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Paris, The City Of Wi-Fi?
TheMatt writes "An article at the IHT describes an effort to make Paris one big Wi-Fi hotspot. The project, with partners like RATP and Cisco, if approved, will place two or three antennae outside each of the 372 Metro stations in Paris and link them through an existing fiber network that runs through the subway tunnels.
The current pilot project is centered along the route of Bus No. 38. You can sign up for access to the pilot which is free until June 30."
Haazzzaaa!!
I went to battle MC Escher but drew a blank
I thought there was some legal issue w.r.t. WiFi in France -- that the 2.4ghz spectrum area was reserved by the French military?
I'd like to see them attempt to cover Paris with WiFi alone. That would be a feat! No fiber backbones, just wireless nodes.
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
Cheese eating surrender monkeys!
-> mod me up, i am teh rawk with my funne!
except, of course, on the days when the network goes on strike. (Just like the RATP.)
sulli
RTFJ.
-PENIS--PENIS--PENIS--PENIS-
P_______________________8..P
E__Bow down to the_____#~..E
N__Lord's penis_______8.',-N
I_____________________#',-.I
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-__anus, and he_____#~',-..-
P__wants it NOW! ___8_',-..P
E__________________##',-',-E
N__An original_____8',-',";N
I__TrollKore(TM)_____##',-',";I
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-__By Dessimat0r ##',-',";.-
P________________8',-',";,.P
E_______________#'',-',";,.E
N______________8(',-',";,..N
I_____________#(',-',";,.,.I
S__________#8#8_',-',";,.,.S
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P________8~',-..#',-',";,..P
E_______#'',-',";8_',-',";.E
N_____8=',-',";.+#+',-',";.N
I____#=',-',";,._8',-',";,.I
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I__________________________I
S____.oO TrollKore Oo._____S
-_At the head of the game._-
P__________________________P
E__TEMPORARY IRC CHANNEL___E
N__irc.digitalphusion.net__N
I_______#trollkore_________I
S__________________________S
-PENIS--PENIS--PENIS--PENIS-
All you cock-loving fuckers out there, here is a special treat for you bastards, take a look at this knob. NOW SUCK IT, MOTHERFUCKERS!
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Hand in my pants
Hand in my pants
Got my goddamned hand in my motherfucking pants
Peace
One packet and I can enslave them all!
Oh no, a white flag DoS coming in . . .
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
One plus... they already have a great tower to cover all of Paris.
> here</b></a>
It's right <a href="http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/
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Let's all just hope the thought that Wi-Fi causes cancer is bullshit LOL
X00M
I just signed up using my location as Detroit...
*That* should give the Cisco engineers something to work for...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I don't know how succesfull this can be... There are 2 potential markets (leaving kids with portables as a marginal marketshare)
- people of paris : why would they subsribe to such service ? They likely have a home in paris, with internet access a lot cheaper, more reliable and more secure.
- visiting bussinessmen : why would they subsrcibe either ? Most hotels have access for a reasonable fee, and are not subscription based.
Additionally, I seriously wouldn't want to sit with my portable open on a bench near a subway entrance in autumn/winter when it gets dark after 19:00. Subway stations are not exactly known for their safety, and walking around with a 2000Euro piece of electronics is asking for trouble.
Additionally, i consider it silly to first sit in the subway for 15 minutes wit haportable and no connection, and then finally getting out in the open where you have to sit again to connect. Wouldn't it be much better to put the base stations INSIDE the trains ?
Call me stupid, but my guess is that they'd better focus on appartment buildings : place a wifi hotspot on top of it, and you've got you whole building connected for low fee and without having to rewire the damd thing.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
I think they meant the city of WHIFF... The last time I was there, the smell of the Parisian subway about knocked me out. And I used to think that whole smelly French thing was a tasteless joke!
You mean Paris is good for something else other than the production of white flags and anti-American sentiments?! Who knew?!
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
-A.M.
Pimpin' all the Karma Hoes!
Paris WiFi? I think this network is going to stink...er I mean suck. But seriously...is WiFi affected by massivley bad BO? ;)
/* sig */
Does 802.11(b or g) enough bandwidth to handle that many people? Not that everyone has a WiFi connection, but when you provide ubiquitious access, the applications will be created that utilize it.
