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I've covered what was good about BIL. I've covered what was bad about BIL. Now that BIL has announced that they are indeed planning a conference for 2009 to run parallel with TED down in Long Beach, I think that some things should be addressed to make it successful in the future.              1) There needs to be a leader       While the whole spontaneous organization concept seems great, it's ultimately going to topple as more people get involved. Plus, there just needs to be a go-to person when things come up. By default, the guys who just tossed this whole thing together became that, but they really need to take a firmer hand or all the wannabe Alpha Geeks are going to try to bash and claw their way in to running it.              2) Respect the Speakers       The biggest issue was that during talks, there was a constant stream of people getting up and down, going in and out, and just not sitting still. These talks are 15 god damned minutes. If you can't sit still for that long, then just don't come. As a general rule, people should observe the fact that if they're in there when a talk starts, they need to remain seated.              3) Filter the Speakers       Again, it's a great idea to have an open forum for people to talk about whatever, but some of these talks were just bizarrely out of place like the motivational talk by Lexi Bright and Jonathan Sheffi. Equally out of place was what was basically a sales pitch for this digital pen thing. This could still be decided by the public though as each speaker could "pitch" their talk up on the website, then the public could vote on the ones to go up. But, going back to point one, there would be leaders that could override public opinion if they feel something gets in or out unfairly.              4) Dump the Conceptual "Art" Bits       Sure, they always seem like a good idea when you talk about them, but the reason conceptual art never works is that it can only exist in the realm of the concept. Acting on a conceptual art idea ends up with lame results as Yoko Ono and all her disciples have proved over the years. That damned pictionary game forced a lot of people out of the room because they kept claiming, "participation is mandatory!" and in the end it netted little but some laughs and delaying the schedule nearly a half hour. Keep this kind of thing at Burning Man. Keep the ideas at BIL.              5) Rework the Schedule       Having four talks an hour that are 15 minutes long isn't realistic. I mean, it is in theory, but in reality, the schedule just runs in to itself too much. Having three 15 minute talks per hour with a five minute break in between gives enough fluff time so that if someone is just a few minutes over, they can be and if people need to come in or out of the hall, they can, or lastly, people can have some setup time without having to get in the way of the other person on stage. This may mean cutting down the amount of speakers, but then again, it also could mean a more focused conference which takes in to account points 2 and 3.              6) Get some solid drink and food sponsors       Bottled water is all profit and marketing. You can find any number of makers who would gladly donate a pile of it to the event. Just the same, food can be found as well. I don't know where the food and drink came from, but it was definitely cool that it appeared. I just think that that burden could be taken off of multiple people and put on corporate backs.              7) Charge an Attendance Fee       Yeah, I know, it's not a popular idea as everyone wants it to be free, but as Marla Singer said in Fight Club in regards to why she went to group help meetings, "It's cheaper than a movie and there's free coffee." I think that a fee would get rid of a lot of the people "being" at the conference. It makes it more structured (which again, I know is not a really popular idea) and more professional. Additionally, it adds in to the coffers to help put on the event, even if it's just $20 per person which I'm sure all of us could afford who were there as opposed to the $6,000 for TED.              And that's about it for me. There are all kinds of other things like having wifi ready to chairs to power to bathrooms to anything else, but these are all simple logistical things that are easy to work out. There are some core, structural items for BIL that need to be addressed if it's to be successful and give TED a little shake to show that it's not the only game in town.

