Joe Zawodny

Mesh Network

Google is behind a petition to the FCC that requests that they set aside the soon-to-be-vacated VHF & UHF analog TV spectrum for free access (open, unrestricted - to some extent). Their vision is a wireless network from coast to coast with few, if any, gaps and free access for all. Just think of an iPhone that does everything the current one does without the need for a telephone company. Imagine home internet access with DSL, Cable, or dial-up service costs. Think cable or satellite TV without the cable or satellite TV companies. Think access everywhere and anytime without having to sell your arm/leg/first-born to a borderline monopolistic company raking in huge (I’ll argue excessive) profits. Imagine the reliability of a mesh network. Go to the website, read the FAQ, and sign the petition.

Laptop or large PDA?

This story caught my eye. Dell and Intel announce a laptop that provides the usual set of mobile applications and appears to do so without an OS. Or at least, none of the major OSes you usually find. Is this just a laptop sized PDA or the start of something more? Most computers nowadays allow the user to have multiple applications running concurrently - not just ready to resume instantly - but all of them actually doing something at the same time. I understand why that is good, but is it what we always need? I used to have many things going on at the same time and I sometimes still do (mainly when doing astrophotograpghy). Long gone are my days, compiling and running massive jobs. I mostly aggregate, sort, link, and condense information these days - and I do not need a 3GHz CPU running full blast to do so. I for one can’t type or read that fast and that is what I do most while on the computer. I have often wondered what it would be like to have a minimal OS to switch tasks and provide load/unload services for applications that provide all of their own services. I hope we are about to find out. This won’t replace the PC, but does allow it to expand into a whole new direction.