Wi-fi gps? / Spyware / Sidewindow

Posted on July 15, 2005 No Comments

Here’s an interesting article on using Wi-fi for location services. In other words, you could use a laptop with a wireless card to figure out where you are. From the article:

The way it works is that the company has compiled a database of every wireless access point in a given a city. It did this by having people literally drive the streets “listening” for 802.11 signals. Using the unique identifier of the wireless router, it notes in the database where the access point is located.

When a mobile user running the Skyhook client pops up in a neighborhood, the software scans for access points. It then calculates a user’s location by selecting several signals and comparing them to the reference database. The more densely populated the area is with Wi-Fi signals, the more accurate the software is at locating the device.

So suppose a bunch of folks all replace their wi-fi access points? But then again, how often does that really happen? And heck, even in my suburban neighborhood I bet I can see 5 access points from my office. If one gets changed, so what? Presumably their software would pick up the new one and send it “home” with info correlating it to the known-good access points. Presumably.

Now check out the Pew Internet Spyware Report.

Spyware and the threat of unwanted programs being secretly loaded onto computers are becoming serious threats online.

Gosh! You think?!? Sarcasm aside, an interesting read.

Something for the Pocket PC fans - check out Sidewindow! Want to use that cradeled PPC for more than just an animated paper weight? This is pretty cool looking. I figure I’ll download the free trial soon and give it a go. Essentially, your PC sees the pocket pc as another monitor and extends the desktop to it. I’m sure this’ll be really cool once I think of what I’d actually slide over there…. MP3 player maybe? I dunno, but it has a high geek factor.