How the digital divide can be solved


OLPC Rwanda Workshop Day 1

The Digital Divide

Let’s begin with the simple facts at hand, that the digital divide is just that a divide again the populations around the world that have very little change to have internet.   One such organization, One laptop per Child a non profit did try to do that to help bring the digital devices and educational needs to the areas with the greatest need.   It however went terribly wrong.   We can only identify areas that need the digital signals and try to provide for them.   This is where Elon Musk’s idea of StarLink is being conceived to do just that.  This will greatly help people with low income or places that has no access to wired internet to be able to get digital signals to them.   In all truthfulness, I really don’t have a lot of ideas on how to address this divide but I am sure it’s only a matter time before someone else comes up with the ideas that will make it work even better than I could imagine it.

Addressing it

Some way I guess we could address this issue is simply by making it inexpensive to countries that can’t afford to pay 100$ for the internet and or pay for the One Laptop Per Child.   I would think if we can get governments around the world to embrace stuff like this and help pay for the technology or even just the internet than more people around the world would be able to access the digital devices like everyone else.   I can think of maybe a few ways to help decrease the amount of the device or even just the internet to people who have little or no internet.   Make it free for everyone around the world but then who’d pay for it?  Who’d keep our privacy safe?  Who’d make sure they didn’t misuse our information?  That’s the real big question when it comes to how to make a free internet, because we will always have to worry about someone using our information for bad or even making money off of us in one way or another.  Still this is just one way we can at least attempt to fix the problems with the digital divide.   It isn’t going to solve every problem but at least it would make it so much easier for people to get onto the internet and we wouldn’t have as big of a divide like we do today.

How to Watch Internet TV on your TV : The Cheap Way!!

As many of you know, I am a great fan of Hulu.   Recently I went searching to find out how to watch Hulu without having to buy NETGEAR Digital Entertainer Live (Black) and Paying a monthly service.  So Here’s is what you need to watch it on your TV.

What you will need:

Video
S-Video Cables — If you plan to use S-video in then this is what you will need.  The good thing about this is most Laptops have S-Video Out.   Although this isn’t always the case this is how I watch Hulu on TV.

VGA to S-Video — Some laptops only have VGA you will be able to tell by the look of the connection but if you have this tool you can convert any VGA connection to S-video easily.

Philips 3-Way AV Selector For $9.88 –This is the cheap way for those who can only connect coaxial cable inputs.   This is what you will need to use on Older TV’s.

Audio

2 RCA Male / 3.5mm Stereo Male, 25 ft — This is for the head phone jack that you will have on your laptop pipe your audio from you laptop to the TV screen. Depending on the length of the S-Video cable will also determine the Length of the the Audio cable. So you will need to look around for a 25 foot S-video cable just so you have the room.

In Conclusion

This is one wHuluqualitysettingsay to connect mulitple video outlets like VCR or HD Over the air converters.  So it isn’t a bad way to go to make this happen.   I did buy each of these to be able to watch shows on my TV through the internet.   Now you can too.  If you need internet for you laptop, I have been using the [intlink id=”3059″ type=”post”]Cricket Broadband A600[/intlink] to stream Hulu to my TV.   This is so nice with Hulu Desktop.  As long as you put the quality of the stream to Low and not Medium the modem seems to be able to keep up. Now if you click on the quality you will be able to select Low, Medium or High Quality this is how you can stream over lower bandwidth limitations.

Now all this shouldn’t cost you more than $30 without shipping and if you look around your local Radio Shack or Walmart you will be able find all you need there. This is how I did it myself. Now I can watch want I want on my 30 Inch Big Screen. I just put my Laptop on the Coffee Table and enjoy the shows.

If your looking to upgrade or buy a laptop, I would suggest looking into the Amazon Laptop Store. This is for those who would like to be able to do this in the future.   Although you don’t have to buy from Amazon it is just an Idea or you could buy Hulu. Recently I went searching to find out how to watch Hulu without having to buy NETGEAR Digital Entertainer Live (Black)and paying for a monthly services to watch Hulu on your TV. I prefer using my Roku to watch movies and shows. It is cheaper than the Vodu. Although you don’t get Hulu, you can watch movies and shows from Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand!
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Panatech PX-500 PCMCIA Sprint EVDO BroadBand Card

[ad#tmi-right-1-1]The Pantech PX-500 wireless mobile broadband card for Sprint gives you data communication access for your PC laptop anywhere you roam on the Sprint network at faster speeds than ever before. EV-DO rev A compatibility gives you download speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps and beefy upload speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps. Simple to use, the Pantech PX-500 wireless mobile broadband card lets you surf the Internet, send and receive email and text messages, and connect to corporate networks from just about anywhere.

Technical Specs:

  • Dimensions – 4.57 in x 2.13 in x 0.51 in
  • Weight – 1.8 oz
  • Data Download Speed – EV-DO rev A (Up to 3.1 Mbps Down/1.8 Mbps Up), EV-DO rev 0 (2.4 Mbps Down/153 Kbps Up), 1xRTT
  • Download Protocol – CDMA 850, 1900
  • Compatible Carrier – Sprint PCS
  • Network Compatibility – CDMA 850, 1900
  • 3G Data Speeds – Yes

Compatibility Features

  • Device Supports Data Plans – Yes
  • Available For Purchase Without Service Plan – Yes

Saw this card and did a little digging.  I looks like the newest updated software and drivers for this card can also make it Vista and Linux compatible.   Although with any card you will use up more battery life but it is a small price to pay to check email and surf the web. Also if you have an newer laptop or am about to upgrade I’d suggest Getting a Sierra Wireless Compass 597 USB Modem from Sprint! This is good for anyone who wants to surf the web and not have to buy the hardware to do it with.  Both are free to buy and ship with a two year contract. If in doubt please get the USB card that way you know you know you will be able to use it.

Pctv HD Mini Stick and My thoughts!

Pctv HD Mini Stick

  • Includes mini-remote control and high-gain telescopic antenna
  • Compact size HDTV tuner for easy travel and storage
  • Instantly turn your PC into a personal digital video recorder
  • Record your favorite shows to your hard drive or direct-to-DVD
  • TV Standards – ATSC (HDTV up to 1080i, SDTV) and ClearQAM (HDTV up to 1080i, SDTV) Inputs

Price: Click Link to See the Price

Just saw this and couldn’t resist talking about it.  This would be great on the road.  If you use this on a laptop, then you would have some really good channels as you travel on the road.  No more having to watch movies on your laptop.   You can now see the current events as you travel around the US.  With the Digital change over Coming Feburary 17, 2009.  You’ll want to have a way to watch TV, this would be one way.  Right now Amazon is offering it for 112.22 but that could change so check the link out to find out how much it is.