BrundleFly?

One has to wonder if the quest for wireless HD distribution is more closely related to the Philosophers Stone then Grand Unified Theory at this point.   A friend of mine compared this to eating a cake by saying 'you never know if its going to taste good until you eat it, and then its too late.  A lesson in confections from the kitchen of Mrs. Schrodinger indeed.

Wireless HD distribution is something I would install in the blink of an eye, were I confident it would\could work reliably in both speed and location. My home is not new, not nearly new, not was new to my father  in his youth; in fact my home is just barely considered new by the strict definition of antique. While spacious and accommodating my 1901 colonial home still has walls of 1x3's and lathe under plaster. I spent a good portion of my formative childhood tearing down just such walls in the numerous homes we lived in to rebuild and update. I know just how difficult it is to retrofit these homes with modern wiring without planning a complete renovation. It is not a task I look forward to with any pleasure. 

 I also have years of experience working with wireless systems of all sorts and know full well the fragility of the connective infrastructure.  RF transmission of media can be summed up simply  - Wireless transfer of data is the most convenient method yet developed, it is also the most inconsistent and unreliable form ever put into operation. (I think this statement has a very Mark Twain lilt to it and given his relationshipp with Tesla quite possibly attributable to him in an alternate Universe).

The EE Times has published, as part of a year end 'Hot Technologies to Watch for in 2009, an eye opening article on the the relative stasis HD home distribution over RF has exhibited. In the article 'Not getting the big pictures(s) yet', the EE Times editors describe 802.11n as 'troubled', UWB as a 'failure' and the 60GHz as '...too immature...'.  

So, why pursue an RF HD distribution model?  HDMI has some notorious short falls when it comes to whole house distribution which include but are not limited to cable length and physical connectors. It is a market that has huge potential to make redundant  an entire category of cable and distribution.  Trouble is what we have currently and for the near term results in an end video more BrundleFly then Seth Brundle. 

I suppose I should take a deep breath, thank my mother for having the forethought to prepare me for this moment and  with wrecking bar in hand begin the process of renovating to run wire.

Then where would I keep my pencil?

While I only rarely write about the newest or hot item, I came across the Truphone product. The Truphone allows a user to turn a iTouch into a wifi ready phone.  It struck me that this would be a steampunk application from the perspective of my three year old (or at least when he is old enough to understand such things).

So, an iPhone that is not an iPhone can now be an iPhone(ish). VerySteampunk, in a post post modern way -(maybe neomoderist?).

If you are unfamiliar with the culture of steampunk think of a world where Victorian England driven by the revolutionary difference engine creates a world which has many of the same modern convienecines  of the 21st  century just not based on the transistor.  A good start is " The Difference Engine"  byBruce Sterling and William Gibson. Much in the same fashion as the Maker Movement  hardcore fans of steampunk retro fit modern equipment to reflect their pre-modernist aesthetic.  On first look it can be a bit daunting and too much of a contrast for some viewers; it bears to reason  that it should not work this re-purposing of 19th century technology and  modern computers. Once the initial shock wears off, one finds a warmth to these hardware mash-ups which are far more enticing than the gleaming cold Borg boxes such as the Mac Air.

In a world where no one knows what tomorrow will bring economically or technologically and despite the was to rich for my blood now cheap as sand in Dubai cost of oil we do have to consider a life after the End of Oil. Is the SP movement a harbinger of a new technological age, where products contain a minimal to no petrol base products - Bakelite enclosures anyone ? 

Another major influence on the SP movement is the original Tech punk himself Nikola Tesla. If you only know the name Tesla from an 80's hair band then you should really listen to the Studio 360 Broadcast concerning him (Thanks to John Huntington's link on his Control Geek blog). Much of this modern world started in the brain of dear ole' Tes, Yahoo Serious's Young Einstein notwithstanding .  Two of  His last ideas to be tested were the 'death ray' and wireless power, one inspired the Regan era 'Star Wars' development and one has actually been shown to work!

So, are you ready to be a 'Clacker'?

