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Magnus & Crystal Nystedt’s home on the web.

Sporadic Internet

It’s funny how you get used to having internet connection, isn’t it? During our first day or so here we were lucky enough that some neighbor had wide-open wifi available with broadband internet. That network has now disappeared. We have our Blackberries so we can do basic email and browsing through them which is great but you know they are just not any substitute for a computer for many things. So we have been to Starbucks a few times but their wifi is run by TMobile and it’s expensive: $40 per month if you want to pay month by month, $30 per month if you sign up for a year, $10 per 24 hours, or $6 for an hour.

Anyway, tomorrow they should be here to install broadband and we’ve already bought the wireless base station so we’re ready. That gives us at least two days of fast internet access here where we’re staying.

Charleston, SC’s free Wi-Fi network goes dark

From Muni Wireless:

In another example of a private partner under-estimating the scope of muni Wi-Fi projects, the city of Charleston, SC, is being forced to decommission the free wireless hotspot that is already operating there. Whether the city will have to abandon the network remains to be seen.

Charleston had planed to deploy a wireless mesh across the city. Two years after it announced the plan, it is terminating its contract with the company that pledged to build and pay for it in exchange for the right to sell upgrades to a faster subscription service.

Sound familiar? This is the same business model that EarthLink was pursuing and that proved unworkable for that company. Widespread now says it underestimated how much hardware would be required to blanket the city with a signal.

Charleston is looking for a provider to pick-up where Widespread left off. The city’s economic developer told a local paper, The Post and Courier, that Charleston’s objectives have not changed.

Update

It has been awhile since we have updated our blog, sorry guys. :-) Magnus and I have been busy with EmiratesMac (check-out our Special Event coming up) and other things. Not to say that this is more important, of course. LOL

Let’s see what is new here in the UAE??? Well one thing is that winter (if that is what you want to call it) is over, and spring is here, with summer right around the corner. Or temps during the day are about 30-35c (80-87F) and at night it is 20-25c (around 75F). So it will not be long before our 40c+ (100F+) days are back. That is when you only go outside in the morning and at night. LOL I remember when we first got here in August 2005, we could not understand why people would stay out all night and sleep all day, it did not take us too long to figure it out. :-)

This is not UAE news, but this is Swedish news… The Olofsson family has a new family member, his name is Hjalmar and he is six months old. He is a beautiful Lab (even though I waiting for pictures) and they are so excited about him. I bet he is having so much fun playing in the snow, and the snow is probably bigger than he is. Dear Olofsson family we are excited for you and we hope you do not loose too many shoes or other things to his puppiness. LOL

Okay on to US news… MaMa (Crystal’s Grandma) had knee surgery and is doing really well, and we can only hope that the family is taking good care of her. :-) MaMa we hope you get well really soon.

Well I think that is all the news we have for now. We will try to do better at updating. :-)

Sun News uses Google to find the answers

I thought this was funny and a good way to find information. It seems like my local newspaper, Sun News, had to Google to figure out which business had a fire. I would have probably called the Horry County Fire Department and asked, but they just googled it. LOL

Horry County Dispatch sent a number of firetrucks and emergency vehicles at 3:46 p.m. Wednesday from Horry County Fire Rescue and Conway Fire Department to a reported fire at an automotive shop at 7171 Adrian Highway, said a dispatch supervisor.

No people were thought to be inside the structure. It was unclear how big the fire was and what started it.

According to a Google search, Todd’s Restoration and Towing is located at the address of the fire.

Dog sat at owner’s grave

I found this story in my local newspaper in Myrtle Beach. This little dog is a miracle and what a sad dog she was. You have to read the story, and what a sweet story it is.

Two days after Eartha Bodger was buried in a cemetery in the Duford community, Luther Enzor spotted a starving little dog lying on her grave.”She was so thin, you could count every rib,” said Enzor, who lives nearby and was gathering straw when he saw the dog.

Someone told him the dog was Bodger’s, but Bodger had lived more than seven miles away, so it seemed impossible.

Enzor tried to coax the little golden retriever off the grave, but she wouldn’t budge. For several days in October, he and his grandson, Christopher Enzor, fed her and tried to get her to go with them.

“She was skittish of us, and she never left the cemetery,” said Christopher.

One rainy day, Enzor and Christopher built a shelter, picked her up and put her under it, but as they were leaving, they looked back, and she was on the grave again. She was still there in the days following.

“I felt so sorry for her, I didn’t know what to do. I just could not leave her there,” Enzor said.

Finally, he picked her up and took her home. Christopher named her Biscuit and made an adoption certificate for her. They thought she had mange, but instead she had insect bites all over her body.

So far, Enzor has paid more than $600 in veterinary fees for her care. Now she is healing, gaining weight and having fun with his two big dogs. And when Christopher, who lives nearby, makes one of his frequent visits to his grandparents, she gets to play with him, too.

Paula Bodger of Loris said it is indeed her mother’s dog, though how she found her way to Eartha Bodger’s grave is a mystery.

Eartha Bodger raised the dog from a puppy. She named her Sunshine, loved her and took good care of her, Paula Bodger said. When her mother unexpectedly died and was taken to a Mullins funeral home, Sunshine disappeared.

“It’s kind of strange to me,” said Paula Bodger. “I’m so happy that little boy’s got the little dog. It was a miracle from God that his granddaddy found it for him. That little boy has my heart. I’ve got him in my prayers, and I’ll always be thinking about him and his little dog.”

Sunshine, now called Biscuit and about 10 months old, was taken back to the cemetery for the first time recently.

Enzor lifted her out of the car. She was shivering. Her ears drooped, she tucked her tail between her legs, wrinkled her forehead above sad eyes and lost all resemblance to the happy little dog she had been in Enzor’s yard.

As she sat by Bodger’s grave, Christopher knelt beside her, and she turned her face up and licked his cheek.

Back home with the Enzors she was again a playful puppy.


Google investing in South Carolina

From ValleyWag:

Google’s planning a $750m investment in what sounds like a huge server farm in South Carolina, if local press reports are accurate. A shell company, seemingly linked to the search engine, just bought 520 acres near Charleston. Google’s staying mum on its plans, but the local county disclosed the scale of the planned investment, and the purchaser was said to be concerned about supplies of electricity and water.

Robert Brooks Dead at the age of 69

Today I was reading my local news, when I read that Robert Brooks died, the owner of Hooters Restaurant. This has surprised everyone, and they are not sure how he died. Reading this in the local paper, I knew that it would be a big deal in Horry County, but then I read it on CNN. Okay there are over 400 Hooters Restaurants in the US and some in other countries. But when I read it on BBC News, I realized just how big Hooters really is. So little old South Carolina, little Horry County, and little Coastal Carolina University have made world news. Oh by the way Mr. Brooks comes from the same area as my Mother did, and he gave Coastal Carolina 2 million dollars to build their new football (American Football) stadium. Mr. Brooks has done many things but he will be remembered the most for Hooters.

Where is the News???

Just about every day I read the news from where I come from (South Carolina), just as, Magnus reads news from Sweden. Well this morning when I went to check www.wpde.com, I found that they have not renewed their domain. It seems that their domain name expired July 7th, 2006. WPDE is our local TV News station. I am not sure what they are thinking, but either someone dropped the ball, or they have decided to not have a website any more. What do you think???

Update: It looks like they have fixed the problem, and I can now read my news. :-)

WPDE Website

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