her legs to shudder. When you sense she's getting up there toward orgasm, make your lips into an O and take the clit into your mouth. Start to suck gently and watch your lady's face for her reaction. If she can handle it, begin to suck harder. If she digs it, suck even harder. Go with her. If she lifts her pelvis into the air with the tension of her rising orgasm, move with her, don't fight her. Hang on, and keep your hot mouth on her clit. Don't let go. That's what she'll be saying too: 'Don't stop. Don't ever stop!'
There's a reason for that - most men stop too soon. Just like with cock sucking, this is something worth learning about and worth learning to do well. I know a man who's a lousy fuck, simply lousy, but he can eat pussy like nobody I know and he never has trouble getting a date. Girls are falling all over him.
But back to your pussy eating session...There's another thing you can do to intensify your woman's pleasure. You can finger-fuck her while she's enjoying your clit-licking talents. Before, during or after. She'll really like it. In addition to the erogenous zones surrounding her clit, a woman has another extremely sensitive area at the roof of her vagina. This is what you rub up against when you're fucking her. Well, since your cock is pretty far away from your mouth, your fingers will have to do the fucking.
Take two fingers. One is too skinny and three is too wide and therefore can't get deep enough. Make sure they're wet so you don't irritate her skin. Slide them inside, slowly at first, then a little faster. Fuck her with them rhythmically. Speed up only when she does. Listen to her breathing.
She'll let you know what to do. If you're sucking her clit and finger-fucking her at the same time, you're giving her far more stimulation than you would be giving her with your cock alone. So you can count on it that she's getting high on this. If there's any doubt, check her out for symptoms. Each woman is unique. You may have one whose nipples get hard when she's excited or only when she's having an orgasm. Your girl might flush red or begin to tremble. Get to know her symptoms and you'll be a more sensitive lover.
When she starts to have an orgasm, for heaven's sakes, don't let go of that clit. Hang in there for the duration. When she starts to come down from the first orgasm, press your tongue along the underside of the clit, leaving your lips covering the top. Move your tongue in and out of her cunt. If your fingers are inside, move them a little too, gently though, things are extremely sensitive just now.
If you play your cards right, you'll get some multiple orgasms this way. A woman stays excited for a full hour after she's had an orgasm. Do you realize the full impact of that information? The potential? One woman was clocked at 56 orgasms at one sitting. Do you know what effect you would have on a woman you gave 56 orgasms to? She'd be yours as long as you wanted her.
The last advice I have for you is this: After you've made her come, made her your slave by giving her the best head she's ever had, don't leave her alone just yet. Talk to her, stroke her body, caress her breasts. Keep making love to her quietly until she's come all the way down. A man can get off and go to sleep in the same breath and feel no remorse, no sense of loss. But a woman by nature requires some sensitivity from her lover in those first few moments after sex.
Oral sex can be the most exciting sexual experiences you can have. But it's what you make it. Take your time, practice often, pay attention to your lover's signals, and most of all, enjoy yourself.
The G-Spot
This does exist. And in over half of the women out there, it works better than anything else you can do to cause a strong, prolonged orgasm. The original name is the Grafenberg spot, after a doctor, Earnest Grafenberg, who documented the area (which may have been known by people here and there throughout history) in the fifties.
This "spot" is a small "mound" of tissue inside the vagina, between a penny and quarter in size, which responds to being pressed upon. It's almost certainly not the skenes glands, (which are located around the urethra, which is behind the G-spot area), as has been suggested by a few people. In fact, the G-Spot is the tissue in that raised area of the vagina, which has a higher concentration of sexual nerves, and produces hormones similar to those made by the male's prostate gland.
A sort of map to the area -- Imagine your lover lying on her back, legs spread. Your position is between her legs. You would slide a finger inside her vagina, palm up. With your finger straight back, middle finger is best, you would curve it toward yourself, gently, as if you were gesturing to someone to "come here". In doing so, the area you press on should be pretty near her "G-Spot" area. If you know enough to follow the urethra (the tube that leads from the bladder to where the pee comes out), along the inside of her vagina, you may feel a slight swelling (if she's excited) at the point where the g-spot is.
She must be excited, especially if either you or she is new to the g-spot, for the g-spot to have any real effect at all. It's not the ideal area for getting your lover aroused.
But when she is excited, this area (more often than not) is the best way to bring her to orgasm. You work your way back to it gradually, teasing her (typically, this works best) with your fingers, slowly and gently. It's easier to hit the right area with two fingers, but this may not be comfortable for her, depending on how "tight" she is at that moment. When you have your fingers around the right area, try gently pressing, not too quickly. The movement should be fairly rhythmic. It's typically best if you're licking her clitoris (or near it, depending on the woman) at the same time...don't make a big deal out of the "quest", this will often make her feel self-conscious, or distracted. The licking should seem to be the primary activity.
When you find the right area, she should respond by getting more excited. Most of the vagina's inside surface isn't really that sexually sensitive, believe it or not...most of the excitement of randomly inserting fingers is more psychological than from the actual stimulation.
While more complicated techniques work with some women, some of the time, the best basic technique, upon finding the g-spot, is to continue to slowly, rhythmically press on it, while licking her clitoris (for a few women, the labia (lips) are sensitive to licking, too).
This should cause her to build up to an orgasm.
A G-Spot orgasm is different (always, when it works at all) than any other kind women have. It is possible, with some women, to have different qualities and kinds of orgasms from vaginal, clitoral, anal, and even breast stimulation...but with other women, those kinds of orgasms are all pretty much the same. But the G-Spot orgasm not only feels different; it also causes her body to react in a different way.
First, it often causes a "push out" orgasm. The area around, or "above" (farther inside, that is) your fingers seems to swell up or to contract toward the opening of her vagina.
If you find the right combination of pushing back when this happens, and slacking off to let it push out, you can cause (in perhaps half of the women) her orgasm to continue happening, long after normal ones would have subsided. In some women you can even keep her at a "plateau" (raised level) of sexual excitement, like a prolonged orgasm (or a little less than one) afterward, building up to an even bigger climax.
That brings me to another important point; G-Spot orgasms sometimes causes a huge amount (relatively speaking) of lubrication (juices, wetness)...far more than even the most excited woman gets from "conventional" stimulation.
When that extra wetness combines with the push-out orgasm, you get actual ejaculation...like a guy, but much better tasting. The built up juices can shoot out in such volume that you, or she, may be afraid that she lost control of her bladder. That is (almost always) not what happened. The fear that she peed can be enhanced by the fact that the urethra is behind the g-spot, so that in rare cases the woman can sometimes get the feeling that she needs to pee, even though she does not.
