Slashdot Mirror
Researcher Runs IP Network Over Xylophones
joabj writes "Following up on experiments of running Internet Protocol(IP)-based networks with carrier pigeons or bongos, UofC grad student R. Stuart Geiger has demonstrated that it is possible to transmit simple ping requests across two computers using people playing xylophones. Throughput is roughly 1 baud, when the participants don't make any mistakes, or get bored and wander off. The OSI encapsulated model of networking makes this project doable, allowing humans to be inserted at Layer 1, the physical layer. Vint Cerf wasn't kidding when he used to say, 'IP on Everything.'"
Upcoming studies:
Improving Baud: Coffee vs Electroshocks
IP Backbone Implementation Using Michael J. Fox
River Rapids: High-Speed Internet With Riverdancers
Increasing Latency With Rube Goldberg Networks
Replacing LCD Screens With Bored College Students And Etch-a-Sketches
Stone-age Computing: Exploring Completely Inadequate Alternatives To Modern Technology
The baud rate is insignificant of throughput, it's not clear why it was even mentioned, especially in relation to throughput. Each note encodes 4 bits (a hex digit), so although it does run at 1 baud, the system runs at 4 bps.
Your math is way off. With 8 notes, each encodes 3 bits; two notes allow 64 different combinations (not 1.6 million!), or 6 bits.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
"'IP on Everything." Sounds like his office is a really disgusting place.
War is one of the most horrible things a human can be exposed to. And one of the worlds largest industries.
That's a no-go -- the trademark is already registered to Apple's biological weapons division.
And for those who slept in biology, xylem tissue transports water and dissolved nutrients, in a tree it is the wood. The word comes from the Greek xylon, which means wood. So a xylophone must be wooden.