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This is an archive of the "Internet Safari" column that appears in print in various newspapers. The column is written by Tom DiFrancesca III.
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Column for week of Feb. 29, 2004:
The death of passion, or so it appears; mediocrity
seems to be overtaking society. Now, when someone
does something with passion that is intended for
the positive – he’s criticized, insulted, and
slandered. It seems like most folks these days,
aren’t passionate about anything – not even their
work, and that used to be the old stand-by.
Mel Gibson is passionate about telling the true
story of a man named Jesus of Nazareth. How
passionate is he? He was willing to spend millions
of his own dollars to produce and market the film.
He’s willing to give up a multi-billion dollar
career as an actor (he knew there was a chance
that could happen). Gibson knew that there was a
strong possibility that all of the folks in
Hollywood would label him a “nut case”.
Now, that’s passion.
If you want to know the whole truth about the
film, about why it was produced, just hop over to
www.thepassionofthechrist.com/
If you do so, you won’t have to sift through all
of the lies and rumors about the film that are
floating around in the media – and cyberspace. If
you want to really learn about the story of Jesus
– go see the film. It’s not going away anytime
soon.
Speaking of passion, parents don’t even seem to be
passionate about raising, protecting, and caring
for their children anymore. Everyday we here and
read more and more news stories about children
being abandoned, abused, and even killed.
It breaks my heart that society has turned to
this; children have become property, just
property. I’ve often thought how ironic it is,
that so many unwanted children are born each year,
how those very same children are abused and
neglected – and yet, there are thousands of folks
who cannot have children of their own. These same
folks who would give anything, to have the
opportunity to love and cherish their very own
child.
Then, you’ve got folks who have lost a child – the
hurt that never goes away, the questions that
never get answered.
Thursday, would have been the
23rd birthday of my son Christopher, who passed
away at the age of 11 – I’m dedicating the rest of
this column to him, the piece is entitled
“Missing You”
All of the walks
That we never took
All of the talks
That we never had
No prom night jitters
No asking for the car keys
No high school graduation
And no arguments over curfews
The colleges never tried
To pursue or recruit you
Their classrooms were never
Filled with your brilliance
I miss your voice, your laugh
And your many, many questions
I miss your touch, your determination
And, your wide eyed wonderment
You would be a man now
Starting a new life and career
You could have been starting your
Very family by now
But, God chose to bring you home early,
His timing
The emptiness in my heart, can never,
Ever, be filled.
The hurting, deep down inside, never
Leaves me for very long – if ever.
Time has only partially closed the wound
To my soul – a temporary solution.
I miss you son, with all of my heart,
And, with me entire being.
I cannot possibly convey to you in words
The sadness that remains inside of me.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis, New Mexico. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
The death of passion, or so it appears; mediocrity
seems to be overtaking society. Now, when someone
does something with passion that is intended for
the positive – he’s criticized, insulted, and
slandered. It seems like most folks these days,
aren’t passionate about anything – not even their
work, and that used to be the old stand-by.
Mel Gibson is passionate about telling the true
story of a man named Jesus of Nazareth. How
passionate is he? He was willing to spend millions
of his own dollars to produce and market the film.
He’s willing to give up a multi-billion dollar
career as an actor (he knew there was a chance
that could happen). Gibson knew that there was a
strong possibility that all of the folks in
Hollywood would label him a “nut case”.
Now, that’s passion.
If you want to know the whole truth about the
film, about why it was produced, just hop over to
www.thepassionofthechrist.com/
If you do so, you won’t have to sift through all
of the lies and rumors about the film that are
floating around in the media – and cyberspace. If
you want to really learn about the story of Jesus
– go see the film. It’s not going away anytime
soon.
Speaking of passion, parents don’t even seem to be
passionate about raising, protecting, and caring
for their children anymore. Everyday we here and
read more and more news stories about children
being abandoned, abused, and even killed.
It breaks my heart that society has turned to
this; children have become property, just
property. I’ve often thought how ironic it is,
that so many unwanted children are born each year,
how those very same children are abused and
neglected – and yet, there are thousands of folks
who cannot have children of their own. These same
folks who would give anything, to have the
opportunity to love and cherish their very own
child.
