August 2004 Entries
News of this is a bit late, but I have looked for something like this for years.
After many struggles getting my main firewall box to cooperate with Vonage, I fanally resorted to getting one of these little jewels from Linksys. OK, I have further alterior motives behind it...
I want to cut the cord with Qwest for good, that includes my T1. I live in an area where there is no decent broadband and have to resort to my own T1. Slightly expensive, but the worst part is the local loop charges that I am being raped with by Qwest. If not for the loop charges it would essentially be the same fees that I was paying for business cable.
I have wanted to set up a point to point wireless with my ISP for a while and have discussed many alternatives, though nothing came close to the cost of this thing. I have looked at similarly capable systems all over $1000. The advent of these Linksys boxes at $70 with the new firmware from Sveasoft makes this a no brainer. Why spend a thousand dollars and huge amounts of time trying to roll your own when it can be had for under $99. This is a truly disruptive technology that will in fact change the landscape of the internet by opening mesh networks all over the country. It is not hard to modify any of the software Sveasoft as it's all Open Source. 99.9% of the people using this stuff won't need to modify it anyway, the setup is simple.
I would surely hate to be a landline telephone company this decade, if they don't adapt to new technologies and get their prices in order, they are history. There is no reason whatsoever that I shouldn't be able to get Cable or DSL from a major provider living just 10 miles outside of the 6th largest city in the country. Its inexcusable for them to be that pathetic in their service offerings. I look forward to getting this connection all worked out and maybe provde WISP services to the local area. It's an idea I have been banging around for years, but there was no clear answer to the consumer premise equipment. Everything so far had been $500 and up for CPE, death to a WISP's ROI. That has finally ALL changed and it is quite reasonable to add an antenna that provides never before seen speeds on local wireless broadband to just about any sub rural area.
I got back from my desperately needed vacation this weekend.
We spent a week in Dewey Beach, Delaware as far as I can remember, it's the first time I have ever been in Delaware.
Sitting on the beach listening to waves and audiobooks was fantastic. We managed to escape the day before Hurricane Charley (now tropical storm) hit with full force, every day was sunny and delightful. The Atlantic is not for surfers (unless you want to surf in a hurricane), the waves are pretty pathetic, however, the water is so much warmer than the Pacific.
Spending time away from a Computer and an internet connection is something I had to nearly force myself to do. OK, I cheated a little, I did use my Tablet to watch some movies and TV shows on the airplane and a couple of nights I didn't want to go out and listen to crappy bands. Meedio looks really impressive on a Tablet, it is also a great way to review all your digital pictures by passing the tablet around after dinner.
The more I have used Meedio, the more I really like it. I can hardly wait to start jamming on a couple plugins I want to write. It is not without fault, but there is nothing more malleable on Windows right now. This is what Windows MCE should have been from the start, an API with plugin support.
In a year, this should have sufficient plugins available to allow even the most novice user to have a real home media system. I still have issues with the backend, but decided to just resolve it by using Meedio as the front end to my own library through plugins, progress will be slow and ongoing, but it will provide much enjoyment for me.
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Copyright © 2003-2004 H. Steele Price, IV -
All opinions are my own, not necessarily those of my employer, your mother, or any government agency.