SA's Largest Telecomms Provider vs. a Pigeon 149
dagwud writes "Just a few days after this Slashdot article, South Africa's largest telecoms provider, Telkom (which has been taking flak for years for its shoddy and overpriced service), is being pitted against a homing pigeon to see which can deliver 4GB of call centre data logs quickest over a distance of around 80km (50 miles). According to the official website, the race is set to take place September 10."
The question is... (Score:4, Funny)
To paraphrase Andrew Tanenbaum (Score:3, Funny)
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of pigoens hurtling down the highway.
So that explains (Score:3, Funny)
the order for a large shipment of Ospreys, peregrines, and other raptors to South Africa.......
Not a fair competition... (Score:2, Funny)
Knowing Telkom, this is not a fair competition at all. The Pigeon have an unfair advantage of being faster, and not having the 3GB bandwidth cap that is (were 2 years ago) the norm on Telkom's ADSL accounts.
And I know I mentioned the information was 2 years old, but when talking about SA Telcom, that makes the it practically fully up to date
Re:The question is... (Score:3, Funny)
Soldier #1: Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow. That's my point.
Soldier #2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that.
Soldier #1: But then of course African swallows are non-migratory.
Soldier #2: Oh, yeah...
Soldier #1: So, they couldn't bring 4GB of call centre data logs anyway...
Get ready to be... (Score:4, Funny)
here in the US (Score:3, Funny)
They should do it here in the US - dove season just opened in many states. Sure, you'll have a lot of packet loss, but the ones that make it thru will be going really really FAST
Re: Old News (Score:3, Funny)
As someone else mentioned, it would be RAIP, not RAID
RAIP: Redundant Array of Independent Pigeons.
Not practical (Score:2, Funny)
The carrier pigeon is not a practical replacement for a high speed link. For one the latency is quite high compared to DSL. Also it may be less secure since it is using a wireless solution.
Re:Bandwidth? (Score:5, Funny)
No, but they were allowed to assume a spherical truck.
They're not that bad (Score:5, Funny)
I've been a customer for years, and I haven't noticed any problems. (Oh, and first post BTW.)
A new meaning to the expression.. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bandwidth? (Score:3, Funny)
Given the fact that this sort of question usually results in two trains colliding, I'd say no. :)
Otherwise, you'd have to add any number of considerations, such as how much of the road was under construction, whether the driver encountered bad chili at a truck stop that necessitated a lot more stops shortly thereafter, and how bumpy the road was (one good solid pothole and you can consider the need for a "resend" request for at least some of the data!)
Re:Not practical (Score:4, Funny)
So now you won't using ethereal to sniff packets. But a shotgun.
Re:Reminds me of the quote... (Score:2, Funny)
If it's a South African freeway, you'll have to factor in some serious packet loss due to carjackings.
Disclaimer: I'm from South Africa.
Re:Lunch... (Score:4, Funny)
Yes fried pigeon is quite yummy. Unfortunately since a serious bird flue outbreak a few years ago all over Mainland they tripled in price so we don't eat pigeon so often any more, maybe a few times a year, down from twice a month at least. They haven't come down in price really. You can still get them fresh in the market as well (the vendor will kill and pluck the pigeon for you). I live in Hong Kong, for the record.
And you have to remember to remove the SD cards from the pigeon before chucking it in the pan.