Homebrew lojack idea

Ok, here's an idea.

Install some 802.11b in the car (probably Linksys WAP11 or WET11) and have it scan for open WLANs. When one is found, connect back to your personal web server and upload your current location (from gpsd) and the server logs the time.

Why?
- Historical map of where you've driven and when
- Wardriving record of where the open WLANs are
- If your car gets stolen, you can tell the police exactly where it is
- Maybe contact a central web server to locate other empeg users

Possible?
- Can something like a WET11 automatically scan for open WLANs?

Great idea!!! I don't know if it's possible (WET11 scans for open WLANs?)

I've got a growing list of things that empeg + WLAN + GPS could do:

- EmpegFIDSwap (empeg's exchange FIDs when they come into proximity. think automated rsync. Empeg meet anyone!!!)
- Fastest Route monitoring (based on historical map of where you've driven. Is is really faster to go this way or that way. Upload to Orkut/Friendster rated routing system to get 'best directions' instead of relying on automated route finding.)
- EmpegRALLY mode (full rally nav voice "hard right ahead" (you know - just like the video games), speed recommendations, so it will estimate best speed for turn based on previous speeds). Allows you to mark waypoints with GPS nav and empeg displays specific timing info.
- VoIP gateway management (based on open WLAN placement, will let you know where the closest open WLAN is to make/recieve VoIP calls )
- EmpegIM ( Yahoo, MSN, etc Instant Messanger gateway) Interface with Empeg remote (w/ word autocomplete) or bluetooth device. See status of online friends. Send a "Meet me here" message that will give GPS coordinates in a yahoo maps URL, so people can find your car.

EMPEG + OBD II:
- Engine performance history - offline analysed for performance enhancements
- Compare performance from different fuel sources (i get the feeling that some stations have poor quality gas, as the formula for calulating octane is often tied to the oil refineries, i want to be able to find out which stations have good gas and which ones formulate their fuels poorly).
- Adjust fuel-maps based on fuel seasonality/source (based on above feature)

"Sorry officer, I ran that stoplight because I was busy sending a IM on my car stereo..." That's gonna go down well

Don't forget my favourite: open garage door automatically, based on SSL or SSH autentication...

A slightly more expensive method would be to hook it up to a mobile phone and periodically send a SMS with the details. Much higher chance of you having mobile phone reception than a WLAN nearby.

open garage door automatically, based on SSL or SSH autentication...

Based on being in range to contacting your home AP, right? What happens when you're on your way from the post office to the grocery store and drive by your house? You might want to add some audible feedback "Garage door now openning". To which you say "Crap!" and push the button to close it, but you get no audible confirmaition from your old-school garage door opener. Then you start to wonder... does my WLAN have a longer range than my garage door openner? Maybe it didn't work.

While cool for the geek factor, it may need some ironing out. Perhaps you can select from a menu when you start your car and choose from a list of frequent destinations where you're going. Then it will only open your garage door in the case that you've selected {Home} as your destination.

A slightly more expensive method would be to hook it up to a mobile phone and periodically send a SMS with the details. Much higher chance of you having mobile phone reception than a WLAN nearby.

Now there's an idea! I have T-Mobile and SMS costs me $0.05/msg, but GPRS is free (in the US at least). So in theory, a modified version of Palantir could connect to my phone's IR port, send an IrOBEX message which an app (that I'd have to write) on my phone would send to my web server via WAP.

Well, it sounds possible, but it also sounds like a lot of work. Even though it'd be free and wouldn't require extra hardware, I think I'd still go for 802.11b. True, there's much less coverage, but I think I have half a chance of actually completing the project

While cool for the geek factor, it may need some ironing out. Perhaps you can select from a menu when you start your car and choose from a list of frequent destinations where you're going. Then it will only open your garage door in the case that you've selected {Home} as your destination.

Or maybe just even ask for confirmation when detecting garage within range....

That voice recognition(sp) would come in real handy right about here..
Empeg: Shall I open the garage door master?
You: Yes Empeg.

Or maybe just even ask for confirmation when detecting garage within range....

But if you have to push a button to confrim, you may as well just push the button on your garage door opener.

But if you have to push a button to confrim, you may as well just push the button on your garage door opener.

Except that my empeg is easier to find than the garage door remote that is... umm... somewhere here....