Aaron Weiss of Wi-Fi Planet has written an interesting tutorial showing how open source firmware code allows hobbyists to turn the Linksys WR54G home router into a variety of other networking devices. Why is this possible? Because some Linux code found its way into the firmware, which meant Linysys had to provide all the code under an open source license. The rest, as they say, is inventiveness.

The open source community, not surprisingly, touts this as a big win. I haven't asked (though I plan to) but what makes me think Linksys has made darn sure that none of its more recent firmware contains lines of Linux?

This story reminds me of the IBM "magic screwdriver" and of an AT&T Caller-ID telephone I was once told about. In IBM's case, and this goes back a long time, customers were sometimes amazed when the IBM tech could add major new features to their systems on only a few minutes--without installing anything. Seems the features were already built into the mainframe systems, but weren't turned on until a customer was ready to pay. Likewise, the guts of the AT&T Caller-ID phone was identical to a much less expensive non-Caller-ID model. Manufacturing cost was the same, yet what the consumer paid was very different depending on the feature set desired.

If Linksys and other vendors can't control their firmware, then their ability to "add value" to devices is severely compromised. Maybe all firmware should be open source, allowing inventive people to add value in their own ways. Or would that stifle innovation by making it more difficult for hardware companues to earn a buck?

IMHO, the RAZR (Check Prices) of the best looking cell phone on the market. In fact, the only real probablem I have with it is the fact that everyone seems to have one. Motorola's launch of the black model came just in time to keep people interested in the RAZR. Now the company is coming out with more colorful models, including Pink and Baby Blue versions.

The really interesting handset will be the RAZR V3c. It isn't official yet, but this model will most likely run on the Verizon network, opening up a whole new user base for Motorola. There is some improved technology too, including a 1.23 megapixel camera, EV-DO connectivity, and 30MB of internal memory. The upgrade to the old GSM RAZR, the V3i, will get a TransFlash card and, according to early reports, iTunes. (As if the ROKR (Check Prices) didn't have enough trouble finding an audience.)

For more details check out Sascha Segan's exclusive report. You can see pictures of the new models here.  They should all be on sale for the holidays.

If you're the type of person who loves instant gratification, Cellboost is for you. This disposable energy device can provide instant battery life for many gadgets when you run out of power and you don't have a charger or AC outlet available.

Say, for instance, you're in the middle of listening to Nine Inch Nails when all of a sudden, your iPod goes dead. Simply plug Cellboost into your iPod's charger port and you can continue jamming out to "With Teeth" for eight more hours.

Cellboost also works with the following products:

• cell phones (Motorola, LG, Siemens, Samsung, Sanyo, Nokia, Sony Ericsson)
• smart phones (Blackberry, Treo)
• camcorders (Canon, JVC, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi)
• game systems (Nintendo DS, Gameboy, Sony PSP)

Since this device is disposable, once the battery is used up, you can't re-charge it. The good news is it's perfectly safe to dispose of it in your household trash.

Amazon.com offers Cellboost on its site for a variety of prices from $4.99 and up.

I don't know if better wireless networking is your idea of a swell holiday gift, but Netgear has announced it will be selling its RangeMax 240 router ($199 direct) and PC cards ($129 direct) by the end of year.  The new products use Airgo Network's True MIMO Gen 3 chipsets, which can deliver throughputs as fast as 100Mbps.

PC Magazine has done some early performance testing on engineering samples that use the Gen 3 chipset and the performance really is a notch above the current generation of WiFi. Most home users don't need 100Mbps networking right now, but once we start moving video around the house it will come in very handy.

For more details, check out Craig Ellison's report on PCMag.com.

Anne Chen has written an interesting analysis of how the big chipmakers, Intel and AMD, are moving toward architectures designed for supporting virtual machines. VM is not a new concept, but it's been limited and the results haven't always been attractive, especially on desktop machines. Running Windows on a Macintosh has been possible for years, but has never worked well enough to be attractive. It will be interesting to see if this changes when Apple moves to Intel processors, though these presumably won't be the next-generation VM-optimized chips Anne discusses in her story.

I am looking forward to a day when multi-core and VM technology might combine to allow me to run every application on its own virtual machine. Imagine, each virtual environment could be optimized for that particular application. What a wonderful day that would be. No more worries about how odd pieces of software interact with one another. Each VM would have just enough software to make the application work, and no more. This would make my life so much easier. Your's too, I bet.

By Mark Hachman and posted to ExtremeRFID.com:

IBM researchers have developed a method to ensure consumer privacy while using RFID tags that imitate scratch-off lottery tickets and perforated clothing labels.

While the RFID device would remain on the shirt, can, or package itself, IBM's idea is attach a partially-destructible RFID antenna so that the consumer can remove it after purchase. IBM researchers introduced the concept in a paper presented Monday at the Association for Computing Machinery's Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society in Alexandria, VA.

Destroying part of the antenna would degrade the antenna range from a few meters down to a few inches, helping to alleviate concerns that hidden RFID scanners could "read" the contents of a consumer's shopping cart, identifying what they purchased.

David Coursey's Comment: It has been mentioned that I'm a little tone-deaf on privacy issues, given that I don't think I am special enough that anyone would really care what I buy at SaveMart, or that I would care if they did.

But, I remain concerned about the possibility that RFID devices in future U.S. passports might make it easy for terrorists to pick Americans out of a crowd, though packaging the passport in a lead foil envelope would seem to solve the problem. Of course, an X-ray screener would pick the Americans out because every one of them carries a small lead pouch.

I think people believe they have a lot more privacy than actually exists. And at some level, if you don't know your privacy has been compromised (and nothing happens to you because it has been) then I am not sure how much damage has been done. My nightmare scenario, however, occurs when genetic-based medicine becomes common and genetic information becomes a source of discrimination in how care is provided. I don't think that is so much a privacy issues, as much as public policy in how care will be made available.

From ExtremeFuelCells.com:

Samsung SDI Co. has deveoped a fuel cell for laptops that lasts twice as long as existing models.

According to South Korea's JoongAng Daily, Samsung's fuel cell has an energy density of about 200 watt-hours, the paper reported. The cells are powered by about 200 cubic centimeters (or about 0.35 liquid pints) of liquid methanol. In total, the fuel cell can supply power for about 15 hours, the paper reported.

"The new technology draws hydrogen from liquid methanol, giving the new battery a maximum output of 50 watts with an average output of 20 watts," said Yoon Seok-yeol of Samsung SDI's central research center, according to the paper.

While fuel cells for other laptops, printers, mobile phones, and even motorcycles as well as an individual chip have been developed, the race to develop fuel cells for laptops continues unabated. However, improvements in battery life an in low-power display technologies have also removed some of the urgency from the effort, as reducing power consumption has the effect of improving the laptop's battery life.

David Coursey's comment: I am really interested in fuel cells, but am not holding my breath waiting for one to appear in my life. One of the big challenges will be getting them approved for airline use, I'd think. Sure, everyone on the plane will be able to carry almost a cup of methanol to refuel their cells.