Java based Marine Wireless Navigation Server

Anyone who has sailed long passages would appreciate the value of an on-board wireless 802.11 server  to enable access to all navigation data from cockpit, nav station, berth etc. This developer seems to have come up with the right architecture: a Unix-based AP that interfaces with a NMEA input. "I started thinking it would be cool to make the data available wirelessly so that any number of handhelds or laptops could access the data on a boat. This becomes more important as you get into larger and larger boats. "

 

10:12:40 AM    

Report: City-run Wi-Fi plans could have 'grave flaws'.

City-run wireless broadband networks, which appear to be gaining popularity in a number of major metropolitan areas, haven't been fully studied and are being touoted with dubious claims about their benefits, according to the New Millennium Research Council.

While the concerns about potential budget overruns and rapid obsolescence may be justified, the source of the analysis is at a minimum suspect "The Washington-based NMRC is an independent subsidiary of Issue Dynamics Inc., a "consulting firm specializing in public affairs and relationship-management services." Its clients include SBC and Verizon, companies that municipalities would be competing with if their plans to provide Wi-Fi service are realized."

The real issue is what organizations - public or private - have the wherewithal to undertake such massive deployments and avoid the typical "standards war" that has so many times in the past hindered rapid adoption of new technologies (and sometime translated into wasted money for consumers that have invested in the wrong standards)

9:26:27 AM