Internet from the TV tower
Apr. 13th, 2005 08:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomus
On Friday I'm moving house, basically to get away from the traffic on the Karl-Marx-Allee, which is one of Berlin's most polluted spots, a six-lane Stalinist super-highway. Topo, Hisae and I aren't going far; the new place is a stone's throw from the Simon-Dach Strasse in Friedrichshain. Instead of cars it has trams and lots of bikes passing the door. Instead of the very old people who populate the Stalinbaus of the Karl-Marx-Allee, downtown Friedrichshain has a youthful feel not unlike Williamsburg, Brooklyn (though perhaps with more potheads, drunks, and squatters). There are leafy cobbled streets without too much traffic, little art galleries, cinemas, bars and cafes...The new place is a sublet, so I'll just be there a few months before taking off on nomadic summer travels. It wasn't worth getting my own phone line, so I'm using a new system for my internet access. It's called Portable DSL and it comes from a company called DNS:NET. Basically, it's DSL to go: they have an ariel on top of the TV tower at Alexanderplatz broadcasting broadband signal throughout the Mitte and Friedrichshain areas (also some of Kreuzberg). With a little modem or a PCM card you can pick this signal up wherever you are in that area. Your DSL service is set free from the need for a phone line. The modem contains a SIM card and works like a mobile phone. The system costs about five euros less per month than my current Deutsche Telekom DSL service, and also allows me to surf from cafes instead of just from home. (It's 24.95 euros a month for unlimited 1024k downloads and 128k uploads. It also works with Apple's Airport.)
I've been testing the system today on a free trial, and it works fine (although I notice, worryingly, that some of my favourite Japanese websites are much slower than Western sites to load). The only trouble I foresee is that when I terminate my T-Online account, even if I can keep using my current e mail address (momus@t-online.de) I won't be able to use their SMTP server for outgoing mail. I'm thinking of opening a G Mail account. Does anybody have an invite? (Update: Got one, thanks Ian... and everybody else!)
As a sign of my gratitude in advance I'd like to offer you a free recital of Tuvan throat singing, my latest enthusiasm. I'm giving Topo the rabbit long concerts of throat singing daily. He receives them in stony silence, with a fascinated, rapt, somewhat disturbed expression on his face.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:17 am (UTC)You have a Gmail invite in your mailbox.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:23 am (UTC)Love that picture of the Berlin TV tower with forested city behind!
Was about to send you a gmail invite but I prefer Yahoo free e-mail. Gmail
explicitly states that they use the contents of your mails to personalize the advertising you see when you use the mail account. Perhaps you don't mind that. Anyways the others probably do the same thing. I'm used to the Yahoo mail interface so I don't see the point in switching.
I'm moving on Sunday. Have a happy move.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:26 am (UTC)Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-13 07:36 am (UTC)The first album of David Hykes' Harmonic Choir is worth a listen for the range of harmonic singing techniques they use. It's a bit new agey and unfortunately they became more new agey with subsequent releases.
Re: Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-13 08:01 am (UTC)(Ha! There's a new album of covers due out soon and there are mp3s posted of both Love Will Tear Us Apart (http://www.(Ha! There's a new album of covers due out soon and there are mp3s posted of both Love Will Tear Us Apart.com) and Orgasmatron (http://crashblog.blogware.com/wham/i/orgasmatron.mp3). I'm not convinced this is them at their best, although this Motorhead cover is rather jaunty)
Re: Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-13 08:14 am (UTC)There's something funny about that first link. If it's what the title suggests, a Xhoomei version of the the Joy Division anthem, I would be very interested to have the correct url.
Re: Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-13 08:15 am (UTC)got it:
http://crashblog.blogware.com/wham/i/love_will_tear_us_apart.mp3
Re: Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-13 08:19 am (UTC)Re: Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-13 08:31 am (UTC)I listened to both and prefer the Motorhead cover. Most likely because I've never heard the song before.
Re: Xhoomei
Date: 2005-04-14 02:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 07:44 am (UTC)http://pitchforkmedia.com/features/weekly/05-04-11-my-favorite-band.shtml
xoxo
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 08:06 am (UTC)Move it.
