Burning Man Goes Open Source For Cell Phones

coondoggie passes along this excerpt from Network World: "Today I bring you a story that has it all: a solar-powered, low-cost, open source cellular network that's revolutionizing coverage in underprivileged and off-grid spots. It uses VoIP yet works with existing cell phones. It has pedigreed founders. Best of all, it is part of the sex, drugs and art collectively known as Burning Man. ... The technology starts with the 'they-said-it-couldn't-be-done' open source software, OpenBTS. OpenBTS is built on Linux and distributed via the AGPLv3 license. When used with a software-defined radio such as the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP), it presents a GSM air interface ("Um") to any standard GSM cell phone, with no modification whatsoever required of the phone. It uses open source Asterisk VoIP software as the PBX to connect calls, though it can be used with other soft switches, too. ... This is the third year its founders have decided to trial-by-fire the system by offering free cell phone service to the 50,000-ish attendees at Burning Man, which begins today in Black Rock City, Nevada. "

Comments

Why is this on the front page in red?

[The_mad_linguist]

Seriously, I'm totally confused by this. Did the burning man attendees actually set the /article/ on fire as well?

Re:Why is this on the front page in red?

[shoehornjob]

Once they get started burning iI guess it's hard to stop.

Re:Why is this on the front page in red?

[cappp]

I was under the impression that it means the story is "hot off the presses" as it were, somehow attached to seeing stories a little earlier than everyone else if you're a subscriber (maybe having an account ticks the right box too?). I've seen it a few times and as far as I can remember it's only ever happened to stories that have just been added, with few comments, and the colour changes given a little time.

Re:Why is this on the front page in red?

[blackraven14250]

You were seeing the article before it's officially open for comments.

Re:Why is this on the front page in red?

[butalearner]

Actually he was seeing it when it just opened for comments to everybody, but nobody had commented yet (not even subscribers, who see the articles earlier.

Re:Why is this on the front page in red?

[blackraven14250]

You can't comment while it's red. You have to wait until it turns green, which is at the time listed on the article as the post time.

Re:Why is this on the front page in red?

[RichiH]

Because you are not using the text-only version. Though to be fair, they are breaking it more and more every month and slobbering on features that break in Konqueror that I don't use, anyway.

I may have read that one wrong

[shoehornjob]

I never figured the Burning Man crowd as open source developers. Yeah pretty much just the sex drugs and art crowd. Gotta stay off the drugs man.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[MrEricSir]

There's certainly a lot of overlap between the techie crowd and the hippie crowd. Steve Jobs, for example, experimented with LSD.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[peragrin]

so LSD is a requirement for an RDF?

That actually makes sense.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[bertoelcon]

There's certainly a lot of overlap between the techie crowd and the hippie crowd. Steve Jobs, for example, experimented with LSD.

Jobs never has been been really a techie though, he is more of a hipster businessman.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

The people who make Burning Man happen are awesome, and they're seriously into tech.
As with any festival, there is a large contingent of "tourists" who are just there for the party.
But the organizers and contributors are skilled, interesting, and motivated.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Bing Tsher E]

Steve Jobs was a coke dealer.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Jorl17]

Yes, and then there's the Balmer Peek!

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Jorl17]

And then there's the idiot who can't spell Peak...

Yikes!

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Requiem18th]

After reading their regulations section however I feel freer out here in the network than in that caged city.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

Agree with you. And I personally wouldn't attend for exactly those reasons. However given the lack of a sovereign state willing to give them a temporary 'law free' zone, I can see the purpose of some of them for protecting their attendees from backlash when they return to the outside world.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[gregrah]

My bad... I modded you as a troll for correcting your own spelling mistake. I thought it was someone else being a jerk.

Posting here to undo my mod. :)

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

You would be surprised then, Black Rock City very probably has more open source developers per capita than any other city on earth.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[camperslo]

Steve Jobs was a coke dealer.

No, it was John Scully and Pepsi

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[node 3]

Not a techie? He worked as a technician for Atari, and worked on the design for the motherboard for Breakout. You also don't successfully manage a technology company like Apple without having a grasp of technology.

