I think the fact that South Korea has something like 99% of connected computers running windows makes them an easy target for infectable machines just based on sheer volume. Combine that with the outstanding penetration of very high-speed internet connectivity and just about everything in the country is running an OS with a poor history of security on a very fast connection..
In order to make a secure transaction over the internet in South Korea you have to be able to run IE, and ActiveX controls to establish your secure link as the result of a deal with M$ in '97 to provide an encryption and authentication mechanism for internet based transactions using the web iirc.. (OpenSSL wasn't a standard yet - that was '98)
This is the same reason the the Ministry of Information and Communication of South Korea urged its citizens not to upgrade to Vista.
They guarantee my company makes money fixing the things they can't, won't or don't have the chops to do.
It's just like Microsoft, their crappy software has kept me employed putting on band-aids and coddling those who ride to work in Ballmers nut-sack everyday..
They can do a bad job SO CONSISTENTLY that an entire industry has been made out of fixing what they do poorly.
Hazzah! Cheers! If you're ever in Minneapolis I must buy you a beer. Took the words right out of my mouth.
"Incompetents who don't recognize their own incompetence. Then he compounds it by being an arrogant bastard and an overbearing, threatening weenie to boot"
Worst thing is that sounds like half my clients...:-|
SCO: "You have stolen our source code! We are suing!" Open Source community: "Show us the code we "stole" and we'll change it!" SCO: "We can't show you the code you stole because it's part of our IP and that would just be giving it away! Plus we want to sue everyone who's ever used open source and then charge $700 per linux license - so to show you would not be economically feasible" Open Source community: "Go fark yourselves until you prove we stole something!"
Telecom's have been doing this for years... I have several rack mount systems that I assume were doing some sort of text or message routing via serial that were replaced with newer equipment - these are all running off DC power supplies. (I have about 20 of these systems, they were acquired through a friend who works for a very large telecommunications company)
The systems I've seen typically consist of racks full of DC powered servers booting off CF cards (The ones I have are k6-2 350's with 32Meg of ram and 32M flash readers and cards using IDE adapters) loaded with serial controllers.
I remember when I first saw that article on slashdot - I rushed over to vote (If you call opening the link in a new tab "rushing") and what I saw was Quickbooks at the number one spot. I was needless to say hopeful that it would remain there but after a few weeks it started dropping.. Dropping in favor for the likes of iTunes, and Flash, and Dreamweaver...
The first thing this tells me is that the people who responded most to the survey were of average to below average competency in the world of *nix thus choosing their favorite windows apps instead of seeking out the many superior alternatives that DO exist.
Seriously?? I can understand ACAD and PhotoShop, but I would only recommend the other cruft to my mom... Actually.... I take that back - I wouldn't even recommend them to her.
Dreamweaver, Flash, and iTunes does not a desktop replacement make.. not even close. Those with ACAD and Photoshop in mind had the right idea - professional applications with a relevance to professional users who have no real equivalent in the *nix world as much as some people want to believe they do.
In my own case for example I challenge someone who knows of a good accounting app in the unix world that I can use with similar features to Quickbooks Pro to come forth - I would love to hear it - but I bet I can still list 20 features Quickbooks has that a *nix alternative does not. A general ledger system cannot compete with the complexities that a package like Quickbooks can as simply as it can, all while allowing a basic user to take advantage of them without a huge learning curve. I'm not a CPA and don't think I should have to be in order to effectively use my accounting package or spend FAR more time doing my bills than actually billing and making money.
Quickbooks is the sole reason I have any sort of windows install whatsoever to run my business and it's run via VMware on my laptop which is running Gentoo as it's sole OS, only because it is superior to to the other tools available for my purposes. Quickbooks contains features essential to my businesses accounting needs. This idealogy applies to a number of applications - why use Blender 3D if you can use 3DSMax? Why use GIMP if you can use PhotoShop? If a commercial product can truly outperform it's open brethren because it's had a much longer development cycle and gobs more R&D put into determining what's needed, what's nice, what's fastest, what's required, what interface users feel most comfortable with etc. etc. then why even bother making a business case for the open-source version? It's not whether it's open or closed source - what's driving this idealogy is what software people want to use. They want to use Linux because it's a superior OS to MS Windows, but they want to use applications designed for MS Windows on Linux because they are superior to their open-source pseudo-equivalents.
