Slashdot Mirror
Using Visible Light for Data Transfer
James Evans writes "Wired has an article about a New Zealand company which has developed a technology to transmit data at speeds up to 400Mbps up to 4km. They are working to have it more resistant to changes in weather, as well as increasing the distance. It has a number of advantages, including lack of federal regulation of the spectrum, as it is of course, visible light."
In related terrestrial networking news, waytoomuchcoffee writes "Science Blog reports that the backbone for the World's Fastest Network is up and running. It's a fiber optic 40 gigabit per second connection between Chicago and LA. Teragrid is a project by the National Science Foundation designed to link up supercomputer centers."
So, I guess we can finally have mirrors that are mirrors? Excellent!!!
"We are accountable for not only what we do, but also that which we don't do." -- Moliere
they better be careful at 400mbps, they may break the switch on their flashlight.
http://hksoul.myftp.org/
You know, you could read the article. It's just an LED.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
The LED-color should be chosen according to the content transferred... users sharing pr0n via P2P could build their own red-light-destrict! --- I wonder if powerful LEDs will attract insects and such - the connection speed could be reduced drastically by bugs.
I was thinking that we'll have really fast semaphore flags next.
The problem is really tired arms.
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
Except with morse code, I believe, you have to find the right frequency. Not much of a problem, but likely harder to find than a little light strobing across the street. Then there's the rather obvious quote from the article
On the other hand, bad weather, or anything that might block the light's path, can cause slowdowns or power failures.
"File transfer failed: Code 75(flock of seagulls)"
*honk*
This is my sig. It's prescription, I swear. I need it for reading things... on the other side of things
Consider this, when you flash your lights to an oncoming vehical, you are conveying information
Consider this, when you flash your tits to an oncoming vehicle, you are also conveying information.
Yet there are sometimes laws against it.
Opinions stated are mine and do not reflect those of the Illuminati
Pigeons could be a problem though ;)
Not if you use sufficiently powerful lasers >:)
Great, I won't have to buy more crappy pringles in order to steal credit card numbers.. I already own a mirror..