Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I hope
I hope Obama wins. Even a significant foreign policy disaster between now and election day will probably not alter the results after Powell's endorsement, though I may of course be wrong. The latest polls have Obama at just over 50% and McCain around 43%. I predict that slightly more undecided voters will go for McCain in the voting both, but that the final result will be 53:46. As far as toss up states are concerned, I think McCain will carry Florida and North Carolina, and Obama Colorado, Ohio, and Missouri. Unless McCain says "welfare" 500 or more times between now and election day, I think the Bradley effect will be less than 1% and it will show up only in a slight skew towards McCain in the as-of-now undecided voters.
Wifi etiquette
After taking a bit of time to think through the issue that arose this afternoon, I am ready to delineate my philosophy on using a neighbor's wireless network in an area of high residential density. Due to the fact that it is so easy to secure, merely using a neighbor's network does not constitute theft or any ethical breach given the following standards are met: First, the access cannot use more bandwidth than the owner is likely to notice. Checking emails and most webpages are fine, downloading one mp3 at a time is also OK. Downloading movies or sharing on a peer-to-peer network is not.
Even if the subscriber is so naive to not know that someone else may be using their network does not permit the borrower from using more than a sliver of bandwidth.
We've all been in the situation where we really need to check an email and nothing but locked networks appear nearby. So an open network serves a social need and we should not punish these (naive or kind, take your pick) subscribers for their service.
Given the relatively fair prices for bandwidth these days, sharing should only be done by those who either can't afford it or who follow the above criteria, IMHO.
Even if the subscriber is so naive to not know that someone else may be using their network does not permit the borrower from using more than a sliver of bandwidth.
We've all been in the situation where we really need to check an email and nothing but locked networks appear nearby. So an open network serves a social need and we should not punish these (naive or kind, take your pick) subscribers for their service.
Given the relatively fair prices for bandwidth these days, sharing should only be done by those who either can't afford it or who follow the above criteria, IMHO.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
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