If Novell is really serious about making Linux the desktop contender it wants - they need to build a base system to support the functionality of ALL applications.. Not just the pretty ones with cute icons and brushed metal GUI's that oh so many 14 year olds love to fill their desktops with... I think WINE is a great start but I also think far more intelligent people than I can come up with a better solution than a poll on Novell's website could ever touch. I think it's safe to say a web-poll is not a legitimate or appropriate data set to study demographics due to it's highly directed audience, and the ability for the pollster to misinterpret which audience he or she has in fact targeted for polling while analyzing that data. I offer my repeated choice of Cowboy Neal anytime that option is available on a slashdot poll as proof...;-)
I regularly buy my music for around $1.50 - $2.50 per album in my choice of formats and encoding rates. Web based download service is available for all non-windows users, and they have a nice peice of software for the windows world appropriately named "explorer".;)
This is just not the case.. We are in a river valley *ahem* the Mississippi *ahem* with lots of ups and downs just subtle enough to cause all sorts of problems for wireless providers.
I've done long range wireless links in Minneapolis and St. Paul for years and I know personally it's just not that easy, I also know some of the wireless guys who worked for MCI when they had (maybe still have) antennas on top of the IDS tower -(Minneapolis's arguably tallest building next to Wells Fargo Tower (the mast on IDS makes it taller))- they had a LOT of problems with signal degredation, dropouts and packet loss not to mention just plain dead spots.
Most if not all of downtown, and it's surroundings are surrounded by trees and a lot of times the homes and buildings they surround are limited by city codes as to how tall a mast or tower they could legally build limiting the penetration of wifi to the taller objects in a given region.
Although it's not difficult to find a good spot and a clear line of sight, there will be some obstacles - just tossing a big antenna on the nearest tall building will only get you so far.
You need massive penetration.
Water towers, freeway light poles, and the rooftops of high-rise apartment buildings will all be required POPs and give the best lines of site while providing the necessary hookups and accessibility an infrastructure like this would require.
I always write "SEE ID" on the signature line and over the course of about 5 years I'd say roughly 80% of the time I'm asked for my ID, or at least why I write that as my signature. Whether they actually compare signatures or just stare blindly not knowing what to look for, they do seem to run through the motions.
Well the reality of the situation is that if he were the only virus writer on the planet distributing them and then making a living writing the software to fix and remove them you might have a point. However, regardless of his activities behind the scenes writing malicious code, someone else is too. It's an inevitable problem and he may as well make a profit out of the solution - since the problem will exist regardless. Furthermore if he can advance the solution further than that of an anti-virus coder w/o experience creating that code and dealing with those who do, I'd say the ends justify the means.
Do you trust a security expert who doesn't know, or hasn't experienced first hand the nature of crime and criminal? That's hardly and expert in my book...
This is commonly referred to as a flash-boil. The main cause is actually quite simple. The reason water in a pan doesn't flash-boil is because the water is being superheated at very specific points due to the surface of the container being hotter than the temperature of boiling water, thus causing a boil which then moves the superheated water around mixing it with cooler water. However if you recall how microwaves work, the water is being boiled at the molecular level, not superheated at a point on a surface so no mixing of other cooler water takes place. Combine these characteristics with a nearly molecularly smooth surface such as a glazed ceramic mug and you have the perfect conditions for a flash boil. Drop some granular sugar in, or really any thing that will break the surface tension and BOOM... Boiling water all over your counter (hands, face, feet, etc.)
The last thing you really want to do is come home and burn yourself out so not only do you no longer have an enjoyable hobby but you hate your job too..
AFAIK 2 large banks at the least, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America have a number of NT based ATM's totalling more than 540 and 2,500 relatively yet with all these I've never heard of one getting a virus.. Although the likelyhood of a big bank alerting people to the fact their ATM's are insecure may not be the best idea..
http://www.atmmarketplace.com/research_story.htm?a rticle_id=13527&pavilion=18
The numbers are near the bottom of the article which is mostly focused on the move to personalize advertising to the user and how NT based systems have helped make this transition easier to implement.
The difference between your average PC on the net, and these ATM's however is how secure their network and physical environments are. Most ATM's I've seen are made by diebold and fujitsu but there are many many more, and last I checked (I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong) they all used proprietary hardware crypto and private frame-relay links, or private ATM networks not connected to the internet thus limiting their availability to those who have, or could procure access to these networks.
