23 march 2017
Today is a pretty big step for me, on my path to helping start a local mesh network.
I crimped an ethernet cable.
Or, to be honest, I first learned how to crimp an ethernet cable, and then didn't do it right, and then tried again and I did it.
Tonight I met up with the nyc mesh Install Team for our first community breakout. And I feel good in that I am not the only one who is excited about the idea of a community network, but can't actually say what it means(technically). Many of the people on this 15th floor coworking space were as lost as me. Which turned out to be silly, as a mesh network in essence is very simple. It works by sharing internet. That's it.
We talked of the two main ways the mesh operates: either by multiple buildings all connecting and spreading the signal from a SUPERNODE, or just from houses pointing and sharing their internet. This is where I realized that we could start a mesh network in Ridgewood. Id basically set up a router in our house and point it at a friend, and ask if they wanna split internet. And that friend could connect it to a friend they are in eyesight of (which is surprisingly easy as everyone is moving into this neighborhood. And slowly we'd grow a resilient neighborhood network that is cheaper and stronger and more open than the two options currently available to us.
That is a thing that I am loving hte most about mesh networks, and really all my forays into this bright techno future....the tech is continually cycling back around to basic, almost rustic concepts. Even you, dear tilde, are weirdly futuristic in that I have a hard time describing you to my friends. But in the end you act as a way to talk to friendly people and make friends based on mutually shared interests. Tilde feels modern because it so easily recreates the past. (i mean, that's one nice thing about it but not the only thing. tilde .town is just great). And with mesh networks there's a lot happening within the mesh itself and how all the routers work, but the truly practial installing of it requires you talking to your neighbors and asking if you can figure out a way to split a bill. And no matter how coolly fancy the bright white mesh routers are...they still need ethernet cables to be able to function and these cables are still easiest to handle when they don't have heads on yet. So we use tools that have barely changed since the 19th century to open up wire casings and crimp heads upon the cables.
So that's what I learned how to do today. I learned the practical steps to being able to install a mesh router, and I did this with razor blades and a color guide and a cool crimping wrench.
I feel good.
Other news: Teen Daze made a beaaaaaautiful album that I can't stop listening to. https://teendaze.bandcamp.com/album/themes-for-dying-earth <== that's it there.
Also: work is dumb.
Also: I have my big ol show next wednesday and I am nervous. I am basically writing a solarpunk poem instead of coming up with a comedy set. And I worry that this will be the thing that tests my friends' patience toooo much...or everyone will love it and will prove to me that I need to def. write mooooore solar punk stories. But when I tried to write up a comedy set I insted wanted to talk about sky ships and making robots out of terra cotta and I gotta go with my gut on this.
Last news: y'all are great and this guy (zach) is sleepy! Goodnight!t