If you're not satisfied with the driving directions you get on Google Maps, a few smart guys at MIT have created an elaborate new toy called CarTel just for you. They've equipped a fleet of Boston-area cars with computers that automatically connect to any 802.11 access points detected in transit, then send home data recorded by their on board diagnostic systems, all in just a few hundred milliseconds. The result: a website that gives you directions based on information gathered in real-time so you can avoid high-traffic areas or say, if it's raining, roads which have historically been congested in adverse weather conditions -- no GPS required. The project also keeps a record of all access points detected, so think of it as wardriving for the good of humanity -- and you (probably) wouldn't even get arrested for participating!

[Via PhysOrg]

Oh my, the 5-0 won't like this one bit. Meet The Slurpr, a WiFi access point which aggregates up to six "available" (read: unprotected) 54Mbps WiFi channels into one bigazz, "free" connection. It's the latest invention by Dutch hacker, Mark Hoekstra and his new sidekick (or is it the other way around?) Boris. Of course, use of the Slurpr in its current incarnation will likely violate wardriving laws in at least few countries. So the inclusion of Mark's next feature -- 64/128-bit WEP-cracking -- could well land you in a Turkish prison. Still interested, Billy? Then head on over to Mark's site where you can pre-order the €999 / $1,347 box today.

[Via Bomega]

Even though it's pretty obvious that Anna Lopez's Cario concept notebook is only meant to be used while parked outside your local NeighborFi hotspot, there are enough idiots out there who would be surfing while driving (never an Engadget reader, of course) that we kind of hope the design lives and dies as a CAD file on Ms. Lopez's PC. Only slightly less dangerous than some of the in-car offices we've seen, the Cario seems to use its lid for support while the user types at a rather uncomfortable angle directly on the screen -- if ever a product screamed for a Bluetooth keyboard, it's this one right here. All in all not a bad idea for those unfortunate individuals who work out of their cars, and despite the fact that we already have a pretty snazzy in-dash PC, we're starting to regret the fact that we replaced our factory steering wheel with one of those tiny, Cario-incompatible chain link numbers. Fashion over function, ya know?

[Via jkOTR]

In yet another blow to freeloaders wardrivers nationwide, one of their most active participants was recently arrested and charged with theft of services after leeching off an unsecured network at Vancouver, WA's Brewed Awakenings coffee house for over three months. According to store employees, 20-year-old Internet enthusiast Alexander Eric Smith (actually the second Smith we've seen nailed for this crime) would regularly park his truck in the customer parking lot and tap into their signal, even though he reportedly had never actually been inside to buy anything -- which was apparently okay for three months, but suddenly turned into something one worker described as "borderline creepy." Hey Alex, it's called wardriving for a reason -- it's one thing to be cheap, but this is what you get for being lazy and not switching it up a bit.

[Via The Wireless Report]