In addition the likelyhood of commonly exploited services running on an NT box for an ATM is relatively low.. I can't imagine, or maybe just don't want to think the engineers for hundred-billion dollar a year banks are dumb enough not lock down an NT box.. Not to mention having no access to keyboard or terminal access other than a number pad the options get more and more limited. These companies have spent billions to make these boxes the most secure on the planet and they've gotten good at it.. While the software may lag behind, it's not *that* far behind..
I think the likelyhood of NT taking a sh*t, BSOD'ing, and stealing your ATM card is probably the worst an NT based ATM could deliver in terms of negative user impact.
- my.02
Having worked for a wireless ISP using proprietary hardware encryption and DSSS, NON 802.11a/b/g/foo but still within the same frequency ranges maybe I can shed some light on the logistics of this sort of operation.
First you have a freznel zone to deal with in any line-of-sight connection. This is presuming you can maintain line-of-sight - through hilly/mountainous areas, valleys, or any other severe terrain you can forget about broadcast wireless. At least in that frequency range.
Ideally you can get a directional -> omni connection out to 5 miles or so un-amplified and maintain good speed. (About 2Mbit) This is during ideal conditions only. Once you add amplification you better get on the horn to the FCC, because you can bet your ass they'll want to talk to you. Especially if you are making money at it. (Here in the US anyways.)
Next you have to think about how your are going to get bandwidth to the locations which you want to serve, in a mesh, say of 5 omni's, you could probably serve 20-40 clients per omni at speeds close to ISDN. Keep in mind this is not a switched technology - a 54Mbit link is "shared" between users, if you can even get 54Mbit to the base.
Antenna and transceiver packages have a cost factor that scares many users off unless it's a dedicated connection to a high-speed link.
Here in Minneapolis there is an omni or twenty on the top of the IDS tower (The tallest building in Minneapolis, MN) - for the past few years a number of companies have purchased and re-sold these antennae and the associated services they are providing to local business and all have had the same problems. Packet loss, downtime, distance limitations, line-of-site issues.
Just because you can see it doesn't mean it will work perfectly - remember the freznel zone? Think of a football (the NFL type football, not soccer football.) between both antennae, anything that interferes with that "zone" affects greatly the speed and link quality. Here in MN, my Wireless PtP would go down in heavy snow. (Not that we've had what you could call heavy snow for a couple of years.. screw you east coast...;-)
All of this is based on the assumption you don't have 2000 other devices in the same frequency range throwing all sorts of interference, or "noise" into your link keeping your SnR pretty low.
Wireless over distance is *truly* only useful in the PtP sense, it's just to difficult and unreliable for full-time consumer access. Wireless will never be that last-mile solution everyone wants - it's doomed to long-distance PtP in select areas, and T-Mobile hot-spots / public AP's.
Now to have the type of signal penetration a cell-tower or better - TV - AND to be able to deliver speeds of current WiFi would be a vast improvement, but currently even the US military realizes broadcast WiFi != good WiFi, but PtP WiFi == Great way to cover distance without the costs of laying cable.
Did you know backup communications for Camp David are PtP wireless links?
Same with large telco's, cable companies, etc. Anyone Sascatchewan residents out there? Wonder what those large towers with "cone" shaped antennae on top are?
Basically PtP is great for covering long, relatively flat (terrain wise) distances without a lot of installation cost.
WiFi broadcast style for the masses will never take off without the penetration of say cell/TV broadcast frequencies, even then I would be wary if connection stability is a requirement.
I have obviously left a lot of issues, like polarity and such, out of this post - that might get a bit wordy.
I'd be interested in finding out what others who do work / have worked in this field think..
I'm suprised there's no mention of the Burton Amp Jacket with sleeve based controls for your
iPod.
mmm.. me like..
They only mention this goofy looking jacket.
Looks like he's got a PCB up his sleeve by the outline of the control surface surrounding the buttons.
Burton/Apple did a better job IMHO.
I happen to have a client who is a Producer/Distributor for local bands in the Minnesota, USA area.. His production costs per CD for volume (including audio engineering, packaging, jewel case and shrink-wrap) are significantly less than even the cheapest sold in stores..
I'm talking under $2/cd. Now I can't make a claim that production/printing/packaging/distribution costs are the same between a local shop, and say universal/emi or any of the other big 5, they are not - however in terms of pure production capacity, we should all know that as volume increases, costs decrease.
