Tuesday, October 08, 2002

Report: Wi-Fi Networks Too Risky. Consumers and businesses lulled by the ease and speed of wireless networks, be warned: The federal government has deemed Wi-Fi LANs not secure enough. Wireless tech providers ask, 'What else is new?' By Elisa Batista. [Wired News] While I disagree with the rhetoric ("WiFi LANs are dangerous..." ?!), I agree with one of the conclusions. WLANs should go hand in hand with more and stronger encryption, to the desktop. comment []10:40:12 AM

No Cyborg Nation Without FDA's OK. A Florida family that received ID chip implants won't have much company in the United States until the Food and Drug Administration decides whether to regulate the subdermal device. By Julia Scheeres. [Wired News] This is certainly news worthy of note to those interested in pervasive computing. Despite the comical back and forth between the FDA and ADS, people getting digital implants is not a question of if, but of when. This will happen, in a big way. Perhaps not in this generation, but soon. This is one of the reasons we should all be so interested in the current debates on DRM and security. Whatever happens in the PC/Intel world will likely carry over to the embedded systems world. We could find that the first generation of implants are more about tracking people for the gain of others (Gov, Corp) than about benefiting the individuals health or lifestyle. comment []10:35:03 AM

Postscript to yesterday's journey to SF: it turned out to be a long day. Planned to leave home at 530am and return at 10pm, but due to fog in San Diego we got revectored through LA after a prolonged holding pattern. Net result, got home at 230am. I just love business travel. comment []7:32:34 AM

© Copyright 2002 Jeff Nichols.