This book covers everything on 802.11 from wireless concepts, protocols, design, security, and best practices, to the very technical details of how 802.11 wireless technology works.
Being the first 802.11 wireless book I have read, I couldn't say for sure if it is 100% accurate or not, but appears to be so. A detailed understanding of networking concepts, protocols, methods, and standards is required to get the most from this book, but not required if you don't care about how some of the protocols or frequencies actually operate.There were a lot of technical illustrations that were helpful.
The only complaint I have about this book, and any technical book for that matter, is that it will be outdated in a few months with the emergence of new standards.
That said, however, this is an EXCELLENT book for detailed frame analysis, especially if you need the guts of the new security protocols. I read most every wireless LAN book that hits the market, and have written a few of my own. This book is definitely a winner. Thomas does a great job of bringing out hidden and vague areas of the 802.11 standards, and answered several detailed questions that nobody else has been able to answer.
Personally, I think one of the worst ideas is to tie your software and hardware directly together, as Sun has. Their hardware is way behind the times (too slow, and too expensive). It's better to use Linux as a way to lower overall system cost and say, "hey, now you can get a computer for $199!"
Some people think that Sun does have a future as a hardware manufacturer, but I think I will have to agree with the article, they can't win the fight against being squeezed out of the market by cheap Intel/AMD servers running Linux (or Windows..).
They really have to decide where they are going, and find a new way to earn money. I think Java is their best bet. I HOPE they will do something like IBM, and jump on the Linux bandwagon as the main platform for Java. Still, finding a steady and large revenue stream from that could be difficult. I suspect they get some from Websphere and the other one (forget what its called), and maybe some from selling courses in Java, but that can't be enough. If they started charging money for using Java I think they would discover that their customer loyalty would evaporate pretty quickly.
I suspect some people here on Slashdot will crow about the problems Sun is going through, but consider that Sun has actually been good for the Open Source world. If it wasn't for the fact that it is a cheap Java platform, Linux would not be as widespread as it is in the business world. Also, they gave us Open Office, and participates and even sponsors a number of Open Source projects. Ant, GNOME, Tomcat, GNUlpr, Open Office... Sure, most projects are Java related, but that is understandable and it is still more than most of the big companies have given us.
Well, if they die, it will be interesting to see what happens with Java. Perhaps they will Open Source it completely, if not out of the goodness of their hearts, then at least as a poison pill against Microsoft...
In this Slashdot article, Yahoo reported that things might be starting to come together. Looks like it's happened!
However, I'm a little concerned - BitTorrent has a lot of initial overhead (setting up trackers, and all the protocol stuff). I'm not sure if it would be wise for small files?
Broadband providers say the FBI's request would, for the first time, force cable providers that sell broadband to come under the jurisdiction of 1994's Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which further defined the already existing statutory obligations of telecommunications carriers to help police conduct electronic surveillance. Telephone companies that use their networks to sell broadband have already been following CALEA rules.
Ok, fair enough I suppose. But the fact however, as has been pointed out here, is that not all programs are being written in the US. To make IM, VoIP, IRC, and or whatever other type of program that allows communication over IP have backdoors is bad enough. But to expect that every program on the planet has one is just downright silly. But, thats not really the bad part...
Under CALEA, police must still follow legal procedures when wiretapping Internet communications. Depending on the situation, such wiretaps do not always require court approval, in part because of expanded wiretapping powers put in place by the USA Patriot Act.
Bad, bad, bad. Is it so much to ask for due process here? I mean it's part of our own set of friggen laws. Is it so much to ask that the Feds follow the laws before they make new ones?
I think p2p is here to stay, and there are still features that need to be put in place univerally before it's mature, and all the various p2p flavors are comparable. Acceptance by corporations will only speed the spread.
The various bits are there scattered across different p2p networks. IMNSHO, all p2p networks/clients ought to have:
-Swarming (as defined/used in BitTorrent) -Privacy/anonymity (perhaps as much as in Freenet) -Good searching (Kazaa, Napster, those types. With room for improvement all around) -Open-source clients with no ads/spyware -Decentralized/self-organizing networks (no central point of failure, or at least minimal) -Browser/web server hooks to autoswarm web content (there ought to be bittorrent:// links)
All these features should someday be pushed into numerous language libraries, so that they become ubiquitous.
i named all my homes machines stuff like exocet, hellfire, patriot, and sidewinder.. then i ran out of cool missile names so i started naming them ambda (courtesy of half-life) and cessna (yeah, the plane).
For our servers at school we use a little bit more logical names. i am a network administrator for the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) so all our servers are named after cats, such as PUMA520 (IBM PC Server 520 running novell), COUGAR320 (IBM PC Server 320, novell), ICAT (NT webserver), and MEDIA_SWAP (not named after a cat but its just a crappy little server used for *gasp* swapping media!), then we have intellistation named PantherNT, and a crappy little 98 box named Tabbycat.. oh yeah, also the linux box is named 'nulynx', and i almost forgot the netfinity 5500 terminal server, named Simba-TS after the lion king i think
I remember seeing something almost exactly like this before called hereandnow.com. They wanted someone to invest in them and support them but what they don't understand is people don't want to sit there and talk with them. They want to watch people get naked. Plain and simple. Its kinda funny how they wonder why no one is investing in them.
If distance every becomes a problem Black Box (and probably other companies.. but i know they got a bunch) sells a variety local multiplexers. They will take multiple serial lines or ethernet or whatever else and multiplex it all into one signal over fiber or some other medium. It might be worth a look.
I downloaded and watched the Soesman Language Institute movie and i couldn't stop laughing, it was absolutely hilarious. I was laughing so hard I was crying.
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Look, I hate you all. God willing, we will destroy the infidels.
