• LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

50 Stars: Americans, teach us about your country.

Different kind of tower. It's not a cell phone tower. It's a tower specifically for wireless broadband. And not the wireless broadband 3G cellphone stuff.

It's a piece of hardware you mount on the side of your house or on an antenna; not those little USB sticks with those rip-off plans with ridiculously low download limits for the price you pay (I tried that route :\).

From the antenna a line comes in your house into a reciever or modem which has a normal RJ-45 ethernet cable coming out of it to be used with a wireless router or however you want to use it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadband
 
I find it interesting that you live in the Adirondacks. Not too many of us trippers around here. There are some, but they are few and far between.
 
Monthly it's the same as city broadband but the installation and equipment is more. I believe it's ~$300 for normal install. We have to get a tower and if we didn't have an old one lying around it would be more like $700.

I don't. I live on an island in the Thousand islands on the Canadian side to the north of you. But I see your mountain range in the distance from the high point on the island. :)

And I agree; I'm the only tripper here I know. It's lonely being a tripper up here. :(
 
It really is. :)

Next summer I'm going to make a point of packing some camping supplies on my motorcycle and taking a tour through the Adirondacks. I've never actually been there.

Is it like the Green mountains of Vermont or White mountains of New Hampshire?

Actually I'm going to look it up ;)
 
Yeah, it seems like it is. Similar elevations and terrain.

All part of the Appalachian range. I've been to the former 2 but only for winter ski trips. I'd love to go camping in the Adirondacks. Definitely on my list for next summer. :)

The Laurentians in Quebec are also beautiful.
 
Alaska.jpg

Aside from Sarah Palin, I have heard nothing but good things about Alaska. My parents went there and loved it, they said it was one of the most beautiful places they had ever been to. I dont know much about it myself, except that it is supposed to have spectacular landscapes, but I would love to go there sometime.
 
^^ My boss went there for a holiday (cruise) earlier this year and his photos were incredible 8o

:\

nobody is from there

Doesn't mean we can't discuss it! :)

I must say, it's the one state of America that I am most intrigued about visiting. Purely for the amazing wildlife and landscape.
 
alaska is gorgeous. and i loved the 20ish hour days when i was there. but that is all i recall, it was 12 years ago that i was there.
 
One of my friends in law school is from Fairbanks, Alaska (considered 'way out there'). He has his pilot's license and flew his plane everywhere as it is common to do where he is from. He told me that his kids have experienced -40 degree Halloweens which is just incredible to me. That's all I got right now but those tidbits were particularly memorable. :)

They still have a fairly large Inuit (indigenous) population. It's amazing some of the ways they found to sustain themselves through the seasons.

Though I know tourism is one of the industries that helps keep Alaska sustainable I'm sort of at odds with it. The wildlife is so important and I don't think the industry has taken enough steps to safeguard the tourism from ruining the natural environment. From what I know it's fairly lax free-market driven resulting in lax regulations. I've heard the argument that the industry protects the wildlife because they have a significant interest in sustaining their market. However, I think they only safeguard what the tourists find neat looking and not necessarily all the parts of the ecosystem. Additionally, I think there's only so much corporations can do to maintain it and continue to practice the type of tourism the customers demand. :\
 
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Feel free to pick one, anyone!! I'm not even FROM the US so it feels kinda weird that I'm picking the states sometimes :D

Next state: California %)


1 Alabama
2 Alaska
3 Arizona
4 Arkansas
5 California
6 Colorado
7 Connecticut
8 Delaware
9 Florida
10 Georgia
11 Hawaii
12 Idaho
13 Illinois
14 Indiana
15 Iowa
16 Kansas
17 Kentucky
18 Louisiana
19 Maine
20 Maryland
21 Massachusetts
22 Michigan
23 Minnesota
24 Mississippi
25 Missouri
26 Montana
27 Nebraska
28 Nevada
29 New Hampshire
30 New Jersey
31 New Mexico
32 New York
33 North Carolina
34 North Dakota
35 Ohio
36 Oklahoma
37 Oregon
38 Pennsylvania
39 Rhode Island
40 South Carolina
41 South Dakota
42 Tennessee
43 Texas
44 Utah
45 Vermont
46 Virginia
47 Washington
48 West Virginia
49 Wisconsin
50 Wyoming
 
Good choice! California is where some of the coolest members of Bluelight are from. %) There's lots to do, with snowy mountains, the Death Valley desert, and vast coastline. It was made famous by the california gold rush, theres even a few ghost towns here and there left over from that time period, I think our official state ghost town is called Bodie or something. Its also known for Hollywood. And San Francisco, I LOVE SF. And we share Lake Tahoe with Nevada. Up near Tahoe is Donner Pass, of the Donner Party

Up north there are the beautiful redwood forests. And down in Monterey there are world class shorelines, considered some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. Also, Monterey Bay has the kelp forests and a few miles off its coast is one of the deepest points in the all of the oceans. Thats where they have discovered some of those really creepy deepwater fish.

I love California. <3


<---This is our official state fossil, the saber tooth tiger :D
 
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