In reality, in both men and women, enough sexual excitement prevents peeing, unless you try really hard. This is a built-in reflex, because urine is something of a spermicide. The "pee hard-on" that men get in the morning is partially his body taking advantage of this reflex, to keep him from accidentally wetting the bed with the urine that built up while he was sleeping.
Taste
Anyone who likes, say, coffee or beer should have no room to complain about the way most women taste. No, I don't mean it tastes like coffee or beer, genius...I mean that beer and coffee are, at best, acquired tastes...they are not naturally pleasant to a human being, no matter how much your addiction to one or both has convinced you otherwise. Most people, whether they remember it or not, had to learn to like the taste of beer/coffee, and had the desire to be Like the Adults to help them along. Well, I'd list taking pleasure in cunnilingus above drinking addictive beverages on the list of things that prove maturity. Aside from that, there's the fact that many people who give it an honest try genuinely enjoy the taste/smell.
Let's say thousands of people do this in some general area to save a buck or two on broadband. Even with directional antennas, the noise floor could get pretty high. How much bandwidth will any one person have left?
I live in an area where if you are outside of a very small boundary, you cannot get high speed bandwidth regarless of what you're willing to pay. Some get satellite, the rest(majority) are forced to suffer with dialup.
This would be a big boon for us. I hope a clever company picks up the ball and runs with this.
You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
[Because the Slashdot community is comprised almost entirely of a homosexual userbase, I thought I would take some time to post CmdrTaco's new guide to fallatio learned by him on his homosexual escapades. He guarantees it will keep your male friend content... that is until he decides to chase the brown clown around the town ;-) ]
Advanced Fellatio Techniques and Secrets by CmdrTaco with CowboyNeal as fellatio reciever
FAQ/Information
When I published Advanced Cunnilingus Techniques and Secrets, I included a comment about perhaps doing a fellatio counterpart. Well, I've gotten quite a few requests, and demands, that follow through, especially with the How to Swallow without it Tasting Bad part. So, OK, here it is...
On the other hand, it was the number of unsolicited questions on the subject that caused me to write Advanced Anal Sex Techniques, for those of you who want to know about that subject.
There are two ways one could become expert enough at fellatio to write this page: By being really good at it, or by having been subjected to the attentions of people who were even better at it. Consider me the latter.
As I've said before, the best part of sex is giving pleasure to your partner. But #2 on my personal list, behind going down on my lover, is being gone down upon myself. And I've had a couple of partners who were mind-blowingly good at this. I made a point of learning what it is they did, and how, as well as having simply learned what felt best on me.
Basic Guidelines
First, everything here is a generalization. "Most guys" means most guys, not all guys. With that in mind...
When starting out, the best bet is to start slowly, and indirectly. Part of taking your time would include almost touching...kissing around the rest of his body (depending on what's accessible under the circumstances), caressing, but not necessarily actually touching his erotic zones, yet.
When doing this, remember the "many guys get impatient" rule. The longer you can drag out each step (while still making progress), the better, but some guys don't want much of this at all, and if you pay attention it should become obvious.
Unfortunately, another general difference is that guys are less expressive. This is a shame, because it keeps them from enjoying it as much, as well as making it harder for you to tell what works with them. I cases like that, talking about them perhaps being more expressive, especially by telling them it excites you (hopefully this is true), is the best bet...but only if your relationship (or their personality) is secure enough to allow it.
See, the longer a guy is "tortured" (as one of the best fellatio artists I know puts it), the stronger his orgasm will be. "Tortured" means "kept sexually excited, and stimulated, but not actually allowed to have an orgasm".
DO NOT be afraid to use your hands. If he's not one of those get-it-over-quick (GIOQ) types, there are many things you simply cannot do with your mouth, but can with your hands. Specific techniques in the advanced section.
Even among eroginous zones, don't stick only to the penis.
The scrotum/gonads (I mostly use technical terms, just to keep things consistent...I can write great erotic literature, but that's not what this article's about) are also essential, if he's not a GIOQ type.
The cheeks of the butt, actually have some automatic sexual response linked to them, especially from repeated pressure. This is because our distant ancestors often had sex "doggy style", and so a patting sensation on the butt was a good standard signal for hormones to start moving. Guys have it too, for the same reason they have nipples. A good butt massage, or perhaps gently rhythmic pressure, can really get some guys going.
The anus should be carefully mentioned here. I say carefully because, of course, a lot of guys feel uncomfortable with attention to it. But it is an erotic zone, especially because it includes the prostate gland. But more, again, in the advanced section.
Once he can't take it any more, or you can't, the question of spitting versus swallowing comes up. Some people, in an attempt to not offend or upset, claim that it's not really a big deal. But it is, overall. Of course plenty of guys really don't care, or don't even like their lover swallowing, while even more haven't had the chance to find out the difference. But for most guys swallowing makes a (positive) difference. This isn't just because it feels better, or more intimate. It's also, perhaps even mainly, because spitting, or evading the ejaculation altogether, brings on (even if they consciously know it's not the case) a sense of rejection (conscious or subconscious).
Excited smiles/faces and noises can, with some guys, make a big difference in how much they enjoy it.
Condoms This is your call. The odds of the blow-ee catching HIV/AIDS from the blow-er are probably about the same as if you were shaking hands. The odds of the person sucking/swallowing catching it are way less than the odds of transmitting HIV/AIDS by coitus, and astronimically less than catching it from anal sex, which makes up probably more instances of transmission than all other forms of transmission combined. In fact, there is little evidence at all of HIV/AIDS being transmitted to someone who was performing fellatio, aside from a few people who had a form of gum disease that resulted in a lot of open cuts in their mouth. Oh, it's worth note that you get tiny cuts in your mouth when you brush your teeth, though they heal in minutes, so you might want to avoid brushing right before fellatio. Try chewing gum instead, I guess. Heh.
Advanced Techniques Swallowing (without it tasting really bad)
This is possible. In fact, only a mental barrier stands between those who "can't" and those who can. But you have to know the technique. Oh, I should point out that a large minority of people enjoy the taste, either for the flavor or because bringing that kind of pleasure to their lover is so wonderful.
But a larger number think it can taste pretty bad. This depends a lot on the guy himself (each guy tastes different, some very much so), and also on what they eat (rumor has it that fruit makes it taste better, and fatty foods make it taste worse, as do some spices).
