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AREDN The Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network, and a node map
The still-widely-deployed predecessor, BroadBand Hamnet
A port of this mesh to the RaspberryPi, HSMMPI
Previous versions were called ARESNET and HSMMNET.
And there's also the European ham network, here and a map.

The good/bad about these devices is that you can modify things, including the frequency range. This is potentially bad for non-radio people, but it is great for amateur hams who are legally allowed to do so in order to operate these devices on amateur frequencies.

Here is one such project: http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/

While the above project would still be legal for licensed amateur radio operators, the ability to find cheap hardware will evaporate should the FCC lock down the ability of companies to sell such "hackable" equipment.

The good/bad about these devices is that you can modify things, including the frequency range. This is potentially bad for non-radio people, but it is great for amateur hams who are legally allowed to do so in order to operate these devices on amateur frequencies.

Here is one such project: http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/

While the above project would still be legal for licensed amateur radio operators, the ability to find cheap hardware will evaporate should the FCC lock down the ability of companies to sell such "hackable" equipment.

How will this impact BroadBand HamNet (formerly HSMM) which mainly targets Ubiquiti hardware, and obsolete Linksys stuff?

There's currently quite a bit of fun hackery going on with TPlink WR703n routers. See these: OpenWRT, LibraryBox, expansion hub, 3D printable case, external antenna md (PDF) or pre-modded for extra ram+flash. I'm currently trying to get HSMM-MESH going on one.

This is new how? We have been sending data using audio cards between computers for decades. I remember cranking up the cassette tape drive to load programs into my TRS-80 in high school and hooking up to an acoustic modem to get on dial up AOL. Recently I've used my computer to talk to another computer halfway around the world though an RF link provided by my ham radio. Hams routinely transfer "data" over packet, PSK and other modes over audio links using their audio cards in their computers.

Oh, wait, so the ad-hock links are the new thing? Um, not so fast there either. Mesh networks have been around long enough to fall in and out of favor once or twice. Ham radio operators might know about HSMM Mesh http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/ has been doing mesh networks for nearly a decade, and the protocol it uses internally wasn't the first. So this is not new..

I conclude that NOTHING here is new, except perhaps combining an audio network link with a mesh networking protocol.... But I don't see that as ground breaking..

Maybe you missed the "covert" part. If your computer was hissing and whining away like a 56kbps modem to talk to the computer in the room next door, you'd probably notice.

... Although, maybe not, since it's the third word in the /. headline and second word in the article headline, and yet you still missed even this rudimentary visual communication.

Oh great... Can't you hackers just leave well enough alone?

I've had to disconnect my network cable, remove the wireless card, and disable all the USB ports to make my machine secure and now I have to disable the audio hardware too? Man, this is getting out of hand..

Seriously though... This is new how? We have been sending data using audio cards between computers for decades. I remember cranking up the cassette tape drive to load programs into my TRS-80 in high school and hooking up to an acoustic modem to get on dial up AOL. Recently I've used my computer to talk to another computer halfway around the world though an RF link provided by my ham radio. Hams routinely transfer "data" over packet, PSK and other modes over audio links using their audio cards in their computers.

Oh, wait, so the ad-hock links are the new thing? Um, not so fast there either. Mesh networks have been around long enough to fall in and out of favor once or twice. Ham radio operators might know about HSMM Mesh http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/ has been doing mesh networks for nearly a decade, and the protocol it uses internally wasn't the first. So this is not new..

I conclude that NOTHING here is new, except perhaps combining an audio network link with a mesh networking protocol.... But I don't see that as ground breaking..

The only thing this will really do is make it necessary to disable/remove audio hardware from secure computers, just because somebody might try to use it for something stupid. Thanks guys (and gals if there are any working on this) for making my life harder...