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Get Your 802.11 Media Fix From SeattleWireless TV
Michael Pierce writes "SeattleWireless TV brings you the latest information on Community, Corporate, and Home Wireless applications, hardware, security, and innovators in the field. July 2003 Show Summary: On this month's show, Peter and Michael report on the wireless project called 'SnowNet,' a project where Casey Halverson plans to use mountain tops to connect communities via a 802.11b backbone. We then check out the first link connected to SnowNet. TacomaNode,' located in Tacoma, Wa. It will connect to Seattle via a wireless backbone through SnowNet. Scott Kennedy, the owner of the Drinkmore Café, tells us why he has decided to provide free WiFi to his customers while other places charge. And finally we had a chance to try out a new Linux embedded product called the Prismiq MediaPlayer. Using this device, you no longer have to watch your media files on your small computer monitor. Using a wireless card, it can hook up to your network anywhere! You can view by choosing your player: Windows MediaPlayer or RealPlayer. If for some reason they don't stream there are some download links on the site. Also, if the stream links get messed up for any reason they are on the site, too." SnowNet is too cool to ignore.
This sounds like a cool idea until someone gets pissed at a TV show and decides to DDOS the TV Station.
Sweet, imagine all of that unencrypted, insecure pr0n beaming through the Rockies.........
...even though I'm completely ontopic, but doesn't this article seem like an advert? One thing that makes me suspicious is their informing us that we can view using just Windows Media Player or RealPlayer. Considering the core audience of Slashdot, I'd say this seems pretty suspicious. It doesn't even give any real information about the linked to text.
This isn't a mirror, it's just a copy of the URL in the post! Take a little more time, mods!
Thanks for helping to take away the bandwidth of those people who already noticed the streaming video program earlier today when they followed the links to the Linksys story.
Good choice of name, maybe they have come up with a signal drop interface that just creates snow on your screen when you experience data stream dropout. Then you would actually think you are watching tv.
OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
IAALS.
On a similar topic, if you are in the Seattle area on August 30th, you should check out the Wireless Field Day. We will be creating a number of links between various parks in the Seattle area. Plus, we hope to connect to SnowNet and use it to link with Tacoma. I will be demonstrating iChat AV over wireless so people will be able to see the advantages of having a public community wireless network. Be sure to come check us out!
Nice advertisement. Of course, I don't live in Seattle, so I can't watch the show. Which begs the question, why is this on Slashdot at all? I mean, other than the fact that we keep seeing suspicious "ad-like" stories on a daily basis...
We already have all these butt-ugly cell-phone towers that enable SUV-driving morons to not pay attention to what they are doing. Now we're going to mess up the skyline with butt-ugly wireless towers that enable pasty-white geeks to get their porn faster instead of going out for a hike in those same goddamn mountains.
"And this is my boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman." "Hello." "Good boy."
Mountaineer WEP hacking!!
First team to reach the summit and retrieve the WEP key wins.
Finaly a geek gets on ESPN2!
-- Disclaimer: I can't really back up anything I post on
"And our top news headline tonight, SnowNet, the ubiquitous free Wireless ISP found throughout the greater Seattle area, has been sued into oblivion by the RIAA after failing to be able to identify specific users on their network found to be file sharing...."
Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.
(insert standard complaining about overall slashdot article quality dropping here)
I'm a hetero zoophile.
I hate to say it but you could build a hacked X-box for that price (249.95). Granted it's not going to be wireless but you get a game system and a dvd player.
And of course most importantly it would run linux...
McK
Note Slashdot is a free service, we don't pay for the bandwidth, there's quite few not very intrusive banners... so you must forgive the editors posting a "sponsored article" from time to time.
I've really been thinking of getting one of these, but so far the reviews have been less than stellar. Not that that the product is bad, but few of them really tell anything more than what I can read on the product homepage. Does it work well? Is it hard to use? Does it have a hard time with video formats or is the decode pretty rebust? How good is the Divx support? I've really wanted a cheap player that can access my library of videos, but I hear the comments that the windows software has short-commings. Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bel, the mostly sane.. "Of course I can't see anything! I'm standing on the shoulders of idiots." -- Me
I dont know about you guys, but that sounds an awfully lot like the TACOMA DOME.
Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY....free wifi access, first come first serve, SEE the mighty 54G crush all oncomers. Watch 802.11b, that scrappy kid, still hold up against the onslaught of oncomers. Witness the fall of the mighty BLUEtooth. Special appearance by Airport...EXTREME! this sunday, at the TACOMA DOME...i mean NODE!
"Once upon a time men were lions and machines were mice, but since it was so long ago, now its twice upon a time."
Do not moderate Joyce up - he is a known copy and paste troll - he gets his stuff from any forum he can find it2 707 2 201 2 201 6 460
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doesn't this article seem like an advert?
Yes, but at least it's not astroturfing.
The story was submitted by Michael Pierce, and the email addy for his story submission is michael@gir.seattlewireless.net
Of course he sounds like he's advertizing Seattle Wireless -- he is -- but he's honest and forthright about it.
--
I'm with you man - Seattle: eat a d! Maybe if it was San Diego it would be worth something...
Seattle Wireless folks are doing this because it's fun. Sure, this is an "advertisement" in the sense that this is a notice that brings public attention / publicity, but *not* in the sense that you seem to using that word, as in part of a for-profit marketing campaign. I think 100% of the profit from a run-for-fun-and-glory wireless network (with hardware, bandwidth and electricity) would still be a negative number, so I'm glad we're not getting kickbacks :) (Kickforwards? Simple kicks?)
I just think the the Mt. Baldi link in particular is an astounding DIY project.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
I do live in Seattle, and still don't care about this stupid article. The Seattlewireless network is lame, its is about 75% talk. Half of their advertised "nodes" don't even work or just don't plain exist anymore.
An advertisement for what? A non-profit community based wireless network attempting to expand its coverage from a metropolitan base to a regional base. I think you are off base.
"DRM is like violence: if it doesn't work, use more."
it only takes up 3/4 of the screen
So quit complaining and turn your res down already.
====
Crudely Drawn Games
If you dont enjoy the program, no problem ;) I figured you guys would like it. We just like to inform. Setting up a community network is hardwork!
take care,
Michael
Seattle Wireless actually talked about this earlier this week on the NPR affil in Seattle, KUOW-FM, during the Weekday program. It's pretty interesting stuff ... if it all works out. The KUOW.org site has an audio stream of the hour-long show.
One challenge is convincing the masses, who already are just starting to understand what Wi-Fi is, that Wi-Fi ISN'T just wireless Internet ... that's it creates a wireless network that can move damn near anything digital without ever touching the Internet(voice, video ... bits is bits). But perception lags reality.
So how many people are going to share these wireless links? 10Mb/s is hardly what I'd call a backbone. Sure it may be a fun exercise, but why the obsession with a wireless backbone when fiber has so much more bandwidth? I understand that wireless is the best solution in some cases, but this doesn't seem like one of them. Wireless seems to make a lot more sense as a last mile solution.
Vote for Pedro
Who gives a flying fuck about linux. Only losers living on their parent's basement use worry about linux. Get a life!!!
I hope they don't try to run any of this under Part 97 (ham) rules. There would be some major issues then.
-Joe W7COM
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
Isn't it a bit insecure for it to scan the entire hard disk drive of an old Windows machine for media files?
:-)
The PRISMIQ software asks you which directory you want to scan and what file extensions to look for.
How secure is the communication if one decides to use it in its wireless incarnation?
Someone who could sniff your wireless traffic could probably snarf a copy of the audio and video streams. So if you're paranoid, don't stream your steamy home movies over wireless
If you are interested in seeing a lot of real users discussing the PRISMIQ box, go to www.prismiq.ORG and click on "forums".
A dingo ate my sig...
After listening to countless geeks try to explain to me why "open source" software is better, and why a neighborhood "free wi-fi cafe" is better than a Starbucks, the guy in this video from the Drinkmore Cafe finally explained it in a way that makes sense to a die-hard capitalist like myself.
A major reason for making (or saving) money is presumably that you can use that money to increase your hapiness. That hapiness could be in the form of security, or entertainment, or improved health. The Drinkmore Cafe owner said that his decision to give away wireless was not to gain more customers or more money, but rather to bring more people together to form more of the type of community in which he wishes to live.
Starbucks cannot reap any direct benefit to enhancing a community in this way, because "Starbucks" is not a person living in the community it creates. The owner of the cafe is merely "cutting out the middleman" of saving money, then spending it again, opting instead to enhance his quality of life directly by changing his own environment.
I am relatively new to this community, and I feel stupid that I never actually thought about this before, but I am so used to nerds with chips on their shoulders explaining how the open and free world creates better products and grows the industry. That may be true, but improving our quality of life of seems like a more straightforward, more practical argument for open and free projects.
Nice idea -- it'd be cool if such an interface could help you point your antenna better, too! So when you have it in this mode, your picture would visibly get fuzzy when the bandwidth throttles back for instance. What'd be amazing, is if the antenna had multiple elements, and you could actually slide/pan the picture across the screen as you move the antenna ( = Crazy, huh?
regards!
Was it a bat I saw? Racecar. Stack cats. A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal--Panama!