I don't think that 802.11 can handle more than a handful of users before it is swamped. I imagine that the city will be subdivided somehow so that broadcast traffic from one machine isn't repeated to every node in the city.
if the NSA has Saddam's 802.11b MAC address, it should take no time at all to find his smelly ass.
$5 will get you $10, he's hiding out in some gay pr0n shop (aka: French Public Library).
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
Had this been in place back in the 40's, the Germans could have kept in touch with the motherland via email rather than telegrams. They could have had embedded reporters and live reports on how the toppling of the evil French Regime was coming along.
Trolling is a art,
can we call it Freedom Net? :)
Doesn't France have some really low limit on encryption? Like 48bit encryption?
Does that apply to wireless as well?
Anyone have more on this?
The city of GANGSTERS!!
For a good time, click here
First they don't support us in Iraq, then they make paris a WiFi hotpot. What next?
I'm going to go eat some freedom fries in retaliation.
Mod my comments down. It'll be fun.
I would assume that wi-fi antennae make great places to hang a white flag.
Isn't being connected to the Internet all the time sort of ... creepy?
I mean, don't even corporate execs need to get away from the World Wide Web a few minutes in the day, and just zone out while on the subway, or riding the bus?
Just because we can do it, doesn't mean it is a good idea. If Paris suffers a spike in crazy CEOs, then I say we call the trial a failure.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
this new hotspot sounds cool, never before has news of surrender spread so fast!
that was a long time ago - see this press release for example talking about wifi activity.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Feb2003/4849.htm
Why would there be a need to "sign up", if you want to roll out public wifi, put it up and let people know its it up. This may be just for the pilot. but there should be no need for sign ups or authentication systems when they do roll this out. Public wifi has many security risks, running ethereal on a public ap is very scary. Instead of trying to lock it up, just inform people what they need to do to keep their info safe.
They got wind of something called "war driving", and surrendered.
Sounds like a good idea, until you consider the fact that the French will surrender the entire wireless network to the first German hacker that logs on.
Look at the RATP's metro map. Unless they're planning to include all of the RER stations in that, Paris will not be totally covered by Wi-Fi. Even given a 300-metre radius, which is probably being hopelessly optimistic, you won't have full coverage the way you do with GSM wireless coverage - the stations are usually more than 300m apart, not to mention the 'shadows' created by buildings, etc. in the path of the signal.
Now, if they mounted transmitters on each wireless tower or minitower or microtower, you'd have 100% coverage of the city.
Nevertheless, it is a good idea.
Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have
Nuff Said
I went to battle MC Escher but drew a blank
I think I'll stay with my freedom wi-fi, thank you!
-- Repeat with me: "There is no right to profits".
better hurry up and register it before they do! then sell it back for millions!!! muhahaha
Just thinking about my work I've done in Paris.. there are many times the stations are simply swamped with people. Laptop wifi is just out of the question. Far too many people and no real area to sit down. Besides, you only have minutes in a subway stop before your train comes. Even with Hibernate, my W2K box takes a while to be ready for use.
That really only leaves handheld devices, like a trusty ole iPaq. But.. with anyone with an iPaq (or laptop for that matter) probably also carries a mobile telephone - probably with bluetooth.
So in the 5 minutes you've got in the subway station, why not just go to street-level, turn on your PDA, and connect via GPRS. The iPaq with bluetooth is fantastic for downloading and running a quick scan on your email.
Plus if you really want to sit down and check your mail or surf, then zip off to a Brasserie for a coffee too.
Gare du nord now has WiFi.. I spend many hours sitting there waiting for my trains. Hey that's a great idea - wire up the trains themselves with WiFi. A Thalys or TGV with WiFi access would rock.
I fucking hate the spineless fucking french frogs. Fucking lame masturbating smelly pigs. Garlic chewing frog eating white flag waving terrorist apologists, the fucking lot of them.
Now I've said what all you US jingoist had on your heart, please leave this discussion so we can have some sane comments.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
I can see it now: Pringles cans mounted all over the Eiffel Tower...
The hard part is finding enough French people to eat the chips.
Hey, that icon slashdot uses for WiFi stories certainly looks familiar...
