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Another technological milestone. After hearing of wireless routers and firewalls on sale, from an uncle-in-law, I went hunting them up. Found that the model he mentioned wasn't available, but that the next step up was. An 802.11g router that plugs into my ADSL modem, replaces my existing network box (allowing me to keep my wired connections) and puts out a wireless network. Cost me AUD199 including a laptop card in the package.
Installation was reasonably painless, though Internet service to the family was interrupted for a short time, coincidentally just when my daughter came home early from uni and complained that an "academic machine" like her shouldn't have to put up with a lack of Internet connection. At that stage I was still working my way through the installation process. Biggest problem was that I'd already assigned the hard-wired router address to the network card in my firewall computer, but once I switched that around, it all worked well.
I can now access the net with my laptop without being physically connected. Anywhere in the house. And the garden. Speed seems to be about the same as through Ethernet. Marvellous.
So I've just pulled out the old network switch, turned it off and freed up a power outlet. Which, of course, will now be permanently taken by the plug for the new box. ***SIGH***
A goodly portion of the weekend was taken up with watching the Olympics. A gratifyingly large number of golds to Australia, though it must be confessed we do well at swimming and fall down on other things, so when the swimming draws to a close and the main stadium is reconfigured for athletics rather than theatre I'd expect to see strong track and field nations like the USA start to claw back China's early lead. Michael Diamond (local lad) won gold at Atlanta and Sydney, got knocked out early in the shooting, so that's another chance gone.
Not that it really matters, of course. Yeah, right. Montreal saw us win not a single medal, and that was when we started up the Australian Institute of Sport here in Canberra to rectify that. Put all the sports scientists and young hopefuls in one bucket and see what comes out. Gold, by the look of it.
Kerri went off and checked out the Old Bus Depot Market yesterday - a weekly event at Kingston which is not quite my cup of tea. Came home and dragged me back to make a choice on the new kitchen chairs she's been wanting. Dunno why, as the two choices were all but identical and the ones I favoured slightly were rejected for the design she liked. Not that I mind - she's happy. We also arranged for a circular wood tabletop to replace the rather tacky kitchen table with wood to match the bench. I went back a second time with a sample - there were offcuts from the installation and we've been using these as stands to keep hot items such as jug and toaster away from the lovingly polished bench top - and seized the opportunity to release a couple of likely books.
Been reading The Practical Nomad and mentally checking off the things I need do before heading off. Read the chapter on airfares with deep attention - this explains a lot of things I'd puzzled about previously. Sent off an enquiry to his website about a RTW fare. I'll also check locally to compare.
Installation was reasonably painless, though Internet service to the family was interrupted for a short time, coincidentally just when my daughter came home early from uni and complained that an "academic machine" like her shouldn't have to put up with a lack of Internet connection. At that stage I was still working my way through the installation process. Biggest problem was that I'd already assigned the hard-wired router address to the network card in my firewall computer, but once I switched that around, it all worked well.
I can now access the net with my laptop without being physically connected. Anywhere in the house. And the garden. Speed seems to be about the same as through Ethernet. Marvellous.
So I've just pulled out the old network switch, turned it off and freed up a power outlet. Which, of course, will now be permanently taken by the plug for the new box. ***SIGH***
A goodly portion of the weekend was taken up with watching the Olympics. A gratifyingly large number of golds to Australia, though it must be confessed we do well at swimming and fall down on other things, so when the swimming draws to a close and the main stadium is reconfigured for athletics rather than theatre I'd expect to see strong track and field nations like the USA start to claw back China's early lead. Michael Diamond (local lad) won gold at Atlanta and Sydney, got knocked out early in the shooting, so that's another chance gone.
Not that it really matters, of course. Yeah, right. Montreal saw us win not a single medal, and that was when we started up the Australian Institute of Sport here in Canberra to rectify that. Put all the sports scientists and young hopefuls in one bucket and see what comes out. Gold, by the look of it.
Kerri went off and checked out the Old Bus Depot Market yesterday - a weekly event at Kingston which is not quite my cup of tea. Came home and dragged me back to make a choice on the new kitchen chairs she's been wanting. Dunno why, as the two choices were all but identical and the ones I favoured slightly were rejected for the design she liked. Not that I mind - she's happy. We also arranged for a circular wood tabletop to replace the rather tacky kitchen table with wood to match the bench. I went back a second time with a sample - there were offcuts from the installation and we've been using these as stands to keep hot items such as jug and toaster away from the lovingly polished bench top - and seized the opportunity to release a couple of likely books.
Been reading The Practical Nomad and mentally checking off the things I need do before heading off. Read the chapter on airfares with deep attention - this explains a lot of things I'd puzzled about previously. Sent off an enquiry to his website about a RTW fare. I'll also check locally to compare.
