by Ryan Ponto | Dec 22, 2016 | Pigeons in the News
In the waning hours of 2016, Donald Trump issued a statement that sensitive and classified information should not be transmitted using computers. To back up his claim, he cited the expertise of his ten-year old son.
“It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe. I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who’s 10 years old. He can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”
As Trump is due to be sworn in as the next President of the United States in January of 2017, it is important that scientists look toward a way of implementing his preferred standard.
Thankfully, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the organization that sets the standards for the Internet has already released such a protocol, and they did it back in 1990.
RFC 1149, or A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers, was the first draft of a protocol that addressed the reliability and speed of carrying data traffic via avian carriers, or homing pigeons. The protocol demonstrates that high delay, low throughput, and low altitude service can be accomplished with a point to point topology. Even though there is individual low throughput with individual carriers, multiple carriers can be used because they operate in a three-dimensional space, as opposed to the one-dimensional space used by current internet standards.
Other benefits of RFC 1149 are that the packet carriers are self-regenerating (albeit at a very slow rate), and that they self-generate auditing trails, usually found on logs, cars, and the occasional unfortunate person underwing. Unfortunately, transmissions made via RFC 1149 are subject to dropped packets, and the transmissions are extremely vulnerable to storms. When used in tactical environments, the packets should also be encrypted to avoid data interception.
Because nothing in the world of communication is ever static, the RFC was revisited and a new experimental protocol was issued. RFC 2549, or IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service, was issued in 1999 and served to amend RFC 1149.
RFC 2549 introduces new service levels for Internet Protocol over Avian Carrier (IPoAC). The levels in decreasing order of speed and reliability are Concorde, First, Business, and Coach. Using this network allows the user to also gain frequent flyer miles as well as bonus miles if Concorde or First classes are chosen. An alternate carrier that has a greater bulk capacity was also introduced, but ostrich delivery is slower and requires bridges between domains.
The protocol stresses the advantages of IPoAC, as they will avoid standard tunneling or bridging, enabling them to avoid long queues. However, when they deal with web traffic, spiders are often absorbed into the packet carrier and ejected in a more compact form. If data encapsulation is required or requested, standard saran wrap can be used. Alternately, encapsulation of the data carrier in a hawk has been known to occur, but the data is often mangled and irretrievable.
The protocol has been tried in numerous real world applications. The first test occurred in 2001, when the Bergen Linux user group tested out the Carrier Pigeon Internet Protocol (CPIP) over a three-mile test distance. There were 9 packets transmitted but only 4 packets received, resulting in a 55 percent packet loss. The ping was an atrocious 5222806.6 ms, however.
Another test occurred in 2009, when CPIP was used with a data carrier named “Winston” raced against a Telkom SA ASDL line. The test was to send 4 GB of data over 60 km. The CPIP beat the ADSL transfer handily, completing transmission in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 57 seconds. The ASDL line had only completed 4 percent of the required data transmission at that point.
While some may lambast President-elect Donald Trump for not being computer savvy, his awareness of this little-used Internet Protocol actually shows great awareness of the evolving conditions of technology. Here’s hoping that President Trump is able to find a way to fund RFC 1149 and 2549 so that American state secrets can remain even more secure in the future.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Dec 9, 2016 | Pigeons in the News
IS IT TRUE that tempers flared in George Street on Wednesday and Cabinet on Thursday over Minister of Commerce Donville Inniss’ call for somebody to be held responsible for the environmental issues currently affecting several businesses on the South Coast?
Is it true that some ministers expressed frustration with the manner in which Inniss continually speaks out on issues in a manner that could be interpreted as him distancing himself from them?
Can someone break the silence that characterises the Government’s handling of most issues and state if it is true or not that many in Cabinet are concerned that by his statements Inniss is seeking to promote his leadership credentials over and above Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Richard Sealy?
