This might not be a popular opinion, but as an individual who's capable of designing and implementing this, I'd rather vote in a politician who projects my ideals.
In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
71–79 of 79 posts
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#72Not only is the idea itself not unique; other hackers have been working on this for at least a decade with little practical success. It's hard enough covering a city with wifi let alone connecting a mesh network over the air. Rushkoff and others think it's just a matter of time... I remain skeptical. How many of the groups members have worked in telecommunications and understand how antennae work, how signal broadcas…
You can't build the kind of robustness that we enjoy today out of commodity hardware. And that's not needed either. The purpose is communicating with each other in cases that the government brought down or is heavily filtering the internet (like happens in Egypt, Libia, etc), or in case of a disaster. It doesn't have to be as fast, or robust as the internet. 56k is plenty enough if you just want to send messages or s…
Perhaps it's worth considering that if a new network is extremely slow compared to the present "expensive name brand hardware"-powered internet then it might not attract as much attention from the "streaming premium content" crowd. They might just leave it alone.
Who knows, by building such a network you might in the process prove that there's more value to an internet than simply as a new channel over which to sell branded entertainment and disseminate advertising. You might also show just how much can be done over a 56k link with a little creativity.
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#73These meshnet projects are interesting, and I wish them well. But... we (democratic republic countries) already have governmental structures that allow for changing laws. Let's just organize and change the laws. Aside from the industry-paid demagogues' rhetoric of 'STEALING' on the internet, we have to objectively think about this problem. We, the public, define the laws. We define what 'stealing' is. If a majority o…
I like your civic-minded approach. But isn't it a bit idealist while the laws are written by the lobbyists of entrenched multi-billion-dollar businesses? I sincerely hope that's not the case in your country but it's definitely the case in mine. It seems to me it's the (possibility of) technological circumvention itself which renders the laws outdated. If that's true, then the laws will always lag behind to the point…
But isn't it a bit idealist while the laws are written by the lobbyists of entrenched multi-billion-dollar businesses? I sincerely hope that's not the case in your country but it's definitely the case in mine.
Fixing that problem isn't impossible. There are a significant precedents where people have forced governments to act against corporate interests (eg, the environmental movement).
Even things like the Tea Party show that the major US parties can be co-opted by people power. Yes, the Tea Party has mostly been co-opted itself, but look how many entrenched players that removed in such a short period of time. I'd suggest that is a reasonable model to study for anyone interested in creating a pro-consumer political movement.
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#74There may be ways to overcome the limitations of mesh networking, as outlined by many people here, but you will need to think outside the mesh, so to speak. It is probably best to think of the mesh as the "last mile" component rather than the backbone. One idea: a $5 laser pointer can be modulated at well over 100 Mbit/s. Everyone in an urban area who can see one side of a building can bounce laser beams off of it. (…
Data recovery and collision resolution are left as exercises...
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain?
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#75There may be ways to overcome the limitations of mesh networking, as outlined by many people here, but you will need to think outside the mesh, so to speak. It is probably best to think of the mesh as the "last mile" component rather than the backbone. One idea: a $5 laser pointer can be modulated at well over 100 Mbit/s. Everyone in an urban area who can see one side of a building can bounce laser beams off of it. (…
I read that Xerox did this between two of their buildings many years ago. Apparently it ran across some portion of a motorway and they had to turn if off occassionally. I've forgotten where I read this. Maybe someone else knows the full story.
Dealers of Lighting by Michael A. Hiltzik. It's a great book about the beginnings of Xerox PARC.
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#76Eben moglen already has plans for freeing the internet from the tyranny of the few:
http://m.zdnet.com/blog/networking/freedom-box-freeing-the-i...
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#77The problem has already been fixed. In South Africa, there is a mature, established private Wireless network spanning huge urban areas AND interconnecting them. It's based on cheap 5GHz hardware and directional antennae (mostly yagi). Details here http://www.ptawug.co.za/
Wow, this is pretty amazing. The overall structure of the project, and the fact that part of it is funded through donations is striking. The coverage of the project is from what I can tell a very large area http://www.ptawug.co.za/content_list_5
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#78[deleted]
Re: In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam
#79There may be ways to overcome the limitations of mesh networking, as outlined by many people here, but you will need to think outside the mesh, so to speak. It is probably best to think of the mesh as the "last mile" component rather than the backbone. One idea: a $5 laser pointer can be modulated at well over 100 Mbit/s. Everyone in an urban area who can see one side of a building can bounce laser beams off of it. (…
Problem with laser is fog ...
In my student dorm, we used that to connect to the University network (which was a km or two across ...)
We would not get any internet by foggy weather :)
Actually, that was always something funny to say ... "We have internet by laser" then people would go "wow" ... and then you say "and it doesn't work when there is fog" and then suddenly, all the "wow" goes away :D