Podcast conversation about mesh networking

Very interesting conversation podcast about mesh networking, the obstacles and the ways to circumvent them. Mentions the Open Garden project, a mesh networking utility for Android smartphones and for Windows and Mac laptops (support for iOS is coming). It’s a free app that turns your device into a mobile hot spot. No matter how you’re connected to the Net (Wi-Fi or cellular), it makes that connection shareable (over Bluetooth) to other Open Garden users. Likewise, if you’re running the product but don’t have a connection to the Net, and you’re near a user who does, this service seamlessly gets you online. The conversation describes the military’s application of mesh networking. I think we need the decentralization of connectivity that mesh networking offers. As during the “Arab spring”, governments can shut down the internet in its territory. Mesh networking will get round that. The sophistication of smartphones and other gadgets and the RF power available to consumers nowadays means that a decentralized network that can route around censorship will soon be a reality.

Compared to more centralized network architectures, the only way to shut down a mesh network is to shut down every single node in the network. Image from http://www.interference.cc

Mentions Open Garden, Tropos, plus technology such as utilities meters being part of a wireless mesh network so the meter reader doesn’t actually need physical access to read the meter.

E-cigs are good for you! And that’s official!

Okay okay, I admit the title of this post is a touch… kooky. But now I have your attention, here’s the real news about e-cigarettes. The British Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that vaping is not a gateway to tobacco use. The vast majority of e-cig users are smokers or ex-smokers.

There are currently no known adverse effects from vaping. And sexy people do it!! (pic from http://www.vapestick.co.uk)

A recent study by Columbia University claimed that e-cigs could act as a “gateway” not only to tobacco smoking but also to the use of illegal drugs! Nonsense, of course. The recent ONS report reveals that only 0.14% of non-smokers use e-cigarettes compared to 11.8% of smokers and 4.8% of ex-smokers in Great Britain. It says “e-cigarettes are used almost exclusively by smokers and ex-smokers.”

This follows the change in UK TV advertising rules that now allows ads to show people actually vaping. Anti-smoking bodies have claimed that e-cig use will “normalise” smoking. What a stupid argument. If anything “normalises” smoking, it is actual cigarette smoking, which by the way is not illegal no matter how loudly the anti-smokers howl. The only thing that vaping “normalises” is vaping. Which is not harmful, as the ONS report indicates. Just like the YouGov survey commissioned by the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) which found that “electronic cigarette use amongst never smokers
remains negligible. Less than 1 per cent of never smokers have ever tried electronic cigarettes
and virtually none continue to use them. Among former smokers, 11.8 per cent have tried
electronic cigarettes but only 4.7 per cent use them on a regular basis.”

It seems that e-cigs are not harmful, medically or socially. If a hitherto unknown danger is discovered, of course some kind of action will be taken by our legislation-happy government. But as things stand, everyone needs to lay off the vapers. All this crap about “normalisation of smoking” really pisses me off: when I asked Sainsburys why they have banned vaping in their stores, they said it was this “normalisation” business. Shoppers vaping on an e-cig pose no danger to other shoppers, vaping does not create an odour nor spread carcinogens. Shops and offices ban vaping simply because they don’t like the way it looks. This is the kind of prejudice we should be stamping out. Discrimination based on superficialities has no place in a civilised society.

Serpents

New Photo Blog: martintoppingimages.wordpress.com
Serpents.

Thank the Goddess I’m not a Palestinian – cos the Israeli “defence” forces are wiping them out!

First, a truly incomprehensible attack on innocent Jewish men, women and children, using the excuse there are a lot of Israelis “in danger” from “Palestine officials”.

Let’s examine the charges by Israeri concerning the “oh-so-dangerous Militants”:
Here’s the low-down on why Netenyahu is overseeing these brutality. The Israelis have state-of-the-art firearms, whereas the Palestinian community have virtually nothing left.

Sling vs helicopter gunships, automatic rifles, grenades, the rape of Palestinian women and children… how can any sane person see the Israeli response as proportional???

An example (thanks to the Guardian: after Palestinians allegedly killed in a terrorist attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, 2 PFLP suspects (note that word: suspects) killed “in retaliation by Israeli “security” forces. Netenyahu ordered the destruction of the homes of alleged suspects (no judicial oversight, no rule of law, Netenyahu decides these men did the attack, and not only killed the “suspects” but also ordered the demolishment of these so-called “suspects” homes. Was that proportionate action? Making families homeless, even though the people living there would have had no idea of what, if anything, the “suspects” may have been up to. This is not justice: it’s a bare-faced landgrab, designed to make Palestinian families homeless and leave the way clear for more Kibbutzin and other illegal “settlers”.

US leader Obama criticized the attack on the Synagogue, which killed four innocent people, including US citizens Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine, and Moshe Twersky, and injured several more. He said:

There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians.

“The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack and in other recent violence. At sensitive moment, it is all the more important for Israeli and Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence and seek a path forward towards peace.”

