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EU trials continuous RFID monitoring in airports
If you thought toting an RFID-enabled passport was infringing on your so-called privacy, the European Union is going the extra mile to ensure you completely relinquish any remaining aspects of personal choice when you enter its airports. On a mission to "improve airport efficiency, security and passenger flow" (read: keep a constant eye on your every twitch), the EU is dropping €2 million ($2.5 million) on the Optag project, which allow airports to toss a newly-developed RFID tag around the necks of all incoming passengers. The tags, crafted by University College London's antennas and radar group, have an unusually long range -- "about 10 to 20 meters" -- and can pinpoint the location of whomever is donning them to "within one meter." Developed to ensure "a quicker stream of airport traffic," the chips are continuously monitored for deviant or suspicious behavior, and a network of "high definition cameras" (1080p?) are in place to track your every move. For those of you traveling through Hungary's Debrecen Airport, you should probably arrive prepared to rock a newfangled necklace for the duration of your stay, but try not to let that constant reminder of Big Brother's omnipotence get you down.
Apple issues support doc for wonky AirPort performance on Intel Macs
Sketchy AirPort performance has been bugging me for weeks, probably over a month now, and I've been going through all forms of troubleshooting with my AirPort Express trying to squash the issue, but to no avail. My MacBook and iMac drop their Wi-Fi connection seemingly at random, sometimes right in the middle of Unreal online, and never regain it unless I manually re-select the network. I've been following the typical methods of changing channels on the APE, reducing range and using Interference Robustness - but it's all been for naught.Now, Apple has released a support document that might provide a solution for those like me who are experiencing less-than-stellar AirPort reliability and connectivity with their Intel Macs. The document specifies that these issues are related to the use of WPA2 and upgrading to 10.4.8, and I can't offer any feedback just yet as to whether my problem has been solved, but this doc is at least a step in a troubleshooting direction other than 'pull out more hair.' Feel free to share your experiences and any solutions in the comments.[via HardMac]
Airport Extreme cards experience price drop
I haven't purchased one of these cards in a while, but I'm pretty sure that reader Robert is accurate with this tip. It seems that Airport Extreme cards have experienced a bit of a price drop. They're currently going for $49US in the US online Apple Store (I believe they were previously $69US or $79US...help me out here, TUAWers) and £30 (down from £49) in the UK. If you've been waiting to pick one of these up, now looks like a good time.Thanks, Robert!
Gone in 60 seconds: MacBook security flaw exposed
A couple of friendly neighborhood hackers, Jon "Johnny Cache" Ellch and David Maynor have come up with a hack they claim takes 60 seconds and opens up any MacBook completely to their whims over a wireless connection. Supposedly the flaw, which they don't actually specify, is due to some faults in the device drivers which allow the wireless card to communicated with the OS. The flaw isn't unique to the MacBook, a few PC laptops have a similar vulnerability, but the pair of hackers have decided to pick on the MacBook due to the "Mac user base aura of smugness on security." So the next time Justin Long starts on that "Hello, I'm a Mac" shtick, you can always let him know of a certain 60 second vulnerability and change the channel before he gets too smarmy.
Enjoying OTA HDTV broadcasts? Not if you live by an airport
In a report that may get more frequent as we move towards all-digital broadcasting, Nashua Telegraph writer Joe Konopka complains about aircraft knocking out his HDTV signal momentarily every night. Sure it was annoying after the nearby airport was built and sound pollution and radio interference affected his ability to get a good night's sleep or listen to the radio. But now that he's purchased a high definition television with a built in OTA tuner, losing picture during a tense moment of 24 is the simply unacceptable. Unfortunately, now that the airport is built he doesn't have much ability to change things and laments not joining forces with an environmentalist friend to get plans changed while the airport was still being built.Ouch. Any HD Beat readers dealt with a similar issue and have suggestions? (Other than switching to cable or satellite.)
Happy birthday, Airport
Ok, so we're a day late, but seven years ago yesterday Apple introduced their fabulous Airport technology. Check out the press release (Apple worked with Lucent on the Airport technology) and this article in CNN describing both the new Airport technology and the iBook, 'the first computer designed for wireless networking from the start.'My how time flies.Here's my question: when did you first setup a wireless network in your home? Winter 2001 is when my apartment had wireless for the very first time.[via Scripting News]
Mac & Nintendo: So happy together
While this guide is fairly old, we're sure some of you Mac lovers, especially the recently converted, could get some use out of it. If you're unable to utilize the wondrous ease of wireless routing, you can easily acquire an adapter to bridge your PC's connection, but what about Mac users? How are they to get online with their DS and throw some blocks around in Tetris?This guide, which shows you how to turn your Airport into an access point for your DS, is very informative and, while we cannot attest to how easy the guide is to follow (we own PCs), we're sure you Apple fans will get it in no time. I mean, you guys are smarter than us, right?[Via 4cr]
How to share your Mac's internet connection with your Xbox
If, like me, you have your Xbox 360 placed near your wifi-enabled computer, but away from your wireless router or modem, then you'll want to take advantage of the Xbox's ability to "borrow" your computer's internet connection. For Windows users, this process is simple; it's just a matter of "bridging" your computer's wifi connection to your PC's ethernet port which is plugged into your Xbox. For Mac users, the process ain't so easy. What follows is a guide for getting your Xbox 360 to accept Mac OS X's internet sharing option.