Regardless of what people think at times, I'm not a negative guy. Despite the title of this article, I did write about all that was good with BIL yesterday, so have a look at that article before thinking I'm Mister Grump Pants, because I am going to get down on things here.       I suppose that my biggest issue with BIL is that it's finding its footing, but that's to be expected with a brand new event. Overall, the fact of the matter is that if BIL is the commoner's answer to TED, then it has a long way to go in order to get there. Yes, it's good to have open talks, but at the same time, these need to be vetted somehow. Allowing anyone to get up and jabber can quickly degenerate in to a Speakers' Corner. I'd have to say that BIL needs to worship Chris Phoenix who singlehandedly gave some of the best talks at the conference. Also good was of course Aubrey de Grey (whom packed the hall), and KV Fitzpatrick. Then of course, there were some pretty lame ones such as Jonathan Sheffi and Lexi Bright (who did this somewhat inane self-motivation thing), Brad Templeton (who gave this incredibly classist, capitalist view of a future of AI cars which was dreadful), and a slew of others that were quite uninspiring, yet we sat through them all. Of course, this wasn't the real issue. We were after all warned at the very start to have "low expectations".       The real issue is that the vast majority of people were either interested in either "being" there or "networking" there. The later group who were constantly blathering outside the hall were summed up quite well in Ethan Zuckerman's post. The former group however really drove me nuts. For one, there were all these people zipping around chat forums, playing Scrabulous (which I happen to love, but not when I'm somewhere to listen to people talk), and were generally just sitting around. I'm not sure what these folks were getting out of the conference, but what I was getting out of them was constant annoyance. People got up and down all the time during talks. It was incredibly disrespectful to the speakers, especially since these were just 15 minute talks. Where's the live blogging? Where's the hacking? Where's the use of precious internet bandwidth for the good of the conference and not getting a triple word score with a Q and an X?       Beyond some general passing rudeness, folks seemed to break down in to two major camps. There were the über nerds. This group was doubly funny to think about as KV Fitzpatrick, at one point in her talk said that there were a lot of Alpha Geeks at the conference. It was the only bit that was really off from her. In truth, it's really the floor over at TED where the Alphas are. You don't get in to TED without some cajones. On the other hand, getting in to BIL just required driving there and apparently showing up with your beard fully grown.       Then there was the Burning Man/hipster group. This group poses the biggest threat to the future of the conference. They love taking over stuff like this and making activities and attempts at conceptual art. Things like a massive game of telephone pictionary aren't needed at a conference. If the purpose of BIL is to provide an atmosphere like TED, but for everyone, then this kind of stuff needs to get snuffed out in a hurry. It's fine for Burning Man, but keep it the hell out of a technology and idea talk. In some ways, I think that it's good the conference will move to Long Beach next year as that will cut down a great deal on this element, since coming all the way from San Francisco to Southern California would be like, a total drag.       I don't fit in to either of these groups. I was, along with a few others, this small wedge of people who were there for the talks and not the be-in. I met a couple of interesting folks, but overall found the networking aspect to be ridiculous. In reality, the type of networking you get in talking to this crowd is the same type you can get at just about any Apple store.       But to close, it wasn't that it was a complete failure, just as it wasn't a complete success. While I was just going to write these two articles, I realized that I now need to sum it all up in an article about what I feel, as an attendee to this first run, might be good to take in to account for the next one.

It nearly started out as a complete failure; a stillborn endeavor that would have alienated all those who wish for it to succeed. A last minute update to the site for BIL stated that due to fire marshal restrictions, only 150 people would be allowed in to view the conference and those of us who hadn't signed up (despite there being no requirement to sign up all along) were out of luck. See you next year! Ta ta! Thanks for your interest! But no, Number One Fan and I had already rented a car and were going to crash at my grandparents who live a mere hour away from Monterey, so that we could attend. So... we went anyways and found that this initial flurry was just to make The Man happy and no one was there with a clipboard checking names.       To back up a bit, what is BIL? Simply put, it is the proletarian answer to TED, which is a very exclusive conference that has been growing exponentially in popularity in recent years. The main thrust behind TED is that it exists to spread good ideas by hosting talks by some of the most interesting people in the world today. They have recently started to post videos online for folks to watch, which has made many of us even more interested in TED.       So, why didn't I go to TED? Two reasons. The first one is that attendance requires paying a $6,000 membership fee. Sure, it's good for a year, but until last year, TED has only had one conference a year (TED Africa started in 2007). The second issue is that you have to be invited and while a great many things I do are kinda interesting, none of them are [yet] at a level that warrants TED letting me in the doors.       