[Gordon produces a notebook and pencil on wrist springs]
Capt. James West: You know, you could put a gun on that.
Artemus Gordon: Then where would I keep my pencil?
quote is from -[Wild Wild West]

Throw it out, keep it in -- I don't know why (Nirvana)

I wanted to title this piece 'Jello Biaframust be Pissed!' but could not find the supporting documentation. Jello was a vocal opponent of the practice   'Pay to Play' which a number of LA clubs began to use the late 80's. In short aband would have to insure a minimum number of people attending a show by purchasing a number of tickets which they would have to resell. Tough luck to the band that could not meet the minimums and don't even think you'll get any part of the bar take -(minus what the band drank).  It is similar to the bar gig scene in ' The Blues Brothers':

Jake: Uh, Bob, about the money for tonight.
Bob: Oh, yeah, $200, and you boys drank $300 worth of beer

As you may have heard in the ubiquitous news reports, the FCC has posited the idea of a nation wide network for free Internet access. The effort is not altruistic but a carrot to spur on the growth and implementation of the 'White Spaces' frequency spectrum -(the 300 to 400 MHz range). Several reports have mentioned that the free portion would be 'adult content '  prohibited which those over 18 can opt in to, for a price.  We have seen several attempts at Muni-Fi systems but only the small township and hamlet systems appear to have any lasting life. Philadelphia struggled to build and maintain their free access system only to finally shut it down then re-start, sort of.

A truly free access nationwide Internet is a grand thing. Just the effect of bridging  the 'digital divide'  would be  significant in  and of itself. My question is just what price this freedom. Unlike the NY Public Library show, this price of freedom may just inhibit your access to it.  If anyone thinks that the entire Net Neutrality debate will not be finally fought out in this venue are to be sadly shocked. 

Who will determine what is adult content?

How will it avoid the blocking of terms like Breast Cancer rather than just Breast? (recall the gaffs the content protection software many public libraries faced?)

Who will determine which sites and which content will require a premium subscription?

Just how long before demand 'forces' providers to lobby the FCC to reduce the amount of free content to just a bare minimum?  There is only so much bandwidth you know.

Pay to Play ?

I'd gone on Holiday by Mistake!

It would seem I have been on an unintentional sabbatical for the last 4 months or so. I would like to thank all of you who emailed, IM'd. sent LinkedIn  mail and contacted me via Facebook to ask where T6 had gone.  I appreciate the interest, concern and friendship you have shown me.

So, what happened? 

 In very simple terms I stopped sleeping. 

In the past I would have thought this was a dream come true, 'finally time to finish all those projects ! Yeah, not so much.  Around late June I began to wake every hour or hour and half and then up for the day with a jolt of my legs at 5am. No matter what time I would go to bed ,(and trust me I was often in bed by 8pm, just after my kids), within two hours the pattern would begin. shades of Groundhog day.  Coming from a background in event staging I was used to, hell I was proud of my ability to shrug off sleep with a glib " sleep give you cancer man, nobody wants cancer".   I have a personal best of 60 hours with no sleep on a Comdex show in Vegas. The Machismo associated with staging techs and the utter disregard for healthy sleeping patterns was just as important as your ability to perform with out missing a cue. 

After leaving the event staging life and getting a office job I still only slept on average 4 hours a night.  reading news aggregate, commenting on blogs, catching up with work issues and finally writing my own blog would fill the hours after my kids then wife would head to bed.  I would insist on getting up at 2 or 3am when one of the kids would get up.

Then I stopped sleeping.

The first month I was only mildly annoyed by the now  2 hours of real sleep.

The Second month I started to become a bit more testy to my co-workers but held it together, for the most part. 

The Third month I just ran on instinct and drive to get my day done and be a presence in my family's  life.

The fourth month was just running on empty and finally admitting that something was up.

In the long run my answer was not the Tylenol PM's nor any self medicating, it was a morning ritual of Yoga. yeah, yoga.

So, as T6 creaks back to life and I wipe the cobwebs away from the machinery and the little grey cells I ask for your suggestions and contributions.  Are you interested in becoming a guest writer for T6? If so i will send you a T6 Style sheet and method of submitting your articles. I intend to start off with two guests a week and see how it works.

I think withnail would agree - going on holiday by mistake is never a good idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L95MAROlcqg&feature=related