Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) uses 5.8 GHz, standard Wi-Fi, interferes with wISPs: Government Executive's Bob Brewin reports that the Homeland Security Department's border network will be easy to disable because the contractor, Boeing, has chosen to use the unlicensed 5.8 GHz band and what appears to be common Wi-Fi gear. While Wi-Fi can be secured with a high degree of reliability these days, if the system is built right, there's no protection against denial of service attacks. The network is also operating at such a high signal strength as to interfere with local wireless ISPs. Hey, shouldn't the thinktanks that promote competition be upset at government use of spectrum interfering with private enterprise? Unlikely, because Security Is At Stake.
TurtleNet: Nifty use of solar-powered sensors and peer-to-peer file exchange for monitoring turtles. The transmitters and solar panels don't interfere with turtle behavior--"Hey, Bob, you've decided to get off the grid?" "Huh?"--and allow information to flow among turtles and then be captured as any turtle passes a single accumulator. That base station then transmits information to the University of Massachusetts's Amherst campus. Turtles may roam 10 miles from home.
FCC approves Wi-Fi Blackberry: The internets are buzzing with the publication of FCC paperwork indicating that Research in Motion's Blackberry with Wi-Fi has received certification. Apple received such public approval a few weeks before the iPhone was released. The devices approved use GSM, so would be sold by T-Mobile or AT&T. RIM said earlier such Blackberry models would ship in the fourth quarter.