Saturday, September 27, 2008

FreeTheAirwaves.com

sometimes its hard to remind ourselves that there was a time before "wifi"

but there was, not too long ago. we had the wifi band, of course, a fairly useless band of signal reserved for garage door openers and microwaves.

that's right... its the same signal. the funny thing about it is that it sucks. really. it heats water well, but it doesn't travel far, it gets interrupted easily, and it's slow. wifi can go through two walls, and then it stops. no wonder you have trouble getting that signal from two houses over, eh?

of course, we're working on better ways of using the same lame signal band: going from B to G to N hasn't hurt us any... but it's no big achievement either.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a way for clear, clean, fast, dependable signal everywhere at anytime? Think of the possiblities: schools and educational institutions in even the most remote or poorest areas could have access to the information available by the internet as well as secure, reliable connection to thousands of other institutions and academia. Emergency response, police, rescue teams... all would have constant access to the information and people they need to reach.

Don't big brother me either, there would still be the freedom to turn your wireless device off and trek the Sierra Nevadas on your own, but should you need it, the possiblity to turn your (gps, phone, laptop, safety device) back on and call for help would be possible.

And even if you don't buy all that, wouldn't it at least be nice to not have to go crawling under your computer table one more time to figure out why on earth you can't get wireless signal through those three walls to the porch so you can check your email without moving?

Well, there is a way of course, and its really dumb that we're not using it yet.

It's called white space - and its the unused spectrum between the channels of your tv.

Read more here and feel smarter instantly.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

New Glasses!

Jess got new glasses! For the first time in five years: NO PRISMS! That means all the visual training we've tortured her with has worked, and Jess' eye muscles are starting to get the hang of this focusing thing.

Not only do they help her see better, they help her cook better too!
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Monday, September 1, 2008

Ritter Clan Visit

We visited old friends Claire and Greg in Maryland. They have 3 adorable little kiddos: Taylor, Hannah, and Matthew. While we were there, Matthew enjoyed his first taste of buttered noodles (much better then tomato sauce, mom!), Taylor and Hannah woke Eric by hitting him repeatedly with as many pillows as they could find, Hannah colored a picture of two "brides" - Jess and Eric - and announced that she was going to marry Eric so she could live with us, the kids cleaned house (Matthew's favorite job - vaccuming!), and everybody loved climbing on and getting hugs from Eric. We'll miss them but we're hoping to see them all again soon!






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Road Trip

Jess' parents are attempting to sell their house and move closer to the city, so while we were still free of school and work schedules, we took a trip down to NJ to packup some old boxes and then packed in a few quick visits to friends. We picked cousin Shannon up at the bus stop and spent a fun night with her, playing Life and making more money then we do in reality. Shannon is a bundle of fun and we really enjoyed spending some time with her and mom, Aunt Laura. Uncle Matt and cousin Matthew were in KY for a bike race, so we'll have to make the trip again sometime soon!


Aunt Laura and Uncle Matt own All American Bicycles in Damascus, MD.
We picked up Mom and Dad's old road bikes from NJ and helmets from Aunt Laura, and we're hoping to hit the local bike trails (the flat ones!) this year and build up our strength.
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Mom's Visit

Mom came to visit all the kids for a few days each...
we later learned that she had a secret agenda...
math tutoring!
Eric enjoyed going back to pre-calc and college algebra to help Mom study for her upcoming tests.
(She's trying to get her teaching degree.)
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...

pet bird for sale.
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Rainy Days

Hampton Beach, NH on a rainy day... it was beautiful but not so good for the beach party our chiro office was throwing... we went anyway and enjoyed some great food and huddling under the tents with other patients and the doctors!
Mom and Chris were there with us and Mom snapped a shot just as the first downpour hit.
Later, back in Nashua, things brightened up a bit.
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