T or C is a suburb of Little Rock
It used to be a suburb of Dallas
The modern telecommunications world is a marvel. I can write something and post it on this blog, and somebody from Singapore or San Diego can read it and comment on it. And, thanks to companies that track Internet traffic, I can view information about these visitors, including where they are.
Except not completely. I can’t really track where the visitors are; I can only track where their Internet servers are.
So, for example, when I sign on using the dialup connection I have at home or my work connection, I show up as being in Albuquerque. But if I’m at Five O’Clock Somewhere, I may show up as being in Clovis, or as being in a village on the Zuni Indian reservation. And if I use the dial-up connection in Truth or Consequences, I typically show up as being in Las Cruces.
Lately, however, I’ve been finding high-speed connections in T or C, and those can appear to come from just about anywhere. The motel where Pat and I usually stay appears to be in a small town near Lubbock, Texas. The restaurant with wi-fi where Pat and I often eat also seems to come from Texas, from a town so small I’ve never heard of it.
Then there’s the home where I’m currently staying. It used to be in Dallas, but now it’s in Little Rock.
Once upon a time, there were two telecommunications companies. There was one based in Dallas that was primarily land-line, that served a whole lot of rural communities, including T or C and Chama – but it also had some wireless services. Nearly everybody we know outside of Albuquerque got telephone service from this company, and many also got high-speed Internet as well. Then there was another, based in Little Rock, that was primarily wireless but that also served a few communities with land-lines. A cousin of mine worked for that company. Therefore, many of my relatives got their wireless telephone service from that company, which was a good thing, since this company consistently provides the best service when it is rated by independent organizations.
The Little Rock company bought out the Dallas company, and, while I generally don’t like to see a single company have too much power, I thought this particular merger was a good thing, since both companies seemed to have a really strong emphasis on keeping customers happy.
Then the company split into two – one side being purely the wireless, and the other being purely the land-line. Somewhere along the way, the data line that serves this home got rerouted through Little Rock.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can make for confusion when I’m looking at my visitor stats. If I have an x-thousandth visitor, and said visitor is using this Internet service, and said visitor is supposedly from Little Rock, I can’t immediately tell whether it’s one of my Arkansas cousins, or whether it’s Cornhusker.
I’ll have to look closer at the details … Cornhusker is in the suburb of Little Rock that is located in the Mountain time zone.
The modern telecommunications world is a marvel. I can write something and post it on this blog, and somebody from Singapore or San Diego can read it and comment on it. And, thanks to companies that track Internet traffic, I can view information about these visitors, including where they are.
Except not completely. I can’t really track where the visitors are; I can only track where their Internet servers are.
So, for example, when I sign on using the dialup connection I have at home or my work connection, I show up as being in Albuquerque. But if I’m at Five O’Clock Somewhere, I may show up as being in Clovis, or as being in a village on the Zuni Indian reservation. And if I use the dial-up connection in Truth or Consequences, I typically show up as being in Las Cruces.
Lately, however, I’ve been finding high-speed connections in T or C, and those can appear to come from just about anywhere. The motel where Pat and I usually stay appears to be in a small town near Lubbock, Texas. The restaurant with wi-fi where Pat and I often eat also seems to come from Texas, from a town so small I’ve never heard of it.
Then there’s the home where I’m currently staying. It used to be in Dallas, but now it’s in Little Rock.
Once upon a time, there were two telecommunications companies. There was one based in Dallas that was primarily land-line, that served a whole lot of rural communities, including T or C and Chama – but it also had some wireless services. Nearly everybody we know outside of Albuquerque got telephone service from this company, and many also got high-speed Internet as well. Then there was another, based in Little Rock, that was primarily wireless but that also served a few communities with land-lines. A cousin of mine worked for that company. Therefore, many of my relatives got their wireless telephone service from that company, which was a good thing, since this company consistently provides the best service when it is rated by independent organizations.
The Little Rock company bought out the Dallas company, and, while I generally don’t like to see a single company have too much power, I thought this particular merger was a good thing, since both companies seemed to have a really strong emphasis on keeping customers happy.
Then the company split into two – one side being purely the wireless, and the other being purely the land-line. Somewhere along the way, the data line that serves this home got rerouted through Little Rock.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can make for confusion when I’m looking at my visitor stats. If I have an x-thousandth visitor, and said visitor is using this Internet service, and said visitor is supposedly from Little Rock, I can’t immediately tell whether it’s one of my Arkansas cousins, or whether it’s Cornhusker.
I’ll have to look closer at the details … Cornhusker is in the suburb of Little Rock that is located in the Mountain time zone.
Labels: five o'clock somewhere, friends, geeks, new mexico, t or c
posted by Carol Anne | 11:50 PM
2 Comments:
That is odd about the servers but it makes sense in a geek way. Had to tell you I liked your sailboat snap once I got my puter to like me again.
Hope all is well.
Hi Carole Anne. Just found your site and am really enjoying it.
The reasoning behind your fluctuating location is a defensive measure some ISP's use to try and protect the personal information of computer users.
There are maps available that allow visitors to click on their locations and they don't expose anymore than a city and state if the user chooses. Flickr is one site that makes them avaiable for free.
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