Thursday, February 27, 2003

Blogs at AOL? comments? [] 8:51:58 AM     Frequent correspondent Nigel Ballard reports some remarkable results with the new firmware installed. I set up a bridged wireless Ethernet link through three solid walls (150 feet) using a pair of the Buffalo WBR-G54 radio's. I'm passing a Mitel VoIP phone, a 300K video stream, a 75Mb backup file transfer and randomly checking three Email accounts all across the air interface. I get an impressive 8.5 [Mbps] steady throughput even when talking on the phone and polling my Email. And that is in the close proximity to a 100Mw Cisco AP and a 30Mw Orinoco AP both of which are serving wireless clients. [80211b News] comments? [] 8:40:23 AM     802.11 security survey, courtesy of the US Army For a quite comprehensive and understandable (unclassified) survey of security threats and mechanisms for 802.11, pick up your PDF here. A really nice vendor neutral compendium, already paid for with taxpayer dollars, that's ahead of most of the normal analyst output. [Due Diligence] comments? [] 8:33:36 AM     Earthlink to offer Net phone service; will resell Vonage under own name [bOing bOing] comments? [] 8:06:10 AM     Help wanted in making short film. I am currently involved in a short film about community wireless networks. We will mainly be focusing on the community aspects, although will have a technical overview. [FreeNetworks.ORG] comments? [] 7:48:38 AM     Wikiblog. I spent many hours this weekend trying out server-side apps that combine the functionalities of blogs and Wiki. In my... [posted February 26 3:08 PM on tranquileye] [Blogroots Blogpopuli] comments? [] 7:38:41 AM     deaf03: data knitting (from wunderkammer to metadata). Dutch Electronic Art Festival (DEAF) is a biennial international and interdisciplinary festival organized by V2_Organisation, Institute for the Unstable Media. Deaf 03 explore the artistic and strategic potential of databases, knowledge management and archives in very divers forms. [context weblog] comments? [] 7:23:14 AM     ...Without the tourists, the city center [Cancun, Mexico] is home to a surprising number of Internet cafes. In a two square block radius I counted more than 10, outnumbering the convenience stores. Each of these venues provided broadband access for a slight $0.80-1.50 per hour. More fascinating than the saturation of local Internet shops was their use: at each one I visited, most of the computers were full, and the patrons were all messaging, and for hours on end. Who they were talking to, and where those people lived (local or otherwise) is still a mystery, but the fact remained that a large population of people spent their nightly recreation time on the horn to friends. For someone who feels like an exceptionally connected person for utilizing instant messaging, it was an overwhelming experience. I was humbled by the size of the locals' buddy lists, and ability to switch between conversations (they may have even rivaled the inimitable Cory Doctorow on this front). Given the age-old question of whether the Internet distances/connects people from/to each other, the answer seemed obvious. PEW Internet Study beware: Americans are not the leading indicator of the effects of the Internet on people's social nature. Other, less developed, less saturated places are making much better use of the technology we take for granted. [overstated] comments? [] 7:10:46 AM     Some notes on WiFi theft. Some may remember that I chose my current apartment based on the wifi capital of the neighborhood. The area is richer than I would ever have expected, moving from 2 networks last May to a whopping 15 at current despite the sparseness of residences (mostly Victorians). Of these 15 networks, 10 are strong enough to reliably reach with my antenna-equipped laptop, and only 2 of those are not encrypted. I made a huge faux pas last week when, under extreme duress due to network link droppage, I opened up my benefactor's router control panel, released the host DHCP and rebooted the router. Note that I've done this before many times, and with no effect. Someone in the household must have noticed because now, despite getting a signal and IP address, I am unable to push anything through the router. At first I assumed this behavior to be a timely bug, but as it persists, I'm starting to suspect some human intervention. I want free wifi, no doubt about it. But given that people will be suspicious of my theft, I'm willing to lend a helping hand and contribute to the cause. Sans posting flyers all over my neighborhood, I can't see any way of contacting my potential providers (especially since 14 of the 15 have default SSIDs). It's just unfortunate that the technology is engineered in a way that prevents me from contributing. To my old network provider: so long, and thanks for all the bandwidth. [overstated] comments? [] 7:03:36 AM

© Copyright 2004 Jon Schull. Last update: 1/21/04; 9:27:46 AM.