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Irish 'Running Man' WarWalking Competition

phaxx writes "Dubbed 'WaveHunt', this is the Irish take on DefCon's RunningMan competition. Contestants will have three attempts, each an hour long, to locate a moving Linksys WRT54g running OpenWRT Linux. They must positively identify the person carrying the hidden acccess point and report this back to base. The first prize is two hundred euro, and it takes place this coming Saturday, March 5th. The intended venues are a large park, a defined area of winding streets in Dublin City Centre, and a multi-level shopping centre!"

34 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. beer and linux by caino59 · · Score: 2, Funny

    will there be free beer during this event?

    heh - you bet your ass i'd probably forget the competition and find my ass a pub.

  2. Twice the persons = twice the PC's? by Jokernick5 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The article states that individuals or "teams of two" may enter. I wonder if a team of two could use two devices? If so, teams would have a huge advantage in their ability to triangulate the position of the WAP. ... on the other hand, the second person could just run around and physically search everyone in the area...

    1. Re:Twice the persons = twice the PC's? by ch-chuck · · Score: 2, Funny

      the second person could just run around and physically search everyone in the area...

      At first I though that was a crazy idea - then realized that if it was held in the US, a clever team could just obtain some t-shirts marked "Homeland Security" or something, setup a fake X-Ray scanning table outside and start searching everybodys backpack and parcels. Locate it by social engineering instead of rf sniffing ;)

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    2. Re:Twice the persons = twice the PC's? by arivanov · · Score: 2, Informative
      Well, if you remember the original "Running Man" (both the Philip Dick story and the movie) you should recall that the Running Man is NOT supposed to have any advantages. In fact the Running Man is not supposed to live through it...

      In btw, it is possibly the only meaningfull movie the Terminator ever made.

      --
      Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
      http://www.sigsegv.cx/
    3. Re:Twice the persons = twice the PC's? by slimak · · Score: 2, Informative

      I am only familiar with the Stephen King book The Running Man. Was there also one by Dick? A quick Google search didn't find it, but that may just be me.

  3. intentional vi-l33tness? by myspys · · Score: 2, Funny

    :wq (bottom of the page)

    1. Re:intentional vi-l33tness? by kahei · · Score: 5, Funny


      It must be a hoax -- a user trying to quit vi actually types this:

      ^C
      ^C
      ^Z
      .
      ^[
      ^[^[^[^[^[
      quit
      end
      exit
      bye
      quit!
      QUIT
      QQQQQQQ :quit :QUIT :zz :w :quit!

      $rm /usr/bin/vi

      --
      Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
  4. Verizon by GeeForeTechTV · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Verizon Wireless now has high speed wireless in major cities across the country. It would be interesting if people subscribed to this "all you can eat" access and set up mobile access points. This would be an interesting way to get access on the road.

    --
    Dogs are annoying. Go ECFA.

  5. Triangulation by mikeumass · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Triangulating the location of a wireless access point is no small task even if it is stationary, and you have 3 point of reference.

    However combinting 2 points of reference with signal strength from each point should make the job possible, assuming there is not too much interference from external sources. The hard part will be trying to keep track of how your experimental locations map up to location of persons who could be carrying the access point.

    Maybe you could just look for someone with an antenna sticking out of thier backpack!

    1. Re:Triangulation by Otter · · Score: 2, Funny
      Maybe you could just look for someone with an antenna sticking out of thier backpack!

      Simply identifying the nerdiest guy on the streets of Dublin is probably a fairly sound strategy.

    2. Re:Triangulation by mikeumass · · Score: 3, Informative

      The rules state no directional antennae.

  6. oblig by Tuffsnake · · Score: 3, Funny

    First ya find the computer running the wireless then you win 200 euro, then you can buy lots and lots of Guinness ... BRILLIANT!

  7. My, My by punkin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that an access point in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?

  8. This should be pretty easy by winstonmeister · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you're using wireless internet and the router stops working every five minutes for no apparent reason, you're getting closer to the Linksys.

  9. Re:I think some people have too much free time by Hyecee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Recreation? Competition? Exercise? Something fun to do? Not everything has to have a "point". Sometimes folks can just get together and have fun, you know?

  10. Foxhunting by another name by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is just Foxhunting by another name.

    The only difference is that this is open to non-hams.

    1. Re:Foxhunting by another name by shrubya · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bah, fox hunting is such a wussy pseudo-sport. I think a competition that features two governors wrestling to the death in an iron cage is MUCH more exciting.