Then, you’ve got folks who have lost a child – the
hurt that never goes away, the questions that
never get answered.
Thursday, would have been the
23rd birthday of my son Christopher, who passed
away at the age of 11 – I’m dedicating the rest of
this column to him, the piece is entitled
“Missing You”
All of the walks
That we never took
All of the talks
That we never had
No prom night jitters
No asking for the car keys
No high school graduation
And no arguments over curfews
The colleges never tried
To pursue or recruit you
Their classrooms were never
Filled with your brilliance
I miss your voice, your laugh
And your many, many questions
I miss your touch, your determination
And, your wide eyed wonderment
You would be a man now
Starting a new life and career
You could have been starting your
Very family by now
But, God chose to bring you home early,
His timing
The emptiness in my heart, can never,
Ever, be filled.
The hurting, deep down inside, never
Leaves me for very long – if ever.
Time has only partially closed the wound
To my soul – a temporary solution.
I miss you son, with all of my heart,
And, with me entire being.
I cannot possibly convey to you in words
The sadness that remains inside of me.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis, New Mexico. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Column for week of Feb. 22, 2004:
Have you visited Classmates.com recently? They’ve
added much more than just the ability to locate
past classmates from high school. Now one can
locate former college buddies, military members,
and former co-workers.
This past week, while typing in the information on
my former U.S. Coast Guard duty stations, I was
presented with a listing of names of individuals
who were stationed at the Alameda (California)
Recruit Training Center – otherwise known as “boot
camp”.
One of the names that appeared on that list
seemed to just jump off of the page. The name was
Terry Dowdy, he had been my Company Commander
during the nine weeks I spent at Alameda. Being a
Company Commander meant that Terry was in charge
of all of the drill instructors in my company. He
was the big cheese, when he walked into any area
that we troops just happened to be located in – we
all had to drop down and do 50 push-ups. I reckon’
we must have done about 500 of them suckers every
day.
Terry was unlike the “D.I.s” under him though
– he was quiet and calm, the instructors, well –
let’s just say, they were like walking activated
fire alarms - noisy, abrasive, and unrelenting.
When I arrived at boot camp, I was involuntarily
separated from my original company of recruits and
placed into “Oscar” company. “Oscar” company was
the official drill team, members marched in
formation, and performed intricate routines with
massively heavy rifles (M-1s from World War II) –
and, they had big sharp bayonets on them. I had
absolutely no desire whatsoever to be on the drill
team, I wasn’t happy. My goal for boot camp, was
to keep a low profile, not volunteer for anything,
and to just survive.
Because I was so unhappy about my assignment, I
got up the nerve to approach Chief Dowdy – I
couldn’t believe it, he was actually approachable.
He listened to my opinions, and without yelling
and screaming at me, or demeaning me – he made me
an offer. “You participate in the first gig, and
if you don’t like it – you can go back to your
original company, and you won’t be harassed about
it”. I thought that was a very fair offer.
Needless to say, the first performance was inside
San Francisco City Hall, the taps on our shoes
sounded awesome on those marble floors, and we
impressed the heck out of the visiting prime
minister of India, all the while having our
performance broadcasted on live television.
Needless to say, I remained with “Oscar” company.
We performed/competed 21 times in my nine weeks of boot
camp, winning first place in 19 of them. We
traveled all up and down the west coast, performed
in the Kingdome before a Seattle Mariners baseball
came, performed in front of 50,000 people at Sea
Fair in downtown Seattle, and got to perform on
the streets of Vancouver British Columbia.
Most folks, when they think back to boot camp,
have relatively bad memories of it. Me – it was
one of the most exciting times in my entire life,
and I have Terry Dowdy to thank for that.
