Twitter is now “out of this world.” On May 12, 2009, one of the space shuttle astronauts sent the first tweet from space:
From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!
Mike Massimino had been twittering for about a month about his [...]
Archive for the ‘Wireless Communications’ Category
Tweets from Outer Space
Posted in Blogs/RSS, Trends, Wireless Communications on August 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Internet Access Via Light Bulbs
Posted in Research, Security, Wireless Communications on November 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of New Mexico are researching the feasibility of using light and light bulbs as access points for Internet/network access using a 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation. The idea would be to use LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) to both create light and be the basis for optical [...]
Cell Phones Looking for Best Connection?
Posted in Handhelds, Legal Issues, Telecommunications, Wireless Communications on November 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Last year, Google submitted a patent that was just published in September. Here’s the abstract:
A method of initiating a telecommunication session for a communication device include submitting to one or more telecommunication carriers a proposal for a telecommunication session, receiving from at least one of the one or more of telecommunication carriers a bid to [...]
Chairs Following You in the Library
Posted in Fun, Hardware, Wireless Communications on November 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Yes — a designer created a chair for the Openbare Bibliotheek Endhoven which follows you around. It uses RFID and when a patron scans the card to the chair, the chair will follow, allowing the patron to sit down anywhere in the library. Personally, I see a lot of issues with this, but . . . [...]
Webinars from MaintainIT Cookbooks
Posted in Continuing Education, Security, Standards, Wireless Communications on April 17, 2008 | 1 Comment »
If you haven’t yet seen the two cookbooks put out by MaintainIT, you should take a look. In addition to these resources, they have started a series of free, monthly, 30-minute webinars on topics pulled from the cookbooks.
The first was today, April 16th — Notes from a Laptop Circulation Program. It is archived, so you [...]
Security Precautions for Wireless on Laptops
Posted in Hardware, Security, Wireless Communications on March 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Excellent article on the things to consider while traveling with your laptop:
If you don’t have time to read it, here are the high points:
Keep it with you at all times
Use a cable lock if you have to leave it out – lock it to something permanent, not a table leg [...]
RFID in US Libraries
Posted in Catalogs, Security, Standards, Wireless Communications on March 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
NISO has published a best practices document surrounding the implementation and maintenance of RFID use in US libraries (RP-6-2008). The recommendations include:
RFID tags should comply with the ALA/BISG Resolution on RFID Technology and Privacy Principles
Use 13.56 MHz High Frequency tags
Use passive tags, not active
Read range should not be substantially increased
Tags should use standardized AFI feature
AFI [...]
Google’s Android
Posted in Handhelds, Telecommunications, Wireless Communications on March 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Google has created an open source environment for mobile phones — Android. Unlike the phone software currently in use, this software would be free for phone manufacturers and allow users more flexibility in loading the applications they want. Android includes:
Operating system based on Linux
Browser
Media support
GSM telephony
Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, WiFi
Camera, GPS, compass
Development environment
There are other features, [...]
WiFi Detector Shirt
Posted in Fun, Wireless Communications on January 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This has been out for a while, but in case you missed it, here’s a shirt that shows you the strength of the nearest wifi connection — the WiFi Detector Shirt.
The animation on the shirt is removable and shows the signal strength for both 802.11b and 802.11g.
Wireless Policy Checklist
Posted in Legal Issues, Security, Wireless Communications on January 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
MaintainIT posted a checklist for wireless policies, courtesy of Louise Alcorn. In an earlier post, she states:
Policy is a good issue, though I think some libraries over-policy the wireless. If you have a good library computer/internet use policy and a good library conduct policy, you are largely covered. You need some wording changes for [...]
