Internet everywhere, or “700MHz really turns me on”

A lot of people are getting excited about the (near) future. They seem to think that the Utopian ideal of wireless availability to the Internet — to everyone, everywhere— is on our immediate horizon. And I don’t mean the rinky-dink cellphone-texting type, hotspot or nothing, wireless Internet we have now. I mean, real networking.. and I mean as we’re cruising down the road.

The main way this is to be accomplished is to make use of the 700MHz spectrum; which is what is currently being used for our television broadcasts. As you probably know (and as I pointed out in a prior article), all US television stations will stop broadcasting analog signals in (February) 2009. All transmissions will be digital. This change “frees up”, and makes available, that whole range of frequencies… that folks want to turn into Wi-Fi.
Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon have plans in the works (Google? They’re getting into everything these days).

What this means is a vastly greater coverage, and better ‘speed’– no more hotspots and deadzones. And since the chipsets that allow for wireless transmission/reception have gotten so cheap and so small, the Web will be used by devices/appliances we don’t conceive of today. Your lighting, heating and cooling, and security system could have their own IP address. Your refrigerator could be surfing for grocery coupons. Your camera and camcorder could have their own You Tube and Flickr accounts. Microphones could include Skype accounts, and allow direct podcasting. Earbuds could receive Internet/satellite radio.. as could your car.. or your backpack. And parents will love this, you could “stream” as many movies to your car as your computer at home can store.
In sum, it won’t be just notebooks, PDAs, and “smart” phones that access the Internet any more– it could be your wallet (to keep you appraised of your bank balance, or some other such nonsense). Only imagination and consumerism will tell (did you see Minority Report???).

Tip of the day: a bit of email etiquette. It is good manners to remove any non-relevant text from the original message when replying to an email, as well as any attachments. (If I send you a picture of my puppy, I really don’t need you to send it back to me… I have it on my PC.. that’s how I sent it to you. Right?!)
In fact, unless you need specifically reference the subject matter, and it has been some time since the Sender sent you the message (and may have forgotten exactly what he/she wrote), or the Sender has sent a few emails in the meantime and needs guidance as to which one you’re answering, just delete the whole original message. Better yet, change your email settings to turn off “attach original post“.
Or, hit “New” instead of “Reply”, and just add “RE:” to the Subject line.

Today’s free link: Today I’m going to re-post a tool I just don’t think enough people know about. CCleaner (“crap” cleaner) not only increases your privacy and security by removing Histories, cookies, and “temp” Internet files, but it includes a Registry cleaner/repair and a Startup manager and Uninstall tool as well.

Copyright 2007 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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