Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."
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I am posting this from the Delta in-flight WiFi. There was a promotion for a free session, though the prices aren't as terrible as I'd imagined anyway: $9.95 for the flight or $24.95 for a thirty-day pass, which might be good for a business traveler who flies lots of big-plane Delta flights, especially if they roll it out to most flights soon.
Anyway, first thing I did, of course, was run a bandwidth test. 686kbps download and 273kbps upload. Not too shabby, though not spectacular in these broadband days.
I wonder if the firewall blocks any ports, or if I could freely use bittorrent, etc? Not that I really would, but it'd be interesting to see.
Any dorky tests anybody wants me to run while I'm connected?
My sister was allowed to use her Blackberry on one of her flights, if she could pick up a signal. She never got one. I was startled at that.
That would be exciting, Gris, for someone like me who travels a lot, but I have yet to see any planes with WiFi on them!! Oh, the myth of them in the wild...I keep seeing planes that ADVERTISE them (so mean, to show a commercial for your wifi on my flight to/from Hawaii, that was six hours long, but not HAVE the wifi on it...)
I imagine it will be rolling out more often. Seems to work well, at least in the continental US. At least as far as I can tell now.
The iTunes Music Store isn't connecting, but SSH is working and AIM is running. Interesting.
ETA: Strike that, the iTMS is letting me search, but it's not letting me buy. Annoying.
ETA2: It worked when I tried again! Yay! It's downloading very slowly, but it's downloading. I may cancel the download, I mostly just wanted to test it.
ita, if buying headphones for an iPhone, it's more than headphones, as they have the mic with button for answering calls (and skipping songs). That would account for the extra expense. The ones I got with the phone lasted me about 18 months. I asked at the apple store about replacements, and the guy was like "eh, close enough to warranty, I'll give em to ya". If she just wants headphones, and will answer phone with out, then no worries. Just fyi.
That would be exciting, Gris, for someone like me who travels a lot, but I have yet to see any planes with WiFi on them!! Oh, the myth of them in the wild...I
Really? I was totally able to use my BB on the flight to Seattle. (AirTran, FTR.)
Which reminds me - I need to replace the headphones for my BB. They need to be the ones with a mic. Any recs? Last time they crapped out the girl at the TMO store took pity and gave me a new pair, but I don't think I'll get that lucky again.
I use them mostly for work conference calls, so clarity on the mic is a priority.
My aunt, uncle and I want to buy my mom a computer for Christmas. We basically, I think, want the cheapest computer ever. She would use it for going on line, and perhaps paying games, but her games are things like solitaire and mah jongg, so not memory intensive games. She also has vision problems, so we do want a desktop with a monitor (I would get a netbook otherwise). ANy advice or deals you have seen out there? Anything to really stay away from?
Huh. I wonder if there is a Buffista with a decent older computer they were thinking about replacing but could not quite justify. Because a good used computer at a fair price sounds like it would fit what you are thinking. But "good" and "fair price" are tough things to figure out, which is where buying from a Buffista might come in.
