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MIT Wireless Campus Tracking Users

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the no-possible-misuse-here dept.

* * Beatles-Beatles writes to tell us the Associated Press has an interesting article about MIT's newly upgraded wireless network. The new network not only allows internet connectivity, but allows people to view how many people are logged on at a particular location. If the user has opted to make their information public the network will even allow you to see personal information on each user that is logged in.

58 comments

  1. Second by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Second Posting. (dupe)

    1. Re:Second by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Weird.

  2. digg.com slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    i saw this article on digg.com at least a week ago

  3. Man by AEton · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is getting major press coverage. Sounds heavy!

    --
    We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
    1. Re:Man by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

      Actually, in your haste to inform us you linked to the wrong article.
      Yours is similar to the wifi mapping, but involves mapping cellphones.

      The other dupe posters may have been slower, but they were more accurate ;)

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
  4. Duplicate by scottme · · Score: 2, Informative

    of yesterday's story

  5. Great idea by mboverload · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe they should use it to track articles they've already posted? :-)

  6. a cheap PC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At the end of the day, when university is empty, you can check on the map if someone forgot his computer. I guess you could get 5-10 pc a year.

    1. Re:a cheap PC? by silverkniveshotmail. · · Score: 1

      A laptop with that kind of battery life is worth stealing.

  7. OUTGOING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    HELLO WORLD
    84635 84635
    HELLO WORLD
    55239 55239 17659 17659 42773 42773 37557 37557 35760 35760
    63392 63392 28670 28670 19315 19315 32133 32133 59959 59959
    49788 49788 78823 78823 00000 00000 18139 18139 07715 07715
    60141 60141 91853 91853 17108 17108 45205 45205 09378 09378
    68757 68757 09996 09996 62078 62078 95257 95257 69473 69473
    39901 39901 93427 93427 47135 47135 33306 33306 77578 77578
    86981 86981 65940 65940 54059 54059 05385 05385 56218 56218
    53795 53795 10048 10048 16950 16950 68668 68668 85556 85556
    79589 79589 81720 81720 81394 81394 04904 04904 54722 54722
    83585 83585 20590 20590 34103 34103 18710 18710 18111 18111
    90592 90592 61950 61950 77647 77647 27033 27033 36596 36596
    14300 14300 34260 34260 10965 10965 12644 12644 12457 12457
    09713 09713 73912 73912 48354 48354 25269 25269 32224 32224
    11961 11961 16120 16120 60354 60354 96249 96249 77038 77038
    91210 91210 01513 01513 70865 70865 96846 96846 93310 93310
    42662 42662 12155 12155 87912 87912 63723 63723 72208 72208
    50750 50750 18360 18360 73083 73083 04449 04449 68730 68730
    83488 83488 41188 41188 22883 22883 87192 87192 11613 11613
    86664 86664 73349 73349 09145 09145 29887 29887 77537 77537
    68013 68013 92513 92513 29149 29149 62238 62238 82161 82161
    63015 63015 54947 54947 81323 81323 31400 31400 67025 67025
    71072 71072 94891 94891 32047 32047 82667 82667 08699 08699
    75573 75573 24408 24408 80140 80140 87180 87180 41636 41636
    31495 31495 31153 31153 07866 07866 98568 98568 11359 11359
    43497 43497 95520 95520 41816 41816 87633 87633 99937 99937
    00531 00531 41136 41136 47099 47099 72592 72592 88941 88941
    35041 35041 82063 82063 58426 58426 95934 95934 50578 50578
    77239 77239 65303 65303 27909 27909 74415 74415 87391 87391
    43787 43787 91391 91391 02509 02509 29157 29157 63214 63214
    60937 60937 28220 28220 64794 64794 21356 21356 14748 14748
    05542 05542 27738 27738 70376 70376 39801 39801 50983 50983
    87009 87009 36795 36795 46952 46952 50213 50213 17461 17461
    73838 73838
    K-BYE

    1. Re:OUTGOING by __aaxwdb6741 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I mean, if I had mod points, I would probably vote this +1, Funny, because it actually entertained me a bit.

    2. Re:OUTGOING by imthesponge · · Score: 1

      What is it?

