Interesting People mailing list archives
more on Katrina and the folly of trusting cell phones
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 06:20:09 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () dandin com> Date: September 1, 2005 1:02:38 PM EDT To: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>Cc: Bob Frankston <Bob19-0501 () bobf frankston com>, dave () farber net, "'David P. Reed'" <dpreed () reed com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Katrina and the folly of trusting cell phones On Sep 1, 2005, at 9:44 AM, Lauren Weinstein wrote:
I beg to differ with you on this. The amateur radio service (aka hams) have been using such systems since the late 80s to provide digital communications during emergencies. They are 'battle tested'. They are being used right now in the Katrina Recovery efforts. To keep track of amateur radio efforts to support this emergency, checkout the ARRL's site <http://www.arrl.org>.As I keep pointing out we need are simple packet radios that automaticallyconfigure into a mesh and connect via whatever transport includingsatellite links. If they are packaged properly and can use various sources of power ranging from batteries to solar to "whatever" then they can bedeployed from the air.There is certainly merit in such concepts. However, my "complexity alarm" starts to trigger when I think about the actual deployment and use of such systems in real-world situations. The farther we get from KISS ("Keep It Simple Stupid") engineering principles in emergency systems, the greater the concern. I'm not convinced that the "simple packet radios" such as you describe wouldn't turn out to be anything but simple by the time they were actually designed and deployed.
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Current thread:
- more on Katrina and the folly of trusting cell phones David Farber (Sep 02)
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- more on Katrina and the folly of trusting cell phones David Farber (Sep 02)
- more on Katrina and the folly of trusting cell phones David Farber (Sep 02)
- more on Katrina and the folly of trusting cell phones David Farber (Sep 02)