More evidence that the phone line as we know it is dead. From Dan Gillmor:

Previously, I had two phone lines into my house, each costing almost $20 a month for the dial tone plus local calls. One of those lines was split to also handle digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband data access. In addition, I paid a long-distance carrier per-minute rates and a monthly connection charge.

Today I have one phone line, split into voice and DSL services. But I also have a new box attached to the network that links my phone to the Internet.

Dan’s talking about a service called Packet 8, one that charges $20/month for advanced services like these. This is more than you can get from Bellsouth for the price. Far more.
Continue reading →

I was checking out the website of Edmund Scientific today at lunch. This place absolutely rules! I’ve been a fan of Edmund since I was a kid – it’s always been the ultimate place for geek toys.

Check out this roller coaster kit, for example. Or this Kick Dis air-powered puck? Where else are you gonna find this stuff?

Given a fat bank account, I’d be buying these smart toys for myself, …er, I mean Hallie, so she can learn while she’s having fun. Fun for geeks of all ages!

I’ve adjusted the weblog to make previewing your comment optional. This should help get the feedback flowing here.

If you have any other things you’d like to see here, respond with a comment to this story and I’ll see what I can do.

I also added a link to Bill Maher‘s (the Politically Incorrect guy) weblog, too. He now lives in the “Net Stops” section.

The more I think about it, the more the idea of “intellectual property” strikes me as totally innane. This is the product of the past few hundred years, taken to an extreme during the last century. The Native Americans who lived here before would probably laugh at the concept, knowing that such concepts are against the human nature of sharing. Of course, they would scoff at the idea of owning property, too, but that idea still has some life to it.
Continue reading →

This story reminds me of Gulf War Syndrome, an illness I’ve often wondered if I ever safely avoided. Seems there is an outbreak of a mysterious pneumonia-like illness now affecting soldiers in Iraq.

It could simply be that military personnel are more prone to this kind of illness, as they tend to travel to exotic places, meet exotic people, and kill them.

Ha ha! That’s an old military joke. I mean, military people go to far-flung places and mingle with the locals, as well as work and sleep in close quarters. Add to this the fact that running water is usually not available and you have a recipe for an outbreak.

I don’t think Iraqis are behind this, but when you look at how little we know about Gulf War Syndrome (and how little we care to know – some governments are happy to look the other way), you realize there may be something important going on here.

The latest craze is flash mobs, where people materialize out of nowhere to do some totally random thing. I can’t wait for the first flash mob here in Raleigh. To me, it sounds like harmless fun. And perhaps, a good counter to the insane levels of paranoia in this country regarding groups of people gathering lawfully and peacefully. Hopefully it will remind people (and the courts) that Americans have a constitutional right to associate.

Besides, I’m a big fan of performance art and would jump at the chance to participate in something as fun as this!

More about smartmobs here and here.
Continue reading →

I’ve been reading things about how landline telephone companies are in big trouble. With the rise of wireless-only families and the threat of broadband voice-over-IP, the incumbent phone companies have never looked more vulnerable. I know people who’ve cut the cord for good, vowing never to go back. Ma Bell has a serious problem on her hands.

Here’s an article showing how much damage has been done to the landline business. Another article in Wired magazine tells about Japan’s competition against their national phone company, NTT. Broadband providers are hooking up people left and right to 12 Mb/s cable modems, with free VoIP calls among customers.

It may not happen today or tomorrow, but dial tone is dead. Voice over IP, mobile phones, and even 802.11b aren’t going away and will forever change the lowly telephone. The device which changed the world in its 100 years of existence has itself not changed. The world now demands more from its phones and the landline companies which cannot provide it are doomed to become dinosaurs.

Now that my new neice Hadley is here, I feel the need to provide her with an appropriate nickname. Jeff proclaimed my daughter “Hallie Mac,” so I feel its only fair.

There could easily be some name confusion between Hadley and Hallie. After all, the two names would sound identical if not for the “d” in Hadley. Thus, her official Uncle Mark nickname will be “D.”

A few wise lines I’ve picked up over the past few days.

“You become what you think you are.”
– seen on a white board at work last week. I couldn’t agree more.

“Computers don’t give hugs.”
– on a Birmingham billboard ad for a children’s organization.

Keep these in mind as you start your week.