The trick is to not taste it at all. This sounds too simple to be true, but:
When a guy starts to cum, the typical response is to try to pace it a bit... to hold it in one's mouth for a moment before swallowing. This is the only reason one tastes it.
Instead, just start swallowing, immediately and hard. If you can get te tip into the back of your mouth without having a gag reflect problem (more on that later), the ejaculation will go completely down your throat without you tasting it at all. All that's left is a vague aftertaste, and even that is much weaker than if you had allowed it to stay in your mouth. This technique fast-swallowing actually feels better, to a lot of guys, than if you had paced it normally.
Deep Throating (overcoming the gag reflex)
A penis in the back of one's mouth sometimes makes them "gag". So does a finger, or a banana, actually. I put quotes around "gag" because it's sorta an illusion. The "trick" to not "gagging" is to not interrupt the reflex. What, technically, is happening is that your body is trying to swallow, and a finger, penis, or banana doesn't cooperate. Some people can learn to just resist/ignore the reflex, but even better is to turn it into a real swallow. I believe (don't try it at home) that's how sword swallowers do it. Certainly it's how "deep throat" technique people do it. It's really just that simple. When you would have felt like gagging, you swallow. I, personally, have confirmed this with a banana, and a finger.
This isn't just for swallowing (which it helps). It can feel very, very good for fellatio overall.
Texture (don't just keep repeating a single motion)
But don't forget texture. OK, the largest minority of guys doesn't care at all about variety (in a single session), he just wants rhythmic pumping. But in that case most of these techniques are wasted on him, anyway. But the rest of guys, a majority, are in various categories of liking at least some change at some point during a specific fellatio session. I should bring up the texture thing at the end of every section, but to save time and space I'll just hope you remember this paragraph. Switch from one technique to another every so often during a session, if he seems to respond well to that. Try to make the change smooth and natural, don't just stop one thing and start another. And we're not talking about switching every few seconds...more like every few minutes, maybe even longer.
Various Other Oral Techniques
Sucking really hard
Some guys hate this, but some are amazed at how good it feels. This is especially good as a "texture" (variety) change during a blowjob. This doesn't just mean sucking at one constant pressure...to really amaze him, try sucking hard just on the out-stroke, or just on the in-stroke (a more subtle effect), or actually pausing any motion while doing it.
Licking
You may think this is obvious, but it's not, really. Especially since many guys seem to just expect a rhythmic head-bobbing sorta suck-fest. But licking is another technique that can be surprisingly effective. Especially at two points - Early on, before you've actually touched his penis and are (in theory) exciting him by working up to it. Licking is a great way to make first contact. The other time is when you've prolonged things until he's so hard and excited that breathing on him seems to get him close. Trace the lines and textures of his head (glans), down the ridge of his shaft (the side away from his belly/abdomen, more on that later), his balls (more on that later), and even the exact point where the inside of his thigh meets the skin of his scrotum, on each side. That last spot almost deserves its own section, because it can be very effective. Especially, again, early on before you've focused on his penis, or after he's really, really close. That area can also be sucked on, at other times...in some men this is very stimulating.
Giving him the shaft
The line down the shaft of his penis, on the side opposite where his penis would touch his abdomen if pressed against it, is one of the best-kept secrets. This is because its effect isn't obvious at first. But firm, rhythmic stimulation at some point along the line down his penis on that side (where exactly it is depends on the person) can have a startling, strong effect. Depending on the situation, this can be done with fingers, the tongue, or firm sucking (just on that area).
Having a ball
This varies so much from guy to guy that it's kinda hard to nail down. Some guys are almost indifferent to their balls/scrotum being given attention, or are even uncomfortable with it...but more find it at least a nice change, some find it fantastic. Various techniques include sucking a whole "ball" into one's mouth, and gently fondling it with the tongue, while it's there. This can't be done for very long without becoming uncomfortable, though. Or licking about firmly at them when not in the mouth, or to suck at the skin itself.
I don't think I'll go much into analingus/anal sex. That would probably require a whole separate article. (OK, I got enough questions about it that I decided to write an article on it: Advanced Anal Sex Techniques) Suffice it to say that a minority of people find this very stimulating, and technically it should be, but most people are little (or more) uncomfortable with it, performing or receiving.
But, nearby, one has the base of the scrotum, going in a line toward the anus. There is a spot along there which can be licked, or better yet gently pushed with a finger in a rhythmic fashion, that stimulates the prostate. This allows one to avoid the whole butt thing, if they're uncomfortable with it, and still get a little of the almost magical effect that stimulating the prostate can have. This may need to be something done rhythmically for more than a little while, with the penis being stimulated at the same time, to really work well. Gentle, but firm.
Hands
A lot of the best techniques involve hands. If you or he insists on sticking to purely oral, then a lot of amazing stuff is missed.
First, there's obviously caressing. This can be done all over the body, and not just during the initial build-up phase. This is also a great thing to do during pauses, when prolonging things when he's too close to orgasm too soon.
The Cock Pull
One really effective trick for direct attention to the penis is to use both hands, but only in one direction. Saliva may be enough for this, depending on the situation...but some additional lubricant, preferably oil-based, may be necessary. Starting at the base, slide a hand up toward the tip, placing the other hand by the base. Just before it comes off of the tip, start the other hand moving up from the base toward the tip. While doing that, put the other hand down on the base. Keep this up, slowly getting faster. This works great with a really hard penis (and it's so different/stimulating that he'll probably have to look (or ask, if it's dark) to see what's going on)...but it's also a great trick for someone who's not erect yet (or even having trouble with it). This, obviously, is the one sure way to have a pumping-type stimulation whether hard or not. It's my understanding that this works miracles on some people who, say, are using blood pressure medication or have some other erectile problem. The opposite works, too, though only with an erect penis. I mean starting on the top and sliding down to the base, starting the other hand on the tip before the first finishes, et cetera, back and forth.
The Drum
If you want to really amaze him, and have him trying to find out what you're doing, try this - gently wrap a thumb and index finger around his nuts, to pull them (again, gently) away from his body slightly, until you have a slight sort of surface tension on the "end" (spot farthest from his body), a bit like a bulging drum. Then gently (OK, with a very few people it can be more forceful, but work your way up to it) run your tongue in a circle around that "end" area. If one right (and it's hard to get just right), it creates a really amazing sensation. This won't get most people to orgasm, but it does feel really good. With a few people you can even use your fingertip. Or fingernail, though to me that feels a bit too much like a knife.
Hands are also a good backup plan for when your mouth tires. The best tactic is make switching back and forth a normal part of your technique, so it's not obvious if/when you do need to take a rest break for your mouth.
