Technology Wasteland
So I drop by PCCity on the way home today to see if they have a modem for my ADSL line - at this point I'm willing to pay what I need to so I can start using Linux on my home machine. I get there and for $179 Euros, I find The Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router, so I think to myself, "COOL!" A little expensive, but I'm ready. The web page is pretty much exactly what's on the box. Do you see the words DSL promoted prominently? This had me thinking that it was going to work with my DSL line.
Nope.
I get it home, unpack, start going through the setup and realize it's just a normal router. There's no way to plug in my phone line into this thing, so I read the booklet and find out that the "DSL" part of the name is about connecting it to "your DSL or Cable modem". Ahhh... Uh-huh, great. Fool me once, shame on you. Idiots. So, since it's early, I go back to the store to return it.
While there, I notice the The Belkin Notebook Network Card with a connection for DSL. I'm like, "COOL!" since it'll just slot into the side of my notebook. But this time I take a careful look at the packaging and sure enough it says, "Ethernet/RJ-45 dongle" on the side or something like that, so I grab it and rush home.
Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm an idiot.
It's JUST A NORMAL NETWORK CARD!! What the hell was I thinking. Once again, the DSL part is about attaching this thing to your modem you already have. UGHH!!
Back to USB/Win2k hell.
I did pick up a mouse I love though - a Logitech Optical Wheel mouse to replace my Microsoft one that went skitzy on me, as acknowledged on their website. It's really nice. I like the click-action, though I wish the wheel had ridges.
-Russ