So I up and bought an EnGenius AP. It's nice because not only can it take an external antenna (included), but it uses PCMCIA cards (the EnGenius ones, which I have 3 of already, now 4 with the one that came with the AP). It has the typical web-based UI, as well as telnet and serial interfaces. I had it all tweaked with the SSID, etc. I wanted pretty much seconds after it came out of the box, but for whatever reason it didn't want to use a DHCP address, so it couldn't route to the internet (yes, DHCP is supported). After much fiddling I got all of... nowhere with that, so I hooked it up to the PC and upgraded the firmware to the latest version. Unfortunately, it asked me if I wanted to delete "X.bin" and I said yes (well, "(Y/y)" was the choice it gave me!) and that apparently deleted the whole web interface. BUT now it works fine as an AP, though with no NAT. Even the Newton can get an IP from across the street. So far it hasn't taken to the 200mW card. The 100mW card, since it's essentially the same card they provide with the AP. Maybe with the newer firmware on the AP it will work, maybe I need to update the 200mW card to one that has host ap mode support. We'll see. Re-flashing the AP firmware might get me back the web UI too (hopefully), since the telnet daemon doesn't let you set anything. But hey, I'm typing this wirelessly on the PowerBook :)
The AP running sans antenna for the first time... Half-assed antenna setup...
[ 3/07/2003 10:26:46 PM ] [ ]
More on the Alienware Predator case
[Looks like it won't be sold separately], you have to buy an alienware machine to get it. It's interesting that it's just a shell on top of a standard case, maybe someone will come up with something similar that will be available from a 3rd party. [ 3/07/2003 04:51:46 PM ] [ ]
``According to a U.S. document, the last piece of a missile warhead fired by North Korea was found in Alaska,’’ former Japanese foreign minister Taro Nakayama was quoted as saying in the report. ``Washington, as well as Tokyo, has so far underrated Pyongyang’s missile capabilities.’’
It's still pretty doubtful that they can create a deliverable nuclear weapon, but this would seem to indicate that North Korea, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and others have missiles with greater range than previously thought. North Korea is a poor nation with few exports and limited trade. The vast majority of the foreign currency coming into North Korea is the result of technology transfers. The "axis of evil" is really about a new form of triangular trade. North Korea needs oil and cash to sustain itself, and they get it by giving missile and WMD technology to countries like Iran and Pakistan in return for hard currency and oil shipments.
WMD is a mainstay of their economy. The Clinton administration played on this by offering money and fuel shipments in return for inspections of [suspected WMD facilities] and stopping the NK nuclear program. Unfortunately, this strategy didn't work. NK not only continued their WMD programs in violation of the [Agreed Framework] (the agreement between the US, Japan, SK, and NK governing the deal to stop the nuclear program in exchange for aid), but when confronted with evidence that NK had not stopped it's nuclear program NK had the gaul to ask for more handouts of aid in return for another "stop" to their program. And they apparently [expected to continue to receive shipments of fuel] from the Agreed Framework partners. The Bush administration has decided not to play the game that NK has been playing, starting their nuclear program again and again for more aid. The aid goes directly to keeping the NK fat cats in power, not feeding their citizens. While NK has recently experimented with a more [open economy], it's been too little, too late, and poorly implemented. It's likely that the reforms were pushed by small factions within the NK power structure, and as those reforms fail, the people that pushed for them will lose their influence in NK domestic policy. In the past few months, the NK propoganda machine has stepped up it's pace and NK has provoked South Korea and the US several times. A MiG-19 penetrated SK airspace weeks ago, and last week MiG-29s and MiG-27s intercepted an RC-135 150 miles from the coast of the Korean Peninsula (well outside any area that North Korea can claim). While the RC-135 incident received the most attention, the MiG-19 was a far more ominous event. It is very likely that the lone MiG-19 was testing the