    3. Re:OUTGOING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i don't get it. somebody help me?

    4. Re:OUTGOING by aurb · · Score: 1

      Daah!
      It's a bunch of numbers with randomly printed "HELLO WORD" lines of course.

    5. Re:OUTGOING by dotwaffle · · Score: 1

      Numbers stations don't repeat each block, what does this actually say?

    6. Re:OUTGOING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They've been known to. Look at The Conet Project's "Cracking a number stations" project for an example.

  8. Dupes by nother_nix_hacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the reason I don't like dupes is that when I see one it reminds me I spend way too much time on this site.

  9. Major dupe again by axonis · · Score: 0

    dont you guys check ? ScuttleMonkey how can you expect to maintain your job ? three strikes and you should be out !

    --
    bæ8Ã0sÃOE?5r©oÂÃ?âz:ÃÃAÃ?ÃOEÂ6fXÃ?]Â
  10. Dupe by Jason1729 · · Score: 2, Informative

    here

  11. I am now a believer. by AndreiK · · Score: 1

    I used to think all the jokes about dupes were false. But after the third dupe in a week, I am now a believer.

    1. Re:I am now a believer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I used to think all the jokes about dupes were false. But after the third dupe in a week, I am now a believer.


      Could you please stop posting this comment?

    2. Re:I am now a believer. by AndreiK · · Score: 1

      Hahah, cute.

  12. Opt-in by Crouty · · Score: 2, Funny
    If the user has opted to [..]
    Uh, you mean I searched my whole room for my trusty tinfoil hat for nothing?
    --
    On se Internetz nobody noes your German.
  13. Re:digg.com slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I saw this article on Slashdot at least a day ago.

  14. Now I'm A Believer. by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
    Slightly edited version of the song "Now I'm A Believer" by The Monkeys
    http://www.paradise-engineering.com/quotation/nowi mabeliever.html



    I thought dupes were only true in fairy tales

    Meant for someone else but not for me.

    The dupes were out to get me

    That's the way it seemed.

    Disappointment haunted all my dreams.



    Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer

    Not a trace of doubt in my mind.

    I'm in love, I'm a believer!

    I couldn't leave slashdot if I tried.



    I thought love was more or less a given thing,

    Seems the more I gave the less I got.

    What's the use in tryin'?

    All you get is pain.

    When I needed sunshine I got rain.



    Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer

    Not a trace of doubt in my mind.

    I'm in love, I'm a believer!

    I couldn't leave slashdot if I tried.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Now I'm A Believer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ha! He said "Monkeys".

      http://www.monkees.net/

  15. That's a good one.... by djupedal · · Score: 1

    'If the user has opted to make their information public'

    Saturday night at the improv...that ones' just about the best one liner I've heard all evening. Bob Hope's writers couldn't have come up with anything funner...

    If....hahahahahahah...that's a killer!!! heheheeh ....IFFFF! hahahahahahahaa - ...check is in the mail!!! hehehehehehhhhahahahahah!

    1. Re:That's a good one.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt you really understood the technique and concept behind this...

    2. Re:That's a good one.... by djupedal · · Score: 1

      I doubt your balls have dropped...

  16. Dupe! by zaguar · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Insert witty comment regarding /.'s propensity for duplication (linking to yesterday's story), comment of subscribers value for money, and finally finishing with another witty comment

    Suggested Moderation: +5, Insightful

    --
    "Sure there's porn and piracy on the Web but there's probably a downside too."
  17. A twist! by putko · · Score: 1

    OK, so it is a dupe. But did anyone notice that this time it is Scuttle Monkey who dupes Zonk? Normally it is the other way around -- Zonk typically does the duping.

    This is an interesting and unexpected turn of events.

    Furthermore, does anyone think that the duped articles (like this one) are the more interesting ones? It seems that genuinely neat stuff tends to get duped a lot more than marginal stuff.

    --
    http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_s tone_your_children/dt21_18a.html
    1. Re:A twist! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dont read it, unless it is a dupe !

    2. Re:A twist! by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Actually, there's a reason for that. If people keep submitting something repeatedly after it's already been covered, they dupe it. CmdrTaco said that at one point.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  18. NEW SLASHDOT FPS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    is called DUPE NUKEM FOREVER. its time to nuke dupes and chew gum....and i'm all out of gum.

