Light speed
By; George Horton
Broadband is coming to New Brunswick in a real big way. Industry Canada has hired Aliant to bring high-speed internet to all the rural areas of the province by 2006. The cities and most of the towns already have access to broadband internet. This means that all newbrunswickers will have the possibility of connecting to each other and the world at the same time and at virtually the speed of light. We’re talking real time here folks.
Already in the world there are hundreds of thousands of schools, libraries, access centers, offices and businesses, connected to the internet with high-speed broadband technology, and now millions of houses and apartments will be connected too. As well, with wireless technology, we will have the internet in vehicles, purses and pockets. This will definitely broaden our horizons. Here are some possibilities.
How about a live news feed direct to your desktop from the news desk of the King’s County Record, or checking out the mall webcam to see what’s on special at Dandy’s. Or maybe a live feed from some of the basement bands rock’n out in the neighborhood. You will be able to attend a virtual lecture at the university, or watch your child at the daycare. As incredible or whatever as that seems, we will be seeing things like that very soon. Want to watch the parade downtown or the balloons take off from the park, or hockey games at the rink, but can’t make it in person? Broadband brings life to your computer. You could attend meetings with video conferencing, virtually visit the museum, or catch the hot acts at the bandstand live. You know, with broadband internet you can share Christmas morning in real time with friends and family anywhere they are, as long as they have broadband too.
Another neat feature of the current technologies is that every computer in the vicinity of an access point can be linked to each other wirelessly.
That said, technically speaking, wireless networking is a little tricky to stay secure on, and even professionals can have a hard time keeping other professionals out of their wireless networks. Too access broadcasted wireless internet you need a wireless network adaptor, or a wireless network router. (a router is an inexpensive box that allows any computer within a couple hundred feet of it to share its internet connection). These are called access points and they use an IP address to become part of the internet. An access point is like where your driveway meets the road, and with millions of vehicles on this virtual road, you want to make sure just the ones you want can turn into your driveway. Conversely, you want to make sure that someone can’t use your driveway to gain access to the road without your knowledge.
A word on router security; do not use the default factory settings on your wireless router. Rather, use your own names that you make up. Use a combination of letters and numbers, at least 8 characters long. Also, turn off the broadcast option on your router so it isn’t yelling “here I am, come and use me”, and use whatever WEP security the unit came with. As always if you aren’t sure, call in a pro. Better safe than sorry.
On another note, I wonder what will happen to TV as the world comes online. What will the world think when it sees itself on the web. Live broadcasts from Haiti maybe. Or downtown Vancouver or the front steps of parliament. Maybe inside the legislature so we can see if anybody’s working. Nobody will ever really leave home again because their moms will want a live feed to their kitchen and the for sure the baby’s room. TV is already going to the extreme to get our attention with the supposed real life programs, while the internet just sits and waits for you. Talk about a multi channel universe. It’s like extreme cable. Whether or not the wired world comes to you personally, it will be full speed ahead for humanity.
Surf safe out there.