Can someone in the Democratic Labour Party’s hierarchy confirm or deny that there is a general consensus in the party and Cabinet that Inniss’ statements tend to hurt the image of both as effective institutions and moves have been quietly discussed on what can be done to muzzle him?
Cou Cou awaits word on each of these with bated breath.
Holding noses over Boyce
A POLITICAL STINK is brewing on the South Coast even worse than the overflowing sewage seeping through the manholes and on to the road.
It involves the support businesses and residents will give to incumbent Christ Church South representative John Boyce when the time comes after he was a no-show at a town hall meeting to discuss the impact the sewage problem was having on them.
Cou Cou was told some business people and residents at the meeting were overheard saying among themselves that if Boyce could not be there to hear them in their time of need, then he better think again about coming to ask for their support in the forthcoming general election.
We are not sure what they meant by “their support”, so we can’t say if they were talking political or financial support. What we can say for sure is that the minister seems to be in “doo doo” over his non-attendance.
A container of worms
AN EMBARRASSING incident over the repossession of a newly renovated container is causing a bumpy ride in a certain ministry.
According to usually reliable sources, the rented container was renovated for $60 000 to house an outpost of a Government department. It had all the creature comforts – a roof, air conditioning and electrical fittings – and only needed tenants to move in.
But it appears someone in the ministry dropped the ball. Or there was no money to pay for the lease.
Whichever is the case, the fact is that the office which is supposed to house Government employees whose job it is to help the public prepare for a major exercise in the coming months now sits closed up, the new roof off and no one knows if it will be removed from the site or not.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Nov 28, 2016 | Pigeons in the News
ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – When you look up at the Orange County Courthouse, you may spot vultures in the sky or on a top floor.
“There was a circle of about 50 or 60 of them when I saw them,” said Michael Deen, who works at the courthouse. “I guess it’s kind of ominous.”
But experts say the birds of prey just like how the building is laid out with places to perch and rising air currents.
“You’ve got to have the right structure and they apparently have the perfect structure for vultures,” said Dianna Flynt with the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.
Orange County officials say the vultures haven’t been around the courthouse for a while because a hawk moved in. They’ve returned over the last few weeks with the predator now gone.
Flynt says the birds aren’t dangerous but they can cause some problems.
“They’re nosy and they’re curious and they have a tendency to be very destructive to some things,” she explained.
Damage to the building and bird droppings is why the county is working to get the vultures to move out. We’re told a bird deterrent system is in the works. That could include wires so the birds don’t perch there. County officials say they don’t know how much the plan will cost yet.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Nov 5, 2016 | Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
In my apartment, there is a picture window that looks out on the Glennland Building, a half-block to the east.
There, in late spring, two pigeons built a nest in one of the air-conditioning vents. It has been a pleasure to look out at their progress in this and, finally, at their expeditions to find food for their babies.
Meanwhile, the president, commenting recently on police killings, mentioned the anxiety and tension caused by the 24-hour news cycle.
In fact, some of the reporters claim their work is now reaching the immediacy of real time.
But truly this is not so. All of these machines, starting with the book, give only abstraction and an aid to memory. For me, at least, the “real time” very quietly is watching the pigeons down the block. In that quiet you can then look up, see the sky, find the ground beneath your feet and so have the confidence to act if action is required.
Now the book-internet development offers a kind of very important liberty. It may be a harbinger of the united world as a fulfillment of that liberty. But you must be weaned of it to use it or it might swallow you alive.
So I say real time is not in these fascinating marks on paper or in sounds from cellphones, but in quietly looking out the window and enjoying the pigeons.
