It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World

It truly is. Just ask anyone. One day is bright and sunny, the next a twister runs through the middle of the town.

Houses to the left of you, houses to the right of you, get demolished. But your house, not a scratch.

It truly is a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. A few years ago, I was lucky to be able just to connect with a 2400-baud modem from a hotel room to my ISP. Today, high-speed access, either by hardwire or wireless is everywhere.

I was just in Miami attending an international conference. People from all over the world turned on their laptops, and connected to their e-mail, the web or their offices.

I, on the other hand, abhor carrying bags, briefcases and cargo. So, I came to the conference notebook-less. But, I did go with my Treo, a combination Cellphone and Palm Pilot.My miniaturized office, with its phone book, calendar, e-mail, Web access and traveling bookstore (I'm currently reading David Copperfield) has almost everything I need.

But, a problem arose that had me sweating. My e-mail server locked up on me (at least on my Palm Pilot). All the usual fixes didn't solve my problem. So I did a quick search for ssh clients.

I found one, and loaded it into my Palm direct from the Internet. A few configuration settings later and I was logged into my Linux box and resetting the e-mail server.

Like I said, its truly a MAD MAD MAD MAD MAD MAD World.