My roommate writes that 2.4Ghz Interference Sucks, in response to Slashdot's story on interference from RF Lighting, regarding an paper that began circulating back in September. Never trust anything on Slashdot to be timely...

My experience is that, since relocating the access point about 18 inches from the phone's base station, call quality in the common areas and my bedroom is generally fine. The exception is when a WiFi device is close to the handset and actively transmitting. A little distance helps a bunch.

I'm looking forward to WiFi5 taking off. The 2.4GHz band is overcrowded with cheap audio/video broadcasting equipment, crappy X-10 cameras, cordless phones, WiFi, and eventually Bluetooth. The 5GHz band was made available solely for networking, and provides much faster speeds. 802.11a gear is already cheap, the only thing missing is a Compact Flash version and a ton of hype.

With a little luck, classic WiFi will be dead in two years.

7:47:38 PM | Comments:

Slashdot: How IBM (and Open Source) Won eBay. A commentor points out that IIS was a fine solution, eBay obviously understood what it takes to scale IIS applications to millions of visitors. There have been high-profile crashes, but those were on the back-end, run by Sun E10000s.

7:23:30 PM | Comments:

Infoworld: Akamai, IBM team up for edge computing. I was almost right.

6:56:07 PM | Comments:

Gregor: Herman Miller Red shuts down, HM will concentrate on large businesses.

I love my Aeron chair, wouldn't trade it for anything. I don't understand how the Aeron became a poster-child of "Dot Com Excess." I purchased mine from a discounter for $650 shipped. The task chairs I've had in every job except while in Germany, ordinary ones that allow their forward/backward motion range to be locked (it's tough to find that feature in consumer models), typically cost $500 without arms.

Even at the present price of $800 from discounters, the Aeron offers incredible value and comfort for very little extra money.

6:52:56 PM | Comments:

infoSync: Toshiba to relase i-mode phone in Europe

6:35:26 PM | Comments:

Frank McPherson has information on other Pocket PC sniffers today.

6:34:47 PM | Comments:

Zaurus News

Socket and Symbol cards now have basic support on the Zaurus. No WEP, no integration with Sharp's GUI tools. See the thread on ZaurusZone and the thread on Sharp's Developer2Developer BBS for important information. Get the driver here, check ZaurusZone's software feed for updates.

Hancom Office is available for SL-5000D owners.

6:30:32 PM | Comments:

via Pocket PC Wire: SyncExpress 2002 allows ActiveSync to work with Outlook Express.

4:30:22 PM | Comments:

Infosync: Toshiba e740 confirmed. Toshiba is positioning themselves to become a serious player in the PDA market.

12:01:02 PM | Comments:

Infosync: Are handheld PCs dead?

I like the H/PC design, but the current models are huge and expensive. The HP Jornada 720 is 7.44" x 3.74" x 1.34", weighing in at 1.1lbs. NEC's MobilePro 790 tips the scale at a whopping 1.8lbs, measuring 9.6" x 5.2" x 1.1". Either will set you back around $1000.

Contrast this with Sony's C1 Picturebook: 9.9" x 6.0" x 1.2", 2.2lbs, $1800.

12:00:44 PM | Comments:

Infoworld: Wi-Fi5 testing will begin soon.

11:08:11 AM | Comments:

PDA Skins has some neat PDA cases, I especially like the "Horizontal PDA/Organizer Phone Case." If it were just a hair larger, big enough to hold a Zaurus with WiFi card installed, it would be perfect...

12:34:23 AM | Comments:

Infoworld: Intel unveils 10-Gigabit Ethernet, dual-mode wireless access point, and inexpensive GigE for the desktop.

12:14:03 AM | Comments: