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London's Mayor Promises London-Wide Wireless For 2012 Olympics
Pax681 writes "[London Mayor] Boris Johnson declared that London will have all bus stops and lamp posts Wi-Fi enabled by 2012 for the Olympics. In an article on Tech Eye, Boris waxes lyrical (or as lyrical as he can get) about how it would be done at a Google Zeitgeist event in Hertfordshire. These would be public Wi-Fi hotpots; as such, would these break the new law on open access points? Would they be just the thing for people to use to infringe with impunity and anonymously bypass the chances of running foul of the Digital Economy Act?"
For whoever can download the Al Queda Operators Manual while at the table next to the Mayor.
You may also get a congratulatory beating.
So that's 1 WAP and 3 CCD cameras on every lamp-post in London, then?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Cool, so I take it that pretty soon one can do Video VOIP conference calls around a lamp post...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Mobile phone manufacturers are worried.
In the near future, to make a call in London you'll only need to say, in clear voice:
"I WISH TO CALL MY FRIEND MIKE"
And the nearest lamppost will set the call.
At first it will be a bit strange to speak to a lamppost and hear it reply in your friend's voice.
He also promised to get rid of Bendy Buses, improve rail and cycle services at no cost to the taxpayer (lolwut?) and (most likely) something about a badger in every pot.
Not being English, I read the above and guessed that a "bendy bus" was some sort of English desert. I was disappointed to learn that it has nothing in common with spotted dick, trifle, brakewell tart, or even a roly-poly, but rather it's just a frigging bus. Or more specifically, an articulated bus.
The badger reference I'm still working on.
I'm currently sitting in a park in London, using free wifi. It's 25C and there are very nearly naked people tanning themselves all around.
If the alternative is your unsubstantiated pessimism then I'll probably stay here, thanks.
It's bakewell tart. Don't make Mr. Kipling angry.
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
Ditto - in fact, having seen time and again what a mess "serious" politicians have made of running things, I think from now on we should all vote based on the candidate's comedic value. The country will still be screwed, but at least we'll get some laughs.
he mixed up the date the US declared independence.
I dunno, but to us Euros the date of American independence is not as important as for the US. Europe lost many colonies including Guinea-Boisseau.
We cannot keep track of every single colony running away...
"At first it will be a bit strange to speak to a lamppost and hear it reply in your friend's voice."
You clearly have not seen the drunks in Middlesbrough Town Centre on a Fri..well..Fri-Thurs night - they sure as hell try.
AT&ROFLMAO
You're not thinking like a politician. Why fit WiFi to 1,000,000 lamp posts when you can initiate a "take back the night skies" policy, reduce the number of lamp posts tenfold and easily keep your WiFi promise into the bargain.
> At first it will be a bit strange to speak to a lamppost and hear it reply in your friend's voice.
I've been doing it for years. It's one of the wonders of ciderspace.
http://rareformnewmedia.com/
Instead of investing money on this, they should have gotten better Olympic mascots. I mean, have you seen those weird assed things? What generic anime did they them out of? Wenlock and Mandeville, more like Angry and Creepy. They look like something you'd see pestering Scooby Doo.
And why the heck is your webcam still not on and streaming live pics?
So very typical. Using what's provided for free but not giving back to the community.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Help me here, please, what's wrong with the busses?
They don't fit in the streets very well. They are unreliable, spending roughly a quarter of their life in the workshop - assuming they haven't gone on fire. On a long, straight bit of road (not many of them on a typical London bus route) they return a stunning 3mpg! Thanks to their antiquated engine designs, they burn slightly less fuel and emit only slightly more unpleasant fumes when they're on fire than when they're on the road. The only way to get them above 1.5mpg on a normal route is to tow them with a recovery truck.
The primary problem with naked people in Britain is that they're usually British people.
He who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.