Edvard Munch never had the internet but he must have anticipated what it would be like to be without it.
We've been without it for almost a week and, apart from driving down to the public library in the Bay to access my email on their computer, I've been phoning my broadband provider on an almost daily basis and learned a great deal.
I learned to be patient as I listened to repeated announcements that my call had joined a 'priority queue'. I learned to tune in to English as she is spoke in the Philippines. I learned to translate a lot of computer jibberish into simple English. I learned about PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) versus PPPoA (Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM - sorry, nothing to do with banking!) and LLC (Logical Link Control) and VC/MUX (Virtual Circuit Multiplexing) as I was told to reconfigure and reset my modem again and again.
Then this morning the phone rang and the matter-of-fact ocker voice of a Telstra technician announced, "You're back on again! The whole street's been out!"
So much for the LLoC (Loads and loads of crap) I'd been given by my broadband provider.
