NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: KEITH SHAW ON WIRELESS COMPUTING DEVICES 08/31/04 Today's focus: Mobile devices and the terrorism-alert culture
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Mobile computing in a suspicious world * Links related to Wireless Computing Devices * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Statscout Blanket Network Performance Monitoring Monitor your entire network every 60 seconds with minimal impact on the network. Businesses and organizations seeking detailed performance and troubleshooting reporting on networks of 1000 to 200,000 network interfaces in size will benefit substantially from using Statscout. Request your 30-day trial now, click here http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=78749 _______________________________________________________________ IS SECURITY RIPE FOR OUTSOURCING? Security demands for online applications such as e-commerce and Web services are prompting more corporate customers to hand off security functions - such as intrusion detection and firewalls - to outside service providers. Find out if security should be outsourced in this Network World article: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=78249 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Mobile devices and the terrorism-alert culture By Keith Shaw The other day I was alerted to a Weblog item about a guy who was using a free Wi-Fi connection outside a public library. A policeman approached the man, told him that he could only access the Internet from inside the building, and asked him to stop. Later, after he showed the policeman that his computer's wireless card was off, the guy was told to just use the computer somewhere else. Rather than get arrested, the writer complied. Go to <http://akma.disseminary.org/archives/001518.html> for the full tale. Not only was the story interesting, but also the comments from other users and readers raise the issue of how much our fears about terrorism and other public safety issues (the policeman said using the Wi-Fi connection outside the library was against a federal law) could possibly bump up against our mobile device culture. For example, whenever I travel now I usually have a bag full of different devices and accessories, ranging from a music player, cell phone, laptop, USB flash drives, Secure Digital cards, mobile mice, and all of the associated power cords. In the airport security line, I throw as much as possible into the laptop bag and then pray that when it goes through the x-ray machine, the security officials will get a good angle on all the different devices. I've been pulled out of line several times, and have had security officials go through and examine all of the different devices. To their credit, the officials have never asked me to explain what certain devices were, or to turn them on or off (is that a good or bad thing?), and have always been polite. So I'm not complaining about being singled out. Heck, if I saw a bunch of cabling and wrapped-up power cords on the x-ray machine, I'd want to get a closer look. That's just one example, but there are several others. Many places are banning the use of camera cell phones, for security and privacy reasons. We recently went to a free screening of a new movie (pre-release), and there were guys with metal detectors checking for video phones and other recording devices. The experience of our Wi-Fi-using blogger only highlights the current state of our paranoia. I have a feeling that the policeman didn't like what he saw, and he would use whatever reason he could think of to get the guy to move on. Any resistance on the part of the blogger would have likely resulted in a "disturbing the peace" arrest - sure, it would have probably gotten thrown out by a judge, but is that worth the inconvenience? Ask yourself that question, and you might be surprised by your answer. The next time you're traveling and you start taking photos with the mobile camera phone, or try to access the Internet from an odd location, ask yourself if someone might think that you're up to no good. For example, in the Las Vegas airport last year, I saw a couple of guys taking camera phone photos of the underground tram system that takes you from the main terminal out to the gates. Tourists or terrorists? Who's to decide? So let me know what you think - has your experience with any mobile device (cell phone, Wi-Fi access, etc.) ever caused you to get weird looks from law enforcement (or others)? Send any e-mail to <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Keith Shaw Keith Shaw is Senior Reviews Editor at Network World. In addition, he writes the " Cool Tools <http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/cooltools.html> " column, which looks at gizmos, gadgets and other mobile computing devices. You can reach Keith at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Statscout Blanket Network Performance Monitoring Monitor your entire network every 60 seconds with minimal impact on the network. Businesses and organizations seeking detailed performance and troubleshooting reporting on networks of 1000 to 200,000 network interfaces in size will benefit substantially from using Statscout. Request your 30-day trial now, click here http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=78749 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the Wireless Computing Devices (formerly Mobile Computing) newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/mobile/index.html _______________________________________________________________ Webcast - Successful Voice over IP installation Learn how to design, build and implement workable service-based VoIP infrastructures. Hear about the key drivers for a hosted approach to VoIP. And discover new systems and services that are required when implementing VoIP. Go now. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=78026 _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE WONDERING IF YOUR PAY IS UP TO SNUFF? Check out Network World's 2004 Salary Calculator to see if you're getting paid what you're worth. Using data collected in the 2004 Network World Salary Survey, we've programmed this calculator with several categories that could affect your pay. Answer the questions and find out what the average salary is for your job category. Click here: <http://www.nwfusion.com/salary/2004/calculator.html> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. 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