Tue, 10 Feb 2004

Redline Networks Install

I'm going to be replacing our 100mbps boxes with gigabit boxes this evening.

So far, im quite happy with them. They make everybody happy....and when everybody is happy, my company makes money.

Growth has been a steep diagonal line these last 6 months, so a bigger pipe is just what we need.

The best thing of all is that these boxes have cool red lights on them. People walk by my office and stare at the red lighting and powercoated casing. Redline could probably sell these boxes on the case alone....actually...i bet they are!

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Thu, 05 Feb 2004

"Will CDMA2000 Kill WiFi?"

I saw something on the PTP regarding some sort of IEEE seminar about this topic. While the question is like being concerned Oranges will drive Apples out of my local supermarket, it is a very good question.

WiFi, or any future wireless LAN technology, will always have its place. A WAN will never replace the LAN. But hotspot carriers beware, EV-DO and EV-DV are very fast, and my $80 EV-DV plan with Sprint in two years will be like high speed DSL in my pocket. Why would I pay starbucks $40 for 5 coffee shops in seattle?

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Wed, 04 Feb 2004

Fun With Propagation Maps
After documenting signal strength every couple feet in my floor, I came up with this very interesting coverage map. It was hand interpolated from a massive array of signal levels.

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Sun, 01 Feb 2004

Superbowl Party
I decided on Friday to have some sort of last minute superbowl party. No one could really come, except for some of our family. That was ok, because they haven't really had a chance to meet.

Sadly, CBS had an exclusive licensed to this entire "Super Bowl" deal. That would mean that I could not get an HD version off satellite, and had to purchase an Over-The-Air antenna. I figured the Silver Sensor would be the best bet, which is basically this sexy yagi antenna that works indoors. Its not bad, but not great either. Just 6dBi in the UHF band. Currently, the rabbit ears were just too flaky....and i had maybe an 80% uptime during a show..

Just trying to find this antenna during the superbowl was nuts. Apparently, everyone else bought an Over The Air UHF HD antenna at the last minute and they were all sold out. After a few stores, I came up with a plan -- drive to a place were HD reception couldn't possibly work indoors, and buy the antenna there. HD reception sucks in Puyallup, so thats were we drove. I had my brother call ahead of time, and they had 2 remaining.

We bought the last one in Puyallup and drove back to the house....

The antenna was really touchy, and i lost signal a couple of times during the game, but that was only when someone moved into the safety bubble of the damn antenna. Just one little reflection from a human body threw the entire thing out of wack. Ironically, it was just CBS that was this touchy -- the other stations came in just fine.

I'm going to take back this Silver Sensor and probably steal the VHF/UHF on my parent's roof. It has a rotator, and its not currently in use.

The joys of digital TV :/

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