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Pigeons' Bandwidth Advantage Quantified
An anonymous reader submits "A well documented test took
place in the north of Israel, in presence of several dozen Internet geeks and
experts. During the test, 3 homing pigeons carried 4 GB (gigabytes) for 100 km
distance, achieving, what apparently looks as pigeons' world record in data
transfer to a given distance. Bandwidth achieved by the pigeons was 2.27
Mbps...Transferring a similar volume of information through a common uplink of
ADSL line would have taken no less than 96 hours..."
So essentially, we should unplug all the cables and just get a bunch of shithawks?
the DSL doesn't shit on my car.
the response time for packet loss is prohibitive... may as well get satellite
12 gauge shotgun i'm applying for the patent right now
vodka, straight up, thank you!
There will be at least ten comments that say (even though it's a pigeon and not a swallow): "Was it African, or European?"
barzelay.net
the relevant rfc
To get a RAID on their backs....
In a pinch you can't eat your cable modem.
Finally, I can start implementing my MORSE OVER IP OVER PIGEON CARRIER protocol stack!!
DrkBr
That's it, I'm switching to PSL. (Pigeon Subscriber Line)
"What is the average velocity of a data-laden pigeon . . ."
A 5 ounce bird cannot carry a 4 GB coconut!
- A
You'd lose both a huge amount of your data and your only connection should something happen to those pigeons. Still, it's more reliable than AOL.
"You should never doubt what nobody is sure about." -- Willy Wonka
It looks like the final barrier to widespread internet access in the Palestinian quasi-state has been surmounted.
Insert obligatory joke here about "dropping packets"....
Who is General Failure? And why is he reading my disk????
The bandwidth might be good, but the latency stinks... just try playing networked Quake 3 over that!
I feel sorry for the pigeon who needs to be hashed on the other end to check if it's the same one... that's gotta hurt.
"A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
GeneralEmergency
Try wiretapping that you FBI bitches
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
African or Europen? Well, someone had to say it.
EVERYDAY IS CATURDAY
3h 54Mins
Ping time is twice that. Doh!
If I had something intelligent to say, I would have said it.
Now if I can train my pets to fetch me playboys from local 7-11s, I am as good as without broadband.
> Not bad for laden little pigeons
Bin Laden has pigeons now??? It all makes sense!
Sorry. Had to. It was there.
Pony Internet Express?
we replace those tiny 4 GB memory cards with 1.44 MB floppies. Lets see how far those flying rats get with 4 GB of floppies attached to their frickin' heads.
That's all fine and good if you know where you're sending your packets. But what if you have to do a DNS look up? Then you have to send several scout pigeons to the nearest aviary which will in turn send a pigeon back with a map of where to send your data pigeons.
And there's a whole other issue with those bastard Verisign Pigeons, but I'm not going to get into that now.
There's also a risk of packet sniffers who use various means to down your pigeons and read your data (no router protection).
And if they do happen to down your pigeon, they can give it new data and send it on its way as if it came from your IP (iniating pigeon). WATCH OUT CREDIT CARDS!
The solution of course is to use Pretty Good Pigeons to protect your data.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
What is that in Library of Congress'?
can we now rate MBps in MPH?
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
..but can they stream?
-- kortex "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts"
Yeah but who wants to wait 9 hours to then find the webpage they wanted to view was lost at baggage collection.
The Worlds Record for Data Transfer in a Station Wagon"
Basically, a station wagon of 35 gig tapes from SETI is driven to it's destination. Takes 16 hrs to fill 1 tape.
Although it is very humorous to see pigeons used, they are still prone to packet failure (automatic weapons fire).
Yeah but the ping times suck right...
/T
Stack a 747 full of writable dvd's and you get hell of a bandwidth...
Or even better...
Put em on a superfreighter class ship...
Warning: This sig contains a small bug. ==> *
I want to know the Coconut Transfer rate of a Swallow.
And to make this reference complete....
both African and European Swollows!
Pigeons carrying data? Web page has photos of baby birds as a way to replicate the system, photos of turtles for no good reason.
I think the posts for April Fools Day have started to arrive. Damn, it's early this year.
Better get mine in, then: LZip for DOS - Yes, lzip 2.0 has been ported to DOS! Lzip is an advanced file compression utility that generates smaller file sizes than either gzip or bzip2, and does so much faster. Lzip can achieve these goals because it it based on a so-called "lossy" compression scheme.
Is it already April 1st somewhere?
In many senses, it's April 1st everyday at Slashdot.
You've obviously missed the bigger joke-
. blug.linux.no/rfc1149/</a>
<A href=http://www.blug.linux.no/rfc1149/>http://www
It's been implemented!
Paul
http://www.pauldrobertson.com
when PETA learns about their firewall!
is all the 'packets' they drop
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of shithawks carrying tiny memory cards"
Hey, and if you're hungry, eat your bandwidth!
Jay | http://oldos.org
You can eat the pigeons (squab, actually) when they arrive.