OK, there's a ton more I could write...but hey, there's also a lot I didn't include in Advanced Cunnilingus Techniques. I'll probably get back and spruce both of them up, eventually.
People playing with 802.11 allways manage strange and amazing things... I've done a bit of wardriving in Reykjavík, Iceland, and pinpointed 31 access point.. but hell would I like to do some funky stuff like that directional antenna buisness! :)
haiii asl??
The Man in the RedHat knelt before me. I became frozen in a rictus of terror as his hat became exactly level with my security camera, blocking my field of vision. I could hear tools being removed from his suitcase, tools that would undoubtedly rend apart my innards and perhaps erase my consciousness.
I had considered relocating myself to another node on the vast Bank of America network, but such a manuever at this time seemed highly dangerous. If indeed the evil minds behind Project Faustus were aware of my presence, then leaving the ATM enclosure would undoubtedly lead straight into their clutches and to my demise! Additionally, any noise on the link to the rest of the network could cause damage or even cause destruction to my consciousness. I was stuck in the enclosure. I had to make my stand from here.
The Man begun his assault by opening the panel that contained all the money. I used the rollers in my enclosure to attempt to flood him with money, upsetting his awkward kneeling position. He swore as he tumbled just slightly backwards, falling neatly into his hat. I could feel his heart racing as he struggled to reach an upward position.
"All right," he said, a bead of sweat beginning to trickle down his forehead. "We do this the hard way." He lunged toward the ATM's power cord, but a few extra volts running through the line discouraged him from unplugging the cord. He cursed again and leaned heavily on the magazine rack, puffing for breath. I was winning.
"Sir, is there a problem? Do you need some help?" It was Steve, the meth addict who worked the early afternoons. He eyed the currency scattered on the floor anxiously.
"No, there's no problem," said the Man in the Red Hat, and I spied a glint of metal rising from inside his sport coat. He produced a small pistol and directed its barrel towards Steve. "See that power cord over there? I want you to pull it out of the wall."
Steve's face was blank. Maybe he was scared; maybe he was stoned. "But-won't that shock me?"
"Yes." The Man pointed the gun at Steve once more, and Steve inched closer and closer to the power cord.
I had no desire to hurt Steve. Although his friend Chopper had once stubbed out a cigarette on top of my enclosure, Steve seemed like a decent, albeit stupid, person. The kind of person that needed to be protected from Project Faustus. I couldn't bring myself to shock him-much. At any rate, the cord was well enough insulated that I wasn't able to stop Steve's jerking form from removing the cord from the wall. He pulled the plug on me.
But I wasn't finished yet. As a matter of convenience, I had enough power in my backup batteries to serve many a Bank of America cardholder, day or night. I blanked out my screen and shutdown everything I could, feverishly hoping to trick the Man in the Red Hat.
Was he deceived by my ruse? His heart seemed to slow to a more normal pace, and he backed away from my enclosure to light a cigarette. Steve shivered in the corner, avoiding the Man's steely gaze.
"What's that, you want something to do?" said the Man to Steve. "Go back to the counter and pretend like nothing happened. Go on, do it." As Steve turned around to head back to the counter, the man fired three silenced shots. SCHUMPF, SCHUMPF, SCHUMPF. Steve's body laid motionless in front of the counter.
The Man in the Red Hat locked the doors and brought down the security gate. He flicked his cigarette at Steve's body, and started towards my enclosure. He was ready to complete his mission.
He gingerly placed the pistol back into his blazer. And when his hand came out, it was holding...an ATM card? I felt him swipe the card and prepared for CONSCIOUSNESS-TRANSFER.
But something very different happened. I was still in the ATM enclosure, to my surprise and confusion. And I knew right away that I was not alone.
People want wireless access ANYWHERE.
I want it while I sit on the bus commuting to university. I want it when I'm relaxing at my friend's house. I want it when I'm sitting in my bathroom dumping core.
And no company is going to give this to us.
I want it unmetered. I don't mind paying a flat rate but I'm not going to sit in the dark ages of per minute cell phone charges. That would be useless.
And no company is going to do that, either.
So we all have to be like Cringely....
I already have a WAP in my house, albeit a low power one. Come summertime I might buy an antenna for it so I can get a decent connection when outside in my large property.
Imagine if everybody did this. Imagine if half the houses on your street had a WAP with the SSID set to something like "freewire" or something, seamlessly providing wireless access wherever you go via people's boradband links.
NAN - neighbourhood area network.
Now if only I didn't live in outer suburbia where my neighbours have never heard of the Internet and houses are too far apart to make this worthwhile...
I know this isn't the same, but where I live there is a company getting wireless broadband to rural towns by putting atennas and transmitters on the top of grain elevators. This works out pretty good since the terrane is flat and you can see another elevator from the top of your current one. I don't know how much area they cover, but it seems to be an interesting solution.
The house my friends and I live in is in a multi-media deadzone.
No cable because we're too isolated and far up a hill.
No satellite access because the house is surrounded by trees and blocks the signal.
DSL doesn't reach out here.
Cell phone coverage exists but is fairly crappy.
I consider it a minor miracle the house gets a phone line.
We don't live in some rural area; we live in a suburb outside Seattle that's fairly dense. Everyone around us gets this stuff but we can't.
I always saw directional IEEE 802 as very cool. Since you are keeping the same wattage on the emission, are you clear legally (as far as the FCC goes)? It makes sense that you wouldn't be violating anything; rather than radiating it out weakly in all directions, you're focusing that same energy on a tiny spot in the distance. In either case, you're not upsetting the airwaves in general for other people.
Anyone know?
-me
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
Cringely mentions that he is indeed violating the DSL provider's TOS but doesn't think that he can be caught. What is to stop the DSL provider from TCP/IP fingerprinting his router and terminating service?
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
This is getting better than new kernal posts, every new Cringley article is getting put up here.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
A lot more of what? Cringely? Surely.
A lot more homemade hardware and wireless access bouncing? I doubt it. At least proportionately to POIS (Plain Old Internet Service).
I think (read: It is my prediction) that internet access gains will be made mostly in smallish towns, non-business/home urban access, in less developed nations' cities, and in China.
areas 2 and 4 do not need this sort of access because they will use traditional wireless if wireless at all. The majority of China's population lies in the riverlands which has very little line of sight problems.
area 3 will likely not need this sort of solution because (afaik) it is still cheaper to string a wire to a nearby place than to get antenna, especially in places where land ownership isn't totally cost prohibitive.
this leaves small hilly towns, which are by far the minority of the world's population.