Thusly, TED begot BIL, which is being dubbed, "the unconference". The idea was to follow the format of TED, but essentially do it in a free-form, organic way with no true organizers and no fee. Given these guidelines, BIL was an extraordinary success. I would warrant that around 250+ people showed up for this conference. There were constant talks that lasted for 15 minutes, starting at 11 and ending at 6. There was a space provided with seats, PA, and electricity to power all our laptops. Coffee, donuts, pizza, and snacks appeared magically by people interested in making this first conference a success.       Two very surprising things that came out of this were the free BIL t-shirts. They're American Apparel shirts, which are stupendous t-shirts and I'm pretty jazzed to have one. The other amazing thing was the fact that while the space had no internet access, there ended up being wifi before the first speaker even came on stage. This proves a new modern law of nature in that if you put enough geeks in to any space, inevitably wireless internet will spontaneously arise.       Amazingly, for the talk being free and not paying speakers, some really interesting folks showed up like Chris Phoenix, Aubrey de Grey, and KV Fitzpatrick. A fellow named Nikhil Nilakantan showed up breaking down the statistics on how BIL got heard of and came about, which is something that I always love.       Overall, BIL happened and BIL was good. The fact it is planed to continue next year is good news. Naturally though, it wasn't all perfect, which is the next article

It didn't sound like much when I first heard about it. Someone calls you and then hangs up immediately before you pick up. You see the number and call them back. At least, this is what would happen in the US. This is a place where people have never-ending minutes on their cellphones and always find some way to pay their mobile bill, even if it is $500 like I overheard some idiot kid saying his was.       But, in Africa, things take on a different meaning. Everyone apparently has a cellphone, just not the money to use them. So, this "beeping" method is used and for those that I know who have lived there, it's a massive pain to deal with. My friend, Kim goes in to a greater amount of detail. You see, if you're white and your number gets out, you'll get flooded with calls as an expat living there. Read his article for all the grittiness.       This is also have some economic repercussions which Reuters has covered as well. While I'm of the opinion that cellphones are a pretty unnecessary technology, in a countries where landlines are few and far between, they're one of the few ways that people seem to be able to stay in contact with one another. So, at some point they'll have to figure out some way to deal with this flood of junk on their network. Maybe making text messages free or next to free? I will have more of a firsthand experience of this when I get to Africa next year.

I'm an American and also a gadget fiend. I love every new-fangled thing that comes out and the first thought that usually goes through my head is, "Where can I get it?" Lately though, I've started to have a new line of thinking when I see sparkling objects which is, "Do I really need it?" This was the case with my iPod, where I realized that the one I have is good enough and I really don't need the new iPod Touch.       Initially this may seem a move against anti-consumerism, which it is, but at the same time, it's a move against waste. Do you remember how much packaging there was with the last gizmo you bought? So, part of what I'm trying to do is avoid creating new waste, but there is an additional depth to this in thinking about the waste that we already have. What do you do when your cellphone dies? How about a blender? Or maybe even an entire computer? After all, in 2005, about 1.5 million to 1.9 million tons of used and unwanted electronics were discarded (source).       There are some places that have sprung up lately to deal with this waste. In San Francisco we have a few, seeing as how we have many computers being tossed all the time. Even still, I feel that there is more than can be done and it means taking things in to your own hands.       Two years ago, I bought a Logitech MX5000 mouse. It's a nifty little cordless mouse that fit my large hands well. Naturally, given the inherent obsolescence built in to many products these days, it died recently. Most people's first reaction would be to dump it in the trash and get a new. This is bad. This mouse is deadly and also worth something. First off there is that battery in there. Then there is a lot of wire. Of course there is a good deal of plastic as well. So, what did I do with all of this?       The first thing I did was rip it apart. I took out the battery and dropped that off at a recycling center. Then, I ripped apart the power supply and stripped out the wire. Copper is quite a precious commodity these days and all the wire wrapped up in power converters (that power brick you plug in) is worth stripping out. Then there was the plastic. I was stumped and I had to regrettable toss that. We really need to lobby for housings on devices to be made of reusable materials...       This was just a small thing and it meant that I didn't toss out useful and toxic things in to some nearby landfill by stripping it down. Ripping apart and sorting your old electrics can have even more of an impact when they're bigger like say, a toaster oven. As you can read in that article, I had even greater luck reducing this dead device to nearly only recyclable materials.       All of this isn't just for geeks like me though. You can do it yourself. Just get a couple of tools like a basic screwdriver set and a pair of pliers. You can then rip things that are truly dead apart with the greatest glee and try and stop the amount of waste on this planet. Recycling doesn't stop with putting cans in those blue bins...

