The question of why you are charged more is a good question. However a few more details would help to give a satisfactory answer for your particular case.
With more information about the type of service purchased and the amount you paid in the first place the answers can be factual and easy to answer.
The posts to date explain that there is a cost in the order of a few thousand dollars per Mbps. Let's assume that the cost is $4K/Mbps when including routers, staff, marketing, electricty, etc. Example 1 If you were being charged $20,000 per month for a 1:1 subscription ratio on an Internet connection at a fixed data rate (e.g. 5Mbps) then you would not expect to pay more if your site was slashdotted. Likewise, you would not expect a refund if you used no data. You were paying for a fixed price connection. Now if your link use has a duty cycle of 70% then the ISP is making about 30% margin.
Example 2 If you are only paying $20 per month (a thousand times less) then you would expect to be sharing the link with another 1000 users (1:1000) but factor in the staff required to support 1000 users then it is most likely you would be sharing with 2000 users in order to cover the costs of a connection and have humble profit margin. Then if you flatten an 5Mbps link for 2 days then the ISP is paying for 2 days exclusive use of an 5Mbps connection. This costs the ISP more than $20, so has to charge more.
The costs associated with a particular event can be different based on the usage. If the saturation of traffic came from local sources then the cost of data is low. From international sources then the data cost is high. Imagine how much it would have cost 5 years ago to have a dedicated 1Mbps connection to almost anywhere in the world. You can get this for $4000 per month! not bad.
How about a mountain that is a few hundred meters above sea level? Mine shafts? Temperature difference between seawater and air? This sounds like a very expensive excercise to prove a point. How about a Darius wind generator: 30m high, AU$300,000,less than 6 month build time, and outputs 25MW in 4 Knot winds. That's 2,233 wind generators for AU$670M and peak of 55,833MW. Maybe these guys have more dollars than sense?
What does it take to reach beyond the end of the universe? A little bit of imagination! A problem is always an opportunity in disguise - as for the can't do attitude: apply some lateral thinking. Sure, building little vehicles with rocks is challenging... however there is much more available, such as electrostatics and other forces which could be utilised. The nano-devices do not need to have their logic inbuilt, why couldn't they be remotely controlled by much larger entities which do the thinking for the nan-devices? Why would the nanobots need pinchers? They could use the force!:) Sounds silly, well investigate how IBM moved atoms around using a microscope.
"And our backyards aren't filled with antibodies and other same-sized life forms looking to kill stuff. "
What is influenza? It may not be intentially looking to kill stuff. But the end result is that is does, based on the directives it follows.
Logic is powerful - no matter how simple. Apply logic and a map for a device to follow and complex tasks can be carried out.
Think outside the norm for a little while and apply some general knowledge. Of course a backhoe will have difficulty building another backhoe, but imagine an enzyme which when combined with correct substrates creates devices capable of performing tasks of verying nature (kinetic, chemical, electrical, magnetic etc.) and the enzyme is not destroyed during the process.
Why bother trying to split the atom. It is a known fact that an atom cannot be split.
To answer your question "Is it just me, or are hopes for nano-tech out of whack with any actual possible reality? "
Who knows until you try? People who achieve the impossible either are too ignorant to know it can't be done, or they watched a lot of the Muppet Babies as a kid and applied a little imagination and lateral thinking.
I can picture it now. Big company execs hiring head hunters to find the perfect sewer broadband cable layers. Resumes are submitted:
Perfect Team...
Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo, Michaelangelo
They work well in a sewer environment. Salary is pepperoni pizza. Very skilled with tools and have unique techniques to move effectively throughout the sewers. Only draw back is that appear only to only lay April.
Project Manager Splinter, gifted with experience and wisdom, this wily guy co-ordinates this freak team.
Often guidance equipment is used above ground where the robot works underground. There are moles used in Australia to dig there way through dirt, under roads, around existing pipes and user quite sophisticated radar and sonics. Every now and then though, the little buggers get themselves trapped and have to be dug out.
In the sewers I imagine it would be easier, just like the sewer pipe clears, they just get pushed through the pipe.
In Australia 10.5GHz is acknowledged as being an ISM (even though it is not on the ACA chart - a quick phone call will verify this). SO instead of using a door opener to transmit data wirelessly, the CPU could be overclocked, whacked onto the end of a wave guide. Just like using the space shuttle to blow leaves, this would be an inefficient way to have a 10.5GHz carrier signal generator. But knowing our Government, a grant would no doubt be given to investigate this idea further, whilst the 15 year old kid with a working prototype of a cold fusion chamber is told to nick off and stop bother the local politician for funds.