Of course, Woz was far more adept at hardware, which brings a lot of people to make the claim that Jobs is just a businessman.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[node 3]

Or Ballmer, while we're at it.

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

*lol*

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[mcvos]

I'm wondering how this is different from the GSM network at Hacking At Random, which is most definitely an Open Source as well as anarchistic art crowd. Quite likely some drugs too (considering it's Dutch). Not a lot of sex, though.

Anyway, HAR had its own GSM network last year. Probably not solar powered, but very likely open source. You'd get a new phone number, however, which wasn't really what I wanted. (Unfortunately my iPhone had absolutely no reception there. Excellent wifi, but no phone calls.)

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[EkriirkE]

"Design" like his design influence in the Mac hardware? "...look at the memory chips. That's ugly. The lines are too close together"

Re:I may have read that one wrong

[azmodean 1]

Somewhere in between reading it wrong and it being written wrong. AFAIK OpenBTS has nothing to do with Burning Man except that Burning Man is using their software.

watch out for cops

[Anonymous Coward]

A little OT, but I fear the burning man festival may soon flame out, or at best, morph into an anemic lame-o semblance of it's former self, due to hordes of overzealous local cops storming the party like a bunch of killjoy stormtroopers.

Re:watch out for cops

[TheRaven64]

I fear the burning man festival may soon flame out, or at best, morph into an anemic lame-o semblance of it's former self

I think I've been hearing that it's already done that from people who have attended it every year in the last decade. People were probably saying the same thing before then, I just wasn't paying attention.

Re:watch out for cops

[Locke2005]

On the Current TV documentary last night, the organizers themselves said it had gone from being a counter-culture event to a mainstream cultural event. I still like the idea of a gift economy, but think I think most music festivals operate at least partially on that principle. For any gathering to survive, as the number of attendees goes way up you need to implement some fascist rules just to maintain public safety, e.g. "Don't climb the 100-foot tall artwork" and "Don't stand so close to the Burning Man that it lands on you when it collapses".

Re:watch out for cops

[Anonymous Coward]

My Burning Man village built "The Museum of It Was Better Last Year" for exactly this reason.

Re:watch out for cops

[Anonymous Coward]

The gift economy in Black Rock City is amazing. You just walk around and people give you stuff, food, drinks, strange art, random blinky lights, compliments even. Besides the standard cup and water supply I also carried a bottle of vodka, a bag of nuts, sunblock/moisturizing lotion, and sanitary wipes - they were all personally useful and made great gifts. You hunker down in some random camp to wait out a dust storm and whip out your nuts and vodka and say hello, next thing you know someone else has mixers and another person is cooking you lunch. That's the incredible thing about the gift economy, it brings people together in this unique way. Without the expectation of economic exchange the entire culture of the city is transformed at a fundamental level that you really can't grok until you've existed within it for a few days. One of the most amazing behaviors that emerges from this fundamental change is that people become much more willing to help each other. There's this group dynamic that develops where random strangers will suddenly team up to accomplish things for each other. You might overhear two strangers talking about how much they want bacon and remember a bacon themed camp on the other side of the city, you mention it to them and another stranger says they just came from there and the camp is only making bacon for 30 more minutes, there's no way you can get across the city in time, except another stranger who overhears says their neighbor has an artcar who can give everyone a lift. Next thing you know you're riding a pirate ship across the playa with 10 new friends en route to bacon.

The public safety rules are fairly minimal and entirely rational. Last year there was an art installation which was very obviously a potential safety hazard, that was actually the entire purpose of it as the theme of that year was evolution. Many people dumb enough to take the risk suffered minor injury, many others laughed at the idiots. The rate and severity of the injuries were insufficient to force people to not take the risk, if you were stupid enough to do it you were free enough to do it. That's generally how Burning Man is, people will probably warn you when you are putting yourself in danger, and they will help extricate you from danger if necessary, but they will respect your right to express yourself however you see fit.

Re:watch out for cops

[Anonymous Coward]

^this

Bummer

[joebok]

I haven't been to Burning Man in a few years, but when I did go it was nice to get away from it all. I suppose I could choose to not use/bring my cell phone - but if other people are still tethered to the ordinary world...? Well - bummer!

