Notes to self

Don't attempt wireless networking with a system still running Windows 95. (Especially one like ours that crashes every time it tries to autodiscover a new device.) The plug-and-play features of Windows 98 (and more so Windows 2000) made it much easier to install PC Cards.

Ask Motorola to make a cable modem that has a power button or a "reboot" button. Rebooting my cable modem involves me pulling out the power cord, waiting a few seconds, plugging it back in and then praying that the modem connects back to the network so I can get an IP address.

"Wireless" doesn't necessarily mean "mobile." I still plug in the laptop to make sure I don't run out of battery life. Now if somebody could just make a wireless power cord, I'd be mobile.

- Keith Shaw