Where is the dramatic increase in price taking place?
In the sale of those CD to stores, the distribution throughout the retailers, and the EXTREME mark-up generously provided by your local "record" store..
Why dosn't something like "CD Warehouse" have huge store-front displays and nationwide TV advertising campaigns? Because they don't mark-up prices like your Virgin mega-stores, or Musiclands.
This mark-up can be verified by anyone who happens to work for a music store who is in charge of purchasing. I don't have any figures to throw at you, and it's been some time since I worked for a music retailer but that doesn't mean I don't remember why I left that job - watching CD's purchased for $8 being re-sold at $20 or more was a scam I was not going to stay a part of.
If the argument is "you are hurting the artists by not purchasing the music", I think everyone will agree that trying to force customers into sales is like kicking a dead horse and expecting a derby winner to respond. It's a dead horse people, find another horse and move on. Record execs can afford to pay their artists more by giving up their 6 figure bonuses, their houses around the world, and the sick amounts of money pumped into the glam factor for pop-tarts like Justin Timberpond, Britney Pickle-Spears, and any of the other glam-pop wanna-be rockers who are so effortlessly pedastled for the talents of their production crews, and quality of octave manipulation software.
I think we all know M$ is less secure due in part to the people who use it, however what no-one ever seems to mention is that the M$ Windows design is inherently insecure by default and can only get tighter from there?
How many Windows admins do you know that comb through their internal security/group policies like some *nix guys do their firewall rules? very few if any..
I know guys who call themselves windows admins and don't even KNOW what the security policy settings are by default, or that they should change them.
It's not a is linux secure question- yes it can be, given the proper factors.
It's a why is m$ so insecure, and how does the methodolgy differ between windows and unix?
Mutt will never execute arbitrary code and install backdoors because I viewed an e-mail laden w/ virii even if it were a linux virii..
The same cannot be said about 90% of outlook installations.
Slashdot Mirror
I think the fact that South Korea has something like 99% of connected computers running windows makes them an easy target for infectable machines just based on sheer volume. Combine that with the outstanding penetration of very high-speed internet connectivity and just about everything in the country is running an OS with a poor history of security on a very fast connection..
1 /200701240013.html
In order to make a secure transaction over the internet in South Korea you have to be able to run IE, and ActiveX controls to establish your secure link as the result of a deal with M$ in '97 to provide an encryption and authentication mechanism for internet based transactions using the web iirc.. (OpenSSL wasn't a standard yet - that was '98)
This is the same reason the the Ministry of Information and Communication of South Korea urged its citizens not to upgrade to Vista.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/20070
They guarantee my company makes money fixing the things they can't, won't or don't have the chops to do.
It's just like Microsoft, their crappy software has kept me employed putting on band-aids and coddling those who ride to work in Ballmers nut-sack everyday..
They can do a bad job SO CONSISTENTLY that an entire industry has been made out of fixing what they do poorly.
Yet another perfect example of our over-inflated sense of self-importance...
Hazzah! Cheers! If you're ever in Minneapolis I must buy you a beer. Took the words right out of my mouth.
:-|
"Incompetents who don't recognize their own incompetence. Then he compounds it by being an arrogant bastard and an overbearing, threatening weenie to boot"
Worst thing is that sounds like half my clients...
SCO: "You have stolen our source code! We are suing!"
Open Source community: "Show us the code we "stole" and we'll change it!"
SCO: "We can't show you the code you stole because it's part of our IP and that would just be giving it away! Plus we want to sue everyone who's ever used open source and then charge $700 per linux license - so to show you would not be economically feasible"
Open Source community: "Go fark yourselves until you prove we stole something!"
s/SCO/Microsoft/g
s/code/patented\ technology/g
do you see someone notice something like that...
Telecom's have been doing this for years... I have several rack mount systems that I assume were doing some sort of text or message routing via serial that were replaced with newer equipment - these are all running off DC power supplies. (I have about 20 of these systems, they were acquired through a friend who works for a very large telecommunications company)
The systems I've seen typically consist of racks full of DC powered servers booting off CF cards (The ones I have are k6-2 350's with 32Meg of ram and 32M flash readers and cards using IDE adapters) loaded with serial controllers.
Not all that suprising really...