Re:Bummer

[Radres]

Well, if this project does what it says, there won't be any place left in the world where you won't be tethered to the grid.

Re:Bummer

[nanospook]

I haven't been there in about 10 years, but if I was there this year, I would be too busy dancing, sexing, eating shrooms to mess around with that tech shit.. sometimes you have to just walk away from the tech stuff and just "experience" :)

Re:Bummer

[TooMuchToDo]

I couldn't make it this year, but myself and friends are renting/buying an RV and driving out there next year. Looking forward to it =)

Re:Bummer

[Wyatt Earp]

Theres always the Alaska Highway

Re:Bummer

[joebok]

Experience is good, participation is better!

Re:Bummer

[random735]

seconded... I went in 2008 (would love to go back but it's a bit of a hike+ a lot of gear from the east coast) and one of my favorite aspects of it was knowing that for the next week I would have no contact with the outside world. Even when i left to drive home, i left my cellphone turned off for a few hours just to savor my last moments of "freedom" before listening to the inevitable voicemails, letting my parents know i'd survived "that crazy thing in the desert", etc.

As you say...you can choose to leave it off, but it's awfully hard to resist that urge to just check in on one little thing, if you know you can..... it's also a lot easier to tell people you're not going to be reachable for a week when there's literally no cell service, than to say "i'm turning my phone off for a week and no, i'm not even going to turn it on once a day to check for voicemails/texts just in case"

Maybe it's just me (and my job at the time which involved a lot of late night wakeup calls for server issues) but a whole week of not being reachable was utterly amazing. (so was the rest of the burn, of course)

Re:Bummer

[Locke2005]

How 'bout you just assume it ISN'T secure, and don't do any drug deals or order any mob hits over the phone while you're at Burning Man, ok?

Re:Bummer

[Anonymous Coward]

I am pretty sure you are not going to get your original cell phone number in this network, so you would have to activate call forwarding to your burning man telephone number (if they even have enough external numbers for all the users) to be disturbed by the "real world".
We had this at last years Hacking At Random near Amsterdam (https://wiki.har2009.org/page/GSM) and it is really helpful to communicate with your fellow geeks without carrying a usually way bigger DECT phone around.

Let creativity flow, be it through 802.11, gsm or regular sound waves!

p.s. why does it take so long to get a confirmation mail?

Re:Bummer

[DynamiteNeon]

To be fair, I've been with large enough groups that had to bring in sat phones to coordinate trucks and supplies, and having an emergency line wasn't such a bad thing. Most of that stops at the beginning of the week though.

I didn't see any people using their phones last year either, so it's not that hard to avoid. I was a bit surprised to find my cell phone had signal at all during the event, but just did what I always do and stored it in the glove compartment the whole week.

I swear though, I'll punch someone if they start twittering or some other bullshit during the event next year when I plan to go again.

Re:Bummer

[Damek]

You're always tethered to reality.

My bias:

I just spent the weekend on a farm in upstate new york (with about 20-30 other cityfolk) and it was more socially & sensorily taxing than my usual weekday office existence. Insects, breezes, sunlight, socializing, games, activities... so much to do and think about! For an introvert, corporate anonymity is much more relaxing.

I'm not being facetious. Burning man is a temporary city, after all - different and creative, but a city nonetheless. May as well remain connected to the rest of them, unless you're still harboring that false "nature/civilization" dichotomy, but even then - hello, town full of people, it ain't disconnected from civilization...

Re:Bummer

[natehoy]

Or a number of places within a few miles of my home town, several of them on Interstate highway.

Re:Bummer

[Annymouse Cowherd]

You can still get satellite there though. To Mars!

Re:Bummer

[binarybum]

you are clearly not an AT&T customer.

Re:Bummer

[the_womble]

The verb "to sex " means to "determine the sex of", as in what a chicken sexer does for a living (yes, that is a real job). This Burning Man thing sounds pretty boring.

"Sex up" does have other informal meanings, but I am not sure either is exactly what you mean.

See the OED

Re:Bummer

[keriaan]

I haven't been there in about 10 years, but if I was there this year, I would be too busy dancing, sexting...

There FTFY. We can all dream but this is Slashdot...

