i am glad to report that the gumstix (with a breakout-gs) dialed my cellphone through gm-862 module. i just connected the STUART of gumstix to the gm-862 module to create the hardware interface. the source code is available for your review and use.
(the code is available under the terms of GNU General Public License. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.)
if you want to try this code, you need to have a a gumstix computer, a gm-862 module and a cingular wireless simcard. of course, you must connect gumstix to the gm-862 module over ST UART. btw, you also need to specify a destination number in tux-phone.h file.
an important point to note: the hardware is not connected to any speaker or microphone or keypad or display. it just dials out to prove that the gumstix can communicate with the gprs module.

Kick Ass! I think I will wait until there is working code but this is cool...

http://www.sparkfun.com/ has the gm-862 modules and a host of other geek DIY stuff

The Open Source Cellphone

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PETA eat your hart out, this just seems like a bad idea...

GloFish

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WFMU's freeform blog... TONS of odd, cool, and fun music that you can download (legal) and posts are top notch.

crazy man crazy...

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I just got off the phone with a good friend of mine in the mobile IT business. He had a client today who had their account suspended without notification, after a call to Cox support he was told that the customer's account was disabled because of an 'open wireless access point.' After some further questions he found out that now have vans driving around in various customer areas throughout Orange County and San Diego.

Anyone else heard of this going on? What are the implications of this? Is Cox connecting to customer networks without their permission or just scanning to see for a AP without WEP? What are the chances of Cox turning off a customer that has an AP (without WEP) powered on but not connected to the net? What is the deal with not telling customers they have been turned off and still billing them?

Wow I found this on the Netstumubler's Website.... How do they know that just because you have a non WEP AP that you are letting others use your wireless... I know of a few ways to have an non-WEP AP and still control access (NOCatAuth w/Locked to MAC Address) Also this is proof that most people do not know what they are doing, RTFM your AUP. But does the every day 'Joe' (or Tom & Dick :) ) know really what security is?

But someone posted a good question...

Yup, which brings up a question.. and I know Wardriving is not illegal but there are some that will say it is, and we have seen cases where a wardriver crossed the line (read accessed) on a network but lets say the fed steps in and rules wardriving is illegal, would Cox then be in violation of the law?
Cops are not allowed to commit a crime to catch a crook in most cases, least not with out some judge signing off on the act.

But I agree that there should have been some warning mailed (and emailed) to the user giving them say 30 days to either secure the AP or turn it off.

However, if the AP was insecure, Cox could have tested it... aka "crossed the line" and see if they can get online and go out to the net.. if they could not, then the AP is no concern to them since it does not connect to their network.

I mean if I had an AP connected to a "HoneyPot" which would did not have access to the outside world, my ISP has no beef with me since the packets go from wifi user to AP to HoneyPot to \dev\null.

but if they "accessed" the AP, then aren't they commiting an illegal act of network intrusion?

So legal or not?

Cox Using Wardriving To Shut Down Customers?

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School have discovered that insulin and its receptors drop significantly in the brain during the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and that levels decline progressively as the disease becomes more severe, leading to further evidence that Alzheimer's is a new type of diabetes. They also found that acetylcholine deficiency, a hallmark of the disease, is linked directly to the loss of insulin and insulin-like growth factor function in the brain.

The study, published in the November issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (http://www.j-alz.com), is the first to look at insulin levels early in the course of the disease. The authors' previous work published earlier this year primarily focused on the late stages of Alzheimer's.

"Insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer's disease. And many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer's, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signaling. This demonstrates that the disease is most likely a neuroendocrine disorder, or another type of diabetes," says senior author Suzanne M. de la Monte, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and a professor of pathology at Brown Medical School in Providence, RI.

Evidence suggests Alzheimer's may be a type of diabetes

Nursing homes should consider the potential benefits of routinely giving over-the-counter painkillers to residents who have dementia and are likely to have from chronic pain, Saint Louis University research suggests.

The study, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, finds that nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia who were given acetaminophen were more socially active than those who received a placebo.

"Nursing homes may want to consider the potential benefits of some kind of safe, routine, prophylactic analgesic for people with dementia who are at high risk for pain," said John T. Chibnall, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and lead study author.

"The assumption is that people with dementia don't feel pain because they're demented. Actually, they do feel it; they just can't tell you about it. Standard pain assessment requires levels of communication and language comprehension that people with advanced dementia, by definition, do not have."

The Saint Louis University research team included Raymond C. Tait, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, and Bonnie Harman, Ph.D., assistant clinical professor of nursing. The team observed 25 patients who had moderate to severe dementia at two nursing homes over an eight-week period. In addition to receiving their usual psychotropic medications, they routinely were given acetaminophen for four weeks, and a placebo for four weeks.

Routine Tylenol for nursing home residents with dementia increases activity

Scientists at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have coaxed six atoms into spinning together in two opposite directions at the same time, a so-called Schrodinger “cat” state that obeys the unusual laws of quantum physics. The ambitious choreography could be useful in applications such as quantum computing and cryptography, as well as ultra-sensitive measurement techniques, all of which rely on exquisite control of nature’s smallest particles.

Physicists Coax Six Atoms into Quantum ‘Cat’ State

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA), widely used in products such as food cans, milk container linings, water pipes and even dental sealants, has now been found to disrupt important effects of estrogen in the developing brain.

A University of Cincinnati (UC) research team, headed by Scott Belcher, PhD, reports in two articles in the December 2005 edition of the journal Endocrinology that BPA shows negative effects in brain tissue "at surprisingly low doses."

The research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

"These new studies are also the first to show that estrogen's rapid signaling mechanisms are active in the developing and maturing brain in regions not thought to be involved with sexual differences or reproductive functions," Dr. Belcher said.

BPA has often been implicated in disease or developmental problems.

Long known to act as an artificial estrogen, the primary hormone involved in female sexual development, BPA has already been shown to increase breast cancer cell growth, and in the January 2005 edition of the journal Cancer Research, another UC research team reported that it increased the growth of some prostate cancer cells as well. Warnings about other possible long-term health risks associated with fetal exposures to BPA have also been discussed in recent scientific literature.

Chemical used in food containers disrupts brain development

Soccer-ball-shaped "buckyballs" are the most famous players on the nanoscale field, presenting tantalizing prospects of revolutionizing medicine and the computer industry. Since their discovery in 1985, engineers and scientists have been exploring the properties of these molecules for a wide range of applications and innovations.

But could these microscopic spheres represent a potential environmental hazard?

Computer simulation shows buckyballs deform DNA

Using tiny semiconductor crystals, biological probes and a laser, Johns Hopkins University engineers have developed a new method of finding specific sequences of DNA by making them light up beneath a microscope. The researchers, who say the technique will have important uses in medical research, demonstrated its potential in their lab by detecting a sample of DNA containing a mutation linked to ovarian cancer.

The Johns Hopkins team described the new DNA nanosensor in a paper published in the November 2005 issue of the journal Nature Materials.

"Conventional methods of finding and identifying samples of DNA are cumbersome and time-consuming," said Jeff Tza-Huei Wang, senior author of the paper and supervisor of the research team. "This new technique is ultrasensitive, quick and relatively simple. It can be used to look for a particular part of a DNA sequence, as well as for genetic defects and mutations."

The technique involves an unusual blend of organic and inorganic components. "We are the first to demonstrate the use of quantum dots as a DNA sensor," Wang said.

New Nanosensor Uses Quantum Dots to Detect DNA