Archive for April, 2007
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Coffee Cups 1735 and 1736
Deacon is frustrated. He is showing me two video clips. One is an HD clip and the other is not. I am viewing this on a high resolution screen and am struggling to see a difference. In fact, the non-HD clip looks pretty good to me. 1735.
To Deacon there is a dramatic difference. The fact that I am looking hard to see a difference instead of immediately going holy moley is probably frustrating him even more. We continue our discussion and our disagreement about what is acceptable and what is unwatchable on the net. 1736.
No Comments » - Posted in Poetics of Peet's by Lloyd Y. Asato
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Interlude 77 - Novatel EX720 Rev A ExpressCard from More Mobile Internet
I have been testing the Novatel EX720 Rev A ExpressCard that I got from More Mobile Internet and it is freaking amazing.
Initial test was done as we waited for a table at Benihana in Scottsdale. The graphic shows the broadband speeds we were getting. Fast enough to WoW and fast enough to www.ustream.tv which we did from the bar as we waited for our table.
After dinner we tested the feed on the drive back through the Valley. From North Scottsdale through the Southeast Valley the signal was strong and speeds were good. We never lost signal while driving at the limit down the 101 and across the 60.
Here is the speed test from my office.
I am thrilled with the coverage and the speed.
The service I got from More Mobile Internet pleased me as well.
After posting Coffee Cup 1732 , I get a phone call and email from Steve. Here is Steve. Steve is a Sprint Value Added Reseller who read my blog and saw that I had questions about the EX720. He pledges to answer any question I have and, by the way, offers the EX720 with a $50.00 rebate. And, by the way, his store is in Phoenix. I Google him, pester him with questions, and in the end he gets the sale. He even stays open late to set up my card so I can have it today.
If you are in the market for a wireless broadband solution, I can say, without reservation that I recommend Steve and More Mobile Internet or call (866) 541-0400. Tell him the coffee blog guy sent you.
No Comments » - Posted in Coffee Interludes by Lloyd Y. Asato
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
Coffee Cups 1733 and 1734
Presh has taken to saying “damn squiggly.” I correct her. It is actually “damn skippy.” 1733.
“Well,” she replies, “that makes no sense.” 1734.
No Comments » - Posted in Poetics of Peet's by Lloyd Y. Asato
Sunday, April 22nd, 2007
Coffee Cup 1732
Ryan has inspired me to try the Sprint Mobile Broadband. He is using the U720, whereas I think I will try the EX720 expresscard. Anyone have experience with this? 1732.
1 Comment » - Posted in Poetics of Peet's by Lloyd Y. Asato
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
Coffee Cup 1731 - Kite Networks Does Not Not Suck
Signed up for a Kite Networks day pass to test their city-wide wireless network. They are expanding all over the valley and will soon be offering service in my town. We drove to Tempe Town Lake up and down Mill Avenue to test their feed. It ranged from extremely disappointing to crap this sucks.
Keep in mind that I am grading on a curve and that I really wanted to love this system.
It took several minutes to connect to their signal using the MacBookPro. Once connected, I opened up Firefox and attempted to get to their login page. It took several restarts before the page redirected to the sign-up page.
Sign-up was straight forward though very slow. Connection speeds was about dial-up speeds at Tempe Town Lake (wide open space) and worse on Mill Avenue near the theaters (city street). At one point, after moving to Mill Avenue, it took over ten minutes to reestablish the signal.
I gave up after three tries.
I will test it again when they roll out the system here, but it needs to be dramatically better. My verdict on the suck/does not suck scale is right there in the post’s title. Save your money. 1731.