Occasionally, we have folks that come into our
lives for just very brief periods of time, and
then they are gone. Most of us, never consider the
possibility of ever being able to articulate to
them, our sincere appreciation. Well, I succeeded
in doing just that this week. I located Terry
using Google.com, called him up, and expressed my
thoughts to him. He’s now living in Fairbanks,
Alaska – which is quite a coincidence, considering
that is where my family and I lived when I was a
child.
Sometimes life actually does come full-circle, we
just have to notice it.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis, New Mexico. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
Have you visited Classmates.com recently? They’ve
added much more than just the ability to locate
past classmates from high school. Now one can
locate former college buddies, military members,
and former co-workers.
This past week, while typing in the information on
my former U.S. Coast Guard duty stations, I was
presented with a listing of names of individuals
who were stationed at the Alameda (California)
Recruit Training Center – otherwise known as “boot
camp”.
One of the names that appeared on that list
seemed to just jump off of the page. The name was
Terry Dowdy, he had been my Company Commander
during the nine weeks I spent at Alameda. Being a
Company Commander meant that Terry was in charge
of all of the drill instructors in my company. He
was the big cheese, when he walked into any area
that we troops just happened to be located in – we
all had to drop down and do 50 push-ups. I reckon’
we must have done about 500 of them suckers every
day.
Terry was unlike the “D.I.s” under him though
– he was quiet and calm, the instructors, well –
let’s just say, they were like walking activated
fire alarms - noisy, abrasive, and unrelenting.
When I arrived at boot camp, I was involuntarily
separated from my original company of recruits and
placed into “Oscar” company. “Oscar” company was
the official drill team, members marched in
formation, and performed intricate routines with
massively heavy rifles (M-1s from World War II) –
and, they had big sharp bayonets on them. I had
absolutely no desire whatsoever to be on the drill
team, I wasn’t happy. My goal for boot camp, was
to keep a low profile, not volunteer for anything,
and to just survive.
Because I was so unhappy about my assignment, I
got up the nerve to approach Chief Dowdy – I
couldn’t believe it, he was actually approachable.
He listened to my opinions, and without yelling
and screaming at me, or demeaning me – he made me
an offer. “You participate in the first gig, and
if you don’t like it – you can go back to your
original company, and you won’t be harassed about
it”. I thought that was a very fair offer.
Needless to say, the first performance was inside
San Francisco City Hall, the taps on our shoes
sounded awesome on those marble floors, and we
impressed the heck out of the visiting prime
minister of India, all the while having our
performance broadcasted on live television.
Needless to say, I remained with “Oscar” company.
We performed/competed 21 times in my nine weeks of boot
camp, winning first place in 19 of them. We
traveled all up and down the west coast, performed
in the Kingdome before a Seattle Mariners baseball
came, performed in front of 50,000 people at Sea
Fair in downtown Seattle, and got to perform on
the streets of Vancouver British Columbia.
Most folks, when they think back to boot camp,
have relatively bad memories of it. Me – it was
one of the most exciting times in my entire life,
and I have Terry Dowdy to thank for that.
Occasionally, we have folks that come into our
lives for just very brief periods of time, and
then they are gone. Most of us, never consider the
possibility of ever being able to articulate to
them, our sincere appreciation. Well, I succeeded
in doing just that this week. I located Terry
using Google.com, called him up, and expressed my
thoughts to him. He’s now living in Fairbanks,
Alaska – which is quite a coincidence, considering
that is where my family and I lived when I was a
child.
Sometimes life actually does come full-circle, we
just have to notice it.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis, New Mexico. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Column for week of Feb. 15, 2004:
Re-writing history – that seems to be a popular
endeavor as of late. I’m quite sure, that 10 years
from now, the history books will tell our children
and grandchildren what a great president Bill
Clinton was, and how he had an unblemished
presidency.
Where am I going with this? If you jump over to
www.uspresidency.com ,
you’ll see, that yet another attempt of re-writing
history is taking place right now. The folks
behind that Web site believe that George
Washington was not the first president of the
United States.
I reckon’ it’s taken over 200 years for someone to
figure out that blunder – sure.