Here in State College, PA I usually eat at a locally owned coffee and bagel shop called Irvings or a large regional grocery chain called Wegmans. Both places offer free wifi, the local Starbucks doesn't even offer wifi and if it did you would need to pay ~$6/hr.. If two places are of equal quality, but one offers free access, where would you go?
uhm, I've done this in Bryant Park, New York, and it was a great way to stay connected to people at home in Europe, without wires, without cost. I think that experiment is still running
http://www.nycwireless.net/
This is exactly what I was looking for as I'm going to Paris next week. There are lots of people wandering around the middle of town with laptops, sitting in the park with laptops. Of course you wouldn't be sitting outside with one in winter - however I don't really think that's the period they'd envisage most users. Using a laptop on the metro is not really a practical proposition.
Possible users?
Business travellers using one of the major stations with an hour to kill in the cafe.
Tourists emailing home.
Day trippers from somewhere else in Europe who want to email home/check the internet for something (Gare du Nord is a terminals for Eurostar).
All depends how much it costs of course. I'll definitely use it when it's free.
Is that like a TRAP but encoded in 64bit industrial-strength WEP ?
Gendarme! Gendarme! I'l n'ces pa a la Orinoco Gold carte de la searchimande!
2.4gHz?? Moi? Non, regardes CowboyNeal!Disclaimer - I have no idea what any of that means.
You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
"Math in a song is good."-Linford
it had to be said
THe local starbucks charges 30$ per month. HEllOOOOOO! I tend to study at starbucks, so i could easly rack up 3-6 hours a week, but im not willing to shell out 30 bucks for that, especially if im not there for a few weeks. THink aobut it, anyone who has a wireless laptop, probably already is paying for a connection at home. THis would dprobably almost double the cost of most peoples connections. I woul dlove to see figures of how the service is working, as far as subscribers.
MAybe if they went with 1$ a day, i would have used it. OR maybe a discount plan, for every 1$ of coffee you buy, you get a percentage off the 30$
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
re/read the article. There is no service on the metro. I know, i've read about this elsewhere, and that's definitely true on the test, and will probably be true for the final version due to problems with ground penetration (the wifi hotspots are above ground, stations are just a convenient location).
Faites l'amusement de nous si vous souhaitez. Mais au moins nous obtenons la connexion de WiFi pour hors des ordinateurs. Vous parole biseautZe qui au sujet de New York
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Where they really need Wi-Fi is inside the metro tunnels. Surely they could install some leaky coax or seomthing that will make it work for the people actually travelling in the Trains.
I live in Paris (I'm not french, my work sent me here), and I have to travel the full length of Line 1 each day. The trip from Chateau de Vincennes to La Defense each day is 45 minutes to an hour, and if I could make my laptop work for that time, that would cut my workday by nearly the same amount as my travel time. I've been waiting for them to do the same thing with the mobile phones. Right now, the phones work in some tunnels, and not in others.
It's true that all the cables and fiber run through the metro tunnels, that makes it easy to hook up any building with fiber, because nothing is very far from a a Metro station. Both Cable Internet and DSL here in Paris is available everywhere.
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
In addition to the networks listed in other posts, this one has been running for about a year and a half now.
If appearance and essence were the same thing, there would be no need for science -- Dr. Michio Kaku
I can't collect enough herring in Twin Paths, help!
This is perhaps my most-often asked question. There's a common misconception that you have to have a good time to get credit for Twin Paths, but the limiting factor in this case is herring. Most players try the second path, which has more herring and a faster average speed. Unfortunately, neither path has enough to satisfy the requirement on its own. You must take the first path, then SWITCH OVER to the second path after the first two groups of trees. Some players also prefer to switch BACK to the first path to get the extra herring near the end of the level, but that's tempting fate in my opinion. Rest assured, though you might lose a little time going overland in this method, it's not enough to make a difference.
What is the highest jump attainable in Tux Racer?