I agree with you fully here. I enjoy toying with the idea that some administraors are so worried about security when a half brick and a pair of sneakers is sometimess all that is required to obtain data and the system required to extract the data.
Hmmm, you have some good Dutch Apple Pie Recipies. I've only had Dutch 'flavoured' cookies in my time.
Has anyone actually measured the clock rate ofCPUs
on
Clockless Computing?
·
· Score: 1
CPU clock speeds, namely x86 architectures are increasing at astounding rates. I still have a 286 in the shed with 10MHz success silk screened on the main board. To my knowledge the bus on some of the newer CPUs runs at 100MHz however it is claimed that there is internal clock multipliers e.g 4x, 6.5x,etc. But has anyone actually measured or would be able to measure these internal clock rates? Some of the benchmarks do not demonstrate that an 800MHz unit as a whole performs 8000times faster than a 10MHz unit. I certainly question that the user experience is 8000x quicker anyway.
The question I'm really lookking an answer for is: Could CPU manufacturers be fooling us?
Yeah, but what if it is going so fast that space/time is warped within the environment of the processor? Appropriate calibration techniques would be required to accurately measure the speed the processor is calculating with reference to the speed the measuring device is operating at. "Simple, shunt the measuring device to a Flux Capacitor via a wheatstone bridge!", I hear you say. Well, in theory this would artificially induce the measuring equipment to increase at the same unknown rate.
Theory is great, however, Einstein questioned the theory that a straight line between two points is the shortest distance. He was correct, a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points - but it is damn close to a straight line. Thus the theory of using a Flux Capacitor may be flawed. We may never be able to measure the true speed of the device - it could be fooling us by taking as long as it wants to perform a calculation, then warp time to its fancy to come back from the future and return the correct result. Either way, it would be fast. :)
If I wanted your data and I was only 7m away, I would pick up your machine and take it away. This way I not only have your data, I'd have another box to add to the collection.
I am sure that access lists and the like will eventuate with the technology.
What do you mean? Telstra is receiving blows from the ACCC - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the TIO - Telecommunications Industry Ombudsmen and the ACA - Australian Communications Authority. Maybe you should read http://www.accc.gov.au/telco/competition/Anti-compconductteleco.z ip which outlines Anti-competitive conduct in telecommunications markets and what the ACCC has in place. Already the ACCC has slapped Telstra with notice of anti-competitive behaviour, prevented Telstra from buying OzEmail. The ACA - Australia Communications Authority also produces reports and measures Telstras performance. As a result some substantial Government funding is up for grabs to deliver Universal Service Obligation services in remote areas. The ACA and Federal Government are attempting to allow a healthy self-regulated telecommunications industry. As a result the teeth of the ACCC are not being used fully (at the moment)). Deregulation is also bringing about competition which should in any normal environment reduce costs and improve services.
There are Telcos out there determined to be extremely competitive and innovative in order to capture market share and loyal customers. This should shake up the market a little.
I disagree. As a member of a new Telco in Australia I am very confident that Internet pricing will drop in the future. There are a couple of factors which cause the prices currently being experienced in Australia. 1. It costs a lot to support off-shore links. 2. The last mile is still expensive. Both of which are being attacked to reduce costs. A megabuck per megabit per year has been a good rule of thumb for data going and coming off-shore of Australia. This cost will reduce as technology and innovation improve. Just as innovation and use of alternative technologies will assist in solving the last mile costs. There are many more generations of wireless technologies destined to hit the markets. Coupled with pressure from the ACCC and competition, Telstra will slowly open up their local loop and reduce prices.
Additionally, I disagree on the basis that if the other Telcos don't drop their prices, we certainly will.
An oldie but a goodie. I remember the days of trading.gif files. Scanners were rare commodities and were expensive. To ray trace a good picture took ages (even on a really beefy 386DX with a Maths Co-processor). Even downloading images on a "state of the art" 14.4Kbps modem took ages. Back then, maybe there was justification for charging for.gif format because it saved time and added value to some peoples life styles.
Yeah, I could have - in hind sight (I was only 14 at the time). I actually migrated to cardboard tubes that come with glad wrap - single use rocket. I didn't even bother with a parachute. Instead I stuck sparklers to the side and launched at night. At that age the concept of bush fires caused by sparklers hadn't gelled to maturity. The cardboard was lighter as well. recovery would have been nice, the rockets (all 3) just went straight up out of sight with a small flare trail. My "BigRed" a 3 foot post pack tube blew up like a big fire cracker on the ground. After that, Dad confiscated my rocket making materials. At the time I thought he was being really unfair, now *with hind sight* he was being very wise.
I would like to see high temperature Lego. The rockets I made as a kid with Lego would only last two trips. Same with the rocket powered cars - these only lasted one trip because usually they hit the garage wall hard, followed with a very impressive Lego shower. At the time I did not realise how expensive Lego was, so my collection quickly dwindled to melted lumpy bits. Other than destructive creations high temperature Lego could be used for Oil "Aromatherapy" kits, miniature kilns (to melt Smurfs in?), etc. They could be supplied with instructions of how to make your own rocket fuel packs with 63% Potassium Nitrate, 17% Icing sugar and 10% sulphur with a black powder core.
The age of "community" data access is coming. The cost of providing data services is still high, but if it is spread out over a large user base and people do not paying AUS$50 per month (committed for at least 36months to cover install costs), then this may very well be a reality. Internet data still costs ISPs between 9-19c per MB. This means that 200MB costs the provider around AUS$40. Local data should IMHO be covered by the line rental. With IP "enabled" Telcos this would include local phone calls, faxes, game playing, video, etc. and gateways for international and interstate could be used which would attract a slight surcharge on a per Mb basis. I know that this model will be applied by AirNet Commercial Australia - a soon to be announced Telco.
Even though Telstra has to allow 3rd party Telcos to place equipment in their exchanges they are still allowed to charge a reasonable fee. Access to the exchanges is also limited. We have requested to have broadband wireless access to the Adelaide exchange and the response was "We don't do radio". Which was very interesting considering that a massive multi-storey antenna resides on top of the exchange we want access to.
DSL will be great, for the people who will be able to have access to it. My understanding is that Telstra will offer it as a premium service and is limited to a first come first served basis.
This also does not answer many needs remote regional areas have for high speed data access.
The Australian Government is working very hard to facilitate telecommunication growth. The company I work for (AirNet Commercial Australia P/L)is about to launch its services which could be used as an alternative to DSL: broadband wireless access. Link speed can range from 115Kbps to 155Mbps - it is up to the user (and their budget). Each link plugs straight into an IP public packet switched network. "Local" IP traffic is free (great for gamers) with latency of around 2-6ms.
This service will be available in each major city and in regional areas via satellite up/down links.
In a nutshell: DSL has much to offer, but there will be other fantastic alternatives available very soon.
If you are interested to know more, please contact me privately. Colvin Burgess - email:colvinb@airnet.com.au
How about an inline adaptor with an Ultra Wide Band transmitter inside? Grabs just above the 50uW required and transmits it for miles and it is indiscernable from noise. http://www.uwb.org . This way you needn't ever return to collect the cached key strokes, it can be delivered to you real time.
What technology did you use to achieve 10Mbps? I assume that it was low cost, or the bits were appropriated from elsewhere. Even today (12 years later) 10Mbps Wireless gear is reasonably pricey. I am very interested to know what equipment you used.
In Australia there are pilot projects where utility companies (Electricty, water, gas) have the capacity to backchannel data via their metering devices. This back channel could also be used for TV ratings, satellite downlinks (for Internet Access), security system monitoring and much more. Add FlyBuys to this. So, not only would your favourite TV shows, Internet sites would be known, the times you are home, when you are most likely to be sitting on the toilet, etc. can also be inferred by compiling the information fed back thorugh such a back channel. It will not be long before many databases are amalgamated - FlyBuys, Debt Collection, TV Ratings, Personal Information,etc. Think of the possibilities then.