Improving your AirPort reception, MacGeekery How-To
MacGeekry has just published a truly epic post discussing best practices for maintaining a strong and relatively interference free AirPort Network. The article, full of pretty graphs and shiny charts, explains how to use three free programs to check your network for issues, and how to fix any issues you might find. Although intended for owners of AirPort base stations, I imagine much of the information in the article applies globally for all wireless routers and access points. I haven't tried any of the suggestions yet, as I'm not at home, but I'd be interested to hear from you readers if this stuff really works.
Airfoil v2.0.3 adds changing sources on the fly, menubar preference, more
Airfoil, the handy application for sending any audio to an AirPort Express, has been updated to version 2.0.3 for Mac OS X (remember, it's also available for Windows now). This new version adds the ability to swap audio sources on the fly, as well as a menubar option if you'd rather the app not take up dock space.Airfoil is a Universal Binary with a demo available (that overlays noise after 10 minutes until you register), while a license from Rogue Amoeba costs $25.
Airports vending GBA, PSP portables
I took a 9:30 a.m. EST flight out of Atlanta this morning, en route to Los Angeles, and on the way to gate A17 I happened upon the latest in vending machine technology: the Zoom Shop. Using the touch screen to the right, one can purchase (with an accepted credit card) any number of little gadgets to enjoy on the flight: all styles of iPod and associated accessories, along with some gaming goodies care of a Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP ($79.99) and Sony PSP ($249.99). A convenience for sure, but there weren't any games to buy -- what a tease!
Apple's special deals section filled to brim, hemmoraging iPods
While I was pondering whether the introduction of Remote Desktop 3 was worthy of shutting down the Apple Store this morning, C.K. pointed out that Apple also updated their Special Deals section. A lot. I can't remember the last time I've had to scroll this much on a page in the Apple Store. It looks like they have refurbished items from almost every one of their products except the MacBook Pro, but they're highlighting the iPod mini with their Special Deals graphic (pictured) almost as if to say "go on iPod mini. 'Git!"I'd try linking Apple's Special Deals section, but I know that always gets wonky. Plus, the tips I've found like Ars Technica's don't cover linking a section, so all you get is a link to the Apple Store. You're on your own for the rest of the way.
Apple Special Event - Feb 22nd - Airport Video?
We've known Apple's planning a special media event for a week or so, but didn't know the precise date or what would be announced. On Flickr today, someone has posted up what claims to be an image used on the event invitation. It is quite clearly an Airport Express Base Station. Might this be the long-rumored update to the Airport Express to allow streaming video?Thanks to everyone who submitted this tip.Update: TUAW has no confirmation whatsoever that: 1) anything will be announced or released on Feb. 22nd, 2) that it will be an Airport Express, iPod, mystery-doodad, or 3) anything Apple-related at all will happen on Feb. 22nd. This link and date were submitted as a tip and is treated as a rumor. This post is even clearly classified in the rumor category. TUAW is not responsible for your level of disappointment or inability to reconcile reality with your expectations. Have a nice day.
Extend your wireless range to 1 mile
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you're a mooch. You don't want to get yourself a wireless set up, and your buddy has agreed to let you hitchhike on his signal. The problem is, he lives two blocks away. No problem, you just need the 27 dBm Transceiver from QuickerTek. When affixed to your 17-inch iMac G5 1.8GHz, the transceiver extends your airport range to 1 mile. Now you can easily see your friend's signal...as well as every other setup between his house and yours. The 27dBm is Wi-Fi compliant, it supports both 802.11g and 802.11b and works with both Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS 10.x. Of course, for $200US, you could just buy your own base station, but how are you supposed to snoop on your neighbors with that?
Airport Express & Extreme Firmware Updates
Well, Apple and their engineers do seem to have been reading the endless posts on their support forums about dropping Airport Express audio streams and other issues. Tonight, they've released two firmware updates--one for the Express (v6.3) and one for the Extreme (v5.7)--that claim to address this and other issues.I've updated the base stations in my WDS network and the only issue I was having--dropped streaming audio--hasn't recurred, so tentatively, I'll say it's been a successful update.Good thing too, since if I can't even stream audio properly, I don't know how I'd ever be able to stream video (HD?) to an Airport device, as may be possible in a little less than a week.