Many people think that the highest jump can be found in Who Says Penguins Can't Fly? , where speeds in excess of 150 kph are commonplace. But since the entire level is essentially one big straightaway, there are no opportunities to set up a jump, and you have to rely on hitting the ramp at a glancing angle, counting on luck to propel you to a high altitude. The best you're going to get in this situation is a z-value of +13230. Believe it or not, some of the easier levels such as Twisty Slope or even Frozen River can give you a run for your money if big air is what you're looking for. In particular, the mountain to the left at the beginning of Frozen River can be used as a speed boost to attain values as high as +39740, or almost 120 feet in the air!
Is there any way over the big ramp in Sentinel Towers?
Contrary to what you may have heard, it's the angle of the ramp that's important to the height of your jump, and not the length. In fact, as you may have found out the hard way in Sentinel Towers, long ramps can be your worst enemy. To make the jump, you need to maintain a speed in excess of 84 kph all the way up to the base of the ramp. This requires a little planning in advance, so right after you exit the first ice canyon, make a beeline for the ridge on your right. Taking the most direct path will keep your speed on until you make it to the point of no return near the big ramp. Taking the most direct route off the ramp can also work wonders: you should always jump off near the right and then steer left after you hit the other side.
NOTE: If you're trying to complete the jump for the herring bonus, there's a quick & dirty way to do that by taking the roundabout route at the right of the ramp and then jumping over to the other side. Be careful, though: unless you hit the right jump, you will fall down the crack and have to reset.
How can I play as the Coca-Cola bear?
This feature is "officially" non-existent, so don't tell. ;) To get this feature working, you must complete, as Tux, all levels up to Path of Daggers in the Canadian Cup. Then go to practice mode and replay Path of Daggers, taking the path around the ice spikes at the beginning. When you get to the first turn, the one leading across the series of jumps, ignore the turn and go STRAIGHT OVER the embankment, flying into the clearing below. The easiest way to do this is to aim for the patch of snow in the middle of the embankment. If you maintain a speed over 50 kph, you will hit the slope at the extreme left side of the map and go straight through to a hidden ice tunnel underneath. At the end of the tunnel is a coke bottle which you must touch. (Alert players will notice that the bottle is actually on the plane of the level's exit, and the only way out is to touch a point in this plane, which gives you credit for this secret.)
From the bus38 link "Hello! Be the very welcome aboard Bus 38!"
Who did their translation, Babelfish?
Trolling is a art,
a good joke about wardriving and France's military surrender history, but nothing springs to mind.
/. geeks go wardriving and are asked about it, the French would surrender to them anyway ;)
I'm willing to bet if enough
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
I have been in contact with a friend in Tallinn, Estonia and he tells me that Tallin is full of publically accessible Wi-Fi hot spots. You can see more on this page, referenced at Wifi Free hot spots.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Of course, when network traffic gets heavy, the network just surrenders.
I wouldn't have been quite so vulgar, but the fact of the matter is that one DOES need to study the morality of a situation -- AS A WHOLE -- before diving into it. One the one hand, free WiFi sounds like a great thing to use "geek" types. On the other hand, France is not exactly in the world's best standing right now, as you note. Why do you think it's okay to discuss the former but not the latter? You might say that France's support of dictators and rejection of the principles of Christ is "off-topic" to this discussion, but I don't think so.
It's easy to be tempted by material wealth and earthly comforts, such as this WiFi network. On the other hand, that might be EXACTLY what they're shooting for -- lure in the "geeks" with this and hope they'll forget about past transgressions. I don't think this will happen. I guarantee you that the history books will have much to say about France and its actions in 2003, and I can also guarantee you that it will say nothing -- NOTHING -- about WiFi. This is a clear case of "too little too late" on the part of Mr. Chiraq.
it would make much more sense for Cisco to back a city that makes it difficult to run services. One in particular that comes to mind is Venice, instead of fighting with the waterways why not just broadcast across the city so that everyone can easily tap into the wireless access. I realize from what I've seen/read that it is more of a old world city so maybe technology isn't a high priority there but just think of what it could do to help revitalize it.
Hey, I see nothing wrong with sipping cappuchinos at the café, ogling at well-endowed waitresses and reading the latest slashdot article on my tablet..AND gettting paid for doing remote desktop support :)
On Fridays substitute coffee with cheap red wine.
is not done by the French. Usually, it is done by another country (recently, the Germans).
The French are good at warsurrendering, though.