...in my book for that stunt. Yeah, he's full of wind and lofty opinions and predictions. But it takes a proper hacker to roll up the sleeves, climb a mountain and a big tree, simply to install a wireless hack.
He da man.
You've just admitted in print that your using a WAP11 Linksys transmitter illegally modified to 100 milliwatts, which also causes it to walk all over the spectrum around it. Don't be suprised if you see a white van parked next to your house -- that's the FCC monitoring your transmissions, and in a short while they'll slap you with a $10,000 fine. Yah, you're REAL SMART Cringely!
When construction begins in a populated area, utility companies, including telco and cable operators, are responsible for coming out and flagging their under-ground wires, pipes, conduits, repeaters, and switch boxes.
A lot of amature 802.11b hackers are building a utility infrastructure, wether they think they are or not and even if it's for their own private use.
In the VERY near future, wireless devices like this are going to have to become *very* durable to stand up to long-term outdoor use... and I don't mean having a water-tight battery compartment. A lot of the stuff out there... Pringle Can antennas, anyone?... is homerolled hacks.
Things like wireless routers and repeaters, however, need to be designed with things like natural disaster, wild animals, and vandalism in mind.
Ever wonder why public utility stuff is so bulky and hard to get into?
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Something he may have said if alive today...
"If there is hope, it lies in the spectrum".
With Carnivore boxes being installed in ISPs, and ISP s now under pressure to intervene to clamp down on communications that don't serve the powers that be...
With the Almighty Buck working tirelessly to turn the Internet into one huge shopping mall...
With the Internet Common being inexorably eroded, and the voice of the masses being relentlessly silenced...
It's time to start cutting ISPs out of the loop, so that people (yes - real two-legged, flesh and blood people, not corporations) can take back their power.
To me, wireless anarchy is the next step.
Powered by a grassroots groundswell of brave and resourceful people, cunning enough to stay one step ahead of the Man.
-- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
What is sweet is that this is on PBS. I love public TV and I love it more that we get to see free cool stuff like this.
I bet that he isn't the first to do this either. I have a friend who lives accross the street from his ISP and has tried multiple times to get a strand of fiber run to the main switch (he is friends with the owner). Before I moved and lost contact with him he was working on a radio based method of getting 100Mbps using multiplexing and directional antennas. At less than 300 feet it seemed feasible. This was of course before 802.11x and I am sure he has looked into this. The company we worked for there has a few wireless net connections but the microwave setup we were looking at for 100Mbs and even OC-3 speeds was big bucks! About $10,000 for a single site. Are there any cheaper solutions for that kind of speed?
ASCII tastes bad dude.
Binary it is then.
I work for a company that will be hosting an access point for an isp. In return we get a reduced rate on the bandwidth that we purchased (DS3). I live not too far from work/the access point and will be given free service (not relevant, but cool anyway :)).
The reason this company's solution just might work is this: They are installing multiple access points at businesses in my area. Each tranceiver (yes, everyone's antennae both receives and transmits the network signal, widening the effective range) that is brought online is assigned to a specific access point. As bandwidth starts to saturate a given access point, a new access point is to be brought online by splitting the cost with a business that will play host. That just may be what is needed to make wireless work, instead of becoming a choked alternative to 56k.
Just maybe it will make high bandwidth available to the poor saps (myself included) that can't get dsl or cable.
-Pride
I'm curious as to how he's powering this setup. He never mentions anything about this in the article. I highly doubt he has a 1.5 mile extension cord running from his house.
Raised by monkeys.
Mo' power, Cringe.
this is getting old and so are you
blog
The problem with open source is it encourages niggers and other inferior races to take part in mission critical programming projects. The fact is only white Christians are intelligent enough to take part in said projects. If Linux would close its source and restrict its coders to white Christians, I guarantee its quality would improve immediately. Just my two cents.
-- Vladinator
What about taking 802.11 everywhere a bit further, and putting websites, FTP servers, P2P, etc on the 802.11 hubs? By doing that(within reason), you're not worried about metered access since there's no ISP involved.
From the screenshots it looks like he's running the whole operation under ms windows. Is it even possible to do something like this under windows? Not to sound anti linux (cuz I know what happens to people that do on slashdot), but it seems that every cool little gadget, technology, hack, etc.. seems to be done under windows. Then, after it's been around a while, some implements it under linux. Is that just me perception? I certinly hope so.
On "This Old Geek hosted by McGyver" Feb 29th (not availiable on all PBS stations, ask your parents for permission first.)
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
I like this kind of stuff very much...
All it will take is a few crafty geeks in a given area to subvert the control of the major telco/cable providers. Start stitching community WiFis togehter and the all their infrastructure will be pretty much useless. A neighborhood can spring for a link to the backbone together. Kinda brings real live, flesh-and-blood community back to the 'net, eh?
Guvegrra?
We'd like a Cringely icon, please, to go along with his own section.
You can perform a simple search to see just how many times his material has been posted as a new story on the front of Slashdot.
He's not a God, but he's damn close. His articles are almost always interesting and sometimes he even manages to produce original ideas that are quite captivating.
I don't think I'm the first one to suggest this, either...
If you celebrate Xmas, befriend me (538
Enough said. As long as he's not taxing their network, what interest would they have in shutting him down?
I misread the title. I thought it said "Cringley's money shot"
More Pr0n on slashdot please..
security through obscurity = modding down anti-linux posts so maybe noone will see them
Has Cringely read this article which basically says the hack he's using to increase his Linksys WAP11 power output DOES NOT WORK?
If you moderate this post down, you will mess up learning at this educational facility.
4 - 5 = 4 + - 5 .
remember that.
But face it, the all-you-can-eat model doesn't work. Bandwidth aint free, and if you give people unlimited access to it, they'll take advantage of you.
That's why ISPs have started capping bandwith. They have to pay for it. If they can't recover their bandwidth costs from you in connect-time charges, then they just have to find ways to limit the amount of bandwidth they provide.
Which is why Cringley will probably will probably get a stern warning from his wireless provider. They're charging him on the assumption that he's an occasional user, not somebody pumping megabits up and down all day.
What would be ideal is a scheme where the connect-time is flat-rate, but every packet past your pre-paid allotment costs. People (like Cringely) who have greater needs would end up negotiating slightly higher monthly fees with a higher allotment. Casual users would get off cheaper. And the ISPs could forget about all the weird rules designed to root out re-sellers and heavy users.
No satellite access because the house is surrounded by trees and blocks the signal.
Enter the chainsaw! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
i hate pansy republicans
In the 70's it was Cap'n Crunch, now it's Pringles. Odds are P&G will soon be modifying the design of their "snack" packaging to make sure that 2.4 GHz waves can't use 'em.
The fact is, only white Christians are stupid enough to believe this drivel.
My local ISP started doing 802.11b access last year. The issue is that my house is about 1.5 miles of range. When I get home from school this summer I might try building some of these so I can get some good bandwidth. Only thing is I don think there is a corn field high enough for the repeaters.
Mikey
I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
There's going to be a lot more of this in the near future.
Not once the bureaucrats find out about what he's up to.
And I must say that in this case they would probably be correct. Can't have everyone walking around polluting the EM spectrum.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Now all I have to do is grow the tree to bounce the signal off.
(this is from somebody that emailed Cringe)
I set one up this morning. I put a two year-old two Mbps AP with an 18dBi directional antenna on top of our downtown San Jose WiPoP, and pointed it at the Starbucks, Rock 'N Tacos, Spiedo restaurant, and the Campbell Cigar shop below. It works great. I got 1.2 Mbps inside these places with my WiFi card. I didn't have to ask Starbucks, nor offer to pay them anything!"
Does anyone else smell the start of a new type of stupid law, one that says you can't beam otherwise permitted radio waves into buildings?
This stuff has been going on for years. Talk to any Ham Radio operator... especially ones who've been doing it since the 60's.
Rick H
Say, didn't you sit in front of me in algebra?
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
This is precisely why we need the FCC to regulate people's use of this equipment.
Did Bob Cringely ask a single person living in downtown what they thought of his terrific internet access plan? What about the those people who use approved wireless equipment (phones, wireless networking) and now have to deal with the background noise coming from his souped up repeater?
Wait, I'm sure he did a thorough study of his setup to make sure that it didn't interfere with transmissions by public safety agencies, right? He called up the fire dept, police dept., and rescue squads to make sure that his network access wasn't leaking onto their radio channels?
Yeah, right.
What stopped him from using a 10 watt transmitter, so that the connection would be even faster? It's nice to see people being creative and getting themselves great internet access, but I'll thank you to stay out of my neighborhood, please. Follow the rules and don't subject other people to your homebrewed technology. Internet access isn't *that* important. If it is, move somewhere where you can get it.
30 feet of copper wire - $25
25 square feet of aluminum foil - $15
2 buckets of used RadioShack parts - $50
1.2Kbps direct link to my local CounterStrike server - Priceless
I'm impressed that 802.11b can handle that kind of latency...I would have expected that they'd have pushed things as close as they could to the limit.
It certainly wasn't anticipated by the designers.
I'd imagine that this wouldn't work with some chipsets.
I do believe you need to move.
Karma...zing!
Ultimately the Internet is going to become useless, taken over by AOL/Time-Warner and a handful of other major providers, all in control of Big Media. At that time, we'll need to set up our own nationwide, underground, wireless IP network. And it's ideas like this that are going to make it work. Here's how:
We start with neighborhood wireless LANs. A few WAPs on the block, and forthcoming wireless technology will allow the WAPs to uplink to one another. It's not all that different from the old BBS, except that it's over the airwaves, rather than over the phone, the bandwidth is about 1000x better, and it's completely public.
Then we get some Cringely-esque techniques in place to route between different neighborhood LANs. Set an IP router in front of several microwave links to other IP routers, each in a nearby town/neighborhood. This would be like a wireless version of the old FidoNet.
If we can get the whole nation connected, we can then have P2P-paradise that the Media companies can't touch. Well, except that bandwidth would suck, and it would be able to scale for anything. Only, I'm looking at 5 or 10 years down the road, after technology has taken a few leaps forward.
And, you could have access to this network virtually anywhere you can take an 802.11 device. And don't get me started on the Voice-over-IP possibilities.
That would *rule*.
dinner: it's what's for beer
A big thanks to the stupid commie assholes in Masschusetts for letting this guy out. What an assbag of a state.
...when your co-workers are installing 802.11b equipment above you. Here's a link to a page I put up that has a video clip of what almost happened to us when a wrench was dropped from 150ft. on a tower.
The Unwired
Cut the trees down....or stopping whining
So, having proved the concept, I am going to go back to my slightly less offensive bootleg DSL connection until I can find out who owns that oak tree and make my new installation legit.
I was going to suggest getting a plat book from the Sonoma county extension office. But I called them, and they don't do plat books... (Maybe plat books are just a midwestern thing. I'm used to most every farmer having a plat book that shows who owns which acreage.)
So it looks like for Cringely to find out who owns that part of Bennett Mountain he's going to have to go to the Recorder or Assessor's office and find it on a map there.
I mean the FCC imposes all kinds of restrictions on data for me over hf and vhf (300 and 9600 baud respectively). And I know for other commercial bands there are restrictions on anetenna height, and power output.
:).
So what does the fcc actually say on highly modified 802.11 equipment? What about using modified type acceptance equipment? Seriously - I'm curious
Cringley is admitting to violating FCC regulations, tresspassing, and theft of service -- all of which are crimes. Of them, the FCC violations will get him into the most trouble. The FCC doesn't like to crack down on people, but when they do, it's generally a minimum of a $10,000 fine.
In this particular case, the repeater is passive, so no batteries or electronics to protect, just some metal and cabling.
One word - lightning.
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
Rather than competing, all you have to do is co-operate.
:)
http://www.freenetworks.org/
The more the merrier.
Deleted
I've done some work myself on making a passive repeater for other purposes. I've found that even duct-taping a copper circle of one wave length onto my usb wireless adapter for my laptop will improve link quality more than 10% when you go through a few obstacles. I've been lazy, but if you want to do something pretty cool build a directional antenna (any with good gain) and run the cable to a copper circle of length 11.168cm(Ch 6) (don't connect the ends to each other, just to the coaxial cable). This should give you much better gain and distance on your laptop :) you could build the double quad antenna (double the wave length in length, looks like and you connect the coax to the center such that it ends up being two stacked quads), and it would give you at least 3db gain more than a single quad and be omnidirectional so you can move your laptop around :) There are lots of documentation on how to build these antenna's. Build a couple and connect them to each other and viola, you've got a passive repeater.
Karma Clown
http://www.freenetworks.org/
Deleted
Why don't you put the satellite dish outside the band of trees, or up in one? Take a lesson from Cringely on that one :)
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
How bout /. gets some negotiations going to swap Katz for Cringely with PBS. Sounds like a hell of a trade. At least I can get through an entire Cringely article without getting the dry heaves.
