On 24 Jul 2001, at 20:59, Petro wrote:
There are several companies making embedded systems boards that use very little power and are capable of running linux. I don't know if any of them are quite low power enough to run off a solar panel yet, but some of the mips/arm designs might be.
My current new toy is a CerfCube. (http://www.intrinsyc.com/products/referencedesigns/cerfcube.html) The specs say max 1A @ 5VDC. I know that running a Compact Flash card makes it draw toward the upper limit, but the built in 32MB RAM + 16MB Flash should be enough to run a remailer. Maybe not quite disposable at $379, but it would be interesting to see what I can do in that area. With an adapter, I can run a 802.11 card from the CF socket, I think. (drivers might be tricky) Having fallen a little out of touch, what are the popular remailers in use? Can't seem to find my Mixmaster link anymore.
It would seem to me that if it's a box you don't expect to get back, it might be a better idea to build a special purpose machine--just the motherboard, 802.11 device and a reduced Linux installation running out of flash ram.
That sounds like the CerfCube (maybe without the stylish Al cube case).
Depending on the area covered, you wouldn't even need to trespass. If it's in a mall area, coverage would probably extend to certain areas of the outside of the building where it might be feasible to mount a small enough box that it wouldn't get noticed. Epoxy your box to the wall next to some other sort of electrical equipment (if the interference won't get in the way) and it will probably remain undiscovered for a while.
Hmmm.... maybe an inductive parasite power tap? -- Roy M. Silvernail [ ] roy@scytale.com DNRC Minister Plenipotentiary of All Things Confusing, Software Division PGP Key 0x1AF39331 : 71D5 2EA2 4C27 D569 D96B BD40 D926 C05E Key available from pubkey@scytale.com I charge to process unsolicited commercial email