  19. Major panic as "finger" is discovered... by fabs64 · · Score: 1

    Seriously, this ability has been there on most large userbase Unix systems for years. Why do we now care that it's gone wireless?

  20. no big whoop by Douglas+Simmons · · Score: 1
    Before everyone starts a riot about this being dupe-like keep in mind this is an issue that is generating a whirlwind of attention and things could change quickly in one day (the separation of the articles from CNN and the AP). Now that we have some heavyweight sources on board, two organizations that would could argue have varying degrees of biases over privacy matters especially in the context of new technology. Also it is good for business to keep an issue fresh that's just making its way into mainstream media.

    But that's not important. RTA and you'll see that it is opt-in and no I do not think people would be blacklisted as communists for not joining. Then realize that this is a school and I can't think of any sinister motives behind something like this but I could indeed imagine ways this could benefit everyone. Also, this is slashdot, so let's ease back on busting Zonk's balls.

    1. Re:no big whoop by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      Communists!

      Next thing you know, someone's going to bring up Hitler and then it'll all be downhill from there.

      Couldn't you have made a joke about how In Soviet Russia, the network maps you in 3d! or something like that?

      [scorn]communists.[/scorn]

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:no big whoop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually the communists and the nazis hated each other.

  21. Re:digg.com slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    digg.com still isn't viewable on NTL in the UK, and that's several million broadband users.

    If a techy site can't sort out its hosting properly, then it must be pretty shit.

  22. Re:digg.com slashdot by dep01 · · Score: 1

    Digg's ahead of the game! ;)

    --
    "hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"
  23. Re:digg.com slashdot by Alioth · · Score: 1

    Who CARES! Slashdot isn't trying to be 'first' or 'exclusive'. I don't read digg.com. Many others here don't read digg.com. We do read Slashdot. We couldn't give a damn if it's been on digg.com or boingboing or kuroshin, WE DON'T READ THEM.

    --
    Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
  24. This is actually pretty cool. by Alioth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is actually pretty cool.

    You know what I miss about computing from the early-mid90s? Back then there was a *community* that came with the Internet. Take for example, our university server, csd. Boring name, but you logged in and typed 'who' and there were usually at least 100 other users on the system right at that moment. None of them spammers, all of them showing real names (so no males masquerading as females). I made a point to always have 'mesg y' in my .profile so random people could use 'talk'. I also made sure I had a publically viewable .plan. It was cool to occasionally get an incoming message from some random person. Sure - you can do that now on IM networks, but the only people likely to message you are spammers. An IM network doesn't have a community. Our Sun server, on the other hand did. Getting a talk request meant you usually got to know someone new who was worth meeting or hanging out with.

    Also, not many people had laptops. Most of us instead of lurking in our dorm rooms would go to the communal terminal or Unix workstation room - so there was physical community that went along with it, which dorm room ethernet and broadband has probably ended.

    That's what I miss these days. You just don't get these little communities on timesharing systems. Computing is much duller for it.

    But perhaps systems like this one, with a wireless equivalent of Unix's 'who' command and 'mesg y' will bring some of this community back.

    --
    Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
    1. Re:This is actually pretty cool. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It just goes to show that bloggers really didn't invent anything. Whiners have been of all epochs, expressing themselves in all mediums. Furthermore, teen-angst really has nothing todo with teenage years. Mod be down into oblivion.

    2. Re:This is actually pretty cool. by xavid · · Score: 1

      MIT's Zephyr messaging system already accomplishes this to some extent. You can see who's on using znol, and you know it's only authenticated members of the MIT community. Even before this wireless thing, you could find where people are connected using zlocate (unless they hid their information). It also has a topic-based chat sorta like IRC channels, so, for instance, if you need help with something, you can send a message to class help instance something, and hopefully someone will respond usefully. Unfortunately, Zephyr use has been going down (f*ing millenials...), but it's not dead yet.

