Wi-Fi Toys: 15 Cool Wireless Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment

409 Pages·2004·11.925 MB·English

by  Mike Outmesguine

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Wi-Fi Toys
15 Cool Wireless Projects
for Home, Office,
and Entertainment
Mike Outmesguine
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Wi-Fi Toys:15 Cool Wireless Projects for Home,Office,and Entertainment
Published by
Wiley Publishing,Inc.
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Indianapolis,IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing,Inc.,Indianapolis,Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
eISBN:0-7645-7683-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Credits
Senior Acquisitions Editor Vice President and Executive Group
Sharon Cox Publisher
Richard Swadley
Executive Editor
Chris Webb Vice President and Executive Publisher
Bob Ipsen
Development Editors
Scott Amerman Vice President and Publisher
Brian MacDonald Joseph B.Wikert
Production Editor Executive Editorial Director
Gabrielle Nabi Mary Bednarek
Copy Editor Project Coordinator
TechBooks Erin Smith
Editorial Manager Proofreading and Indexing
Kathryn A.Malm TechBooks Production Services
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For Angie,the first love ofmy life,
Michael (Baby 2000),and Julia
(Baby XP),the other loves ofmy life.
And for my parents Simon and Jan,who
encouraged me to put my toys back together
after taking them apart,and to my sisters
Diana and Jennifer,who encouraged me to stop
taking their toys apart and make my own.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost,I wish to thank my wife for her endless patience while writing this book
and for her ceaseless trust in me as a husband and provider.Without her encouragement and
devotion,I would be lucky to have a job sitting in a cube farm complaining about printer errors
like “PC Load Letter.”I’d like to thank my offspring,Michael,who was the perfect kid during
Daddy’s long days and nights away writing.And thank you to our newest bundle,Julia,for
being a peaceful baby whose only gripe was “feed me!”And thanks to my family,Nana and
Papa,Aunties Lori,Alysia,Diana and Jennifer,Granddude,and the Grandmas Great and
Small for letting us stop by unexpectedly.And thanks to our friends from the Lang Ranch
Mom’s Club for being there for my family when we needed you.
I’d also like to thank my cousin Creighton and pals Brett,Sam,and Sean for helping get me
out of a tight spot here and there.
The contributors of this book get special appreciation for helping to put out a great product in
a timely manner.They individually pushed the envelope on the projects outlined here and their
efforts made this book into more than the sum of its parts.
I’m very grateful for the help and encouragement from my editors:Scott Amerman,who kept
me on my toes,Chris Webb,who believed in the book in the first place,Brian MacDonald,who
helped make the book a delight to read,and everyone else at Wiley Publishing who helped
make this book a reality.Thanks,everybody.I hope we can still be friends!
Special thanks to the members of the user group community in Southern California:
SOCALWUG,OCCALWUG,SBWUG,and SDWUG;and the communities of BAWUG,
Netstumbler.com,Nocat,NZWireless,Seattle Wireless,and SoCalFreeNet.These
loose-knit groups of like-minded individuals are shaping the future world of wireless.Their
feedback,suggestions,and onsite help made many of the projects in this book possible.
And thanks to you,dear reader.By picking up this book,you have delved into that interesting
world of wireless and Wi-Fi Toys!
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About the Author
Mike Outmesguineis president and founder of TransStellar,Inc.,a successful technology ser-
vices company with an emphasis on wireless mobility and energy information systems.As
president,Mike has directed TransStellar,online at www.transstellar.com,through his
vision of “wireless anywhere”to become a leader in the emerging wireless mobility market
while adopting many of these techniques for the energy information market.
Mike is the co-founder of the Southern California Wireless Users Group (SOCALWUG),a
nonprofit user community with a focus on introducing wireless technology to the end-user and
business community.The SOCALWUG has been holding monthly meetings for over two
years and archives all of the past meetings online in streaming media format.Thousands of
wireless enthusiasts from around the world look forward to the monthly meetings and videos
hosted on the Web at www.socalwug.org.
Mike served in the U.S.Air Force as an electronic countermeasures specialist on B-52 aircraft
and in the California Air National Guard in support of C-130 aircraft.Mike served for over 10
years and is a veteran of the Gulf War.
Additionally,Mike has been featured in several speaking engagements,newspaper,and online
resources commenting on wireless technology,wireless security,and the impact on businesses
and government using these technologies.Mike is FCC-licensed under the call sign
KG6NHH.
His passion for technology goes back as far as he can remember.His first personal computer
was a Sinclair ZX-81.(As a video-game addict,he couldn’t afford the coveted Apple ][e that
had just been released!) Since those early years,Mike has spent countless hours immersed in
the technology fields of computers,electronics,networking,the Internet,and most recently,
mobile and wireless.
Mike enjoys long wardrives on the beach.
Mike Outmesguine can be reached at:
TransStellar,Inc.
P.O.Box 1111
Agoura Hills,CA 91301
USA
Tel:[phone]
Fax:[phone]
E-mail:[email protected]
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Contributors
James Burgess—James is a student at the University of Southern California who has been
conducting research in wireless communications since the late 90s.He is the co-founder of
Flexilis,a disruptive technologies research and development firm,where he is currently explor-
ing new wireless implementations and protocols.He takes particular interest in open source
wireless developments,contributing much of his findings to the community.In his free time he
writes for DailyWireless.com,a wireless industry news site.He resides in Los Angeles,
California.
John Chirillo—John is a Senior Internetworking Engineer for a technology management
company specializing in security.He holds an impressive number of professional certifications,
including Cisco certifications and the CISSP.John has authored several books.His latest
include Storage Securityand Implementing Biometric Security.
John Hering—After only three years of study at the University of Southern California in Los
Angeles,California,John Hering has already made his mark in the ever-advancing field of
wireless technologies.Using past experience in entrepreneurial business,advertising,and tech-
nology,John co-founded Flexilis (www.flexilis.com),a wireless technologies research
and development firm,which has been responsible for the creation of DailyWireless
(www.DailyWireless.com),the Internet’s premier Wireless news portal.John has played
a critical role in the advancement of emerging disruptive technologies,such as wireless
networking and security,while constantly exploring the use of open source-based solutions,
and will continue to help make way for the future of wireless technologies.
Michael Hurwicz—Michael Hurwicz is a freelance writer,developer,designer,animator,and
musician living in Eastsound,WA.He is the Flash and 3-D Guy at Late Night Design.He
has been writing about technical topics for the computer trade press since 1985.Michael is the
president of Irthlingz,a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education and
entertainment.You can e-mail Michael at [email protected],as well as visit his Web
sites at www.latenightdesign.com,www.hurwicz.com,www.flashoop.com,
and www.irthlingz.org.
David Karlins—David Karlins (www.davidkarlins.com) writes and lectures on technol-
ogy and graphic and Web design.His books include Build Your Own Web Site.
Frank Keeney—Frank is a computer security and network consultant.He works for Pasadena
Networks,LLC,www.pasadena.net,on wireless projects for retail,educational,financial,
and other industries.He got his start in wireless when it became clear that security was a need
in wireless networks.He is the co-founder of the Southern California Wireless User Group,
www.socalwug.org.
Trevor Marshall—Trevor is an engineering management consultant,with interests ranging
from RF and hardware design to Linux internals,Internet infrastructure,Digital Video,and
Biomedicine.He can be contacted at www.trevormarshall.com
Michael Mee—Michael started building his own computers after discovering the TRS-80 at
Radio Shack years ago.He went on to work for a software startup,before dot-coms made it
fashionable.Then he had several great years at Microsoft,back when “the evil empire”meant