Recently in Wireless Category

I'm trying to track down more details on this project, but it looks to me like they are using some UWB technology in this device.

DefenseLINK News: New Device Will Sense Through Concrete Walls
"The new "Radar Scope" will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room, Edward Baranoski from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Special Projects Office, told the American Forces Press Service."

Ultra wideband - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ultra wideband usually refers to a radio communications technique based on transmitting very-short-duration pulses, often of duration of only nanoseconds or less, whereby the occupied bandwidth goes to very large values. This allows it to deliver data rates in excess of 100 Mbit/s, while using a small amount of power and operating in the same bands as existing communications without producing significant interference. However it is not limited to wireless communication, UWB can also use mains-wiring, coaxial cable or twisted-pair cables to communicate - with potential to deliver data faster than 1 gigabit per second.

Google Wireless Services
I just bookmarked this site after realizing I really prefer Google News to any thing else: Google News Text Wap

With Google Wireless WebSearch, your users can search not just the "Mobile Web" of 5 million pages created specifically for wireless devices, but the entire World Wide Web. No other search engine provides this service. Only Google's proprietary on-the-fly conversion system translates web pages into a language your phone understands, so users can access the world's largest index of web pages (more than 4 billion pages) and view the content from their mobile phones. Google Wireless works on the following phones: WAP, WAP 2.0, i-mode, j-sky.

via Neil's World

Getting Your WireLess NIC Working with the NDIS Wrapper Device Driver

Some WireLess NIC adapters do not offer a Linux driver, but of course, they do have Windows device drivers. Some popular chipset vendors have not even released the specifications for their devices and that makes it impossible for the Linux community to develop Linux based device drivers. The Linux NDIS Wrapper allows one to use some Windows device drivers under Linux. If you have bought a wireless NIC and tossed it aside, or something more drastic, like reinstalled Windows on your laptop, read on to get your wireless NIC WarDriving.

Yahoo! Mobile: Find a Wi-Fi Hotspot
Search by area, zip, state etc.
For free look for Independent Provider. Commercial services clearly identified.
Anyone know of an all you can eat plan that is less than $29 a month for national WiFi?

Reiter's Wireless Data Web Log :
Repeat after me, "more faster, more cheaper"... On the net everywhere is way cool. It just needs faster access at a lower monthly rate.

It's great news. Verizon Wireless will expand its 1xEV-DO network across the country. Currently, the higher speed CDMA data service operates only in Washington, D.C. and San Diego. As I've written previously, I've gotten download speeds of 200K bps - 250K bps in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, although you can get 300K bps to, perhaps, even 500K bps.

Upload speeds, however, are not great -- perhaps 40K bps - 60K bps, and it often doesn't seem that fast. However, those are the same upload speeds as Verizon's current nationwide 1xRTT network, which offers download speeds of 40K bps - 60K bps. 1xRTT is usable if you don't have WiFi or even a fast dial-up connection.

Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones

Abstract
The possible risks of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields for the human body is a growing concern for our society. We have previously shown that weak pulsed microwaves give rise to a significant leakage of albumin through the blood-brain barrier. In this study we investigated whether a pathologic leakage across the blood-brain barrier might be combined with damage to the neurons. Three groups each of eight rats were exposed for 2 hr to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) mobile phone electromagnetic fields of different strengths. We found highly significant (p < 0.002) evidence for neuronal damage in the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia in the brains of exposed rats. Key words: blood-brain barrier, central nervous system, microwaves, mobile phones, neuronal damage, rats. Environ Health Perspect 111:881-883 (2003). doi:10.1289/ehp.6039 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 29 January 2003]

Yikes! Maybe it's time for EMF shielding.

Buy a SHIELDED CAP or
Make your own Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie

ZigBee at Metafilter

Really cool idea, a wireless protocol optimized to live on low power, not concerned with speed, the idea of 2 years on battery life is incredible. Prehaps these will be the "God Boxes" everyone is waiting for.

Take off every 'zig'... for great justice! ZigBee is a promising entry into the field of personal area networks (PAN) -- the technology that will soon enable low data rate two-way wireless connectivity for everything in your house (e.g. keyboard, thermostat). For those keeping score, it's exactly '4.4' sweeter than Wi-Fi (ZigBee is aligning with the IEEE802.15.4 standard) and is designed to live up to two years on battery power [...] The protocol supports authentication and public-key encryption, so no "All your toaster are belong to us" or (gasp!) wartoasting.
eddydamascene

Bluetooth and GNU/Linux

Extensive links to assorted howto's and driver development pages.

Black Alchemy Enterprises
Slashdot had a link to this project. It is fascinating on so many levels, perl, gpl, wireless, GNU/Linux. Did christmas come early?
Black Alchemy's Fake AP generates thousands of counterfeit 802.11b access points. Hide in plain sight amongst Fake AP's cacophony of beacon frames. As part of a honeypot or as an instrument of your site security plan, Fake AP confuses Wardrivers, NetStumblers, Script Kiddies, and other undesirables.

SeaNet provides broadband access to Cup yachts at sea America's Cup syndicates and spectator craft can now get high speed internet access in the Hauraki Gulf thanks to a team up between New Zealand wireless network provider Broadcast Communications Limited and start-up company SeaNet.

According to the article, they can offer 1.5Mbps through cellular coverage in the Gulf. SeaNet is a collaborative project to extend the Internet to ships at sea using a robust, flexible, cost-effective technology; leased to boats for $550 a month plus data charges.
A similar project in the states, is oddly enough called SeaNet as well, and offers "Data Pipes": which the overview page says is capable of transferring large files to shore for processing and back to the ship in the most cost-effective manner. Older Inmarsat (satellite) units transferred data at roughly 9600 bits per second as compared to SeaNet’s newer technology, which operates at 64,000 bits per second (actual throughput may vary).

Drew tells us at PGHWireless about an interesting project to convert URL's into deployable barcodes:

Also know as Sem@code

Neat idea but do we really need the CueCat?