Michael Pellegrini's Blog and Rants and Stuff

It’s been over a week now since the release of the Iraq Study Group report. The basis of the report is that the situation in Iraq is “grave and deteriorating,” and that there is no workable military solution. The report states that the only path with some potential for success is a joint diplomatic/political venture involving Iraq’s neighbors. Iraq Study Group Report

The bipartisan panel includes heavy-hitters from both sides of the aisle: a former Supreme Court Justice, two former Secretary of States, a former Attorney General, a former Defense Secretary, a former White House Chief of Staff. Study Group Composition

According to recent polls, the public is firmly behind the findings of the report.

In the results of a Washington Post/ABC News poll released today, 46% of all Americans support the findings of the report, while 22% oppose it. 52% of Americans believe we’re losing the war in Iraq, and 79% favor putting American troops in support, not combat roles. And most importantly, 69% of all Americans believe all US troops should be withdrawn from Iraq by early 2008. Poll Results

I don't believe wireless and fiber will ever really compete. I think there will always be a place for both. They both have unique attributes: wi-fi’s portability, and fiber’s speeds. Each has it’s own place – they compliment each other.

The main problem with wireless - at least at this early stage of the game – is that it just can't provide enough bandwidth to effectively compete with fiber.

I haven't really kept close tabs, but it seems like most of the metro wi-fi projects are advertising speeds ranging between 1-3 mb/s.

Now 3 mb/s may be just great for web browsing, email and light gaming (assuming the latency isn't too terrible). But that's about it. I wouldn't go downloading the latest Linux distros or anything on a connection like that. Much less downloading a movie or loads of mp3's or programs.