Daily Archives: December 9, 2005

We all love WiFi networking (look for an upcoming review of some wireless hardware). It has allowed us to use our notebook, and even our handhelds on the internet without being connected with a wire. But the real weakness of WiFi has been range. A few hundred feet away from even a really good router, and the signal is weak which means slow speeds, and dropped connections.

The next generation of wireless networking is addressing the range issue in a big way. We’re talking miles here of broadband thoroughput. This is the latest 802.16e, or WiMax standard, just approved by those excellent engineers over at the IEEE. This could give traditional broadband, provided by cable and phone companies, quite a run for their money. And offerings like Cingular Edge, with their high prices, will fade away.

The catch? You won’t see any of the products until late 2007, or more likely 2008. In my opinion, unlike a lot of other overhyped technologies, this one will be worth the wait.
From Popular Technology.

Increasing broadband at home and restrictive internet usage policies at work haven’t made a discernable dent this holiday season in employees’ penchant for shopping online while at work.

Last week marked the unofficial start of the online holiday buying season for many retailers, with traffic to retail sites up approximately 9 percent from last year, according to tracking firm Hitwise. More than half of weekday traffic since the Monday after Thanksgiving, according to measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings, has come from workplace internet users.

“It’s as strong as ever,” said NetRatings retail analyst Heather Dougherty. “Once they get over the Thanksgiving hump, they’re ready to do their holiday shopping. Monday, they can’t help but keep it going, even if they’re at work.”

Companies are growing more accepting of the idea that workers will fritter away part of the workday shopping online, according to purveyors of employee internet-monitoring tools. Most employers engage in some sort of monitoring of workplace internet access. But rather than block all shopping sites, employers preoccupied with productivity are more apt to set time limits on access.

“At one time, they were more adamant about not having anyone do any browsing or personal activity over the workday,” said Susan Larson, vice president of threat analysis and research at SurfControl, a developer of monitoring applications. “Now there’s a realization that there should be more of a work-life balance.”

Why do I think we all don’t work for such enlightened employers?

From Wired.