Battery life with some grunt is important for some applications, such as for a public neural LAN. (an R&D project I am currently working on.) High-bandwidth often requires high speed CPU grunt to make routing decisions and other network monitoring tasks. Especially with the promise of UltraWideBand technology becoming available in the future, I look forward to the day of being able to power an external node purely by a low cost low power solar panel. A transceiver which is barely indistinguishable from noise, transmits data at 5Mbps and can run on a pen light battery for a couple of years. Wack a couple of these together with a Transmeta CPU, solar panel (enough to power two 50uW 5Mbps transmitters) to create a node on a publically accessable neural network and 'Voila'! A self-configuring, self-healing, low-cost, high-bandwidth, high-density network. I'm interested in doing it! If anyone else is, please let me know. Check it out at www.uwb.org. C.Burgess - email: colvinb@eclectic.com.au
I am curious as to why the RIAA doesn't try to fight "fire with fire" and offer a high quality service to locate and download authorised.mp3s cheaply. RIAA are dead to keen to play "whack the mole" even though the odds are not in their favour. Why don't they play "pat the mole"? An issue for many.mp3 downloaders is quality, quantity and until recently (Napster appears to have solved this) availability. RIAA could play "Pat the mole" by rewarding would be "pirates" with very good availability, service and quality, by distributing software similar to Napster which charges 10cents per song and delivers high quality authorised songs to the millions of "pirates" who would normally not pay for music. Sureley, RIAA with its resources could create an extremely low cost but high quality.mp3 search engine with high quality and "original" sound tracks which pay the artists royalty. I personally would not mind paying 5 or 10 cents per track and have the option of downloading them via the Internet or even better have them queued up and delivered on CD via standard post. Then everybody wins.
Slashdot Mirror
The question of why you are charged more is a good question. However a few more details would help to give a satisfactory answer for your particular case.
With more information about the type of service purchased and the amount you paid in the first place the answers can be factual and easy to answer.
The posts to date explain that there is a cost in the order of a few thousand dollars per Mbps. Let's assume that the cost is $4K/Mbps when including routers, staff, marketing, electricty, etc.
Example 1
If you were being charged $20,000 per month for a 1:1 subscription ratio on an Internet connection at a fixed data rate (e.g. 5Mbps) then you would not expect to pay more if your site was slashdotted. Likewise, you would not expect a refund if you used no data. You were paying for a fixed price connection. Now if your link use has a duty cycle of 70% then the ISP is making about 30% margin.
Example 2
If you are only paying $20 per month (a thousand times less) then you would expect to be sharing the link with another 1000 users (1:1000) but factor in the staff required to support 1000 users then it is most likely you would be sharing with 2000 users in order to cover the costs of a connection and have humble profit margin. Then if you flatten an 5Mbps link for 2 days then the ISP is paying for 2 days exclusive use of an 5Mbps connection. This costs the ISP more than $20, so has to charge more.
The costs associated with a particular event can be different based on the usage. If the saturation of traffic came from local sources then the cost of data is low. From international sources then the data cost is high. Imagine how much it would have cost 5 years ago to have a dedicated 1Mbps connection to almost anywhere in the world. You can get this for $4000 per month! not bad.
How about a mountain that is a few hundred meters above sea level? Mine shafts? Temperature difference between seawater and air? This sounds like a very expensive excercise to prove a point. How about a Darius wind generator: 30m high, AU$300,000 ,less than 6 month build time, and outputs 25MW in 4 Knot winds. That's 2,233 wind generators for AU$670M and peak of 55,833MW. Maybe these guys have more dollars than sense?
"And our backyards aren't filled with antibodies and other same-sized life forms looking to kill stuff. "
What is influenza? It may not be intentially looking to kill stuff. But the end result is that is does, based on the directives it follows.
Logic is powerful - no matter how simple. Apply logic and a map for a device to follow and complex tasks can be carried out.
Think outside the norm for a little while and apply some general knowledge. Of course a backhoe will have difficulty building another backhoe, but imagine an enzyme which when combined with correct substrates creates devices capable of performing tasks of verying nature (kinetic, chemical, electrical, magnetic etc.) and the enzyme is not destroyed during the process.
Why bother trying to split the atom. It is a known fact that an atom cannot be split.
To answer your question "Is it just me, or are hopes for nano-tech out of whack with any actual possible reality? "
Who knows until you try? People who achieve the impossible either are too ignorant to know it can't be done, or they watched a lot of the Muppet Babies as a kid and applied a little imagination and lateral thinking.
Perfect Team...
Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo, Michaelangelo
They work well in a sewer environment. Salary is pepperoni pizza. Very skilled with tools and have unique techniques to move effectively throughout the sewers. Only draw back is that appear only to only lay April.
Project Manager Splinter, gifted with experience and wisdom, this wily guy co-ordinates this freak team.
Often guidance equipment is used above ground where the robot works underground. There are moles used in Australia to dig there way through dirt, under roads, around existing pipes and user quite sophisticated radar and sonics. Every now and then though, the little buggers get themselves trapped and have to be dug out. In the sewers I imagine it would be easier, just like the sewer pipe clears, they just get pushed through the pipe.