Re:Bummer

[mcvos]

Hacking At Random near Amsterdam

As someone who lives in Amsterdam, I'm always amazed when somebody calls places that are definitely outside the Amsterdam area, outside the Randstad even, "near Amsterdam". From my point of view, they're practically on the other side of the country, like 100 km away or something.

Of course someone who actually lives on the other side of the country would point out that HAR was a lot closer to Amsterdam than to were they lived. (It was only just outside the Randstad, and probably less than 100 km away.) But Netherland is a small country, and 100 km counts for quite a lot. Also, Amsterdammers think everything outside the city limits is far away and doesn't really count.

Re:Bummer

[drinkypoo]

The side of my phone has two buttons. One of them is volume up, and one is volume down. If I keep hitting volume down, I get vibrate mode. Hit it one more time and the phone goes silent. Then I check it on my schedule. My phone is a $25 crackphone. You have no excuse for being interrupted by your cellphone any time you don't want to be, unless your thumbs aren't opposable and your penis is missing.

Re:Bummer

[Da_Biz]

unless you're still harboring that false "nature/civilization" dichotomy, but even then - hello, town full of people, it ain't disconnected from civilization...

That dichotomy is exceptionally annoying. I previously sold camping goods at REI and would occasionally get the customer who would turn their nose up at "technology" (like water filters) because it got them "away from nature." Never mind the fact that they were wearing clothing made from synthetics and if they got giardiasis, they'd be using "modern antibiotics".

I've had the pleasure of going to Burning Man in 2003 and am returning this year. I, for one, rejoice at the ability to occasionally text message to find someone, affording a bit more spontaneity when meeting up with new and old friends.

We need to stop conferring all sorts of power to technology: attendees DO NOT have to use their phones if they don't want to, just as they have the choice to use or avoid mind-altering anything, generators, glowsticks, or fursuits. I agree that there's a level of mano a mano, intimate communication at the Burn that's really wonderful--and think that if things like cell phones will "ruin" the Burn, that sort of tells me that it was ruined to begin with.

If we cannot trust the ethos of the majority of Burner participants, we cannot trust the continued existence of the Burn.

Re:Bummer

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't see any people using their phones last year either, so it's not that hard to avoid. I was a bit surprised to find my cell phone had signal at all during the event, but just did what I always do and stored it in the glove compartment the whole week.

I go to a large regional burn and this year the land had cell phone coverage. I only saw one person talking on a phone. A close friend and mom used it at her tent to call her kids. That was it. My phone was off almost all of the time and I only used it to check and see if a thunderstorm was headed our way. I agree, it's not a big deal.

Re:Bummer

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, at least you can't receive calls from the outside the event, so you're not entirely tethered to the ordinary world. I think I'd prefer it if you couldn't make calls or text to the outside world as well, because I agree that part of going there is disconnecting from your normal life.

But I can also see an intra-event network being kind of neat. You still need to coordinate groups, invite people you meet to parties/gatherings, etc. We've used two way radios in the past, but that only connects you with people in your own group and it would be nice to be able to communicate with people you meet at the event.

Plus I can see adding Burning Man specific features that would be kinda cool. For instance, make three numbers well known, one you text to send a text to a random person at the event, another you text to indicate that you're willing to receive random texts and the other you call to talk to a random person at the event. If done right, you can make a cell network with untraditional goals that align with Burning Man rather than the ordinary world.

Encryption?

[MrEricSir]

What about encryption? How do I know my call is safe, and do I trust the operator of these devices?

Re:Encryption?

[damn_registrars]

What about encryption? How do I know my call is safe, and do I trust the operator of these devices?

In a crowd of 50,000 people I'm not sure that call safety and call security are the most reasonable things to be concerned about...

Re:Encryption?

[phantomcircuit]

They're in the middle of the desert. It's not like there are 50K people crammed into a tiny area.

Re:Encryption?

[Requiem18th]

You think that's bad? Right now you are surrounded by almost 7 billion people!

Re:Encryption?

[damn_registrars]

They're in the middle of the desert. It's not like there are 50K people crammed into a tiny area.

Sure, there is a fair bit of space available, but for the popular acts (especially performing arts) the crowd density can get rather high. After all, Burning Man isn't just MOMA spread out randomly across the desert.