RFID – by now, you’ve probably seen this acronym
printed in dozens of newspaper stories, or heard
it mentioned on the radio and television. RFID
stands for “Radio Frequency Identification”. It’s
a method whereby a very small microchip, smaller
than a grain of rice – is implanted in items such
as clothing, retail packaging, etc. The retail
industry is very interested in utilizing this
technology – it wants to use it to track
inventory, shipments, sales volume and such. It
all sounds very simple and legitimate – that is,
until you realize that the clothing you wear –
could contain one of those devices. If so, one
could be tracked, buying and spending habits
recorded, etc. It all sounds too much like “Big
Brother” to me.
What would be next, implanting the
RFID device under our skin – so that all of our
medical history could be carried around with us?
It seems that for every good reason that we can be
given about the use of RFID, I can come up with at
least two reasons it should not be welcomed with
open arms. Microsoft is quickly becoming a
“player” in the field of RFID technology, and the
promotion of its use.
That scares me.
If you would like to learn more about RFID, just
hop on over to
www.aimglobal.org/
and read all about it. Of course, what you learn
there is exactly what the RFID industry wants you
to learn. If you’d like to see some of the
information provided by the opponents of RFID,
take a look at
www.spychips.com/
and, you’ll see that there is a lot of good
information for their case also.
Dig a little deeper, just go to google.com and
type in “RFID” – you’ll find plenty of arguments
in either direction.
I believe, that it would be fruitful for all of us
to stay informed on this topic. It is not going
way, and it is certainly destined to personally
affect each and every one of us someday.
How many times have you found yourself in a
situation where giving someone a nice greeting
card, would really improve their day? An occasion
like that recently happened to me, but – I was
broke and could not afford a card. Also,
unfortunately - I didn’t even have any greeting
card maker software on my computer.
What was I to do?
Luckily, I found
www.mycardmaker.com/
and - in just a few minutes, I was able to whip up
a nice little card – customized with my own
message. All I had to do was print it out, fold it
neatly – and then give it to the recipient.
Another quick remedy brought to you by the World
Wide Web.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
Re-writing history – that seems to be a popular
endeavor as of late. I’m quite sure, that 10 years
from now, the history books will tell our children
and grandchildren what a great president Bill
Clinton was, and how he had an unblemished
presidency.
Where am I going with this? If you jump over to
www.uspresidency.com ,
you’ll see, that yet another attempt of re-writing
history is taking place right now. The folks
behind that Web site believe that George
Washington was not the first president of the
United States.
I reckon’ it’s taken over 200 years for someone to
figure out that blunder – sure.
RFID – by now, you’ve probably seen this acronym
printed in dozens of newspaper stories, or heard
it mentioned on the radio and television. RFID
stands for “Radio Frequency Identification”. It’s
a method whereby a very small microchip, smaller
than a grain of rice – is implanted in items such
as clothing, retail packaging, etc. The retail
industry is very interested in utilizing this
technology – it wants to use it to track
inventory, shipments, sales volume and such. It
all sounds very simple and legitimate – that is,
until you realize that the clothing you wear –
could contain one of those devices. If so, one
could be tracked, buying and spending habits
recorded, etc. It all sounds too much like “Big
Brother” to me.
What would be next, implanting the
RFID device under our skin – so that all of our
medical history could be carried around with us?
It seems that for every good reason that we can be
given about the use of RFID, I can come up with at
least two reasons it should not be welcomed with
open arms. Microsoft is quickly becoming a
“player” in the field of RFID technology, and the
promotion of its use.
That scares me.
If you would like to learn more about RFID, just
hop on over to
www.aimglobal.org/
and read all about it. Of course, what you learn
there is exactly what the RFID industry wants you
to learn. If you’d like to see some of the
information provided by the opponents of RFID,
take a look at
www.spychips.com/
and, you’ll see that there is a lot of good
information for their case also.
Dig a little deeper, just go to google.com and
type in “RFID” – you’ll find plenty of arguments
in either direction.
I believe, that it would be fruitful for all of us
to stay informed on this topic. It is not going
way, and it is certainly destined to personally
affect each and every one of us someday.