Date: 2005-04-13 08:14 am (UTC)Kim
Re: Move it.
Date: 2005-04-13 08:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 09:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 12:08 pm (UTC)Gmail plethora
Date: 2005-04-13 12:24 pm (UTC)Well, you're welcome to a Gmail account from me as well, if you want.
What could you possibly do with all those ~2GB accounts? Well, GmailFS
of course (an implementation of FSmail, a python utility, which enables
you to use your email box as a writable drive). I have a couple of Gmail
accounts which aren't used for email, but solely as storage bins: you
can even give out the password to one and have it be a swap-space.
Re: Gmail plethora
Date: 2005-04-13 12:40 pm (UTC)Re: Gmail plethora
Date: 2005-07-08 05:33 am (UTC)someone got around to using the Python code in a Windows app.:
www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm
On a tangent
Date: 2005-04-13 01:37 pm (UTC)Re: On a tangent
Date: 2005-04-13 02:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 02:36 pm (UTC)A couple months ago, I was watching the documentary on Bjork's album Medulla. I was most interested in her work with Tanya Tagaq, an Inuit throat singer. Tagaq's performance was also hypnotizing. The singing has a wonderful pre-history quality to it. I think that came from her using sound rather than language. In any case, it made me think of caves, which made me think of "A Passage to India" which made me think of the "bou-oum" its ability to dishevel the safety of western logic. She also gave an interesting cultural context for Inuit Throat singing...which is performed as a game and has a light-hearted undertone which I find appealing and extremely interesting given the intense nature of the singing.
On a side note, I've finally had a chance to listen to some of the radio blogs for which you sent me a link last week. The Edinblog was great, but I particularly loved the Kyoto Grump Radio one as I've been in a rather foul mood for the past week. At least I have interesting reading every morning since I heard about your blog.
Is the wireless technology you mentioned similar to bluetooth? I thought bluetooth allowed by world-wide Internet access, but perhaps it is limited to North America, or perhaps I don't understand the technology properly.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 02:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 02:47 pm (UTC)I know Bluetooth turns your computer or palm pilot or whatever into a hub, but I also thought it had some sort of wireless Internet capabilities similar to DSL as a component. I guess I was wrong.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 03:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 03:34 pm (UTC)I have a ten-year old RealWorld album, which is a decent effort, but the Smithsonian recordings may be more intriguing. Great for envisioning a group of marmots in mongolian headdresses playing banjos and singing about a campfire. Recreating this tableau in reality has proved a challenge.
W
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 04:16 pm (UTC)In a similar vein Sami Joik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joik) singing has some qualities reminiscent of the Tuvan singing. Reknowned Joik singer Wimme (http://www.rockadillo.fi/wimme/) is highly recommended.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 04:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-14 04:47 am (UTC)W
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 05:06 pm (UTC)Anyway, I was wondering what you think of the recent diplomatic row between Japan, Korea, and China. Thoughts?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-13 05:28 pm (UTC)DSL Zum Mit Nehmen
Date: 2005-04-13 05:47 pm (UTC)I'm a little put off by the dishonest advertising though, putting $24.95 in great big letters implying that is the cost of the service. And then in small print pointing out that that it is the cost of internet access, the radio connection itself seems to cost an additional $24.95. Meaning that the service actually costs almost $50 euros a month. A little steep, considering it doesn't come with phone service, like a many telephone based DSL accounts and it's pretty slow (1024/256) too.
The contract also stipulates they can cut off your account for a wide and vague variety of reasons and that in such a case you would still be expected to pay your monthly fees until the end of the two year contract. Is a clause like that even legal?
But its good to hear that it works at least, since I may have no other choice.
Regards,
Dmytri Kleiner
Re: DSL Zum Mit Nehmen
Date: 2005-04-13 06:16 pm (UTC)They also tell you there's a free trial, but when the package comes it's 250 euros!
This Tuvan throat singing
Date: 2005-04-14 04:49 am (UTC)This Tuvan throat singing
It's a beaty!
thankSSS
TROY
http://www.troy.co.il/
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-14 06:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-14 07:49 am (UTC)