Here’s another seven-sentence short story! I ran the workshop again at Ganbatte, an anime convention in Saskatoon. It went well, and here’s the one I created, again with the instructions, created by noted SF short-story …
Another When Words Collide, another Seven-Sentence Short Story workshop, as I once again led a group of writers through this plotting exercise devised by noted science fiction short-story writer James Van Pelt. As always, I …
Soulworm, my first published novel (originally released by Royal Fireworks Press in 1997), is now available in a brand-new, lightly revised edition from Shadowpaw Press Reprise. You can purchase it at one of these links …
The Kickstarter campaign for Shapers of Worlds Volume IV for the fourth annual anthology featuring some of the top writers of science fiction and fantasy working today, all of whom were guests on my Aurora …
Yesterday, the shortlist for this year’s Saskatchewan Book Awards was announced, and I’m pleased to say that my young adult science fiction novel Star Song, previously shortlisted for the Aurora Award for Best Young Adult Novel, is a …
Regina Lyric Musical Theatre, which I’ve involved with since 1989, recently marked its 45th anniversary with a gala celebration and concert that I was part of. This video was produced in conjunction with that by …
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Using balloons to boost cellphone coverage in North Dakota
This story about North Dakota planning to test balloons as a method of extending cellphone service caught my eye because of the book I’m working on about Saskatchewan engineering projects of note. In the late 1970s a SaskTel engineer proposed that it should be possible to use a string of hot-air balloons, rather like tethered communications satellites, to increase long-distance capacity. The idea was (if you’ll pardon the expression) shot down.
Perhaps it was just ahead of its time. After all, a lot of people were leery of this newfangled thing called fibre optics when it was first proposed. Fortunately, SaskTel went ahead with that, and in the 1980s had the world’s largest fibre-optic network. The company is still a world leader in the field of fibre-optic technology.
Permanent link to this article: https://edwardwillett.com/2006/01/using-balloons-to-boost-cellphone-coverage-in-north-dakota/
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