    2. Re:Foxhunting by another name by M1FCJ · · Score: 2, Funny

      Finally fox hunting by dogs is banned in this country. I always wondered why these hound dogs hated hams, probably it's the smell.

  11. sounds a lot like...ham radio by lophophore · · Score: 4, Informative

    This sounds a lot like Ham Radio direction finding contests. In fact, I bet a lot of the same kind of DFing technology will be used.

    Look here for information about direction finding, transmitter hunting, and radio-orienteering as used by hams:

    http://members.aol.com/homingin/

    --
    there are 3 kinds of people:
    * those who can count
    * those who can't
  12. I could do this without a Wi-Fi device by gearmonger · · Score: 4, Funny
    Just seek out the smuggest-looking n3rd in the mall/park, which shouldn't be too hard, since true geeks generally avoid places with other people and sunshine.

    Yeah, go ahead...I've got some karma to burn.

    1. Re:I could do this without a Wi-Fi device by kryten_nl · · Score: 5, Funny

      Much easier:
      Listen for young women screaming: "Get the f*ck away from me!"

      --
      For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
  13. Re:Simple answer by caryw · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wish it was that easy. It's pretty hard to find a moving target with a little pocket device that gives signal strength. A better solution would be to buy a nice receiver that can process signal direction (like a newer ICOM or Uniden). Of course you'd still have to fire up the laptop to figure out what channel the SSID you're chasing is on.
    Ham's have these (find the transmitting guy) things all the time. They call them foxhunts. The best anecdote I remember is one year the guy transmitting was an elderly man fishing off a bridge. He was using the fishing poll as the antenna. Nobody wanted to disturb him.
    - Cary
    --Fairfax Underground: Where Fairfax County comes out to play

  14. Not my cup of tea... by eric_brissette · · Score: 5, Funny

    Running? Like... with your feet? After a moving router? I'm getting winded just thinking about it.

    Let me know when the host a go cart enabled competition. Or at least with those scooters for handicapped people. I'd be all over that.

  15. Thanks /. ! by cwj123 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was planning on installing OpenWRT on my linksys today. But from the looks of it, the site's been slashdotted. Thanks for giving me some more free time today!

  16. Easy by slapout · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just look for the guy with the extension cord hanging out of his coat. Or the one carrying the really big battery. :-)

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  17. Re:Oh no! My karma suffered at the hands of the... by ggvaidya · · Score: 2, Funny

    Group Think clowns admit NOTHING. We have sworn our oaths on the Sacred Red Nose of Bobo and the Gloved White Hand of Krusty. We will be honest, generous and true to our cause.

    We may or may not be funny.

    cheers,
    The Group Think Clowns
    (laugh at us? -5, Unfunny to you, bozo)

  18. Re:For those who dont know.. by citog · · Score: 4, Funny

    So the PRC has been annexed then? Langers surrendered?

  19. Walking to Los Angeles by bitspotter · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not a bad solution to the problem with the wardriving competition a couple years ago. In their race to record the most APs, contestants were told they needed to stay West of a certain Las Vegas street - so some smartass went all the way to LA.

    Needless to say, he won. ;p

    1. Re:Walking to Los Angeles by Render_Man · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, that was BigEZy. He did drive all the way out to LA before the start of the competition, provided evidence of his being there at the time of the contest, but through some technical goofs, they did'nt get thier data in by the deadline and so the LA run did'nt count.

      I know this because I was one of the other contestants who was angry and impressed by the interesting interpretation of the rules.

      --
      Where are we going, and why are we in this hand cart?
  20. Re:I think some people have too much free time by Dogtanian · · Score: 2, Funny

    Recreation? Competition? Exercise? Something fun to do? Not everything has to have a "point". Sometimes folks can just get together and have fun, you know?

    It's called sex, and that IS the point.

    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  21. Spherical Trigonometry by drewzhrodague · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I asked someone for advice on how to deal with our triangulation, and he said "Spherical Trigonometry," and sent me a URL. I printed it out, and took one look at it. The hair on the back of my neck hasn't stopped standing on end since!

    Of course, we're using GPS coords, in addition to signal strength.

    --
    Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
  22. Just hope that... by ebrandsberg · · Score: 2, Funny

    nobody uses an old cordless phone that for all intent purposes jams the signal, like the one my neighbors use... and use... and use....

  23. Winners! by RamboCalrissian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hopefully the contestants this year will do as well as last years winners: Whitman, Price, and Hadad!

  24. Wardriving... warwalking... What's next? by elgatozorbas · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let me guess: war-segwaying. Definitely.