How many times have you found yourself in a
situation where giving someone a nice greeting
card, would really improve their day? An occasion
like that recently happened to me, but – I was
broke and could not afford a card. Also,
unfortunately - I didn’t even have any greeting
card maker software on my computer.
What was I to do?
Luckily, I found
www.mycardmaker.com/
and - in just a few minutes, I was able to whip up
a nice little card – customized with my own
message. All I had to do was print it out, fold it
neatly – and then give it to the recipient.
Another quick remedy brought to you by the World
Wide Web.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Column for Feb. 8, 2004:
Scam Alert: If you have recently received an
authentic looking e-mail, purportedly from Paypal
– and it is asking you to confirm your account
information, don’t do it. This is just another
fine example of someone with a high degree of
intelligence, using that brainpower for evil and
not good. Jump over to www.paypal.com
to learn all about the latest scam being inflicted
on those who utilize the services of Paypal.
By the way, the reason that the Paypal scam can
seem so realistic - is that you are made to
believe that you are actually visiting the Paypal
Web site – it’s all a sham.
By taking advantage of a mistake in the programming
code for Internet Explorer, users are spoofed. Microsoft has
issued a patch for Internet Explorer that will plug that
“hole” – go get it now.
Speaking of scams, there is also an e-mail
floating around that a lot of folks have been
receiving lately; it concerns FDIC insurance. If
you receive that e-mail, and it tells you that
your bank account is in violation of the Patriot
Act, and that you must provide vital information
concerning it, delete that message immediately.
Don’t even think about providing that information,
it would be a serious mistake.
Viruses, viruses, and more viruses – if we aren’t
hammered with a new one, along comes a variation of an old one.
When is it all going to end?
Rewards are now being offered for the perpetrators of these
innocuous little programs – maybe that will help, I doubt it though.
One good thing about computer viruses – they pretty much guarantee
a steady income for the companies that produce anti-virus software.
Those folks who thrive on conspiracy, suspect that it’s actually the
anti-virus software makers themselves who create the viruses.
I mentioned the annual “Relay for Life” event,
sponsored by the American Cancer Society – in last week’s column.
Dorothy Nelson, from the local ACS chapter informs me that one can now register
online, to participate in a local event. Just hop
on over to cancer.org/relayonline
- can’t get any easier than that, now can it?
Another Super Bowl has come and gone. With all of the hoopla,
I’m beginning to think maybe it shouldn be declared a national holiday.
Shoot, we could even change the game to be played on a Monday or Friday,
and get an extra day off during the year.
What about those commercials?
Oh, you are like me – and you missed them? No worries, just jump over to
www.ifilm.com and - you’ll have access to all of them.
What if you could have access to 27 years of past Super Bowl commercials,
would you pay for it? It might cost you a few bucks – might be worth it
though.
Visit ad-rag.com/sb.php and decide for yourself.
I spent some time in the hospital last week. I’m
not telling you this so that you will feel sorry
for me. I’m telling you about my experience, so
that I can remind everyone of what a great little
town we live in.
I was treated with the utmost respect, dignity, and care -
during my stay at Plains Regional Medical Center. My nurses, Tammy
and George (the 500 wing) – were the best.
I acknowledge that Clovis lacks a great deal in
medical care, there are doctor shortages, mistakes are made,
folks are offended at times. But, I also believe that a lot of great,
conscientious, folks - our neighbors, work in the medical field here in our little town.
They need to be recognized and appreciated.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance newspaper columnist. He can be reached at www.trackertom.com
Scam Alert: If you have recently received an
authentic looking e-mail, purportedly from Paypal
– and it is asking you to confirm your account
information, don’t do it. This is just another
fine example of someone with a high degree of
intelligence, using that brainpower for evil and
not good. Jump over to www.paypal.com
to learn all about the latest scam being inflicted
on those who utilize the services of Paypal.
By the way, the reason that the Paypal scam can
seem so realistic - is that you are made to
believe that you are actually visiting the Paypal
Web site – it’s all a sham.
