Wireless

(Some stuff that interests me at the moment.) "The Internet has been a sandbox for innovative applications. Will mobile communications have the same opportunity, or will commercial self-interest ('walled gardens', spectrum limits, DRM, etc) prevent it?" :

Open spectrum, and the wireless commons : After reading David Weinberger's FAQ, the best site to visit for original resources is Dave Reed's. The manifesto is at wirelesscommons.org. [Books : I recommend "Smart Mobs" by Howard Rheingold, which covers several themes on this page. And "The Future of Ideas" by Lawrence Lessig]

"Stupid" networks and the end-to-end argument : The network should not choose how it is used. Control (or intelligence) is placed at the "end" (with the user), rather than in the centre, and this enables more innovation. The Internet was designed this way, before "Quality of Service" (QoS)

First described by Dave Reed et al, there are some interesting Papers and Thoughts on his site, including "The end of end-to-end?". The famous "Rise of the Stupid Network" article was written by David Isenberg, and the proposed impact on telco business is laid out in netparadox.com

Software Defined Radio [SDR] : is an example of an intelligent end user device. [SDR Forum, and Vanu Inc]

Wireless Networking : "Disruptive" wireless technologies got a lot of press in 2003 (v's cellular radio) because of price, performance and flexibility; but the first "Next Big Thing" article for Wi-Fi was back in Mar-01

[NEWS : "Wi-Fi Networking News"; "802.11 Planet"; wireless.com. RESOURCES : Wi-Fi Alliance; IEEE 802; Radiocommunications Agency]. FAQ for setting up a network at consume.net and some tools at landmap.co.uk]

Wi-Fi networks in Bristol, UK : Node locations at Intel, Wi-FiHotSpotList.com and WiFinder.com. Also bristolwireless.net and Node DB for local projects. And WiFiMaps.com for a web-based map of data collected by wardrivers (USA)

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Other : Clay Shirky; Geoffrey Phillips; NTK