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Solar Wi-Fi To Bring Net to Developing Countries

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the let-the-sun-shine-in dept.

JLavezzo writes "TreeHugger.com has an article today on a new wifi development organization: MIT and the UN have teamed up to provide kids living in the world's least developed nations $100 laptops, their 2 watts of juice provided by hand or foot crank. Cool, but - and this was one of Bill Gates' criticisms - what's a computer without internet access? Enter Green Wi-Fi, a non-profit that seeks to provide 'last mile internet access with nothing more than a single broadband internet connection, rooftops and the sun.' Their wi-fi access nodes, which consist of a small solar panel, a heavy-duty battery, and a router, can be linked together to extend one internet connection into a larger network. The two guys who started the company - Bruce Baikie and Marc Pomerleau - happen to be veterans of Sun Microsystems. Deployment is set to start in India at the end of this summer."

5 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Think of the possibilities! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now not only can citizens of impoverished countries starve due to gross mismanagement of funds by their governments (who are themselves living very well off of foreign aid intended for the citizens) but they can IM each other about who has more flies.

    1. Re:Think of the possibilities! by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, it's people that don't go to "the Church". So you have to make sure you go to the right one, or you're totally screwed. You might as well sleep in on Sunday and spend the rest of the day fornicating and taking drugs, since you'll be going to hell anyway.

      P.S. I, and only I, can tell you which Church is the right one, but you'll have to sign up for my newsletter first, before I deem you worthy of such knowledge.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  2. Justice at last!!! by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now Indians will have to deal with Indian tech support.

    1. Re:Justice at last!!! by misanthrope101 · · Score: 2, Funny
      Now Indians will have to deal with Indian tech support.
      No, justice must prevail. Tech support for all calls originating in India will be rerouted to rural Alabama, Mississippi, and deepest Brooklyn. For your convenience, all helpdesk employees will have a comprehensive binder that covers all congingencies. It will be written, of course, in Hindi.
  3. the flies will come through the tubes! by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now not only can citizens of impoverished countries starve due to gross mismanagement of funds by their governments (who are themselves living very well off of foreign aid intended for the citizens) but they can IM each other about who has more flies.

    Not exactly. The number of flies in each location will stabilize, as the flies travel through the series of tubes that make up the internet. Don't get me wrong: the internet is not a truck. So don't even think that it is.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.