By taking advantage of a mistake in the programming
code for Internet Explorer, users are spoofed. Microsoft has
issued a patch for Internet Explorer that will plug that
“hole” – go get it now.
Speaking of scams, there is also an e-mail
floating around that a lot of folks have been
receiving lately; it concerns FDIC insurance. If
you receive that e-mail, and it tells you that
your bank account is in violation of the Patriot
Act, and that you must provide vital information
concerning it, delete that message immediately.
Don’t even think about providing that information,
it would be a serious mistake.
Viruses, viruses, and more viruses – if we aren’t
hammered with a new one, along comes a variation of an old one.
When is it all going to end?
Rewards are now being offered for the perpetrators of these
innocuous little programs – maybe that will help, I doubt it though.
One good thing about computer viruses – they pretty much guarantee
a steady income for the companies that produce anti-virus software.
Those folks who thrive on conspiracy, suspect that it’s actually the
anti-virus software makers themselves who create the viruses.
I mentioned the annual “Relay for Life” event,
sponsored by the American Cancer Society – in last week’s column.
Dorothy Nelson, from the local ACS chapter informs me that one can now register
online, to participate in a local event. Just hop
on over to cancer.org/relayonline
- can’t get any easier than that, now can it?
Another Super Bowl has come and gone. With all of the hoopla,
I’m beginning to think maybe it shouldn be declared a national holiday.
Shoot, we could even change the game to be played on a Monday or Friday,
and get an extra day off during the year.
What about those commercials?
Oh, you are like me – and you missed them? No worries, just jump over to
www.ifilm.com and - you’ll have access to all of them.
What if you could have access to 27 years of past Super Bowl commercials,
would you pay for it? It might cost you a few bucks – might be worth it
though.
Visit ad-rag.com/sb.php and decide for yourself.
I spent some time in the hospital last week. I’m
not telling you this so that you will feel sorry
for me. I’m telling you about my experience, so
that I can remind everyone of what a great little
town we live in.
I was treated with the utmost respect, dignity, and care -
during my stay at Plains Regional Medical Center. My nurses, Tammy
and George (the 500 wing) – were the best.
I acknowledge that Clovis lacks a great deal in
medical care, there are doctor shortages, mistakes are made,
folks are offended at times. But, I also believe that a lot of great,
conscientious, folks - our neighbors, work in the medical field here in our little town.
They need to be recognized and appreciated.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance newspaper columnist. He can be reached at www.trackertom.com
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Column for Feb. 1, 2004:
Cancer – one word that can easily strike fear into the heart of just about everyone. Cancer – it’s the scourge of the earth. Cancer – it is not selective, it matters not whether one is rich, poor – or middle-class.
Good people get cancer, bad people get cancer – it doesn’t make any difference. Cancer took my mother, at the age of 64 – two years ago. It was her second bout with breast cancer – she lost the last round.
Most folks tend to avoid the subject of cancer, unless that is – it is directly affecting them or a family member. I find it amazing, that in the world of ever new emerging technological wonders – that cancer is still with us.
I hesitate in getting excited about America’s new path into space exploration – I think, maybe – couldn’t those billions of dollars be used to accelerate the search for a way to eradicate cancer from the face of the planet?
Who knows, maybe some of the folks whose deaths could be spared – would end up someday, playing pivotal roles in the development of space research technology, it’s quite possible.
I know that I mentioned in a previous column, that the “Relay for Life” teams are forming for this year. The Curry County/Clovis event is scheduled to occur on May 7th, and although that sounds like a long way off – it really isn’t. If you don’t know what “Relay for Life” is, or – you’d like to know how you could help in the upcoming endeavor, go to: www.cancer.org .
You will be prompted for your zip code – by entering it, you will be presented with a listing of all upcoming events in your area. Take a few minutes and explore the American Cancer Society Web site – it is extremely informative.
Also, please take a few minutes in quiet contemplation, and consider getting involved in this year’s “Relay for Life” event.
Multipoint Microwave Distribution System – otherwise known as “MMDS”, although it sounds like the technology behind a new turbocharged microwave oven – it isn’t.
