Wireless Worries

Just got a Tungsten T3. Picked it up on eBay last week for $130. Came with a hard case and a Wi-Fi SD Cartridge.

I tested the wi-fi cartridge while walking around the block. The results left me horrified. Not because of the hardware – that worked beautifully. What bothered me was now many wireless routers were broadcasting in the clear with no security at all.

Only about one-third of the routers that I saw had security of any kind. Of the remainder, about half did not even change the default settings.

Now all that I was doing was looking for networks. I was not trying to use them for anything – and even if I had, the only thing that I would be doing would be e-mail, which is pretty harmless.

The next dude in the area might have less benign intent.

Anti-fraud bill killed by… the movie business?

Yep…

An California anti-pretexting bill that would have made it illegal to misrepresent yourself in order to obtain information, was killed by action form the MPAA – the movie business’ lobbying group.

Why? Because they want to give themselves the right to sneak into your computer in their search for illegal downloads, and this bill would make it more difficult for them to do so.

 Who gave these clowns the right to decide what becomes law and what doesn’t?