Free Republic

Diane Schou, who left her home in Iowa to live in West Virginia, said she used to live in a Faraday Cage prior to finding shelter in Green BankThere have been attempts in the not-so-distant past where citizens strapped on their tin foil hats and complained of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), which is an illness typically caused by electromagnetic fields created by mobile devices and Wi-Fi. Earlier this year, for instance, some San Francisco, California residents pushed legislators to force cell phone sellers to display labels providing the amount of electromagnetic radiation their devices produce. This law was shelved in May...

I love a good hack, especially one that requires me to throw back a cold one before hand (or during). This simple wifi boost has actually been shown to increase signal strength by at least 2 to 4 bars. And, well, I will drink to that. These instructions came to me via The Chive and i think they are most definitely worth checking out. But here is the most important question: what kind of beer will you use? For this project you are going to need scissors, a utility knife, some adhesive putty and an empty beer can. More than...

Is your network safe? Almost all of us prefer the convenience of Wi-Fi over the hassle of a wired connection. But what does that mean for security? Our tests tell the whole story. We go from password cracking on the desktop to hacking in the cloud.We hear about security breaches with such increasing frequency that it's easy to assume the security world is losing its battle to protect our privacy. The idea that our information is safe is what enables so many online products and services; without it, life online would be so very different than it is today. And...

When you log on to a Wi-Fi network with a laptop computer, how much info about yourself do you reveal? I don't mean what you reveal to a cracker/hacker but to, say, the network administrator. I'm not asking about porn or anything illegal but normal net surfing. I ask because of the proliferation of Wi-Fi hotspots. Some local government entities, like schools, can have unsecured access, you just log on.

Minnesota hacker Barry Ardolf was sentenced to an 18-year term in a federal prison this Tuesday. Ardolf had terrorized a neighboring family for two years through a carefully planned campaign involving a hijacked Wi-Fi network to harass, frame and embarrass the next-door neighbors in every facet of their lives. Ardolf’s obsessive passive-aggression was apparently ignited in late 2008 when his neighbors, Matt and Bethany Kostolnik, filed a police report against him. The Kostolniks had a 4-year old son who wandered over to their next-door-neighbors property shortly after moving into the Minnesota suburb of Blaine. Ardolf, 46 and a father of...

A federal judge ruled that Google can be sued for wiretapping after sniffing open Wi-Fi in Wi-Spy privacy lawsuit about wardriving Street View vehicles.Looks like Google Street View cars may have been "officially" riding dirty and Google may get slapped hard for its Wi-Spy fiasco. A federal judge did not dismiss the case against Google; instead in the first such decision of its kind, the judge ruled that sniffing open Wi-Fi packets might violate the Federal Wiretap Act. Remember when intelligence gathering ability was allegedly "going dark" due to the masses moving to VoIP like Skype and the feds had...

A new interface lets you keep your phone in your pocket and use apps or answer calls by tapping your hand. Over time, using your smart-phone touch screen becomes second nature, to the point where you can even do some tasks without looking. Researchers in Germany are now working on a system that would let you perform such actions without even holding the phone—instead you'd tap your palm, and the movements would be interpreted by an "imaginary phone" system that would relay the request to your actual phone. The concept relies on a depth-sensitive camera to pick up the tapping...

Google, Apple also gather location data via computers: report SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Google Inc. and Apple Inc. also collect location data from computers, according to new reports in the U.S. media Tuesday amid privacy concerns over the technology giants tracking mobile phone users. The two companies obtained the information after a computer scans the area around itself for available Wi-Fi wireless networks, typically after users give a website permission to determine the computer's approximate location, The Wall Street Journal said in a report on its website. Google is believed to gather the location data through software in...

You know where this is going. They got the wrong guy. Someone else had used Covert’s wireless connection to download child porn. Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. It sure is. I can certainly think of some lessons we might draw. One might be: Maybe the cops should check to see if a suspect’s wireless network is secure, and therefore that they have the right guy, before they break into his home and point their guns at his head. Another lesson: Maybe it’s not such a good idea to send the SWAT team after someone suspected...

A new, ultra-fast wireless Internet network is threatening to overpower GPS signals across the U.S. and interfere with everything from airplanes to police cars to consumer navigation devices. The problem stems from a recent government decision to let a Virginia company called LightSquared build a nationwide broadband network using airwaves next to those used for GPS. Manufacturers of GPS equipment warn that strong signals from the planned network could jam existing navigation systems. A technical fix could be expensive — billions of dollars by one estimate — and there's no agreement on who should pay. Government officials pledge to block...