Original       I started writing this article in English with simple words. The reason that I wrote it this was is to see what happens when I process it through the BabelFish system, which is a system that I like very much because it allows me to read many languages that I do not completely understand. There are problems though, because the language that is created is very literal. At times, it seems like a substitution of words. Still, it is the best system that we have currently. So, let us begin this test.              English to French       J'ai commencé à écrire cet article en anglais avec des mots simples. La raison pour laquelle je lui ai écrit ceci était doit voir ce qui se produit quand je le traite par le système de BabelFish, qui est un système que j'aime beaucoup parce qu'il me permet de lire beaucoup de langues que je ne comprends pas complètement. Il y a des problèmes cependant, parce que la langue qui est créée est très littérale. Parfois, elle semble comme une substitution des mots. Toujours, c'est le meilleur système que nous avons actuellement. Ainsi, laissez-nous commencent cet essai.              French to German       Ich habe begonnen, diesen Artikel in Englisch mit einfachen Wörtern zu schreiben. Der Grund, aus dem ich ihm dies geschrieben habe, war muß sehen, was sich produziert, wenn ich es durch das System von BabelFish behandele, das ein System ist, das ich viel mag, weil er mir erlaubt, viele Sprachen zu lesen, die ich nicht gänzlich begreife. Es gibt Probleme jedoch, weil die Sprache, die entsteht, sehr wörtlich ist. Manchmal scheint sie als eine Substitution der Wörter. Immer ist es das beste System, das wir momentan haben. Somit lassen wir beginnen diesen Versuch.              German to English       I began to write this article in English with simple words. The reason, for which I had written it this, was must see, what produces itself, if I treat it by the system of BabelFish, which is a system, which I like much, because he permits me to read many languages which I do not completely understand. There are problems however, because the language, which develops, is very literal. Sometimes it seems as a substitution of the words. It is always the best system, which we have momentarily. Thus we let this attempt begin.              English to Russian       Я начал писать эту статью на английском языке с просто словами. Причиной, для которой я написал ему это, было сусло видит, производит, если я обрабатываю его системой BabelFish, то которое будет системой, которому, котор я люблю много, потому что он позволяет меня прочитать много языков которые я вполне не понимаю. Будут проблемы однако, потому что язык, который превращается, очень буквален. Иногда он кажется как замещение слов. Будет всегда самой лучшей системой, которую мы имеем однократно. Таким образом мы препятствовали этой попытке начать.              Russian to English       4 it began to write this article in the English with simply the words. The reason, for which I wrote to it this, it was must it sees, it produces, if I process by its system BabelFish, then which will be system, to which, I is which I love much, because it makes it possible me to read many languages which 4 I do not completely understand. There will be problems however, because the language, which is converted, is very literal. Sometimes it seems as the substitution of words. It will be the always best system, which we have once. Thus we prevented this attempt to begin.              English to Greek       4 άρχισε να γράφει αυτό το άρθρο στους Αγγλους με απλά τις λέξεις. Ο λόγος, για τον οποίο έγραψα σε το αυτό, αυτό ήταν πρέπει αυτό βλέπει, παράγει, εάν επεξεργάζομαι από το σύστημά του BabelFish, κατόπιν που θα είναι σύστημα, στο οποίο, το ι είναι ποια αγάπη ι πολύ, επειδή το καθιστά πιθανό εγώ για να διαβάσει πολλές γλώσσες που 4 εγώ δεν καταλαβαίνουν εντελώς. Θα υπάρξουν προβλήματα εντούτοις, επειδή η γλώσσα, που μετατρέπεται, είναι πολύ κυριολεκτική. Μερικές φορές φαίνεται ως αντικατάσταση των λέξεων. Θα είναι το πάντα καλύτερο σύστημα, το οποίο έχουμε μιά φορά. Κατά συνέπεια αποτρέψαμε αυτήν την προσπάθεια να αρχίσουμε.              Greek to English       4 it began to write this article in the English with simply the words. The reason, for which I wrote in the this, this was should this sees, it produces, if I process from the system his BabelFish, then that will be system, in which, the I are who love I very, because him render likely I in order to it reads a lot of languages that 4 I do not understand completely. Will exist problems nevertheless, because the language, that is changed, is very litteral. Sometimes it appears as replacement of words. It will be the always better system, which we have a time. Accordingly we detered this effort to begin.              