I might be able to use that. Hmmm. THanks.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
yeah, i said it.
This is great! They will now be able to surrender from anywhere in Paris with just a laptop!
While much smaller in scope, Atlanta, GA is receiving something similar. The folks over at www.freebeeatlanta.com are setting up hotspots in a major area of Atlanta for free use. I am somewhat skeptical of their business model, though I have high hopes for it.
Their old site mentioned possibly rolling out in other cities, as well; unfortunately, the new site is less than informative.
I'm living in the Netherlands and in my hometown (Leiden) there has been wifi for quit a time now. Although a lot of progress has been made, there's still a lot of work to do in terms of building the netwerk. They still cannot compete with the speed provided by DSL connections. But one can join the project for only Eur. 100,- and since a couple of months an ISP called Demon is providing free internet access. More can be read here http://www.wirelessleiden.nl/indexuk.html
Freedom net, Liberty net? Nah, state run stuff that's free as in beer but censorded is not very free. They have different notions of freedom than we do. Come to think of it, these days we have different notions of freedom than we do. Happy Cinco de Mayo, when you can't celebrate liberty you can always drink a beer to someone else's defeat.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
The naked ones are sane?
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
The WiFi pilot at the Gare du Nord uses prepaid cards. The cheapest card costs 5 euros and provides 20 minutes of access (about US$5.65).
Who cares what france does.. What pisses me off is the lack of respect they showed the US after 150,000 of our guys died liberating that dumbass country.
That was supposed to read:
Paris, The City of Why Fight
Just another day in Paradise
all my spam will come from gay paris.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
if this spreads will they call it a the freedom network?
hahaha.... ha... ha... (freedom fries)
Okay Stupid (hey, you asked),
Imagine chilling out on the banks of the Seine in the long summer evenings and being connected. This is a very cool idea. Yes, I already have a fast DSL connection at home and an even faster connection at work. So what?
On another note, Paris is actually quite safe as a city. Compared to the average American city, it's amazingly safe. I have *never* felt in the least uncomfortable about whipping out my top-of-the-line G4 TiBook just about anywhere in the city at all times of the day/year.
On yet another note, NO, it would SUCK EGGS to put the base stations inside the trains. Have you ever ridden the Paris Metro? The trains are noisy, confined, and jolt you about like mad. I can't think of a worse place.
Sheesh people, if you don't know squat about the subject, don't open your yap and post nonsense. Oh wait, this is slashdot.
I'm guessing a lot of other people will pass, too. Starbucks needs to offer a one-day (or even hourly) rate before things will take off. They could use it for promotions... fill up your Starbucks card, get an hour online. That $30/mo is going to wave a lot of people off.
Mail? Put "slashdot" in the subject to pass the spam filters.
You could also set up a webcam pointed at the Mona Lisa so people wouldn't have to wait in line to see it.
shut your fucking cock-sucking hole, filthy americunt
the best thing about computers? oh and the demos, ai, number crunching, the Internet, games, additional memory...and abstractions it puts on life aren't important somehow?
you are being unreasonable, sir...sure computers wouldn't be very geat if you have photographic memory, the ability to multiply 3000 digit numbers in base2-1024 in your head by command, and a video camera that just happens to be pointing at something interesting at all time, and the ability to be in 6 or 7 places in the world at one time so that you could get more done... sure if that describes you then mabye computers are worth getting away from. for the rest of us, there's masterca...i mean...computers.
i do think that this is likely going to be a waste of money, but this could easily be the future - you will know that you are in a human-inhabited regioin not by the smell of rotten urine and feces, [like the dark ages] but by the patterns of what would otherwise be passive electro-magnetic radiation being used and awaiting someone to conjour it up so that it could display
Debian GNU/Linux 3.0.1 wireless Zarathustra wfx 3967023 Login: _
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
I think everyone assumes they want to transmit wifi inside the subway. That is silly. :-)
They just plan to use the RATP's fiber network as a backbone for their wifis access points. Since the subway covers all the city, so does their fiber network, so does their wifi service.
This means you could get connected from any place in town, during lunch or shopping.
Paris is just a wondeful place. Now expect to see geeks playing UT2003 in the gourmet restaurants of Paris