I’ve heard the rumors and I want to put an end to the speculation. If I’m elected pope, I will not serve. Sure, you’ve get those great digs, and the adulation of millions, but it’s just not for me. For one thing, I’ve already got millions of fans from MT.Net. And there’s the fact that I’m not even Catholic. That commute to the Vatican would be a killer, too.

So please, save your votes for some other candidate.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled useless blogging.

I’ve been geekdreaming again about ways I could get my neighborhood connected. The thought of creating one, big neighborhood network has been appealing for a long time.

Robert Cringley, the computer columnist, is a genius. His column on neighborhood multimedia servers has me exploring what it would take to build one. The first challenge I face is how to network the neighborhood. WiFi might have the range, but its all dependent on the placement of antennas. Some neighbors might consider that an eyesore, which I can understand.

Then I saw a sales circular in today’s paper offering a Netgear Powerline WiFi extender. To put it in Fark parlance, WiFi is old and busted, but Ethernet-over-powerlines is hot and new. I poked around more and found that, yes, Cringley has covered this, too. His article called “Ever Hear of a HomePlug network? You Will” ran almost three years ago!

The HomePlug networking gear turns ordinary home electrical wiring into a giant Ethernet segment. The bridge equipment encrypts traffic using a 56-bit DES key, which can keep your packets secure. And security is a good thing, since the HomePlug signals reach all the way out to the electrical transformer servicing your home, and from there on to all the other homes that transformer services. In other words, your network is shared with 6-10 of your nearest neighbors.

But that’s also a good thing, since it allows a super-cheap WAN to be built between surrounding homes! It may be the perfect medium for my wild and crazy networked neighborhood idea.

The only drawback is that the speed limit for version 1.0 of HomePlug is 14Mbs. That’s pretty modest by today’s wired standards, but considering cable modem connections are 3Mbs down, and 802.11b is 11Mbs on a good day, its not bad for a WAN. The good news is that the next version of HomePlug, dubbed HomePlug AV, will increase speeds to 100Mbs.

So let me say again: Cringley is a genius. If you want to know what I’ll be spending my tinker time doing, read his column.

Now, time to go get my neighborhood connected!

I don’t have many people mistaking me for a celebrity. Thank goodness, since I hate to sign autographs! On occasion, though, I’ve been mistaken for Mike Connell, of the band The Connells.

If I had to pick a celebrity that I look like, I’d pick country singer Brad Paisley, who will be playing here this weekend. Maybe I’ll don a cowboy hat and walk around Walnut Creek Ampitheatre with a fake entourage. Maybe I could score some free beer or something.

I wrote my little speil about the tuition flap last night and promptly went to bed. When Kelly came to bed before 10, I was already out.

I may be retiring early this evening as well, as I think I spent my early morning tossing and turning. I’m not sure what led to that, but it’s not getting me much rest. Fooey.

Some folks are in a fuss over the proposal to provide in-state tuition rates to the kids of illegal immigrants.

Let’s take a look at it. How much did you contribute to the state economy before going to college? You might have been the exceptionally-motivated type who worked your way through college with no debt. If so, good for you (though you might have been better off taking those skills straight to the business world). Or you got the money from someone else, such as Mom And Dad Savings And Loan (if you’re lucky); scholarships (if you’re lucky and motivated); or good, old-fashioned indebtedness (the American way).

If you’re like most kids, though, your earnings contributed exactly diddily-squat. Babysitting money, lawn-cutting money, or minimum-wage slavery will only go so far. Of that, most is paid under the table (which makes you – wait for it – an undocumented worker!) What isn’t paid to you illegally (that is, as a minimum-wage slave) is likely too meager to be taxed, anyway.

The idea is to give these smart, motivated kids – kids who’ve proven themselves but come from poor immigrant families – the chance to pay a not-insane rate for college tuition. It isn’t free, the kid has to apply for citizenship, and above all – she has to prove she is a serious student.

Education is the most effective weapon against poverty. If the state can make it easier for immigrant kids to support themselves, we’re all better off.

I’m jonesing for some Roy Orbison music. Problem is, I don’t own any. Can anyone out there help a brother out and lend me a CD?

Rick Weiss, science writer for the Washington Post, wrote a fantastic commentary on the state of human curiosity. Stop what you’re doing and read it. Right now.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.
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Sure is rainin’, innit?