English to Dutch       4 het begon dit artikel in de Engelsen met de woorden eenvoudig te schrijven. Indien de reden, waarom ik in dit schreef, dit was dit ziet, produceert het, als ik van het systeem zijn BabelFish verwerk, dan dat zal zijn systeem, waarin, I is wie liefde I zeer, omdat hem waarschijnlijke I teruggeeft het heel wat talen leest geen die 4 ik volledig begrijpen. Problemen niettemin zal bestaan, omdat de taal, die wordt veranderd, zeer litteral is. Soms verschijnt het als vervanging van woorden. Het zal het altijd betere systeem zijn, dat wij een tijd hebben. Dienovereenkomstig schrokken wij deze inspanning af te beginnen.              Dutch to French       4 il a commencé à écrire simplement cet article dans les Anglais avec les mots . Si la raison pourquoi me a écrit dans ceci, a été ceci ceee voit, il produit, si je suis du système BabelFish traite, alors cela son système dans laquelle, I être qui l'amour I très, parce qu'il ne lui rend pas probable I beaucoup langues lit qui 4 je comprends entièrement. Les problèmes n'existeront néanmoins pas, parce que la langue qui est changée, très litteral est. Il paraît parfois comme remplacement des mots. Lui le système toujours meilleur qui nous avons le temps sera. Nous avons eu peur en conséquence cet effort fini commencer.              French to English       4 it started to simply write this article in the English with the words. If the reason why wrote to me in this, were this ceee sees, it produces, if I am BabelFish system milked, then that its system in which, I being which it love I very, because it does not return probable I to him much languages reads which 4 I entirely include/understand. The problems will not exist nevertheless, because the language which is changed, very litteral is. It appears sometimes like replacement of the words. He it always better system which we have time will be. We were consequently afraid this effort finished starting.              English to Spanish       4 que comenzó a escribir simplemente este artículo en el inglés con las palabras. Si la razón por la que me escribió en esto, era este ceee considera, él produce, si soy el sistema de BabelFish ordeñado, después que su sistema en el cual, I que es que el amor I muy, porque no vuelve probable I a él mucho las idiomas lee cuál 4 I enteramente include/understand. Los problemas no existirán sin embargo, porque es la lengua se cambia que, muy litteral. Aparece a veces como el reemplazo de las palabras. Él él un sistema siempre mejor que tengamos tiempo será. Estábamos por lo tanto asustados el este comenzar acabado esfuerzo.              Spanish to English       4 that began to simply write this article in the English with the words. If the reason by that it wrote to me in this, were this ceee considers, he produces, if I am the system of milked BabelFish, after its system in which, I that is that love I very, because include/understand does not return probable I to him the languages reads which 4 Is much entirely. The problems will not exist nevertheless, because it is the language changes that, very litteral. It appears sometimes like the replacement of the words. He he a system always better than we have time will be. Therefore we were scared the east to begin finished effort.                     And I think that's enough. It gives you something of a taste of what people see on either end and even though folks aren't running stuff through multiple times, it still gets pretty garbled. Someday, we'll hopefully get our Universal Translators as well as the flying car.

For those who haven't heard, Radiohead, the musicians behind the soundtrack to a good deal of my life, have decided to release their new album in a, "pay what you please" manner. No "suggested donation" or "free, free, free", but what you like. So pleasant and ultimately, how British, huh?       More than likely this will pan out okay for them. One reason is that Radiohead fans are loyal. We love all that they do (even the recent albums) and they're one of the few groups we feel like paying for. Admittedly a great deal of people just steal the albums, but I actually own real copies of all their CDs.       Another reason this is a good deal is because their distribution costs are nearly non-existent. Just paying for some server storage and bandwidth is about all that they've got to deal with.       The last big reason that I think this will work is because buying the album is problematic. No, not getting at it on their site, but doing any kind of conversion from British Pounds on the Oanda currency conversion site. That thing is completely inundated which tells me that people are looking up how much to spend and thusly spend once they know. Maybe I'm just guessing with this, but it really seems possible.       I am going to buy this album for download. What price am I going to pay? $5 USD. Seems like nothing, but if you figure that most artists only get $1 from any album they sell while on a label, then this is a 500% increase in what the artist is making and honestly, I find this to be a pretty good cost for music. Maybe I'm just cheap, but it's the way I see it. It would be good if Radiohead released sales figures and statistics a month after they "release" it, as I am very interested to see how this all goes down.              

