Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

WiFi Gone Wild

Posted by michael on from the freebie dept.

b4k4 writes "According to this news release, the Texas Department of Transportation is proposing to install hotspots at all 84 Safety Rest Stops and 12 Travel Information Centers statewide. This would be in addition to the four test locations already in place along US287." Reader polluted notes that Portland is working on free WiFi. An anonymous reader sent in word of this year's wifi-shootout, a contest to maximize the range for an 802.11b connection. And Roland Piquepaille writes in regarding cows wearing WiFi collars, which I'm afraid reminds me of a crummy sci-fi movie.

3 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Texas, govt agency as an ISP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seems that in Texas, truckers are the predominant users of roadside rest stops. Since a govt agency will be providing the Internet, you can bet your life that there will be plenty of surveillance involved, so I wonder if this will also be a fishing expedition for truckers who traffik in child pr0n? If you've ever travelled thru Texas on the interstate highways, you've undoubtedly noticed the many "adult" movie stores near lots of truckstops, and how many 18-wheelers are always filling their parking lots..... not to be making any insinuations about truckers being such big-time consumers of pr0n or nothing like that.

  2. Re:WiFi WiFi WiFi *yawn* by Paulrothrock · · Score: 4, Interesting
    A better example would be air conditioning. When most people couldn't afford it for their homes, they would go to places that had A/C, like movie theatres. They used to advertise it. Broadband+WiFi will be similar, except that in addition to expense, you have expertise that people lack to implement a home WiFi solution.

    Personal Story: I have a laptop with WiFi and I went to the only Starbucks in town for some coffee. They didn't have WiFi there, so I went to Panera Bread Company to get a drink. The coffee was worse, but they had WiFi, so I stayed for three hours!

    --
    I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
  3. New Problems for RIAA by cfulmer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So far, the RIAA's "sue the world" strategy has relied on subpoenas sent to ISPs to identify the filesharer who was using a specific IP address at a specific time. What happens when the ISP has no idea: "Well, it was somebody travelling on I-20."? If the ISP were a private entity, the RIAA _may_ be able to sue the ISP. But, what happens when the ISP is the State of Texas? My one semester of ConLaw says that the 11th Amendment would bar that suit.