Seen at the Peddler’s Mall…
Suit of Armor
It’s a suit of armor… uhmm, yeah. Nuff’ said. 
Email Me
eric@ericbrake.wsGoogle Reader
Badges
Blogroll
BrakeBlog
Local photography, National rants, Zero navel-gazing allowed… Blogging from Hopkinsville, KY
Forty Nine Dollars
EM Interference with EnergyNet
During July of 2009, I predicted I would have problem with radio/electro-magnetic interference using the HES EnergyNet Internet service.
However, Energynet will suffer from the same faults of a crowded 2.4 Ghz band that includes routers, wireless phone handsets, and microwave ovens.
This is definitely true for microwave ovens. The wireless is completely unusable while the microwave is running. Recently, the room where all of the computer equipment is, was re-arranged with two major changes related to the networking setup. The first being the removal of two big CRT monitors from the room and the second is that the EnergyNet box is now plugged into an uninterruptible power supply. I noticed over the next several days that Internet speeds were dramatically better. Before the re-organization data transfers averaged ~400 kilobits/second. Which is far less than the advertised 3 megabits. After seeing the difference in speed after making these changes I got curious and plugged the Energynet box directly into the wall like it was before. Internet speeds worsened at the same time.
Based on this anecdotal evidence, I would recommend using a battery backup to power the EnergyNet router. The UPS serves to isolate connected devices from fluctuations in mains power. At least in this instance it does an excellent job.
HES EnergyNet Bridge
I would be interested to know whether other customers have experienced the same symptoms. Overall, I like the service from EnergyNet but other people considering buying it should realize the equipment is very sensitive to interference. Another thing about my setup is that I use a wireless router of my own to re-transmit the signal to my laptop. So if there is any interference in the air I get it both coming and going.
Peddler’s Mall Re-Opens
The Peddler Mall is a flea market style business housed inside the old Wal-mart building. Independent vendors rent booths inside to sell whatever products they wish. The building stood empty for many years after the new Super Center was built while Wal-mart maintained ownership of it. In 2005, The first owner was evicted after he failed to pay his rent then a husband and wife couple opted to take over the lease and try to keep it open. The Merchant’s mall closed again some months later but now it appears Wal-mart is making another attempt.
- Obligatory Elvis memorabilia
- Dragon riding a motorcycle
- Sexy and Sassy Shoes
- Motor Americana
- Coca-cola commemorative bottles
Here’s to the future success of the new Peddler’s Mall.
Snowy Farmland
I had a chance on Tuesday to take some photography of an open field on the outer limits of Hopkinsville. The barn and buildings in the distance belong to the Amish that live in the area.
- White Wasteland
- Tree at the forest edge
- Rolling hillside
- Amish Barn
While I was writing the blog post for the church I found a passage in the book of Job that speaks directly to the winter weather we have received. It was very fitting to post on a day when church services were being canceled wholesale.
Snow delayed but not Denied
I measured four inches on the ground at my house. Trigg county received six inches. Hopkinsville is fortunate that ten inches of total devastation did not occur but there’s always next year.
- official snow measuring tool
- roof top snow
- over hanging snow
- Bump in the snow
I said yesterday I would build a snowman if I had enough material to work with but what fell turned out to be dry powder not very suitable for packing together. Interesting note that there was more snow on my car than on the ground. The hood actually had 7 1/2 inches.
Snow Roulette
Let’s spin the wheel another time, the weather man has foretold that Hopkinsville will have devastating snow fall tomorrow. The winter storm warning published by the national weather service guarantees a minimum of four inches and up to 10 inches of the cold white stuff.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 7 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM MARBLE HILL MISSOURI TO CALHOUN KENTUCKY. CLOSER TO THE ARKANSAS AND TENNESSEE STATE LINES BORDERING KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI...AMOUNTS MAY APPROACH 8 TO 10 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. SOME SLEET MAY MIX IN WITH THE SNOW AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EVENT...BUT PREDOMINANTLY SNOW IS EXPECTED.
With that kind of forecast I expect to be building a very fat snowman tomorrow. In my lifetime Hopkinsville has never had 10 inches of snowfall at one time. It’ll suck though if after all the hype and scaremongering we only get a measly inch or less.
ATT’s ’sweet heart deal’
The postmortem following the city’s decision to drop it’s lawsuit against AT&T reads in part:
KEMP AND REGAN SIGNED THE AGREEMENT FOLLOWING THE SPECIAL MEETING WITH ATTORNEY DOUG WILLEN PREPARED TO FILE DISMISSAL PAPERS IN FEDERAL COURT TODAY (TUESDAY). MEANWHILE, NEWWAVE PRESIDENT AND CEO, JIM GLEASON TOLD THE NEWS EDGE HE HAS NOT HAD A CHANCE TO THOROUGHLY INSPECT THE AGREEMENT, BUT HE IS STILL CONFUSED AS TO WHY AT&T REFUSES TO MAKE THE SAME COMMITMENT TO HOPKINSVILLE THAT NEWWAVE MADE. HE ADDED THAT THE COMPANY WILL BE TALKING WITH LEGAL COUNCIL TODAY (TUESDAY) TO DISCUSS ITS PENDING LAWSUIT.
The next day Mr. Gleason was still steamed enough to say that AT&T got a “sweet heart deal”.
On a different segment of The Scene, Mary Pat Regan says the roll out for U-verse will be complete sometime during the summer.
ATT U-Verse Silliness
I was there Monday night at the product demonstration for AT&T’s U-verse service. I think the Archos 5 performed fairly well to record the meeting. What I have is the full length U-verse demonstration given by Brian Claimer and the question/answer session that happened afterward.
In my opinion, the lawsuits flying between the city/New Wave and AT&T are retrograde in their reasoning. The city seems to be more concerned in protecting New Wave’s interests than the interests of the citizens. Using any decent Internet connection it’s already possible to watch full-length cable network content. The plan that AT&T laid out is not very much different than what other companies have already introduced. The Roku Set top box is meant to deliver video from a variety of Internet sources. Both of these examples are completely unregulated. Would the city council have me believe that watching TV on Syfy.com is now illegal because they haven’t bought a franchise? AT&T should be allowed to offer it’s new video service because technology is advancing to quickly make the dispute irrelevant.