    3. Re:This is actually pretty cool. by whayworth · · Score: 1

      I couldn't agree more; it was nicer when there were small communities on servers. There still are, in some pockets (I know of at least one). Perhaps we wouldn't be pining for this if the Multics model of computing-as-a-utility had come out. But if you desire this sort of community, you should actually feel a pleasant sense of deja vu, as server-centric computing (the Sun Grid, for example) comes back into the mainstream. Dumb terminals all over again, but this time with graphics.

    4. Re:This is actually pretty cool. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One doesn't need to be at MIT to zlocate someone there --- several other schools use Zephyr and peer with MIT; Zephyr works quite fine across realms. It is limited to a handful of universities, though.

  25. Re:digg.com slashdot by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

    It's the newest form of karma whoring. To say "I saw this on digg three years ago".

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  26. Student Center Library by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bet there's still a 24x7 concentration on the top floor of the Student Center. Except during 8.01 lecture.

  27. MIT Dating System exposed! by jftitan · · Score: 1

    OK, has anyone thought about this being the NEW dating system for geeks.
    Common, think about the lonely geeks at the library, looking for a good night out. So that person sets a personal profile about how sexy, smart, and funny he/she is, and who ever is looking can locate the person for a good night of stalking.

    I see this as a new dating system, not a ID check for all MIT wireless users.

    --
    "Don't Forget to Salt the Fries"
  28. Re:digg.com slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Who CARES! Slashdot isn't trying to be 'first' or 'exclusive'.

    Good thing too since neither seems to have ever happened.

  29. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO MEET NEW FRIENDS ! by *+*+Beatles-Beatles · · Score: 1

    This technology allow breaking the ice and making new friends with similar interests - since it is opt-in, it allows the extrovets to meet other extroverts - while still respecting the privacy of the introverts. This would certainly take off in a hi-tech environment like MIT. Soon, perhaps Business Colleges will implement this technology for career networking. Wonder if this would take off in a workplace environment - like Google or Microsoft?

    --
    http://george-harrison.info/
  30. Strange Discoveries by nervous_twitch · · Score: 1

    The earliest messages of this kind I can find are from TheLoneCoder
    These are the only three comments this user has posted:
    Outgoing Wed Apr 13, 2005 02:18 PM
    Outgoing Wed Apr 13, 2005 02:20 PM
    Outgoing Wed Apr 13, 2005 02:31 PM

    Note that this user's description field is:

    75058 75058 22691 22691 04699 04699 48074
    48074 14545 14545 47303 47303 59686 59686
    99377 99377 27776 27776 44159 44159 45343
    45343 96382 96382 93490 93490 30226 30226
    66802 66802 98460 98460 29044 29044 96773
    96773 57376 57376 04108 04108 87602 87602
    44528 44528 09641 09641 89192 89192 55427
    55427 59343 59343 43545 43545 31956 31956

    This user's web page is listed as http://www.thelonecoder.com/.
    The blog residing there says:

    The Lone Coder and Slashdot

    So - I realized today that some moron is impersinating me on slashdot, posting random garbage on threads.
    I guess he is not really impersonating me personally, but he goes by the screen name "The Lone Coder" and he claims this as his web site.
    LOSER!!!
    Get your web site, get your own identity, and stop flooding the slashdot message boards with crap responses that are meaningless.

    These three messages are all by AC's:
    OUTGOING Mon Aug 01, 2005 02:22 PM
    OUTGOING Mon Aug 01, 2005 04:04 PM
    OUTGOING Sun Nov 06, 2005 05:35 AM

    There are no apparent connections between the stories these are posted in, and no story has more than one of these messages posted.

    --
    Trees everywhere, and not a forest in sight.
  31. How hard it is to check for dupes by 1110110001 · · Score: 1

    I just tried to find both stories in the search: http://slashdot.org/search.pl

    I've searched for MIT, wireless and campus. The older story is on third, second or fourth (in that order for the given words) and this always on first.

    So it doesn't matter how you, ScuttleMonkey, did the dupe check. It clearly shows you and your bad eyes need a doctor.

    b4n

  32. This has already been done... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has already been done a couple years back by a student from Carnegie Mellon University in a project called cmuSKY. The creator of cmuSKY put up this [harsh, funny] piece about MIT's wireless positioning system on his blog (called "I am the Napster!"): Click here to see his blog entry