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Day 458: Homing Pigeon Technology To Replace NOLA COX Monopoly

You’ve heard my incessant squawking over internet service in this city.  Brian sends me a great alternative to our connectivity problem: the lowly domesticated Rock pigeon.  Though a joke released in April 1990, IP Over Avian Carriers might just do the trick.  (Don’t miss the hilarious ping script.) 

On April 28, 2001 … the [Bergen Linux User Group] sent 9 packets over a distance of approximately 5km (3 miles), each carried by an individual pigeon and containing one ping (ICMP Echo Request), and they received 4 responses. With a 55% packet loss, and a response time ranging from 3000 to over 6000 seconds, Carrier Pigeons seem unlikely to be adopted more widely as a transport method on the Internet. 

Unlikely until The Federal Flood of 2005!  55% data loss is a great statistic considering the appalling quality of service provided by our local COX monopoly!  Research shows that startup costs are acceptable, but operating expenses, which include pigeon loft, feed and guano removal, increase exponentially over a short time.  Who wants to go in on this with me? 

2 comments… add one
  • mominem November 30, 2006, 12:45 AM

    Phosphates from guano might be a commercially viable by product.

  • GentillyGirl November 30, 2006, 5:54 AM

    Sugar? Why are you using Cox? (Even the name freaks me out.)

    And pigeons? Oh guano NO!

    Try BellSouth’s wireless BroadBand and save your neighbors’ cars and clothes from pigeon hits. (Not to mention my “to die for holiday dress”.)

    I can’t go in on this one: my kittens are just waiting to bring down squabs for the Holidays. They have orders to bring down the forces of feathers and poops, no matter the cost.

    *Protection of various neighborhoods will be determined upon assessed values.*

    Please call now! Please call now! Please call now! This is a time-limited offer.

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