NetStumbler.com

Sir William Stewart, head of the Health Protection Agency in the U.K., wants a probe on whether the use of Wi-Fi in schools poses any danger on students. Such action is also being sought by the Professional Association of Teachers — the group has called on Secretary of State for Education Alan Johnson to launch an official investigation into the issue. Current figures indicate that wireless networks are now deployed in over half of primary schools and four-fifths of secondary schools in the country.

The calls mirror the growing concerns that Wi-Fi has ill effects on health some scientists believe it can cause cancer and premature senility. According to Professor Olle Johansson of Karolinska Institute in Sweden, scientific literature confirming Wi-Fi’s “adverse health effects” abounds. He remarked: “Do we not know enough already to say, ‘Stop!’?” Dr. Gerd Oberfeld, chief of the environmental health and medicine in Salzburg, agreed and described the technology as “dangerous.” Authorities from the said Austrian province is now mulling a ban and, has been advocating against installing Wi-Fi in schools over the last 16 months.
Via [news.independent.co.uk]

Leaving a wireless access point (WAP) open is generally considered a bad idea. Experts suggest you could be opening yourself to criminals by not password protecting your WiFi Network. But if you are a criminal then keeping and open WAP may become your defense. A growing number of file sharers believe they can throw reasonable doubt into any lawsuit by demonstrating that anyone could have been accessing their computer through an open WAP. But this may not be the case. Recently a Texas man, convicted of possessing child pornography, tried to use this defense stating that the original evidence used to get the search warrant was based upon an email that could have been sent by his roommate over the man’s open WAP. In this case the District Court and the US Court of Appeals disagreed and the man was convicted. So, file sharers beware, an open WAP may not provide any protection from criminal prosecution.