[Noisebridge-discuss] interesting DIY blurb of DIY in the 3rd world

[Mitch Altman]

Interesting blurb from SFGate about DIY in the 3rd world:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=92429 DIY internet spreading through Middle East and Africa

Did you know that people in Kenya, Afghanistan and Pakistan are building  their own wireless networks out of found materials? Just $60 of everyday items  such as wood, cans, plastic tubs, wires and car batteries can provide internet  service for hundreds of people. It's like the "telephone" of your youth and the  best MacGyver episode ever, all rolled up into one. Courtesy MIT's Fab LabIt works like this: A single commercial wireless router is mounted on radio  frequency reflectors and covered in a metal mesh. Another router/reflector pair  is set up at a distance. The two routers establish a network that can be used by  anybody with a reflector. To build a reflector, all you need is a material — wood, metal, plastic, stone or clay — that can mount the metal mesh. The system  can be powered with an automobile battery, so it doesn't have to rely on fickle  developing-world power grids.The goal is simply internet access for all. And, believe it or not, networks  are up and running in Kenya, Jalalabad, Pakistan, and in various hospitals and  clinics around Afghanistan. The project is supported by MIT's Fab Lab. Some of the scientists involved in the project are  paying for it out of pocket, with some help from the National Science  Foundation.  It's an open-source project, so if you're interested in building a DYI  network here in the shadow of Silicon Valley, just hit up the wiki. Hat tip to Fast Company for this awesome story. Posted By: Cameron  Scott (Email, Twitter, Facebook)  | July 02 2011 at 01:45 PM

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=92429#ixzz1RMvHlHGe    Mitch.  		 	   		  
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