The Console Cable Leting You Fix Your Cisco Router From Your iPhone (Because You Should Totally Be Doing That)

Just a quick stop. That’s all it is. You left your “STFU” hat (the one you like to wear on weekends) in your office, and it’s totally (kind of) on the way to the family reunion anyway. Just a quick stop.

Crap! The company’s router is acting up! Imagine how much business they might lose! They’re going to call you up while you’re at the reunion anyway — you might as well just fix it now. But all you have is your iPhone, and you’ll need a wired connection to fix this. If only you could connect your iPhone to the router via some sort of crazy, specialized cable!

Well, friend, your ultra-nerdy, ultra-niche, probably-non-existent wish has been answered.

Redpark, the same company that came out with that crazy specialized iPhone cable for controlling telescopes, is back with another one: The Console Cable.

The $69 Console cable is essentially a dock connector on one end and a 6-foot RJ-45 ethernet cable on the other. Plug the RJ-45 end into the Cisco router’s console port, pop the dock connector into your iOS device, then load up the company’s $10 Get Console app — bam! You’re fixin’ the Intertubes from your iPad, and you’re just about ready to head off to the family reunion. Once you’ve figured out why Mary-from-HR’s computer keeps resetting itself, of course.

RIM To India: You do Know Google And Apple Encrypt Stuff Too, Right?

The ongoing dispute between the Indian government and RIM is… well, ongoing, and I get the feeling neither side will be happy with the inevitable compromises. This week the understandably sullen RIM mentioned in a statement what it has likely been telling Indian officials the whole time: Blackberries aren’t the only devices with encrypted data services. It suggested Google, Apple, Cisco, HP, and several other companies as examples of other companies with similarly protected services. Will pointing the finger make a difference? Probably not.

As the de facto default solution for enterprise mobile security, RIM is in more of a prickly situation than the others, who don’t make the same promises of security, and whose products aren’t aimed in the same direction. India wants a back door into secret international business relations; consumers come later, once a method is established and the carriers cowed. Blackberry is the hard case they need to crack first.

I do think it’s a bit silly, however, that the government there is worried about encryption fomenting dissent or allowing terrorists to organize. I think we’ve seen elsewhere in the world lately that people don’t need encryption to topple a government. So relax, India! If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen!