Cyberpunk Sunday 2.009

The underlying theme to this weeks link is one of Gibson's favorite things.  How the street finds uses for technology. 

Wi-fi user stalking made easy. Just how easy it to spy on people using wi-fi devices like their phones or iPads? Pretty damn easy. With this very cheap set up a person can monitor and record the activity of various users as they simply pass by little boxes hidden nearby. If you think about it this can really crank up the creepyness factor as a person could monitor the entire neighborhood they live in.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/08/diy-stalker-boxes-spy-on-wi-fi-users-cheaply-and-with-maximum-creep-value/

Would it be cyberpunk without a drone? Heck no so here we go. Robot enthusiasts have started using Google Glass as a means to control small drones. Currently they are pretty basic maneuvers but I'm sure they'll get all the kinks worked out and a lot more options will appear. Just wait until officer Murphy can send that drone down a dark alley without having to set down his donut and coffee.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2400958/Hacker-pilots-drone-Google-Glass-using-just-head-movements.html

Tired of the worrying if the government is spying on your internet activity? Or should I say are tired of knowing that the government is spying on your internet activity? Well so are these folks and they aim to do something about it. Build a new form of internet. One that is composed of small nodes and various connections. A lot harder to control and probably a bit harder to shut down in areas with a high concentration of nodes.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929294.500-meshnet-activists-rebuilding-the-internet-from-scratch.html

Of course there are some who really don't like being spied on and have built a whole new layer of security under the net. The Darknet has become one of those things you hear about but very few ever seem to be let in on. Secrecy built on top of more secrecy. You even have to have special programs just to get in. If you ask me these guys are doing it right.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2046227/meet-darknet-the-hidden-anonymous-underbelly-of-the-searchable-web.html