How Things Work

Minuteman Chronicles
So things seem to be clicking along great. Some updates and enhancements have been made that I like. So here goes:

In the age that we live in there are many a new fangled gadget. We have cellphones, ipods, wireless connections, jumpdrives and blueteeth [:)] . We have cellphones that Bluetooth and ipod [MP3]. I’ve seen MP3 jumpdrives that have an RF modulator so you can play music off your jumpdrive through the car radio. And all of this is frequency spinning through the space around us, but we cannot see it.

Now, with all of this going around there are things that will receive these signals regardless of who emits them. Recently, Cox Cable was in a dispute with WWL channel 4 because WWL wanted more money from Cox to be carried on that cable network. Now if you remember back in 1978 before cable became so widely available, WWL was picked up on the ‘rabbit ears’ that came with the TV set. Sure, sometimes you had to put some aluminum foil on them to get better reception, but it was free. WWL is still free if you can find some ‘rabbit ears’, I think Radio Shack sells them. So, why does the cable company have to pay more to carry them? Seems like a bit of greed to me, IMHO.

Let’s go on to another free frequency, wireless connections. I have talked to many friends and knowledgeable folks about this technology and even set one up very recently. It was fairly easy to do and I had a wireless network. I had considered whether to lock it up or leave it open after talking to others. Some people leave it open so that anyone can use the connection for their needs. I guess kind of a sense of community, after all to use it you have to be within 50-75 feet of the thing to use it. I don’t think somebody is gonna sit in your driveway to get online. I did hear one kid say, ‘We did have hi-speed internet, but then our neighbor moved’. Now that is funny, but is a very real capability. I see 6 connections from my dining room table, half of them are wide open.

Now it isn’t hard to do, if you decide to ‘secure’ the connection. I simply check 2 boxes in the setup of the wireless router. Then I picked my password and viola, locked up. Each computer that can see my network is asked for the password to login. The password only needs to be supplied once and the computer will remember it automatically. If I change the password, then the computer will be prompted for the new password once again. VERY simple stuff. So, no reason why anyone who has this couldn’t do it if they choose to, plus most people I talk to choose to leave theirs opened up.

So, some poor kid connects to a wireless connection in his neighborhood from inside his car. Well, seeing him sitting there gets somebody nervous and they call the police. Cops run this kid off and he goes and finds a connection at the library. Now, he uses the library a lot for his schoolwork and study. But, sitting in his car in the parking lot, somebody complains. Cops run him off again. Next day, kid is in the parking lot after hours. Nobody else is around and the same cop happens to drive by. OK, now is where it gets really interesting. They confiscate his laptop and haul him in. Call his parents and keep the laptop because of the investigation. Now, I do not know what he was doing for sure. He says online gaming which makes sense, but it was there for free. If there is a fee for connection then he would know that if he goes there for study. If that is the case then he was stealing. If not then where is the crime? Maybe I’m looking at this wrong, but there is no law against using the airwaves for wireless connections. If they did not want him on their wireless, then they should lock it up. Have they now? Or is this just a bulldog cop who wants to ‘teach this punk a lesson’?

Just think about it.

“Information in the media can be divided into three categories: (1) Truth – Sports' Results; (2) Probable – Weather; (3) Lies – Everything Else”