Cæptain's Log

Archive for August, 2009

As few people reading this my have already known, my 21st birthday is approaching shortly.  My 2 closest friends have already turned (one recently) and it’s not like we all have never been exposed to alcohol, so the whole ‘going out on a binge’ thing isn’t gonna be that big of a deal.  We do plan on doing it since it’s pretty much a tradition in our neck of the state (Nebraska in general has a major case of the underage drinking thing – but our town is a major college town to boot).

Something I’ve realized about the whole drinking age thing is that I don’t think the ‘real’ purpose is to nanny children.  If you don’t already know the history about the drinking age and how it came about, look it up, it’s interesting, but for the sake of making sure everyone understands – this was a now classic case of the inevitable Federal strong-arming where they recognize that there are still some ‘limitations’ on their power, so instead of acknowledging that they don’t have the authority to do something, they find some kind of circumvention.  The drinking age came along with the series of progressive highway reforms that culminated when congress decided to steal more money from the states and then threatened to not give it back unless they made the legal changes congress demanded.  A classic mafia maneuver.

Anyways – my theory is that the real purpose of a minimum drinking age isn’t to make sure people under 21 aren’t drinking.  If you look at the law for vending alcohol to individuals, the rule isn’t that the individual is 21, it’s that the individual has a valid, government-issued ID (of the type you can’t get unless you’re 21).  I can’t use my once-valid but expired license to buy alcohol when I turn 21.  I have to get it re-issued and updated to do anything with it.

I know that not having an ID is a preposterous idea to most people, but I’ve read a lot lately about freedom activists not signing their children up for social security.  It’s a noble thing to do, as something as big as submitting to a government authority is something that each individual needs to decide for themselves, it’s a contract, and to just assume each person wants to ‘sign’ such a pseudo-permanent contract is merely another convenience for the government; it is morally wrong.

If someone wants to live outside the state – sans it’s benefits AND costs – they deserve the opportunity.  However, the government naturally makes it nearly impossible to function in society without submitting to it’s authority voluntarily – you can’t get a (legal) job, you can’t drive, you can’t get a bank account or get a loan or use any other bank functions, you can’t have a business (which is any form of productivity, which combined with the new federal crackdown on personal family organic farms, you can’t even produce things for yourself), and you can’t buy alcohol – just to name a handful.

I’m sure that the altruistic supporters of these measures are only out to do good for all of society, but if you view the state as it’s own entity, then it naturally makes sense that there are all these counter-measures to prevent people from rejecting its authority.  It may not be obvious or even the case, but it’s something to think about.

So if by the time you’re an adult you manage to get through life without signing up for social security (assuming your parents never signed you up) and you live under this government without an ID or anything of the sorts, then please let me know – because I’d like to meet someone that lives every day of their life on the edge of the shadow of an ever-growing government and who spends their very existence in the black market.

It’s a fantasy of mine to live in the woods somewhere, completely free – but since I’m already integrated into the ‘matrix’, I may as well continue to submit to authority and get my government issued plastic identification card so I can buy my cheap booze.

I was bidding like crazy on ebay to get the best deal on a Belkin N1 Wifi N router  – I came close twice to getting an N1 Vision (sweet) for under $100 – but I got sniped both times.  After I had almost given up hope on getting a deal, I found a normal N1 router for $50 +$8 pop up for buy it now right after the auction I lost ended.  Score.

Lightly used but confirmed working and with all the original stuff (not that I give a damn, but it adds to the experience) – shipped from NY.

Belkin N1 Wifi N Router

I also scored a great deal on my AR5008E-3NX.  I shot my best offer of $20 (free shipping) off to China, and got a counter-offer of $21; with free shipping and compared to the other prices on the net, this was a killer deal, imo, so I snatched that bad boy right up.

With the money I saved I managed to afford a $10.45 (after shipping) 12″ UFL to SMApiggy cable, which if you haven’t been following, is for the 3rd antenna used in N cards.

Parts List so far:

• Belkin N1 Router – $50 + $8
• Atheros AR5008 miniPCI-e wifi card – $21
• 12″ UFL to SMA pigtail – $8.50 + $1.95

I’ve done some research on Atheros’ XSpan tech, and surprisingly most of the press releases are only a day or 2 old.

Apparently the 802.11N draft is in version 2.0, which is now professedly extremely stable, but yet still relies greatly on compatible technologies as each company has it’s own style of 11N.

XSpan is actually a chipset technology for their 11N 2.0, and only a few commercial products posses it so far.

The Atheros card I mentioned (AR5008E-3NX) was actually the first N card to be approved for miniPCI-E standards, so I’m pretty solid on picking one up now.
The questions that I’ve now brought up deal with router compatiblity.

Apparently N tech is extremely picky, even to the point of non-functionality between 2 N devices.  You have to have a compatible N variant on both the card and the router.

Luckily I’ve found a handful of routers that are confirmed to be using the XSpan chipset, and the most impressive one I found was the Belkin N1 and it’s smokin’ hot sister, the N1 Vision.

Check out the pictures.
I’m pretty positive I’m spending what little funds I have for this project on this set up:

Atheros AR5008E miniPCI-e card

A UFL to SMA Pigtail cable to connect the 3rd antenna to the card (I own several antennas with ufl connectors on them, from simple little black ones like you would get stock with a pci card, to a badass ‘plate’ dish).  This is where the actual hacking is gonna take place, since I need to dremel a hole in a suitable location on the side of my computers case to mount the connector and route the cable to the card.

Belkin N1 Vision Router – gonna go used and try to score one for less than $100.

I plan on ordering everything today so that it can get shipped out first thing monday.

I’ll post back then.