What “MMDS” is, is a new form of delivery for high-speed wireless Internet. In the past, if one wanted to subscribe to wireless Internet for their home, it required a technician to install an antenna on the roof, and a hole would have to be drilled in the wall for the connecting cable.
Things have changed with the arrival of “MMDS” in eastern New Mexico. Of course, the company behind the introduction of this cutting edge technology is ENMR-Plateau Telecommunications.
I’ve been field-testing Plateau’s new service for about a month now – I’m very impressed. When you sign up for service, you are given an “MMDS” modem - the modem contains the antenna (inside) and stands about 12 inches tall. One simply positions the backside of the modem in a direction that provides a good signal (indicated by green lights on the modem).
Installation is very easy, if you’ve already got a network card installed in your computer – it’ll take you about five minutes to complete the set-up. Pricing for the service starts around $25 and that will get you a 128K connection, very suitable for most home consumer needs.
The advantages of “MMDS” service is that the price is well below that of other forms of broadband, no telephone line is required, no rooftop hardware is needed, installation is quite easy, and the modem can be moved – from room to room, or location to location – which provides great flexibility.
Way to go Plateau.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis, New Mexico. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
Cancer – one word that can easily strike fear into the heart of just about everyone. Cancer – it’s the scourge of the earth. Cancer – it is not selective, it matters not whether one is rich, poor – or middle-class.
Good people get cancer, bad people get cancer – it doesn’t make any difference. Cancer took my mother, at the age of 64 – two years ago. It was her second bout with breast cancer – she lost the last round.
Most folks tend to avoid the subject of cancer, unless that is – it is directly affecting them or a family member. I find it amazing, that in the world of ever new emerging technological wonders – that cancer is still with us.
I hesitate in getting excited about America’s new path into space exploration – I think, maybe – couldn’t those billions of dollars be used to accelerate the search for a way to eradicate cancer from the face of the planet?
Who knows, maybe some of the folks whose deaths could be spared – would end up someday, playing pivotal roles in the development of space research technology, it’s quite possible.
I know that I mentioned in a previous column, that the “Relay for Life” teams are forming for this year. The Curry County/Clovis event is scheduled to occur on May 7th, and although that sounds like a long way off – it really isn’t. If you don’t know what “Relay for Life” is, or – you’d like to know how you could help in the upcoming endeavor, go to: www.cancer.org .
You will be prompted for your zip code – by entering it, you will be presented with a listing of all upcoming events in your area. Take a few minutes and explore the American Cancer Society Web site – it is extremely informative.
Also, please take a few minutes in quiet contemplation, and consider getting involved in this year’s “Relay for Life” event.
Multipoint Microwave Distribution System – otherwise known as “MMDS”, although it sounds like the technology behind a new turbocharged microwave oven – it isn’t.
What “MMDS” is, is a new form of delivery for high-speed wireless Internet. In the past, if one wanted to subscribe to wireless Internet for their home, it required a technician to install an antenna on the roof, and a hole would have to be drilled in the wall for the connecting cable.
Things have changed with the arrival of “MMDS” in eastern New Mexico. Of course, the company behind the introduction of this cutting edge technology is ENMR-Plateau Telecommunications.
I’ve been field-testing Plateau’s new service for about a month now – I’m very impressed. When you sign up for service, you are given an “MMDS” modem - the modem contains the antenna (inside) and stands about 12 inches tall. One simply positions the backside of the modem in a direction that provides a good signal (indicated by green lights on the modem).
Installation is very easy, if you’ve already got a network card installed in your computer – it’ll take you about five minutes to complete the set-up. Pricing for the service starts around $25 and that will get you a 128K connection, very suitable for most home consumer needs.
The advantages of “MMDS” service is that the price is well below that of other forms of broadband, no telephone line is required, no rooftop hardware is needed, installation is quite easy, and the modem can be moved – from room to room, or location to location – which provides great flexibility.
Way to go Plateau.
Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a
resident of Clovis, New Mexico. He can be reached at
www.trackertom.com
