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November 12, 2002
WiFi Grounded?
I am quoted in this opinion piece in CIO Insight entitled "Why WiFi Won't Fly." The author's opinion is that public, for profit WiFi nets won't make it. I'm not as negative as the quote in the article makes it sound. However, I do not believe that 3 college students in a garage running a wireless network in my neighborhood offers the level of reliability and customer support I'm willing to pay for. On the other hand, I've seen some plans for mesh networks and such in the public spectrum that I think could provide a reliable networking service, but we're not there yet. For now, if you need wireless service on the road, use a wide area service like the one from Sprint or AT&T. They work well and are much more widely available.
07:59 PM | Recommend This | Print This
IRIS: Infrastructure for Resilient Internet Systems
Courtesy of the latest Wired wired/tired/expired list, I found out about IRIS, an MIT project with NSF support to build P2P networks that scale and are resiliant to attack. The power point slide show gives the best technical detail about their methods (distributed hash tables). An article in Dr. Dobbs gives an overview. This is a topic I've thought about off and on for the last two years. An index or directory of some kind is at the heart of any P2P system and make it the most vulnerable to attack. Solve that problem and a lot of other things become easier (which is what the slide show says in 40 slides or so with a lot more detail).
03:52 PM | Recommend This | Print This
Pete Hayes of Microsoft
This article in Government Computer News is an interview with Pete Hayes, Microsoft's Industry VP for government. The article caught my eye because Pete was in Salt Lake last Friday where we met for the first time. He let me play with his tablet PC, so he's OK in my book.
02:09 PM | Recommend This | Print This
WiFi in the Workplace
This article in Fortune magazine highlights WiFi installations at Novell and talks about the value of WiFi at work. There are claims of productivity increases in the article, although its not a study. Wireless networking (whether by WiFi or a wide area solution) certainly makes sense for people who spend a large portion of their day away from their desk. Its a lifesaver for me somedays since I can use time away from my desk, in between meetings, to check email, get messages to my assistant, etc. Before, I'd get home at 7pm, eat dinner and spend several hours going through the days email. Now, my email is usually done during the day.