Category: Networking

Here we go again…

Wi-Fi Acacia’s next patent target | CNET News.com
Acacia, a representation of all that is wrong with our patent system, having successfully extorted companies using streaming technologies has turned to companies using WiFi, attempting to enforce another patent that they apparently have purchased.
I heard a while ago that they Acacia was short on money. Hopefully a couple of high-profile legal battles will drain them and we can sing good night Acacia, good night (until they sell their patent portfolio to another company willing to sue sue sue).

Hacks for the Linksys WRT54G wireless router

Portless Networks
The other day I put this hacked firmware on a spare router. It was fun to look at the additional capabilities that are offered (such as SSH) but what I would really like to do is be able to modify one of these and put a very light weight streaming server on it. Unfortunately, you need a solid Linux box setup (I have to get to work on that one) to build a new firmware image.

Oh yeah, what is MORE interesting (to me at least) is that Linksys has made available the firmware for their wireless cameras as well (also Linux based). Looking through the firmware image for the WVC11B I was able to confirm my suspicion that in fact they do not offer a true MPEG-4 solution, rather it appears as though they *may* be using an MPEG-4 codec but wrapping it in an ASF file (hence the reason you need the stoooopid active x control to view the stream).

In any case, it is one of my missions to hack a true MPEG-4 solution onto one of these. How cool would that be!

Google goes SMS

Google SMS
From the site:
Google SMS (Short Message Service) enables you to easily get precise answers to specialized queries from your mobile phone or device. Send your query as a text message and get phone book listings, dictionary definitions, product prices and more. Just text. No links. No web pages. Simply the answers you’re looking to find.

Open Source “Legitimate” Peer to Peer Tech

LionShare: Home Page
From the site:
The LionShare P2P project is an innovative effort to facilitate legitimate file-sharing among individuals and educational institutions around the world. By using Peer to Peer (P2P) technology and incorporating features such as authentication, directory servers, and owner controlled sharing of files, LionShare promises secure file-sharing capabilities for the easy exchange of image collections, video archives, large data collections, and other types of academic information. In addition to authenticated file-sharing capabilities, the developing LionShare technology will also provide users with resources for organizing, storing, and retrieving digital files.