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DARPA wants your ideas for a mobile ad hoc network, no internet please
Creating a mobile ad hoc network is tricky when rounding people up for a game or two, let alone when linking thousands of soldiers whose lives are at stake. DARPA has had enough trouble getting such large-scale networks off the ground that it just put out an official request for solutions. The agency wants ad hoc technology that grows both elegantly and automatically, and it's prepared to ditch legacies like internet-based networking to get there -- in fact, it would rather not rely on IP technology when 20 years of research in that area hasn't panned out. Anyone sitting on a brilliant solution has until May 24th to submit an abstract for consideration ahead of an August 7th symposium. We hope at least a few people answer the call, if just for the possibilities that breakthroughs spill over to civilian life -- DARPA helped build the networking we're using right now, after all.
Feeling Cingular, tired of the "tic tic tic" of GSM interference
GSM radio interference is sadly the cost of admission -- a price we pay, but wish we didn't have to -- to the GSM club. One Cingular subscriber suffered a blown speaker from the interference and without recourse for the damage has started a site to talk about it. We've never heard of any property damage from a blast of RFi (Radio Frequency interference) when held too close to a speaker, radio, or other equipment, rather it is like a warning that a call or message is coming in. We were debating if this effect was as strong on a GSM 1900 network, so if you have any thoughts, chime in. The feelingcingular.com site has a nice ringtone to download, featuring, you guessed it, RFi noise as the tone. So if you are a CDMA subscriber (Sprint, Verizon, and such) and wonder what all the fuss is about, grab at it and enjoy.[Thanks, Justin]
