Word: cellular
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...Merlin connects to the Net using Cellular Digital Packet Data (also known as CDPD, which is my favorite abbreviation to say, since it sounds like Seedy Petey). Unfortunately, Seedy Petey is not my favorite service to use. You can get it in most metropolitan areas from cellular carriers such as AT&T. But, unlike cellular-phone service, which is billed by the minute, you pay by the bit: it costs around $15 a month to send 500 MB of data; unlimited service is available for $54 a month. That would be reasonable if it always worked. But it doesn...
Seedy Petey sends data over constantly changing unused frequencies in the cellular network, a juggling act that succeeds when the user is at rest. Indeed, when I was sitting at my desk 23 floors above the streets of Manhattan, the connection was just fine: data moved easily to and from the Merlin, and even Web pages could be loaded within a reasonable amount of time. But when I was not at rest--when I was, in fact, hauling along on an eastbound train--two tin cans and a string would have made a tighter connection. I found...
Yesterday, Amoco and Chevron both announced that they will start warning customers not to use cellular phones near their gas pumps. It seems that electronic impulses from the phones could start a fire. Cellular phones also cause brain cancer...
...that?s almost beside the point. Has a cigarette-style war over America?s favorite new toy finally begun? "There is no evidence whatsoever that a wireless phone has ever caused ignition or explosion at a gas station anywhere in the world," scoffed Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, in a written statement. But to DeWitt, that might as well have come from the CEO of Philip Morris. "We know these guys lie," he says. So judge the risks of connectivity yourself - keeping in mind that the cellular honchos issued the very same denial about the cancer...
...over a classical mass of stone, blinked its brilliance in the sunshine, and the street was lined with flags arranged as a monument to the accomplishments of the United Nations. As I bought a freshly baked scone and handed the merchant the bills, he happily jabbered away on his cellular phone, and I took the moment to think how wonderful and vibrant the city had become...