MetaFilter posts tagged with hotspot

The end of the bus timetable

MrMerlot — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:23:43 -0800

Is this the end of the bus timetable? It can be bloody cold in Helsinki in January. The last thing you want to do is hang around too long for a bus or tram. Soon you won't have to because Helsinki City Transport is currently fitting *its entire fleet* with Linux servers. Not only will each bus or tram become a travelling wireless hotspot, but you will be able to see exactly where in the city your new bus actually is. Meaning that you only step into the bitter cold the minute before it arrives. (its in beta but you can see the effects of the live trial) Moreover, using Near Field Communication embedded in the bus and tram stops that allow you to boot the whole caboodle on your Nokia, without going online or having to imput lots of fiddly Finnish names (try inputting Kalasatama at minus 15). You can then track the upcoming stops on your mobile and see where exactly are your connecting buses are in the city as well. Its almost as if you can route your way around a city using packet switching I think i've seen the future of mass transit. And it doesn't involve a timetable.

WiFi Piggybacking Arrest - revisited.

twiggy — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 07:01:30 -0800

Another wifi-related arrest was publicized today. In the past, the only case readily available to researchers involved additional seedy activities that are what really drew the arrest. The coffeeshop and other open hotspots show up on several sites such as jiwire and wifinder which are devoted to helping people find wireless hotspots.

In this case, a coffeeshop noticed someone leeching their WiFi parked in his truck -- over the course of 3 months, without ever entering the coffeehouse and making a purchase. While not yet convicted of anything, he has been arrested for "theft of services," and this could mean the first precedent set for whether or not "wireless piggybacking" is illegal. The case becomes especially interesting for both sides of the ethical debate on "borrowing" wireless. One one side of the judge's opinion will be the fact that the coffeehouse is a public place, not a private home. On the other side, it turns out the man who was arrested just so happens to be a registered sex offender, though this coincidental fact is not technically relevant to the case.

Undersea eruptions explored from only 10 feet away

pwb503 — Thu, 25 May 2006 18:44:50 -0800

"We were forced to evacuate the remotely operated vehicle, 'Jason II,' several times to avoid getting it enveloped in volcanic clouds," said Bill Chadwick, ...one of the authors of the study. "But at other times, we could observe the eruption from only 10 feet away - something you could never do on land. So in some ways, we were able to see processes more clearly at the bottom of the ocean than we ever could on land. That was surprising." From KGW (bugmenot). Podcasts, videos, images, sounds, daily logs, and lots of information can be found on the project's website.

Odd Spot on Titan Baffles Scientists

Diamornte — Wed, 25 May 2005 12:26:23 -0800

Unidentified Titan Object Saturn's moon Titan shows an unusual bright spot that has scientists mystified. The spot, approximately the size and shape of West Virginia, is just southeast of the bright region called Xanadu and is visible to multiple instruments on the Cassini spacecraft.