I remember when I first saw that article on slashdot - I rushed over to vote (If you call opening the link in a new tab "rushing") and what I saw was Quickbooks at the number one spot. I was needless to say hopeful that it would remain there but after a few weeks it started dropping.. Dropping in favor for the likes of iTunes, and Flash, and Dreamweaver...
;-)
The first thing this tells me is that the people who responded most to the survey were of average to below average competency in the world of *nix thus choosing their favorite windows apps instead of seeking out the many superior alternatives that DO exist.
Seriously?? I can understand ACAD and PhotoShop, but I would only recommend the other cruft to my mom... Actually.... I take that back - I wouldn't even recommend them to her.
Dreamweaver, Flash, and iTunes does not a desktop replacement make.. not even close. Those with ACAD and Photoshop in mind had the right idea - professional applications with a relevance to professional users who have no real equivalent in the *nix world as much as some people want to believe they do.
In my own case for example I challenge someone who knows of a good accounting app in the unix world that I can use with similar features to Quickbooks Pro to come forth - I would love to hear it - but I bet I can still list 20 features Quickbooks has that a *nix alternative does not. A general ledger system cannot compete with the complexities that a package like Quickbooks can as simply as it can, all while allowing a basic user to take advantage of them without a huge learning curve. I'm not a CPA and don't think I should have to be in order to effectively use my accounting package or spend FAR more time doing my bills than actually billing and making money.
Quickbooks is the sole reason I have any sort of windows install whatsoever to run my business and it's run via VMware on my laptop which is running Gentoo as it's sole OS, only because it is superior to to the other tools available for my purposes. Quickbooks contains features essential to my businesses accounting needs. This idealogy applies to a number of applications - why use Blender 3D if you can use 3DSMax? Why use GIMP if you can use PhotoShop? If a commercial product can truly outperform it's open brethren because it's had a much longer development cycle and gobs more R&D put into determining what's needed, what's nice, what's fastest, what's required, what interface users feel most comfortable with etc. etc. then why even bother making a business case for the open-source version? It's not whether it's open or closed source - what's driving this idealogy is what software people want to use. They want to use Linux because it's a superior OS to MS Windows, but they want to use applications designed for MS Windows on Linux because they are superior to their open-source pseudo-equivalents.
If Novell is really serious about making Linux the desktop contender it wants - they need to build a base system to support the functionality of ALL applications.. Not just the pretty ones with cute icons and brushed metal GUI's that oh so many 14 year olds love to fill their desktops with... I think WINE is a great start but I also think far more intelligent people than I can come up with a better solution than a poll on Novell's website could ever touch. I think it's safe to say a web-poll is not a legitimate or appropriate data set to study demographics due to it's highly directed audience, and the ability for the pollster to misinterpret which audience he or she has in fact targeted for polling while analyzing that data. I offer my repeated choice of Cowboy Neal anytime that option is available on a slashdot poll as proof...
I regularly buy my music for around $1.50 - $2.50 per album in my choice of formats and encoding rates. Web based download service is available for all non-windows users, and they have a nice peice of software for the windows world appropriately named "explorer". ;)
http://www.allofmp3.com/
Go Russia.
This is just not the case.. We are in a river valley *ahem* the Mississippi *ahem* with lots of ups and downs just subtle enough to cause all sorts of problems for wireless providers.
I've done long range wireless links in Minneapolis and St. Paul for years and I know personally it's just not that easy, I also know some of the wireless guys who worked for MCI when they had (maybe still have) antennas on top of the IDS tower -(Minneapolis's arguably tallest building next to Wells Fargo Tower (the mast on IDS makes it taller))- they had a LOT of problems with signal degredation, dropouts and packet loss not to mention just plain dead spots.
Most if not all of downtown, and it's surroundings are surrounded by trees and a lot of times the homes and buildings they surround are limited by city codes as to how tall a mast or tower they could legally build limiting the penetration of wifi to the taller objects in a given region.
Although it's not difficult to find a good spot and a clear line of sight, there will be some obstacles - just tossing a big antenna on the nearest tall building will only get you so far.
You need massive penetration.
Water towers, freeway light poles, and the rooftops of high-rise apartment buildings will all be required POPs and give the best lines of site while providing the necessary hookups and accessibility an infrastructure like this would require.