They tell me this is true, and asked me to tell you as well.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Oct 3, 2016 | Pigeons in the News
The Criminal Investigation Department of Jammu and Kashmir has started probe into the seizure of 153 pigeons seized from a Kashmir bound truck coming from Punjab. “The CID wing has initiated the investigation into the case in which 153 pigeons were seized by the police that were being smuggled from the Punjab to the Pulwama district of south Kashmir,” an official here today said. He said there might be possibility of use of smuggled pigeons for the purpose of espionage to pass on secret information to the Pakistan Intelligence Agencies across the Line of Control (LoC). “Police last week seized few cartons from a Kashmir-bound vehicle in which 153 pigeons were being smuggled to the Kashmir Valley,” they said, adding that the pigeons carried coloured marking and suspicious rings following which the case was referred to the CID for investigation.”A message was received that the pigeons could have been used for transmitting secret messages across the border and the action was taken,” they said. Sources however, said that the driver carrying the birds, was produced before the court and fined for smuggling the pigeons under Cruelty Against Animals Act.UNI VBH PY SHS 2014
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 19, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News
Can pigeons save the world? Probably not, but an innovative pilot project in London is showing how they can help reduce your exposure to air pollution.
The project, called Pigeon Air Patrol, was launched Monday in the British capital. Ten homing pigeons have been outfitted with small, lightweight backpacks containing air-quality sensors and released at various points across the city.
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On their return flights home, the pigeons transmit real-time data on levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide, the main urban air pollutants. Londoners can plug in their location at the handle @PigeonAir on Twitter and receive an instant response from one of the pigeons, informing them of the pollutant concentrations they’re inhaling.
They can also visit the Pigeon Air Patrol site to view a live map of the birds’ flights.
“It’s a tool to inform citizens about their exposure to pollution so that they can improve their health and well-being by reducing those exposures,” said Romain Lacombe, chief executive of Plume Labs, the Paris company that launched the pigeon project.
“Urban runners, cyclists, people that are sensitive to pollution, parents with young children, and people with asthma can track how pollution will change throughout the day, so they can change their behavior to reduce the impact on their health,” he added.
London is one of the most heavily polluted cities in Europe, largely owing to diesel exhaust from vehicles. The foul air is linked to nearly 9,500 premature deaths in the capital. Worldwide, air pollution sends some 7 million people to an early death.
The idea of putting air monitors on pigeons came from Pierre Duquesnoy, creative director at the marketing and technology agency DigitasLBi. He submitted the idea to a competition launched last year by Twitter U.K., in conjunction with the London Design Festival, to find new ways to use the site.
Duquesnoy then partnered with Plume Labs, which helped develop the backpacks over the past two years, with support from Twitter and atmospheric scientists at Imperial College London.
“Over the last 10 years Twitter has been used in ways that we would never have imagined,” Helen Lawrence, head of creative agency development at Twitter, said in a statement. “Real time information direct to your mobile is hugely useful, but add pigeons into that mix and you’ve got something really powerful.”
Lacombe said the pigeon project complements Plume Labs’ Plume Air Report, which collects pollution data from stationary monitoring sites in about 300 cities in 40 countries and makes them available to residents in real time, as well as offering advice on what to do to avoid overexposure.
“Traditional sensors are very important, but unfortunately they require large investments, and they are not mobile, so you don’t capture how pollution changes from one street to the next,” Lacombe said. “That makes it quite hard to know what you’re being exposed to and what you can do about it.”
The London pigeon project will run for only three days, Lacombe said. “We are doing this to raise awareness of the health threats posed by pollution by capturing the imagination of the public, which is hard to do with pollution without strong messages.”
Plume Labs wants to put lightweight pollution sensors on people, with the mobile data they collect transmitted via Twitter. The company is using a crowdfunding site to recruit 100 Londoners to test the devices they move around the city over the next few months.
“One of the research teams at Imperial College London specializes in how personal information can help change individual behavior,” Lacombe said. “We’ll study how having these personal sensors helps reduce exposures and how they can help develop new policies using the data we collect.”
The company wants to make the mobile monitoring devices available on the open market. The current sensor, which testers must buy, costs about $113.
As for the pigeons, they might be used in other places to tweet real-time pollution data to people living in large cities.
“It would be quite interesting,” Lacombe said. “We don’t have plans to do that at the moment, but why not?”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