In Australia 10.5GHz is acknowledged as being an ISM (even though it is not on the ACA chart - a quick phone call will verify this). SO instead of using a door opener to transmit data wirelessly, the CPU could be overclocked, whacked onto the end of a wave guide. Just like using the space shuttle to blow leaves, this would be an inefficient way to have a 10.5GHz carrier signal generator. But knowing our Government, a grant would no doubt be given to investigate this idea further, whilst the 15 year old kid with a working prototype of a cold fusion chamber is told to nick off and stop bother the local politician for funds.
Hmmm, you have some good Dutch Apple Pie Recipies. I've only had Dutch 'flavoured' cookies in my time.
The question I'm really lookking an answer for is: Could CPU manufacturers be fooling us?
Theory is great, however, Einstein questioned the theory that a straight line between two points is the shortest distance. He was correct, a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points - but it is damn close to a straight line. Thus the theory of using a Flux Capacitor may be flawed. We may never be able to measure the true speed of the device - it could be fooling us by taking as long as it wants to perform a calculation, then warp time to its fancy to come back from the future and return the correct result. Either way, it would be fast. :)
To make a brash assumption: echo supression is built in. Which infers to some form of correction occurring in the wireless hardware.
If I wanted your data and I was only 7m away, I would pick up your machine and take it away. This way I not only have your data, I'd have another box to add to the collection. I am sure that access lists and the like will eventuate with the technology.
What do you mean? Telstra is receiving blows from the ACCC - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the TIO - Telecommunications Industry Ombudsmen and the ACA - Australian Communications Authority. .gov.au/telco/competition/Anti-compconductteleco.z ip which outlines Anti-competitive conduct in telecommunications markets and what the ACCC has in place. Already the ACCC has slapped Telstra with notice of anti-competitive behaviour, prevented Telstra from buying OzEmail. The ACA - Australia Communications Authority also produces reports and measures Telstras performance. As a result some substantial Government funding is up for grabs to deliver Universal Service Obligation services in remote areas.
Maybe you should read http://www.accc
The ACA and Federal Government are attempting to allow a healthy self-regulated telecommunications industry. As a result the teeth of the ACCC are not being used fully (at the moment)).
Deregulation is also bringing about competition which should in any normal environment reduce costs and improve services.
There are Telcos out there determined to be extremely competitive and innovative in order to capture market share and loyal customers. This should shake up the market a little.
I disagree. As a member of a new Telco in Australia I am very confident that Internet pricing will drop in the future. There are a couple of factors which cause the prices currently being experienced in Australia.
1. It costs a lot to support off-shore links.
2. The last mile is still expensive.
Both of which are being attacked to reduce costs.
A megabuck per megabit per year has been a good rule of thumb for data going and coming off-shore of Australia. This cost will reduce as technology and innovation improve. Just as innovation and use of alternative technologies will assist in solving the last mile costs. There are many more generations of wireless technologies destined to hit the markets. Coupled with pressure from the ACCC and competition, Telstra will slowly open up their local loop and reduce prices.
Additionally, I disagree on the basis that if the other Telcos don't drop their prices, we certainly will.
An oldie but a goodie. I remember the days of trading .gif files. Scanners were rare commodities and were expensive. To ray trace a good picture took ages (even on a really beefy 386DX with a Maths Co-processor). Even downloading images on a "state of the art" 14.4Kbps modem took ages. Back then, maybe there was justification for charging for .gif format because it saved time and added value to some peoples life styles.
Yes it is possible to use just two cards. Place them in "ad hoc demo mode" and they will chat to each other quite happily.
Yeah, I could have - in hind sight (I was only 14 at the time). I actually migrated to cardboard tubes that come with glad wrap - single use rocket. I didn't even bother with a parachute. Instead I stuck sparklers to the side and launched at night. At that age the concept of bush fires caused by sparklers hadn't gelled to maturity. The cardboard was lighter as well. recovery would have been nice, the rockets (all 3) just went straight up out of sight with a small flare trail. My "BigRed" a 3 foot post pack tube blew up like a big fire cracker on the ground. After that, Dad confiscated my rocket making materials. At the time I thought he was being really unfair, now *with hind sight* he was being very wise.
I still liked Mechano sets. Much more robust and you bend the metal bit to make the custom parts required.
I would like to see high temperature Lego. The rockets I made as a kid with Lego would only last two trips. Same with the rocket powered cars - these only lasted one trip because usually they hit the garage wall hard, followed with a very impressive Lego shower. At the time I did not realise how expensive Lego was, so my collection quickly dwindled to melted lumpy bits. Other than destructive creations high temperature Lego could be used for Oil "Aromatherapy" kits, miniature kilns (to melt Smurfs in?), etc. They could be supplied with instructions of how to make your own rocket fuel packs with 63% Potassium Nitrate, 17% Icing sugar and 10% sulphur with a black powder core.