This book covers everything on 802.11 from wireless concepts, protocols, design, security, and best practices, to the very technical details of how 802.11 wireless technology works.
Being the first 802.11 wireless book I have read, I couldn't say for sure if it is 100% accurate or not, but appears to be so. A detailed understanding of networking concepts, protocols, methods, and standards is required to get the most from this book, but not required if you don't care about how some of the protocols or frequencies actually operate.There were a lot of technical illustrations that were helpful.
The only complaint I have about this book, and any technical book for that matter, is that it will be outdated in a few months with the emergence of new standards.
That said, however, this is an EXCELLENT book for detailed frame analysis, especially if you need the guts of the new security protocols. I read most every wireless LAN book that hits the market, and have written a few of my own. This book is definitely a winner. Thomas does a great job of bringing out hidden and vague areas of the 802.11 standards, and answered several detailed questions that nobody else has been able to answer.
Personally, I think one of the worst ideas is to tie your software and hardware directly together, as Sun has. Their hardware is way behind the times (too slow, and too expensive). It's better to use Linux as a way to lower overall system cost and say, "hey, now you can get a computer for $199!"
Some people think that Sun does have a future as a hardware manufacturer, but I think I will have to agree with the article, they can't win the fight against being squeezed out of the market by cheap Intel/AMD servers running Linux (or Windows..).
They really have to decide where they are going, and find a new way to earn money. I think Java is their best bet. I HOPE they will do something like IBM, and jump on the Linux bandwagon as the main platform for Java. Still, finding a steady and large revenue stream from that could be difficult. I suspect they get some from Websphere and the other one (forget what its called), and maybe some from selling courses in Java, but that can't be enough. If they started charging money for using Java I think they would discover that their customer loyalty would evaporate pretty quickly.
I suspect some people here on Slashdot will crow about the problems Sun is going through, but consider that Sun has actually been good for the Open Source world. If it wasn't for the fact that it is a cheap Java platform, Linux would not be as widespread as it is in the business world. Also, they gave us Open Office, and participates and even sponsors a number of Open Source projects. Ant, GNOME, Tomcat, GNUlpr, Open Office... Sure, most projects are Java related, but that is understandable and it is still more than most of the big companies have given us.
Well, if they die, it will be interesting to see what happens with Java. Perhaps they will Open Source it completely, if not out of the goodness of their hearts, then at least as a poison pill against Microsoft...
In this Slashdot article, Yahoo reported that things might be starting to come together. Looks like it's happened!
However, I'm a little concerned - BitTorrent has a lot of initial overhead (setting up trackers, and all the protocol stuff). I'm not sure if it would be wise for small files?
Broadband providers say the FBI's request would, for the first time, force cable providers that sell broadband to come under the jurisdiction of 1994's Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which further defined the already existing statutory obligations of telecommunications carriers to help police conduct electronic surveillance. Telephone companies that use their networks to sell broadband have already been following CALEA rules.
Ok, fair enough I suppose. But the fact however, as has been pointed out here, is that not all programs are being written in the US. To make IM, VoIP, IRC, and or whatever other type of program that allows communication over IP have backdoors is bad enough. But to expect that every program on the planet has one is just downright silly. But, thats not really the bad part...
Under CALEA, police must still follow legal procedures when wiretapping Internet communications. Depending on the situation, such wiretaps do not always require court approval, in part because of expanded wiretapping powers put in place by the USA Patriot Act.
Bad, bad, bad. Is it so much to ask for due process here? I mean it's part of our own set of friggen laws. Is it so much to ask that the Feds follow the laws before they make new ones?
I think p2p is here to stay, and there are still features that need to be put in place univerally before it's mature, and all the various p2p flavors are comparable. Acceptance by corporations will only speed the spread.
The various bits are there scattered across different p2p networks. IMNSHO, all p2p networks/clients ought to have:
-Swarming (as defined/used in BitTorrent)
-Privacy/anonymity (perhaps as much as in Freenet)
-Good searching (Kazaa, Napster, those types. With room for improvement all around)
-Open-source clients with no ads/spyware
-Decentralized/self-organizing networks (no central point of failure, or at least minimal)
-Browser/web server hooks to autoswarm web content (there ought to be bittorrent:// links)
All these features should someday be pushed into numerous language libraries, so that they become ubiquitous.
i named all my homes machines stuff like exocet, hellfire, patriot, and sidewinder.. then i ran out of cool missile names so i started naming them ambda (courtesy of half-life) and cessna (yeah, the plane).
For our servers at school we use a little bit more logical names. i am a network administrator for the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) so all our servers are named after cats, such as PUMA520 (IBM PC Server 520 running novell), COUGAR320 (IBM PC Server 320, novell), ICAT (NT webserver), and MEDIA_SWAP (not named after a cat but its just a crappy little server used for *gasp* swapping media!), then we have intellistation named PantherNT, and a crappy little 98 box named Tabbycat.. oh yeah, also the linux box is named 'nulynx', and i almost forgot the netfinity 5500 terminal server, named Simba-TS after the lion king i think
I remember seeing something almost exactly like this before called hereandnow.com. They wanted someone to invest in them and support them but what they don't understand is people don't want to sit there and talk with them. They want to watch people get naked. Plain and simple. Its kinda funny how they wonder why no one is investing in them.
If distance every becomes a problem Black Box (and probably other companies.. but i know they got a bunch) sells a variety local multiplexers. They will take multiple serial lines or ethernet or whatever else and multiplex it all into one signal over fiber or some other medium. It might be worth a look.
I downloaded and watched the Soesman Language Institute movie and i couldn't stop laughing, it was absolutely hilarious. I was laughing so hard I was crying.