And yes, just like chiken, but better.
...is trying to turn all of our isp's into Stool Pigeons anyways.
Since of course the air speed velocity of an african swallow... I mean pigeon...
I trrew my DVD collection across the room yesterday. That's 1 terabyte per second, right?
Not a fair comparison against DSL...they multiplexed the pigeons. This is just more anti-DSL FUD
;P
-Turkey
"The technology eliminated the need for cat 5..."
In fact, I would recommend not using ANY kind of cat technologies with this protocol.
eleven plus two / twelve plus one
It was the one being chased by the SCO lawyer.
Try getting those pigeon to fly at night or during bad weather. HA!
Actually, that's a working pace for a pigeon. They were working hard, but not really what you could call "trying." Birds are fast.
Mind you a duck will overhaul a pigeon. That fat body is all wing flapping muscle. A duck is built to fly fast, high and for days at a time if needed. A duck in fear of its life can break 100 kph in level flight. An Eider just trying to get somewhere in a hurry for no particular reason has been clocked at 76 kph. That's the current officially confirmed record.
Nevermind the falcon that eats the pigeon creating packet loss.
I have no idea what the achievable bandwidth of a duck is though. They could deliver data intercontinetally. Having to wait through migratory periods would probably kill it pretty good.
KFG
We didn't receive any messages, and Captain BlackAdder did not shoot this delicious, plump-breasted pigeon.
Imagine being slashdotted by pigeons!
Some people would say this has already happened
There is an old saying -- "Don't underestimate the bandwidth of a truck loaded with magnetic tape".
Wouldn't that be vanwidth?
Duck homing is pretty precise. I have ducks and geese in my "backyard" (the Mohawk River) who manage to find the exact same favorite pool every year from whatever far flung warmer clime they spend it in (the bastards).
The problem as I see it is that pigeons are dogs and ducks are cats. Tell a pigeon to carry something through antipigeon fire to save the regiment and the otherwise intelligent animal will say, "Oooooooo, Oooooooo, can I? Pleeeeeeeeeese!"
Whereas you to try to tell a duck that and he'll say, "Yeah, right Sparky. Blow me. Why don't you just run along and carry it yourself? Or maybe ask that stupid pigeon. I'll bet he'll do it. A pigeon will do anything. Just ask that Skinner dude."
Which is why no duck has ever won a Crouix de Guerre. On the other hand no duck is standing on his remaining leg stuffed in a museum either.
The ducks like it that way.
That isn't to say that a duck won't oblige by carrying a message, but it'll go when he wants, where he wants.
If that happens to coincide with your needs, fine and dandy, if not, well, tough noogies.
KFG
Sometimes they come with notes attached.. it's like fortune cookies with wings!
What's the average speed in megabits of a laden sparrow.
African or Europen
What? I Dont know
AHHHHHHHHHHHH
But I think there is work on extending the TCP/IP protocols for interplanetary missions, so timeouts etc might be OK?
I'm pretty sure you'd get 100% packet loss trying to use avian carriers for interplanetary communication.
I guess when the bird died, it would send an ICMP message back about the timeout by falling on your head.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
Okay, having done that, when are you going to work out the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
African or European?
We are obviously on the verge of a revolution in communications and networking! Clearly, if it turns out that Internet can be cheaply had via pigeon, the price of broadband will drop, and millions of homes all across America will soon be wired (or "flown" or "pigeon-linked" or whatever it'll eventually be called) into our glorious information superhighway! Millions will be able to enjoy the Internet and will be able to use it productively, to improve the quality of their lives, and download tons of free porn! The world shall become a more enlightened, happier civilization! And it'll all be thanks to the pigeons! God bless them!
"That fat body is all wing flapping muscle"
I read this and instantly got a mental picture of some poor geek in a bar modifying it for use as a pick-up line.
[matt]
"I paid my money, I refuse to be inconvenienced." -Karl Cocknozzle
When they find out that this technology can be used to transfer copyrighted material, and therefore showing up as a potential infringement, those pigeons are going to be in a whole lot of trouble.
After all, why on earth will somebody want to transfer 4 GB of data in such a unlawful and secret way? :)
you dirty pirates!
The problem is, a single packet drop could actually kill someone.
That makes them carrier pigeons!
Language students: Don't try to learn English here. This ain't it.
Together, we will drive the rats from the tundra.
AAAaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!
Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
but do these "pigeons" run Lin...sorry wrong thread. :)
UHG! I am turning off my computer for tomorrow... SLASHDOT BE DAMNED! hahahahahahahahahaha
I'd say it was 5Cats.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Well, when the pigon does what pigons do, is that considered an ICMP-Packet-Administratively-Denied?
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
cool! now I can socially engineer my way onto the network with just a loaf of bread! ;-)
-AC
I just ear that SCO will suit every companies using the virtual pigeon network. They argue that they have patents on the Pigeon DNA so every people using or feeding pigeon have to buy them a license.