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Network Adapter Keeps Talking While a PC Is Asleep

Posted by timothy on from the would-make-me-feel-better-about-keeping-a-server-on dept.

Al writes "Researchers at Microsoft and the University of California, San Diego have developed a network adapter that lets a computer enter sleep mode without disrupting the network connection. The adapter, dubbed Somniloquy (meaning to talk in one's sleep), consists of a gumstix running embedded Linux, 64MB of RAM and a 2G SD memory card, connected via USB. The adapter keeps the network connection going and the researchers have also developed a simplified IM client and bittorrent client that carry out more complicated tasks autonomously, only waking the computer if, for example, an actualy IM is received or a download is completed."

3 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. A little too defensive? by Anachragnome · · Score: 0, Troll

    Anyone but me get the Willies seeing "Microsoft" and "BitTorrent" used together in such a fashion?

    Without having even reached the end of the paragraph I had already gone into "Yeah, right." mode.

    Seriously, with as much effort as Microsoft has put into DRM development, how can anything like this be expected to actually function the way WE, the end-user, want it to work?

    I find it exceedingly difficult to dismiss a past such as Microsoft possesses, and having some university name attached to the idea does nothing for me. Universities these days will do anything for a buck, much like Microsoft.

    And if I didn't already have a raging case of the Willies, throwing the name "Akamai" into the mix didn't help.

    1. Re:A little too defensive? by Anachragnome · · Score: 0, Troll

      "What DRM are you referring to? What will the DRM do? Will it prevent the comupter from sleeping? Will it prevent the computer from waking up? Will it prevent the network card from working? Will it prevent packets from arriving? What will Microsoft gain from this so-called DRM?"

      All very good questions that you do not answer and so remain.

      And that WAS the point of my comment. Too many questions simply because of the names involved. I didn't even touch on the fact LINUX is involved somehow. And who the fuck said I didn't read the article? Do you see the name "Akamai" in the summary?

      "...must not feed troll. Must not feed troll..."

  2. Re:How about security? by bughunter · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yours is a fallacious interpretation of my statement. If I said "Eat your vegetables," an analogously false interpretation would be "Become a Vegan."

    --
    I can see the fnords!