|
|
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
|
|
| |
|
These Danes are interested in wireless and visualization and bio-stuff...ess community security WLAN 802.11 WiFi Wi-Fi digital divide openAP linux denmark wire.less.dk is an independent projectworking with wireless technology to enable open standards based communications in community networks, in denmark and in the developing world. |
|
the autonokit
combines
- a battery, to be charged by a solar module, the grid, car power, or other
- a central access point/gateway as the central unit of shared wireless or wired access
- an internet connection, alternatively by fixed line, fixed wireless, satellite, gsm or other,
- an authentication/access control model
- depending on usage, the neccessary antenna(s).
the modular design allows for maximum flexibility in its usage, e.g.
- when there is grid power, many people, but no fixed internet line, the unit might connect to the net via satellite, and allow for shared access via a local WLAN.
- when there is no grid power, and no fixed internet line, but a journalist working in rural areas, the unit might serve as a solar or car powered net client.
- when it is a sunny day in copenhagen, denmark, the unit might just be used for network auditing ...
|
10:47:21 AM 
|
|
BoingBoing boings....
Community Wireless Networks at O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Convention. I'm at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, in Rob Flickenger's tutorial on building community wireless networks. Rob's been running down NoCat, O'Reilly's open source wireless authentication service. The idea is to permit you to open up your wireless link to the public without making yourself a launching-off point for malicious network activity (and without having your network sucked dry by passers-by who saturate your connection downloading giant files). Rob got big wows by whipping out a $40 embedded Linux box that requires no fan or ventilation.
The NoCat stuff has got tons of juicy paranoid seekrit-agent stuff built in to prevent malicious attacks and authentication spoofing, but no transport-layer security (You can be sure that you're actually connecting to the authentication server, but not sure that no one is reading your email over your shoulder). That stuff is, of course, properly the domain of protocol-security (i.e., ssh and SSL), but civilians (me included) have a hard time getting that stuff to work. I want to talk to Rob afterwards about using NoCat boxes, equipped with DynDNS (so you can find your NoCat machine even if your ISP changes its address) as ssh proxies. That way, you can use your gateway as your secure jumping-off point, even if you're roaming on someone else's network.
It strikes me that the security stuff in the NoCat project answers a technical challenge more than a real need. As a wireless user, I want to know that I'm not being eavesdropped on. Instead, NoCat security is all about ensuring that no traffic flows over the air without that it originates with an authenticated entity, so that people will act responsibly as they roam onto others' networks. But this is not an observed practice: as far as I know, there has been a total of one open wireless network operators that have had this happen to them (by contrast, war drivers routinely listen in on wireless connection).
It's as though they've invented ORBS before anyone's invented spam -- and don't forget that open SMTP relays (which ORBS was created to eliminate) were the way that mail was able to work in the olden times.
But don't get the impression that NoCat is NoGood! There are a couple of really exciting features in NoCat that make me want to start running it. For starters, NoCat can distinguish between a network's owner and the visitors to the network. I can reserve some fraction of my bandwidth for my private use, ensuring that no passer-by eats into my enjoyment of my network.
What's more, NoCat can force new users to the network to load a screen when they open their first Web page, one that could say, "Hey, welcome to Cory's network. Here are some house rules. Here's a link to my homepage. Here's my email address, in case you want to say thanks." Link Discuss [bOing bOing]
10:43:04 AM
|
|
Garth Kidd writes....
A thread on representing outlines in Python prompts David LeBlanc to post details of three Python based outliners (formatting mine):
You might care to have a look at these projects:
Leo
Buzz
Woody
All of these are python based outliners of one form or another. Buzz may be
of particular interest since it uses OPML:
"OPML an XML-based format that allows exchange of outline-structured information between applications running on different operating systems and environments."
10:35:17 AM
|
|
10:24:07 AM
|
|
Garth Kidd writes....
A thread on representing outlines in Python prompts David LeBlanc to post
details of three Python based outliners (formatting mine):
You might care to have a look at these projects:
Leo
Buzz
Woody
All of these are python based outliners of one form or another. Buzz may
be
of particular interest since it uses OPML:
"OPML an XML-based format that allows exchange of outline-structured
information between applications running on different operating systems and
environments."
10:16:36 AM
|
|
|
|
© Copyright
2003
Jon Schull.
Last update:
11/10/03; 6:34:23 PM.
|
|
| May 2002 |
| Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| |
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
| 19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| 26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
|
| Apr Jun |
|