Cell phone carriers have a secret: Although they sell us data plans on their 3G or 4G networks, the idea of us actually using data brings them out in a cold sweat. Put simply, they're struggling to find the bandwidth to cope. There are forecasts that in 2012 cellular data requirements will reach 4.56 million terabytes--double that of this year. It's down to networks designed for low-bandwidth voice calls. Some data provision was allowed in the original plans but the recent explosion in consumer smartphones was a bolt from the blue. Whereas mobile users were once happy to visit low-bandwidth...

In what amounts to the next initiative undertaken by the Obama Administration towards its ever-expanding program of government expansion and nationalization of various aspects of the lives of the American people (such as the government takeover of health care, intervention in banks, and the nationalization of various automobile companies, such as General Motors), the federal government is now embarking upon a program of government-directed wireless internet (Wi-Fi) delivery.

Carlson Wireless and the Yurok Tribe hope to begin testing a new kind of Wi-Fi technology this week, bringing connectivity to a rural area where traditional Wi-Fi has difficulty operating. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted the Arcata-based Carlson Wireless an experimental license to operate its RuralConnect IP, a TV white-space band device that extends broadband service further than traditional Wi-Fi signals. The device uses a low frequency to transmit to locations within deep valleys or areas blocked by trees, according to the company. ”The reuse of this spectrum is a part of a much bigger rural broadband initiative,”...

Radiation from Wi-Fi networks is harmful to trees, causing significant variations in growth, as well as bleeding and fissures in the bark, according to a recent study in the Netherlands. Radiation from Wi-Fi networks is harmful to trees, causing significant variations in growth, as well as bleeding and fissures in the bark, according to a recent study in the Netherlands. All deciduous trees in the Western world are affected, according to the study by Wageningen University. The city of Alphen aan den Rijn ordered the study five years ago after officials found unexplained abnormalities on trees that couldn't be ascribed...

The long-awaited ability to use a cellphone or Wi-Fi connection on an aircraft might become a casualty of the latest aviation security threat. It was revealed on 29 October that parcels containing a powdered explosive packed in laser printer cartridges had travelled undetected on aircraft to the UK and to Dubai in the UAE. A cellphone connected to a detonation circuit could have allowed a terrorist to trigger an explosion by calling or texting the phone. This comes as the aviation industry is gearing up to provide broadband in-flight entertainment systems that feature both cellphone and Wi-Fi connections for passengers....

Chances are you don't leave your front door unlocked. And you shouldn't leave your Wi-Fi network unsecured either. Many of you may have heard this before, but many still seem to not be doing anything about it. You should. Here's why. With a $50 wireless antenna and the right software a criminal hacker located outside your building as far as a mile away can capture passwords, e-mail messages, and any other data being transmitted over your network, and even decrypt data that is supposedly protected.

I didn't get t-mobile's data plan. I was wondering if a wifi microsd card would work with the slot. I want it connected to my workplace network. thanks

How amazing would it be if you could walk into McTaco King and order that mid-morning bacon taco meal with Mountain Dew Big Gulp from your mobile device?  Just imagine… as you approach the restaurant, a menu pops up on your screen, the phone makes suggestions and helps you super-size your order, before you even set foot in the restaurant!Is there anything the IPad won't do? This advertiser’s wet dream is about to become reality, thanks to WPS (Wi-Fi Positioning System) infrastructure pioneered by CIA front company Skyhook (formerly Quarterscope) and currently being implemented by several other intelligence-connected companies, including...

Scientists have told us for years that Wi-Fi is safe. But concerned parents can be tough nuts to crack. Despite years of research and public education, some parents in Canada are blaming their children's illnesses on the wireless Internet routers installed in their schools, and they're calling for the setups to be removed.

A group of central Ontario parents is demanding their children's schools turn off wireless internet before they head back to school next month, fearing the technology is making the kids sick. Some parents in the Barrie, Ont., area say their children are showing a host of symptoms, ranging from headaches to dizziness and nausea and even racing heart rates. They believe the Wi-Fi setup in their kids' elementary schools may be the problem. The parents complain they can't get the Simcoe County school board or anyone else to take their concerns seriously, even though the children's symptoms all disappear on...