[london] How London finally cracked mobile phone coverage on the Underground … IanVisits digs into the engineering and bureaucracy behind getting a mobile signal into the deep Tube. ‘The new network doesn’t just provide phone coverage for customers; it’s also part of the government’s Emergency Services Network and might, in the future, replace staff radios when they’re being upgraded. In fact, the customer-facing part of the network, while not insubstantial, is the smallest part of the whole project. Given the hundreds of millions it would cost to upgrade the emergency service network and staff back-of-house radio networks, it makes sense to provide a public service as well.’
[funny] Ballad of a WiFi Hero… Animated adaption of the Mike Lacher’s McSweeney’s article. ‘And at last the warrior arrived at the Router. It was a dusty black box with an array of shimmering green lights, blinking on and off, as if to taunt him to come any further. The warrior swiftly maneuvered to the rear of the router and verified what he had feared, what he had heard whispered in his ear from spirits beyond: all the cords were securely in place. The warrior closed his eyes, summoning the power of his ancestors, long departed but watchful still. And then with the echoing beep of his digital watch, he moved with deadly speed, wrapping his battle-hardened hands around the power cord at the back of the Router.’
[coffee] Latte Nerve! — article on the gridlock caused by Starbucks offering wi-fi in their coffee shops … ‘Alex Jacobson, a 32-year-old Internet developer who spends 40 hours a week at the Union Square branch of the ubiquitous coffeehouse. “Working in my apartment became very isolating, so when Starbucks rolled out wireless, I started working here.” The advantages are manifold: For the price of two decafs a day, his new office space offers a short walk to work (he lives above the store), high-caliber eye candy (“lots of models come here in the afternoon for meetings”) and friendly co-workers (the informal network of fellow Starbucks surfers who also run their virtual empires from Javaville). The only real disadvantage: He has to take his computer with him to the bathroom.’ [via Feeling Listless]
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21 November 2004
[wifi] How To Steal Wi-Fi — a useful guide to using your neigbours wi-fi access point without asking from Paul Bouting… ‘Every techie I know says that you shouldn’t use other people’s networks without permission. Every techie I know does it anyway.’
[wifi] In the Air Tonight — report about Wifi Networks being installed aboard trains in Britain … ‘The train is fitted with a satellite dish on top of its restaurant carriage. This connects to the internet through a range of different networks (including satellite and GPRS) and then distributes the bandwidth throughout the train. Connecting in this way means that if one connection goes down, another automatically replaces it, which allows for a constant connection even at speeds in excess of 100mph. The service, which is in its early stages, is variable. Some areas provide faster net access than others, but simple tasks, like accessing web pages and sending email, worked quite well throughout my two and a half hour journey’ [via The Daily Chump]
