"ConfigFree" Wireless at TechEd and the advent of Windows XP SP2
It's wireless, it's crazy. There's a crapload of wireless access points (APs) at every conference, and I think the number is getting bigger every year. I've brought two laptops, my work laptop as well as my Toshiba TabletPC m205. The Toshiba comes with a FANTASTIC program called ConfigFree. You kind of have to see it to believe it. It's an application built with Flash, so it's very fluid. It's also an irregular region and it's transparent. The dots represent APs and the farther out they are, the weaker their signal. The AP that I'm currently associated with has a line drawn to it. They float around as the strengths change.
At the hotel when I hold the laptop near the window on the 31st floor I see SEVEN wireless networks and 3 of them are unsecured. Needless to say, I'm enjoying the free Internet from the office building across the way. I may just print them out a surprise message on their unsecured network printer for someone to see on Monday morning.
I'm also running the RC1 of Windows SP2. I'm very much digging SP2. The new wireless dialogs are singularly worth the upgrade.
Neil Turner has a great writeup on the changes in SP2 - and they are all good, IMHO. I'm looking forward to taking a CD to my relatives houses and finally getting them hooked up with a decent firewall.
One concern: everyone needs to buy AntiVirus software. You know you have cousins who don't have any. What do you use? I use eTrust from CA. I hear that AVG has a nice AVG Free Edition.
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
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