Re:Encryption?

[Anonymous Coward]

After attending a talk about GSM fuzzing at last years Hacking At Random (https://har2009.org/program/events/185.en.html) and considering the amount of exploitable bluetooth bugs, I would say being tapped shouldn't be your biggest concern...

Re:Encryption?

[abulafia]

Have you ever been? It is the population density of a city, modulo the multistory units (except for the nuts who do build those). I don't know what the plan this year is (I'm missing it this year, sniff), but last year, the camp radius was 2100 feet, putting the vast bulk of those 50K people in a 1-mile diameter area. Not many people camp in "deep playa" (the burner term for the area outside of the radial roads but inside the trash perimeter).

Back on topic, there's been signal there for at least the last three years, but it became useless once the gates opened and the hordes descended. My take is that cell service during the main event is going to be a net negative, but it is inevitable. It will become something akin to the ongoing war on glow sticks - a bunch of us will mercilessly mock glow-stuck cellphone users and try to shame them into putting the fucking things down and be present, and it mostly won't work.

Those of us who do LNT (Leave No Trace, the massive cleanup effort post event) will get to ground score cellphones, though. People lose everything else.

Re:Encryption?

[dissy]

What about encryption? How do I know my call is safe, and do I trust the operator of these devices?

The same way you do for any transceiver your cell phone connects to (IE you don't, and it isn't)

Little tip though, I doubt the burning man operators will be working with the feds to install backdoor monitoring equipment that records all your calls as a matter of course.

Re:Encryption?

[Damek]

Amen.

Re:Encryption?

[profplump]

If you're worried about call security you shouldn't trust the regular cell network, let alone some ad-hoc network setup for a hippie crowd. Regardless of the carrier you should provide your own end-to-end encryption if security is a concern.

Right Now !

[Anonymous Coward]

BTW: BurningMan Art Festival is just Right Now !

\o/

- Charly

ehhh!

[nanospook]

Sex? Drugs? I saw NOTHING, NOTHING I say *shrugging shoulders*

Re:ehhh!

[Locke2005]

Don't know what your problem is... My wife went there and she got LOTS of sex and drugs! ;-)

Re:ehhh!

[Macrat]

Your wording implies that she got sex and drugs without you.

Re:ehhh!

[Locke2005]

Thank you for explaining the joke to our slower slashdot readers...

Re:ehhh!

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for confirming this for our even slower slashdot readers...

Missing the point

[Jherico]

While cell phones are nifty and I wouldn't want to live day to day without mine, I think this is largely missing the point of Burning Man.

Re:Missing the point

[Anonymous Coward]

I cringe at how many calls are going to be "Hey! I'm calling you from Burning Man PRETTY COOL HEY!"

Actually I wonder how many phone calls will go out to emergency services claiming "there's a fire" as some sort of joke.

What really surprises me is that they've only had cell service for 3 years.

Re:Missing the point

[tibit]

I presume that 911 calls could be screened, allowing the operator to take over. It's easy enough to set up on Asterisk, and obviously when the screening capacity is up, they can go straight through.

Re:Missing the point

[Locke2005]

Burning man is about freedom to do whatever you want as long as it doesn't infringe on the freedom of others. If what you want to do is play with your GSM phone rather than indulge in all the music, art, alcohol, drugs, and sex that is going on, well then more power to you, you pathetic little nerd.

Re:Missing the point

[Damek]

But I want to be free of cell phone radiation. D'oh!

Re:Missing the point

[FlyingGuy]

The SINGLE cardinal rule at BM ( I should know, I was a Black Rock Ranger for 5 years ) is:

"Do Not Interfere With Anyones Immediate Experience"

Or at least is used to be... I was thinking about going back as a participant, but I am really afraid that if I was sitting in the center camp cafe' having a chi and some idiot was yammering on their fucking cell phone I would rip it from their hand and smash it into a as many pieces as I possibly could.

Re:Missing the point

[Da_Biz]

Are you willing to apply that same methodology to other annoying things, such as bullhorns, sound camps, shirtcockers and DPW?