So you can see, Obama deplores the attacks on the Jews in Synagogue, but didn’t make any mention of the fact that the families of the alleged killers have had their homes demolished. Isn’t there something in American society about the right for private, family life? Oops, I nearly forgot: Any provisions in the US constitution only apply to US citizens. Palestinians being forcibly removed from their homes is okay as far as Uncle Sam is concerned. Plus Israel is an important ally of the USA’s. Whereas the USA, like Israel, consider Palestinians to be the enemy. Even the children are viewed as terrorists-in-waiting. It’d be funny, if you didn’t realize it was about actual living human beings. Fucking Netanyahu, fucking Obama.

This is a public service announcement… with wrecking balls!!!

Why oh why doesn’t someone put an end to the Israeli’s war on innocents and its seizure of Palestinian property? Can someone explain to me: let’s assume one of the “suspects” did something wrong. Surely the suspect should be arrested and face a fair trial. But no, the “suspects” are killed, or tortured, or similarly disappeared. And an entire family is made homeless. Is this right? I’d love to hear a rational argument from pro-Israeli figures on this subject.

The Israeli government is despicable. Collective punishment, ghettoization, arrest and murder of innocent people. That’s the kind of crap the Nazis got up to. And now the Israelis are up to it. Makes me feel disgustingly sick. I hate the authorities in Israel, and I hate the Western powers (eg USA, UK, France) who support them. Leave the Palestinians alone FFS! Even the Nazis didn’t keep up their war of terror for this long!

Mesh networking part 1

The internet is a fun and useful tool. But the infrastructure that makes the network possible is mostly owned by the big telecoms companies. At the end of the day, those companies can censor information, slow down traffic thgat they don’t like (notably peer-to-peer file-sharing) and it generally ass-hattery.

So what’s the best solution to this overly-centralized, over-business-oriented situation? MESH NETWORKING!

Instead of relying on third-party phone lines and the censorship/traffic shaping that can occur normally, mesh networking operates seeing every “node” (networked computer) via wi-fi technology. Next to no reason to use the multi-national corporations that try to brain-wash us. The nodes (computers) need to have wifi, and of course nodes have to be within spitting distance from each other. It seems a little weak now, relying on peers to keep the net working. But peer-to-peer does work, just ask anyone who’s involved in torrents. And the “infrastructure owners” can go screw themselves – cos we don’t need ’em!

I’m going to write a basic guide to mesh networking (not too in depth I’m afraid, I’m not geeky enough to get my head round it). But here we go anyway…

Motorola wireless mesh computer network node

You can see from the image above that we don’t all need to use our pcs as nodes. Motorola is developing a node that can be attached to a street light, resulting in internet connectivity even when you’re out and about… and I hope to the heavens that it is free (or at least very very cheap.

According to HowStuffWorks.com:

The biggest advantage of wireless mesh networks — as opposed to wired or fixed wireless networks — is that they are truly wireless. Most traditional “wireless” access points still need to be wired to the Internet to broadcast their signal. For large wireless networks, Ethernet cables need to be buried in ceilings and walls and throughout public areas.
In a wireless mesh network, only one node needs to be physically wired to a network connection like a DSL Internet modem. That one wired node then shares its Internet connection wirelessly with all other nodes in its vicinity. Those nodes then share the connection wirelessly with the nodes closest to them. The more nodes, the further the connection spreads, creating a wireless “cloud of connectivity” that can serve a small office or a city of millions.
Wireless mesh networks advantages include:
Using fewer wires means it costs less to set up a network, particularly for large areas of coverage.
The more nodes you install, the bigger and faster your wireless network becomes.
They rely on the same WiFi standards (802.11a, b and g) already in place for most wireless networks.
They are convenient where Ethernet wall connections are lacking — for instance, in outdoor concert venues, warehouses or transportation settings.
They are useful for Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) network configurations where wireless signals are intermittently blocked. For example, in an amusement park a Ferris wheel occasionally blocks the signal from a wireless access point. If there are dozens or hundreds of other nodes around, the mesh network will adjust to find a clear signal.
Mesh networks are “self configuring;” the network automatically incorporates a new node into the existing structure without needing any adjustments by a network administrator.
Mesh networks are “self healing,” since the network automatically finds the fastest and most reliable paths to send data, even if nodes are blocked or lose their signal.
Wireless mesh configurations allow local networks to run faster, because local packets don’t have to travel back to a central server.
Wireless mesh nodes are easy to install and uninstall, making the network extremely adaptable and expandable as more or less coverage is needed.

Cheaper, wider-reaching, automatic adjustment to find the best clearest signal, faster, easy to install and uninstall, making networking very flexible. Also, less chance of being spied on by NSA/GCHQ, who have made it very clear they can, and do, spy on just about every electronic net link made. If we’re not in the NSA/GCHQ loop, how can they surveil us? Well, they can still spy on us. But it is more difficult, especially if those security-minded bods around us employ encryption too.

COMING SOON: A more indepth look at mesh networking. This blog post is just an appetizer, or palate cleanser. Look out for the techy stuff, soon to come, which will hopefully answer any questions you may have. Watch this space!!!