reaction time of the South Korean defenses along the DMZ and near Seoul. Most people do not realize just how close Seoul, the capital and of South Korea and it's center of gravity is to the North. The greatest threat from North Korea is not it's missles or WMD, it's their conventional forces. Seoul is already within range of North Korean artillery and MLRS forces just north of the DMZ. Not just a few gun tubes mind you- more than 5,000 artillery pieces are stationed along the DMZ, most of them in well protected bunkers and caves built into mountains. NK literally has a gun to South Korea's head, and can pull the trigger at any time. The small size of the Korean peninsula means that NK can not only decimate US and SK forces stationed in northern South Korea in the first hour of a barrage, but before a US response can be mobilized the North Korean army can [move quickly south and hold territory] before significant forces can be brought to bear on them. Last week the US moved 24 heavy bombers from the US to Guam in preparation of any hostile moves by North Korea. Now 24 may not seem like a lot, but since the Gulf War there have been a few advances in antiarmor munitions that make 12 B-1 and 12 B-52 bombers a very potent force. Those bombers could be over South Korea, blunting a North Korean armored push south with the [WCMD] and [Skeet submunitions] within a few hours. We live in interesting times. [CNS's Special Collection: North Korea] [ 3/07/2003 04:05:52 PM ] [ ]
That pocketknife you surrendered to airport security screeners might now be tucked away in someone else's pocket -- someone who bought it on EBay.
Under the handle CaliforniaGold2000, the state is using the Internet auction house to convert scores of confiscated items to cash.
So far, $16,281 has been made selling objects taken from passengers at Oakland and Sacramento airports -- the only ones in Northern California to participate in the state program [Check out their auctions]
[ 3/05/2003 11:20:48 PM ] [ ]
Hmmmm while the new NetNewsWire Pro 1.01b3 does now load blogger correctly, it still can't publish and post to blogger quite right. I still have to go to blogger.com to make it live. [ 3/05/2003 11:11:17 PM ] [ ]
I still don't see why people make such a big deal over the threat level. The military has had THREATCONs for years and no one took them to this level. If you can use your head and have a little common sense, the color of today's threat level shouldn't matter to you.
If you're a complete moron, you have bigger problems.
[ 3/05/2003 11:08:53 PM ] [ ]
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
So you have $300 to throw at me?
After trading some emails with the folks at Powerlogix, it seems their [Powerforce G4 ZIF] upgrade should work in a ZIF carrier card like my XLR8 carrier ZIF, as long as it will support high speed cards (in the case of an XLR8 card, that means it has to be Six Slot Enabled (SSE)). Powerlogix has these models available now: G4 500/200/1Mb$299 G3 800/800/512K $299 Too bad the 800 doesn't have 1MB of cache, that would be worth extra money! [ 3/04/2003 04:01:54 PM ] [ ]
Monday, March 03, 2003
The new "Matrix Cellphone" from Samsung looks pretty goofy, I sure hope they don't use it in the movie. See it [here] [ 3/03/2003 02:43:35 PM ] [ ]
Brunch at the Rose Cafe is always worth running to :) [ 3/02/2003 08:48:50 PM ] [ ]
Jamming with the JamCam
Last week I got a [JamCam 3.0] still camera online for about $30 and have been using it pretty much every day. It's not as good as a megapixel camera that's over $200 or so, but it's very good for $30. The internal 2MB of memory hold 8 full size (640x480) or 20-something 1/2 size photos, and the picture quality is surprisingly good. The software that comes with it is for Windows and MacOS 8.6, and since this is an ultraconsumer camera it's pretty simplistic software. I've been using it with [JamX], a shareware app for MacOS X that lets you download the photos to your MacOS X machine and it's been working pretty well. Now for my KritterCam I have the IOXperts USB webcam driver, which works pretty well, and I bought [their driver] for my 802.11b card (which I'm working on a review for). Imagine my surprise just now when I plug in the JamCam and the little IOXperts "Register Me" app launches in the dock- and tells me that they now have a [USB driver] that works with the JamCam I just connected, and allows it to work with iPhoto and ImageCapture. Now that was pretty neato. [ 3/02/2003 03:48:21 PM ] [ ]