I always write "SEE ID" on the signature line and over the course of about 5 years I'd say roughly 80% of the time I'm asked for my ID, or at least why I write that as my signature. Whether they actually compare signatures or just stare blindly not knowing what to look for, they do seem to run through the motions.
Well the reality of the situation is that if he were the only virus writer on the planet distributing them and then making a living writing the software to fix and remove them you might have a point. However, regardless of his activities behind the scenes writing malicious code, someone else is too. It's an inevitable problem and he may as well make a profit out of the solution - since the problem will exist regardless. Furthermore if he can advance the solution further than that of an anti-virus coder w/o experience creating that code and dealing with those who do, I'd say the ends justify the means. Do you trust a security expert who doesn't know, or hasn't experienced first hand the nature of crime and criminal? That's hardly and expert in my book...
This is commonly referred to as a flash-boil. The main cause is actually quite simple. The reason water in a pan doesn't flash-boil is because the water is being superheated at very specific points due to the surface of the container being hotter than the temperature of boiling water, thus causing a boil which then moves the superheated water around mixing it with cooler water. However if you recall how microwaves work, the water is being boiled at the molecular level, not superheated at a point on a surface so no mixing of other cooler water takes place. Combine these characteristics with a nearly molecularly smooth surface such as a glazed ceramic mug and you have the perfect conditions for a flash boil. Drop some granular sugar in, or really any thing that will break the surface tension and BOOM... Boiling water all over your counter (hands, face, feet, etc.)
The last thing you really want to do is come home and burn yourself out so not only do you no longer have an enjoyable hobby but you hate your job too..
I should have kept reading.. seems a couple diebolds were infected last year..m _infected_diebold_atms/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/25/nachi_wor
AFAIK 2 large banks at the least, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America have a number of NT based ATM's totalling more than 540 and 2,500 relatively yet with all these I've never heard of one getting a virus.. Although the likelyhood of a big bank alerting people to the fact their ATM's are insecure may not be the best idea.. http://www.atmmarketplace.com/research_story.htm?a rticle_id=13527&pavilion=18
.02
The numbers are near the bottom of the article which is mostly focused on the move to personalize advertising to the user and how NT based systems have helped make this transition easier to implement.
The difference between your average PC on the net, and these ATM's however is how secure their network and physical environments are. Most ATM's I've seen are made by diebold and fujitsu but there are many many more, and last I checked (I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong) they all used proprietary hardware crypto and private frame-relay links, or private ATM networks not connected to the internet thus limiting their availability to those who have, or could procure access to these networks.
In addition the likelyhood of commonly exploited services running on an NT box for an ATM is relatively low.. I can't imagine, or maybe just don't want to think the engineers for hundred-billion dollar a year banks are dumb enough not lock down an NT box.. Not to mention having no access to keyboard or terminal access other than a number pad the options get more and more limited. These companies have spent billions to make these boxes the most secure on the planet and they've gotten good at it.. While the software may lag behind, it's not *that* far behind..
I think the likelyhood of NT taking a sh*t, BSOD'ing, and stealing your ATM card is probably the worst an NT based ATM could deliver in terms of negative user impact.
- my
Having worked for a wireless ISP using proprietary hardware encryption and DSSS, NON 802.11a/b/g/foo but still within the same frequency ranges maybe I can shed some light on the logistics of this sort of operation.
First you have a freznel zone to deal with in any line-of-sight connection. This is presuming you can maintain line-of-sight - through hilly/mountainous areas, valleys, or any other severe terrain you can forget about broadcast wireless. At least in that frequency range.
Ideally you can get a directional -> omni connection out to 5 miles or so un-amplified and maintain good speed. (About 2Mbit) This is during ideal conditions only. Once you add amplification you better get on the horn to the FCC, because you can bet your ass they'll want to talk to you. Especially if you are making money at it. (Here in the US anyways.)
Next you have to think about how your are going to get bandwidth to the locations which you want to serve, in a mesh, say of 5 omni's, you could probably serve 20-40 clients per omni at speeds close to ISDN. Keep in mind this is not a switched technology - a 54Mbit link is "shared" between users, if you can even get 54Mbit to the base.
Antenna and transceiver packages have a cost factor that scares many users off unless it's a dedicated connection to a high-speed link.
Here in Minneapolis there is an omni or twenty on the top of the IDS tower (The tallest building in Minneapolis, MN) - for the past few years a number of companies have purchased and re-sold these antennae and the associated services they are providing to local business and all have had the same problems. Packet loss, downtime, distance limitations, line-of-site issues.
