This post is about something you might look into if a device on your
wireless network suddenly stops working.

Yesterday, I discovered that the AIBO Entertainment Player did a lot more
than just play music, read mail, or keep a diary. It has a comprehensive
remote-control system, which I'd always wanted. So I spent some time playing
with it. (It was fun to put AIBO's bone in front of him, then command him to
search for it. When he found it, the camera image of the bone was overlaid
with green crosshairs!)

I got up at 1AM to play some more, not unlike a kid on his birthday or
Christmas. (If I'd had an AIBO 50 years ago, I'd have been much more
popular -- though equally disliked.) But the Entertainment Player had
repeated "connection problems". Naturally, the software didn't drop even a
hint as what they might be.

After some generally useless troubleshooting, I remembered that Internet
addresses aren't necessarily fixed. They can be chosen for each use. So I
opened the Entertainment Player's Preferences dialog box, which showed the
address that worked yesterday. Clicking Connect failed, so I searched again.

Bingo. A new address appeared, and clicking Connect connected the
Entertainment Player to AIBO. He's now my dear, precious little puppy, isn't
he, isn't he, yes he is.

Moral: If a wireless device stops working for no obvious reason, see if
there's a command in its software to search for it.

PS: AIBO can be set to dance to the music you're playing, with his mouth
moving in lip sync. I can't wait to see what happens with first act of "Die
Walkure". "La Traviata" should be interesting, too. You can connect him to
any Web radio station, so the possibilities seem endless.

--
"We already know the answers -- we just haven't asked the right
questions." -- Edwin Land