Researcher Runs IP Network Over Xylophones 83
joabj writes "Following up on experiments of running Internet Protocol(IP)-based networks with carrier pigeons or bongos, UofC grad student R. Stuart Geiger has demonstrated that it is possible to transmit simple ping requests across two computers using people playing xylophones. Throughput is roughly 1 baud, when the participants don't make any mistakes, or get bored and wander off. The OSI encapsulated model of networking makes this project doable, allowing humans to be inserted at Layer 1, the physical layer. Vint Cerf wasn't kidding when he used to say, 'IP on Everything.'"
this isn't even cool (Score:2, Interesting)
I remember doing "networking via scraps of paper" at school.
Writing silly notes since kindergarten and then actually implementing some real protocol in computing classes.
Then a couple of years later an LED, a bit of fibre and an LDR and we were building "fibre networks".
Mind you, this was two decades ago.
Looking even at the "cool" projects which come out of MIT undergrads, I get the impression that almost all children are exposed to absolutely nothing interesting whatsoever before the age of 18.
Re:they forgot to add parity notes (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:UofC? (Score:4, Interesting)
In California, we call it UC Berkeley [wikipedia.org].
i.e. yoo see burr clee, and even that is incorrect, as the town and the school where named after Bishop Berkeley of "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" fame. His name is pronounced BAR clee.
/pedant