Just because you can see it doesn't mean it will work perfectly - remember the freznel zone? Think of a football (the NFL type football, not soccer football.) between both antennae, anything that interferes with that "zone" affects greatly the speed and link quality. Here in MN, my Wireless PtP would go down in heavy snow. (Not that we've had what you could call heavy snow for a couple of years.. screw you east coast... ;-)
All of this is based on the assumption you don't have 2000 other devices in the same frequency range throwing all sorts of interference, or "noise" into your link keeping your SnR pretty low.
Wireless over distance is *truly* only useful in the PtP sense, it's just to difficult and unreliable for full-time consumer access. Wireless will never be that last-mile solution everyone wants - it's doomed to long-distance PtP in select areas, and T-Mobile hot-spots / public AP's.
Now to have the type of signal penetration a cell-tower or better - TV - AND to be able to deliver speeds of current WiFi would be a vast improvement, but currently even the US military realizes broadcast WiFi != good WiFi, but PtP WiFi == Great way to cover distance without the costs of laying cable.
Did you know backup communications for Camp David are PtP wireless links?
Same with large telco's, cable companies, etc. Anyone Sascatchewan residents out there? Wonder what those large towers with "cone" shaped antennae on top are?
Basically PtP is great for covering long, relatively flat (terrain wise) distances without a lot of installation cost.
WiFi broadcast style for the masses will never take off without the penetration of say cell/TV broadcast frequencies, even then I would be wary if connection stability is a requirement.
I have obviously left a lot of issues, like polarity and such, out of this post - that might get a bit wordy. I'd be interested in finding out what others who do work / have worked in this field think..
I'm suprised there's no mention of the Burton Amp Jacket with sleeve based controls for your iPod. mmm.. me like.. They only mention this goofy looking jacket. Looks like he's got a PCB up his sleeve by the outline of the control surface surrounding the buttons. Burton/Apple did a better job IMHO.
I happen to have a client who is a Producer/Distributor for local bands in the Minnesota, USA area.. His production costs per CD for volume (including audio engineering, packaging, jewel case and shrink-wrap) are significantly less than even the cheapest sold in stores..
I'm talking under $2/cd. Now I can't make a claim that production/printing/packaging/distribution costs are the same between a local shop, and say universal/emi or any of the other big 5, they are not - however in terms of pure production capacity, we should all know that as volume increases, costs decrease.
Where is the dramatic increase in price taking place?
In the sale of those CD to stores, the distribution throughout the retailers, and the EXTREME mark-up generously provided by your local "record" store..
Why dosn't something like "CD Warehouse" have huge store-front displays and nationwide TV advertising campaigns? Because they don't mark-up prices like your Virgin mega-stores, or Musiclands.
This mark-up can be verified by anyone who happens to work for a music store who is in charge of purchasing. I don't have any figures to throw at you, and it's been some time since I worked for a music retailer but that doesn't mean I don't remember why I left that job - watching CD's purchased for $8 being re-sold at $20 or more was a scam I was not going to stay a part of.
If the argument is "you are hurting the artists by not purchasing the music", I think everyone will agree that trying to force customers into sales is like kicking a dead horse and expecting a derby winner to respond. It's a dead horse people, find another horse and move on. Record execs can afford to pay their artists more by giving up their 6 figure bonuses, their houses around the world, and the sick amounts of money pumped into the glam factor for pop-tarts like Justin Timberpond, Britney Pickle-Spears, and any of the other glam-pop wanna-be rockers who are so effortlessly pedastled for the talents of their production crews, and quality of octave manipulation software.
I think we all know M$ is less secure due in part to the people who use it, however what no-one ever seems to mention is that the M$ Windows design is inherently insecure by default and can only get tighter from there? How many Windows admins do you know that comb through their internal security/group policies like some *nix guys do their firewall rules? very few if any.. I know guys who call themselves windows admins and don't even KNOW what the security policy settings are by default, or that they should change them. It's not a is linux secure question- yes it can be, given the proper factors. It's a why is m$ so insecure, and how does the methodolgy differ between windows and unix? Mutt will never execute arbitrary code and install backdoors because I viewed an e-mail laden w/ virii even if it were a linux virii.. The same cannot be said about 90% of outlook installations.