First and foremost, my issue is not, as Borat profoundly says it, that, "Everybody know it for girls!" I am quite happy with the form factor and if that reduces my overall outward sexuality, so be it. I carried with me around Europe for almost four months and am quite okay with it, even the fact that it's green.       No, the big problem with my iPod Mini is that it still works very well and plays music. These are the two things that I need out of such a device. For the last three years that I've had this thing, The Jobs keeps coming out with supposedly newer and better devices. He even did away with the Mini. But, I still got mine and since I doubt I could get anything for it on Ebay at this point (couple of dings from dropping it once or twice) there really is no point but to hold on to it until it completely dies.       So, Apple keeps trying to tempt me with new devices because I am one of those people that they want to see upgrading all the time. I'm younger than 35. I live in San Francisco. I have a decent income. And of course, I'm a programmer by profession. I am supposed to upgrade. I am supposed to be buying The New. But yet, I don't. A good deal of this is because I believe in better buying and don't want to generate more E-waste in the world. The other reason behind this is that beyond playing music, keeping a charge, and being small, Apple hasn't really convinced me to upgrade. But, let's look at some of the things they've attempted to ply me with and why I didn't like them:              iPod Shuffle - Too little storage. No Screen.       iPod Nano - First generation was really bad. Second generation was better, but does nothing above and beyond what my Mini did. Third generation is much more interesting, but I don't really care about video all the much and I don't care about it on that small a screen.       iPod (Classic) - Whatever the version, while they've always had better storage than my Mini they were just too big and the video feature was really uninteresting given that screen format.       iPhone - Way, way too much stuff in a phone. Bad battery life. Only slightly more storage than my Mini. Too expensive. Locked in with AT&T who I really dislike.       iPod Touch - Now this is interesting. It provides everything that I have, plus some new features that I like, such as viewing horizontal. But like the iPhone, the price is just too much for 16 gigs of storage. You can buy almost terabytes of external storage for that price! It's also still kind of new and they're getting the kinks worked out. Once again, I really just like to play music and it doesn't do anything more than my Mini in that category and even a little less, since I can't tap the controls in my pocket like I do with my Mini.              Moral of the story? The iPod Mini was probably the best basic music player that Apple ever made and they killed it at the height of its popularity. Some saw that as a bold move. I just saw it as backwards, since the beat goes on for me in Mini style and it seems that many are getting unhappy with the new Apple Greed system.

I have a couple of GMail accounts that I use. I also have a Yahoo account that I don't use do much. The main reason being that I got on to the GMail a few years back and happen to like it. It's really a matter of preference over anything else. Of course, once traveling, all of this changes.       From what I've seen (and really, I don't use my Yahoo all that much), GMail really flounders when you're outside the US. I don't know if they don't have enough servers in various countries or any number of reasons. All I know is that doing simple functions like checking my email or pulling up a list of contacts takes anywhere from five to ten times longer. When in Western Europe, the issue is a little less. When in Eastern Europe, the issue is a little more. It doesn't make it stop functioning of course, like friends who have been in Africa have witnessed, but it does make it a less enjoyable system to use. Do I hop right back on it when back in US America? You bet I do. For here, it is very, very fast and (for the last year) reliable.       All of this really makes me wonder why it is so slow because last year when I was traveling it was a great deal faster; only bogging down when messages sent back and forth started getting long. This year however, it was noticeable slower and if messages were long, much slower. Is there some great firewall around the US that screens everything or is it just a matter of Google not keeping up with the user base overseas?       In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter and even at its slowest, GMail still beats the hell out of the old days of email on dialup. Oh and it's free too. Can't hate the freebies.

So, let me get a little technical for a moment. You see, out there in the work and professional world there exists the IT Manager/Director who tries to enforce how people use the internet at a office. For awhile, when I did my stint in this field, I tried to do this, but found it to be futile and get people to hate me so I stopped bothering and let people run around doing whatever the want. Human Resources could deal with any issues that there were, not me.       There is technology that can make this type of censorship possible. One specific device that many insecure little IT minions use is called a Proxy Server. I will not bore you with the details of this except suffice to say it gives the IT boys infinite control in one spot for all the sites and places that people in an office can visit. For the man who can't buy a Porsche, this is a dream come true. For the end user, it makes life hell.       The biggest problems in using these is that they're old technology and while there are new ones out there that are supposed to be good, they really suck for the most part. Having this one point where all internet traffic is funneled creates a massive bottleneck in the transport of electronic information. This generally results in the damned device crashing often. Then of course there's the fact that un-Porsched guys can't configure the things correctly to save their lives and wonderful things happen such as when you try to go to a site that doesn't exist and it crashes your browser. Super sucko.       I could go on and on about how these get overloaded and just what a generally bad idea they are, but I'd like to offer and alternative which is to stop caring and buy more bandwidth. There is one Sometimes Office that I've worked at where they had two T1 connections (pretty fast) and they weren't enough speed for the office. So, instead of buying a $70 a month DSL connection that would have been three times faster than what was there, the IT guy decided to put in the proxy server to control things. This ended up being one of many bad moves by the guy.       I managed to live with it, but the office suffered a lot of downtime. Why they keep him around, I don't get it, but I realized now why IT is so hated and I'm thrilled not to be part of it anymore!