The age of "community" data access is coming. The cost of providing data services is still high, but if it is spread out over a large user base and people do not paying AUS$50 per month (committed for at least 36months to cover install costs), then this may very well be a reality. Internet data still costs ISPs between 9-19c per MB. This means that 200MB costs the provider around AUS$40. Local data should IMHO be covered by the line rental. With IP "enabled" Telcos this would include local phone calls, faxes, game playing, video, etc. and gateways for international and interstate could be used which would attract a slight surcharge on a per Mb basis. I know that this model will be applied by AirNet Commercial Australia - a soon to be announced Telco.
DSL will be great, for the people who will be able to have access to it. My understanding is that Telstra will offer it as a premium service and is limited to a first come first served basis.
This also does not answer many needs remote regional areas have for high speed data access.
The Australian Government is working very hard to facilitate telecommunication growth. The company I work for (AirNet Commercial Australia P/L)is about to launch its services which could be used as an alternative to DSL: broadband wireless access. Link speed can range from 115Kbps to 155Mbps - it is up to the user (and their budget). Each link plugs straight into an IP public packet switched network. "Local" IP traffic is free (great for gamers) with latency of around 2-6ms.
This service will be available in each major city and in regional areas via satellite up/down links.
In a nutshell: DSL has much to offer, but there will be other fantastic alternatives available very soon.
If you are interested to know more, please contact me privately. Colvin Burgess - email:colvinb@airnet.com.au
How about an inline adaptor with an Ultra Wide Band transmitter inside? Grabs just above the 50uW required and transmits it for miles and it is indiscernable from noise. http://www.uwb.org . This way you needn't ever return to collect the cached key strokes, it can be delivered to you real time.
What technology did you use to achieve 10Mbps? I assume that it was low cost, or the bits were appropriated from elsewhere. Even today (12 years later) 10Mbps Wireless gear is reasonably pricey. I am very interested to know what equipment you used.
In Australia there are pilot projects where utility companies (Electricty, water, gas) have the capacity to backchannel data via their metering devices. This back channel could also be used for TV ratings, satellite downlinks (for Internet Access), security system monitoring and much more. Add FlyBuys to this. So, not only would your favourite TV shows, Internet sites would be known, the times you are home, when you are most likely to be sitting on the toilet, etc. can also be inferred by compiling the information fed back thorugh such a back channel. It will not be long before many databases are amalgamated - FlyBuys, Debt Collection, TV Ratings, Personal Information ,etc. Think of the possibilities then.
Battery life with some grunt is important for some applications, such as for a public neural LAN. (an R&D project I am currently working on.)
High-bandwidth often requires high speed CPU grunt to make routing decisions and other network monitoring tasks. Especially with the promise of UltraWideBand technology becoming available in the future, I look forward to the day of being able to power an external node purely by a low cost low power solar panel.
A transceiver which is barely indistinguishable from noise, transmits data at 5Mbps and can run on a pen light battery for a couple of years.
Wack a couple of these together with a Transmeta CPU, solar panel (enough to power two 50uW 5Mbps transmitters) to create a node on a publically accessable neural network and 'Voila'!
A self-configuring, self-healing, low-cost, high-bandwidth, high-density network.
I'm interested in doing it! If anyone else is, please let me know.
Check it out at www.uwb.org.
C.Burgess - email: colvinb@eclectic.com.au
I am curious as to why the RIAA doesn't try to fight "fire with fire" and offer a high quality service to locate and download authorised .mp3s cheaply. RIAA are dead to keen to play "whack the mole" even though the odds are not in their favour. Why don't they play "pat the mole"? An issue for many .mp3 downloaders is quality, quantity and until recently (Napster appears to have solved this) availability. RIAA could play "Pat the mole" by rewarding would be "pirates" with very good availability, service and quality, by distributing software similar to Napster which charges 10cents per song and delivers high quality authorised songs to the millions of "pirates" who would normally not pay for music. Sureley, RIAA with its resources could create an extremely low cost but high quality .mp3 search engine with high quality and "original" sound tracks which pay the artists royalty. I personally would not mind paying 5 or 10 cents per track and have the option of downloading them via the Internet or even better have them queued up and delivered on CD via standard post. Then everybody wins.