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MIT's Bathroom Server

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the leave-the-seat-down dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes: "Some of the undergrads wired Random Hall's (an undergraduate dorm) bathroom system up to the net so that you can visit http://bathroom.mit.edu and see which stalls on which floors are vacant, and if they're in use, how long whoever's been in there. It's a pretty good idea-- you can scout your stall from your dorm room, and watch it to make sure nobody's taken a s$#% there recently."

21 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Vanderbilt University setup a site like this by farnsaw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Vanderbilt University put up a bathroom monitor page that turned out to be a page to monitor the number of people that would investigate such a page back in the mid '90s.

    --
    "Computer Scientists can count to 1024 on their fingers" (non-mutant, non-mutilatated, human computer scientists)
  2. These kids are too smart... by tulare · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hehe. I mean, this could get interesting. Imagine what pranks you could pull - the most obvious would be to "cheat" the sensors so that the casual user would think that all the bathrooms are in use at some critical time - say 7am on finals week!
    Now waiting to hear the Beowulf joke...

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    political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
  3. Alright! by Auckerman · · Score: 5, Funny

    For peats sake, Michael, you Slashdotted someones bathroom. You should be ashamed of yourself.

    --

    Burn Hollywood Burn
    1. Re:Alright! by evilviper · · Score: 3, Funny

      Sorry guys, I know how bad it is, but you just can't go in there right now... It's been slashdotted.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  4. Not sure if I like this... by Mr.+Neutron · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, if I've been wanking for the last 20 minutes, the whole world gets to know about it?

    --
    dinner: it's what's for beer
  5. Google's cache... by cperciva · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ok, so it's almost a month out of date, but this at least lets you know what it looks like.

    --
    Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
    1. Re:Google's cache... by GC · · Score: 3, Informative

      The finger server is up and running still, even if the web interface isn't.

      Just do:

      finger @bathroom.mit.edu

  6. Check the Random Hall Laundry Server by cerulean · · Score: 5, Interesting
    if bathroom.mit.edu is slashdotted, you can look at Random Hall's laundry server instead.

    good ol' Random. It's too bad there's no webpage yet about Mjolnir, the homemade big-ass speaker built from a linear induction motor from a dishwasher-sized hard drive, a cone of sheet metal, and a cabinet of medium-density fiberboard.

    what a bunch of 31337 H4X0R5

    --
    -------------------- the list is long. dirac angestung gesept
  7. Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if it wasn't enough crap on the net already!

  8. Useful stuff by imevil · · Score: 3, Funny

    It would be great to know how they implemented the monitoring in order to apply it to other useful daily needs. For example:

    • HTCPCP: Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (RFC2324)
    • Coke machine monitoring: I remember the frustration of being in the computer lab, willing to get a cheap coke and having to go to the next building (coke next to the computer lab was damn expensive) and then finding NO COKE in the coke machine.
    E
  9. Oh dear god no! by G-funk · · Score: 3, Funny

    Am I the only one who thinks that slashdotting a bathroom is a bad idea?

    "Mr peters, it's happening again. Slashdot has ddos'd our shitter. Dave and Frank have been locked in for 30 minutes since it went down... Mr Peters?..."

    --
    Send lawyers, guns, and money!
  10. Privacy? by Zachary+Kessin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You know with all the privacy advocates around here you would think someone would think this is an invation. I mean how long you are using the can for is a rather private thing. OK yes your dorm mates may know from time to time as they wait for you. But does the entire world need to know when and for how long you are using the bathroom.

    --
    Erlang Developer and podcaster
    1. Re:Privacy? by jareds · · Score: 3, Funny

      But does the entire world need to know when and for how long you are using the bathroom.

      It doesn't show who's using the bathroom, just that it's in use. It's not like you have to login with a username before you can get into the bathroom.

    2. Re:Privacy? by Tim+Macinta · · Score: 3, Funny
      You know with all the privacy advocates around here you would think someone would think this is an invation.

      Heh heh... let's just hope they're not tracking their users by the cookies they've eaten.

      --

      -----

      Free P2P Backup, Windows & Linux

  11. No CGI? by wirefarm · · Score: 3, Funny

    http://bathroom.mit.edu/cgi-bin/flush.pl?stall=1

    ;-)
    Cheers,
    Jim in Tokyo

    --
    -- My Weblog.
  12. You mean like this... by jareds · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Switzerland Coke Machine

    Actually, it doesn't seem to be working now. Oh well.

  13. The Wired House by pausz · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Check out Icepick.com. They wired their entire house onto the net, including their:

    1. Doorbell usage
    2. Frontdoor camera
    3. Trashbin scanner
    4. Cat tracker
    5. Microwave usage
    6. Fridge openings and temperature
    7. Phone usage
    8. and yes: Toilet usage


    They measure how often the toilet gets flushed, and for how long (I guess you can work out statistics on "difficult flushing jobs" :-). They also measure the temperature in the place; around 14.5 C (58.1 F). Not really a place you want to hang out for too long...
  14. Our Bathroom Server by jimatjtan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wow. We weren't ready for Slashdot. We knew that our server couldn't take more than a handful of requests at once, and were planning on fixing that before sending anything off to Slashdot.

    I moved the IP address to a faster machine that performs proper caching of the generated images, etc, so this one should have absolutely no problem handling the load (assuming that our building's network can take it).

    Don't forget to try out the finger interface, much preferred by all here in the dorm. "finger @bathroom.mit.edu" to see it.

    One of these days we'll get around to putting up a page describing how the hardware and software works for both that and our friendly laundry server.

    jim@jtan.com, for Random Nerds

  15. the dread DoS attack by StandardDeviant · · Score: 5, Funny
    (denial of shitting)


    seriously, there is such a thing as trusting your remote sensors too much... (the main reason spysats haven't replaces human intelligence sources)

    --

    News for Geeks in Austin, TX
  16. Hacked by yusing · · Score: 4, Funny

    As I write, one stall has been "in use" for 47 minutes.

    Somebody better go check for either a body, or an alligator clip....

    --

    "You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream." -- Sherwood Anderson

  17. FP! by sharkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, now the cry of "First Dump!" will echo up and down the dorm halls.

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    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.