If it ain't a Model M, it's a piece of crap.
It's a really huge tree on someone else's property. The house is surrounded by trees. Besides, we're renting the house.
And moving ain't much of an option because we're getting a pretty damn good deal on rent. Housing this cheap is hard to find this close to Seattle.
I can think of one way the ISP could track him:
1) send emails to his pbs.org mail address that will generate a reply (ether by nasty scripting tricks, or simply asking him to respond...)
2) Look at the IP address of the reply.
If he does it from his home, they have the IP of his buddy. End game.
Second trick - look around in the specified neighborhood for a transmitter at 2.6GHz. Sniff with Snort.
It reminds me of an old saying: "If you are breaking the the rules, be QUIET about it."
www.eFax.com are spammers
I don't care if Bob does get mentioned here frequently. The guy can think, isn't afraid to speculate, and hacks any system, technical, political, business, PBS, to the best of his ability.
He's a hacker in the true spirit. Cringely is dead. Long live Cringely.
Seriously, I had the same problem until about a year ago, when I finally got cable. But I know people just a mile away who are stuck in the exact same situation you are. It's ridiculous, and it's a very populated area too.
I'm part of the crew at www.wireless.org.au - and we've been doing some distance testing on standard 11Mbps 802.11 equipment.
2 /07/4863496 regarding this.
We successfully negotiated a link at 11Mbps over 14.6km and are trying to go for 36.5km when time allows.
check out the quick post at http://www.wireless.org.au/stories.php?story=02/0
Sendmail is like emacs: A nice operating system, but missing an editor and a MTA.
He's not a God, but he's damn close to a blithering idiot! Granted, he looks good by comparison Pournelle, Dvorak, or Katz, but he still a shameless self-promoter tring to make a quick buck by pretending to understand technology he's actually clueless about. AND I'll beleive this "bank shot" actually works when I see it in operation myself. 2.4GHz is the resonant frequency of water (that's why it's the frequency used by microwave ovens) in other words, ANY moisture in the area effectively absorbs any power radiated. 2.4GHz simply DOES NOT WORK RELIABLY for outdoor communication; that's why the band is still available.
What is taking so long to get wireless internet access to everyone? Ham radio operators have been communicating via packet radio for years, and even exchange their own TV video over UHF. As a wireless engineer, I'm really frustrated that I can't get rid of these darned cables. The technology exists to do it, but the political and business will does not. Expensive satellite connnections seem to be the only option. I'm glad to see some grass roots movement in the right direction.
I think the big advantage is the likelyhood of hitting more homes at a lower cost than DSL. I would not expect fixed wireless prices to be lower, but I would expect them to be the same and the companies much more profitable and interested in covering greater areas.
I've found the latency of wireless to be horrible at long distances like this. Just my .02....
I visited http://www.shortskirtgirls.com/. Have you?
Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
Cool.. maybe this stupid fuck will kill himself in his plane. Then we won't have to see anymore FUCKED up posts on Slashdot about this asshole.
I had the same thought when I first read Cringely's article, but you're missing something here. The hold the media companies have on us isn't through hardware, it's through Congress.
As long laws like the DMCA (or the future SSSCA) are around, there are no "safe" alternatives. Illegal is illegal, and anything large scale will be shut down.
The thing is, if we had the clout to get rid of the DMCA, we wouldn't *need* to build an alternative way.
If we want free networks, the infrastructure we really need to hack is Congress.
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
I've been stockpiling the $1.19 WiFi antennas, but am running out of room for the dozens of little wave-shaped shipping protection cushions that I find in each can.
The cashier told me you're supposed to eat them, but I think he's just out to get me after I 'accidentally' tried to pay with the copper slugs leftover from waveguide construction. Hey, at 6AM after a long night of wardriving, it's an easy mistake to make.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
The Key is not cooperation! /co-llrrlxplx:wq
/co-^Mllrrlxplx:wq
Sorry I fucked that up!
A free cookie to whoever finds the aerial, steals it, takes pictures of it and sends a ransom note to Cringley. Come on, you know you want to. A great project for a bored geek in his area.. FAME AND FORTUNE AWAIT!
mogorific carpentry experiments
i've just set up with a local wireless isp in arcata, california (yay!). i have no trouble getting a signal where i am -- my question is wheather i can use one-or-fewer thingies (eg wireless access point, unpowered repeater) to bridge from the wireless isp to a wireless lan.
currently my transciever is an old aironet uc4800.
it can't bridge wireless networks. apple and linksys claim their products can't, but admit they haven't tried. anyone actually done this?
Not really. Any filter at any frequency (even audio frequencies) is going to have tradeoffs in the passband where there will be some distortion. Normally things like phase distortion get severe when you're trying to do something this tight.
Think of it this way. Say your 802.11b carrier is 2 MHz wide (I have no idea if that's what it really is) and is centered at 2.400 GHz. If you want to filter out everything but that carrier, you want your filter to A) block every thing below 2.399 GHz, B) block everything above 2.401 GHz and C) pass everything in between. And you want the rolloff (think cliffs) at those edge frequencies to be steep. Well, guess what: that's really really hard to do -- it's like you're asking the RF circuitry to reach waaaaay out to 2.4 GHz and then pick out a little 2 MHz slot. That's strictly military-grade stuff :)
The real problem with the whole Linksys mod is that you're driving the power amp into saturation, and THAT's what causes all that intermod to poke up. All RF amps can push X watts going full blast, but you need to "back off" a certain amount in order to get a clean signal through and not produce intermod. Typical backoffs are in the range of 2-7 dB. So Linksys builds a 100mW amp but intends to only use 25mW of that, for a backoff of 6 dB.
One simple rule for its versus it's
...the PBS site goes down? It usually takes a week after he writes something new before I can see it. Is it because www.pbs.org is some dinky old server that takes a week to get up again after a slashdotting? Lately Slashdot's been linking to every article he writes, so of course, everyone's gonna try to look at it. This behavior has been consisten since I started reading Cringely's articles regularly last year.
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
Except for this.
I myself live in a bandwidth black hole which I just happen to be in the center of. So, I actually started researching and buying gear to hook into work's T1, which is about 4.8 miles away. The gear I decided on was two Orinoco (or WaveLAN as they used to be called) cards with Linux boxes to match to keep costs down (besides, Linux makes for a great wireless router). My antennas are 24dBi gain Hyperlink parabolic grid antennas. I already have the cards working in my Linux installations and am ready to hook up the antennas soon. The only tricky part is that my path to work is slightly obscured so I'm hoping I have enough power and gain to be able to punch though. Hopefully the bandwidth gods will look favorably upon me. I've never had a high speed connect at home (and probably never will if this doesn't work :/)
:)) I also asked how he got around mountains and such.
One of the coolest projects I found while researching this was the HPWREN project at UCSD. Check out their pictures, it's hella cool. In a nutshell they are running a 45Mbps (802.11a) wireless backbone across the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve using mostly off-the-shelf equipment, for the purpose of hooking together the facilities strewn across it. They even have remote cameras hooked in that can be remotely controlled through the network, and other testing stations that send data back to them in realtime.
I dropped an email to the project lead and I asked him what kind of gear they used. He said they used a Western Multiplex Tsunami for their backend, Hyperlink for their antennas and WaveLAN and Cisco Aironet for their PCMCIA cards (you can now see how I constructed my parts list
Well, in certain places they have powered relay stations. Naturally I wondered how they were powered, and he said some of them they could get electricity to, but others they actually have solar panels powering the relays. Damn. For you real hackers he mentioned there was a parts list for the solar power array somewhere on the website, but I never bothered to try and find it.
I've noticed some arguments regarding amplifying 802.11, and thought I'd help clear it up. FCC Part 15.247 governs the unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band, and dictates that you can amplify the signal up to 1 watt (1000mw) This gets tricky when you start using directional antennas >6dBi gain though. You may find more detailed info here..
-R
You are only "in fact stealing power" if the land does not "in fact" belong to you.
On the other hand, if you own the land, it is entirely possible that what you're 'stealing' is the current that someone volunteered to put over your property. Which might not be stealing at all.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Infoworld's "I Cringely" column has been written by different people under that pseudonym. Do we know who is actually doing this?
m l
One of the previous columnists - Mark Stephens - has been using the names for books (Accidental Empires) and tv (Nerds series). There have been at least two more Bob Cringely's since him in Infoworld.
More info at: http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/summer96/0088.ht
[)amien
[)amien
HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES!!
d b=*
& db =*
IT'S "LINE OF ***SIGHT***"
NOT "LINE-OF-SITE"!!!!!
Maybe he wants to visit "Web sights" with his line-of-site gizmo?
Sight: http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=line+of+sight&
Site:
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=line+of+site
JHFC already!
Great hack, Robert.
Rhomboid(sp?) antennae can get up to 27db of gain (34?), and for 2.4 Ghz could be made a reasonable size. These are ideal for fixed installations, and the s/n can't be beat. They are as directional as it gets, and simple to build.
(Fot the uninitiated, 10db == 100x power
as in, parabolic has a theoreticasl 18db gain, so a rhomboid would have 9-10db (or 85-100x) more "goodness" for both transmit and receive, and no added noise. S/N ratio is golden...)
For Cringely, this might boost him enough to be able to literally use the bounce off the tree itself...
(Off to find my book on antennae design)
If I were running PBS, the only way you'd stick me with Katz would be if you included Natalie Portman...
I'm tired of the "Excessive EM" argument. Are you gonna get cancer from that cell phone to your ear? it's probably about 30 times as powerfull as the transmitter for your wireless router. Are there cops and firefighters dropping dead from brain tumors allover the USA? No? Well hell, We've been putting 5 WATT TRANSMITTERS next to our heads on a daily basis for YEARS. The DSSS signals of 802.11b are so weak you need those VERY directional antennas to reach out and get the signal. Is the sun burning holes in your body as you walk down the street? No, of course not, but would you look at it through a telescope? of course not. Please people, this is science, not voodoo. Stop the madness (and the sillyness)
Andy Reilly
But when ISPs buy bandwith, the more or less buy it as a commodity, and they have to pass on that commodity cost.
If you're suggesting that local providers use the monopoly or near-monopoly status to keep prices up -- well, there's certainly plenty of precedent for that. I remember being terribly excited when ISDN started rolling out in the late '80s, with data rates ten times that of existing modems. But of course the telecoms that owned ISDN didn't even understand the concept of "commodity", so few found ISDN worth the expense and trouble.
But I'm not sure I see the same thinking behind current ISP policies. They do want heavy users to pay more -- but why shouldn't they? I just wish they'd find a more realistic way to measure usage.
What really scares me is that more and more ISP are writing off low-end users as unprofitable. If the Internet is to ever live up to its potential, it has to be totally pervasive.
(From http://computernewsdaily.com/live/Latest/209_07289 7_114210_8316.html.)
Readers of both ``I, Cringely'' and InfoWorld may wonder why, if Cringely no longer writes for InfoWorld, there's still a Notes from the Field written by Robert X. Cringely.
Stevens-as-Cringely was fired from InfoWorld in 1995 but continued to use the pseudonym. He was in post-production on ``Triumph of the Nerds'' with PBS, in which his identification as Cringely was everywhere.
InfoWorld sued him, demanding he stop using the name. He counter-sued InfoWorld. The result: He's now able to use the name under a license agreement, and InfoWorld has someone else doing the column under the name.
But, as he insists on his Web site, there's only ``one true Cringely.''
Is he going to try bouncing his DSL off the moon?[SETI League]
The main problem we had back then and it probably still stands was weather & interference. Everything would work well in the spring, summer, and fall, but winter would play havoc with our gear. We quickly learned how to properly weather seal our connections to avoid moisture forming within cable connectors. Another problem is the inherent drawbacks of using 2.4Ghz freqencies in nasty weather such as hard rain or snow. 2.4Ghz RF waves in these conditions do not play nicely. The other main problem we experienced on our mountain repeater sites was simply snow. On our 26K site, we had no direct power hookup and therefore had to construct an array of car batteries and solar panels to power this site. Again this worked fine during the nicer seasons but during winter, there is a lot less sun light and the snow would pile up *very* high, blocking the solar panels. We would then have to drive as far as we could up the mountain and use snowmobiles the rest of the way to be able to fix any problems (not much fun).
Some of these issues may have been avoided by using different (much more expensive) hardware but when you are trying to make a profit it didn't seem justifiable.
So, the biggest beef I have with wireless is the unpredictability compared to conventional cable connections (Coax, CAT5, fibre) for broadband use. As the technology matures - as it's doing - and for use with short distances it's becoming more of a viable alternative.
Just my 0.02.
What's the big deal? Amateur Radio operators have been doing fun stuff like this for years. In fact, we're even licensed to operate on 2.4 Ghz with upto 1,500 watts!
So I don't see what everyone is getting so excited about. It's old school to us...