Uh Oh: I Smell Spam

This is interesting:

It may sound nuts today, but a San Diego company called Nethercomm is developing a way to use ultra wideband wireless signals to transmit data at broadband speeds through natural-gas pipes. The company claims its technology will be able to offer 100 megabits per second to every home, which is more than enough to provide voice, video and high-speed Internet access.

How will this work?

Nethercomm is adapting ultra wideband radio transmitters and receivers to send wireless signals through the natural-gas pipe at the same time the pipe is delivering gas fuel. Ultra wideband, or UWB, is a developing communication technology that delivers very high-speed network data rates, but at higher power levels it can interfere with other wireless signals.

You have to be careful when sending or receiving flamemail. Ah, but there's one small catch:

These claims have yet to be tested. Nethercomm has no working products and has not tried the technology in the field.

Aside from that, it sounds great! But, nah, I think before this ever takes off, we're likely to see some kind of BPL (no, not Boston Public Library, but rather Broadband over Power Lines), which has at least been implemented in Japan and a few other countries. Not that it's not without its problems, of course (its use of radio waves can interfere with fire, police, and other radio systems).

Now, if they could deliver broadband access via the plumbing, that would be the best solution. You could literally flush spam away.