Re:Missing the point

[FlyingGuy]

No those are things that are the fun of BM that I enjoyed. Those things happen rarely, if ever back in the world. I have to deal with idiots yammering away blathering about nothing on their cell phones right next to me in so many places as it is, I don't want it near me in a place I go to escape all of that.

While burning man is a mirror of our culture in many ways it is a mirror that is somewhat magic in as much as the reflection has a small bit of the veneer that is the basis of restrained society stripped away.

I can deal with the Crystal Palace, Loud Jen ( of Blue Light Dist Fame from years past) but if I am sitting in the Center Camp Cafe' and some moron plops down beside me and starts yammering away on a cell phone that is just tooooo much. At that point THEY are interfering my my immediate experience.

Oucheroo

[drinkypoo]

Looks like you have to spend thousands to build a working solution. If you were hoping to use GSM phones as cordless phones any time soon, you'd better have buckets of ducats.

Re:Oucheroo

[TooMuchToDo]

Open source solution = ~$10,000; Typical commercial installation = $50K-100K. Cost is relative.

Re:Oucheroo

[Anonymous Coward]

What's unreal about that?

nobody is going to make you a GSM antenna/BTS/BSC in a box. (when somebody tries, expect "fm transmitter" quality)

there's always going to be a lot of work involved with making groups of people with unique requirements happy. this is LIGHT YEARS ahead of the last ten years, trying to get Motorola or Siemens to put up JUST a BTS, would have started at $250K + installation, and you still need all the signaling system / authentication hardware to go with it. to be able to put up a macro cell with > 10 subscribers allowed over it is revolutionary.

all said and done, to provide service in north america, you could put up about $25K worth of equipment, and get multi point coverage for a city of about 20K. (depending on density, the denser the better) couple that with a few redundant routers($10K a year) and redundant 100/100 internet connections (about $18K a month), plus a decent contract with a major PSTN termination provider estimate WAY high at $10K a month, and you could be supplying GSM cell service for unmodified phones, with unlimited voice, and unlimited data for a whopping cost of $2.00/month/subscriber. (that'll get you NEARLY unlimited capacity, for the few times you go over, take it out of your huge profit you'd be making at even $10/month/person.

that price is going to go up a bit, (tower rental space, installation, salaries, general business overhead) but a well run business would be able to automate most of the process, and start turning a profit in the first year. (likely in the first few months, with a decent ad campaign! )

compare that to modern cell companies, and I think you'll see how far we've come.

Re:Oucheroo

[tibit]

As long as the hardware would be FCC certified, and they could obtain base station licensing, that is. I figure that's another $100k per year amortized over 10 years. If you're lucky. Or am I off base here?

Re:Oucheroo

[Anonymous Coward]

If all you want is to use a mobile as a cordless phone could could get a femtocell for £100 - does the same thing but on a smaller scale.

Looks cool, where do I get one?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now if only they made it consumer affordable so I could get reception in my basement...

Wait.

[_KiTA_]

Is this the same Burning Man that claims copyright on any PRIVATE photos taken at their events?

PASS. Horrible IP grab + single Open Source project is still a negative, methinks.

Re:Wait.

[Anonymous Coward]

You also can't spend money at Burning Man because it's a "gift economy". Unless you are buying something off the organisers, of course, like food, drink and big blocks of ice. At Soviet Burning Man, some are more equal than others.

Pretentious hipster shitheads.

Re:Wait.

[Wyatt Earp]

I've never been to Burning Man, I've been to other free-love-get-high-hippy-alt-fests so I "get" the point of it, but I don't understand how the Open Source community can stomach Burning Man's copyright claims.

Re:Wait.

[Anonymous Coward]

As I understand it they give license for personal use of any pictures taken there. The copyright is to prevent commercial exploitation of the the copious amounts of art and naked people there who frequently only want to be displayed to the other Burning Man participants. The organizers aren't really profiting from the pictures taken there.

Re:Wait.

[_KiTA_]

I've never been to Burning Man, I've been to other free-love-get-high-hippy-alt-fests so I "get" the point of it, but I don't understand how the Open Source community can stomach Burning Man's copyright claims.

On paper it sounds really good. "We have a bunch of nudists and hippies (and exhibitionsts) that show up and walk around naked for most of the event. We don't want voyeurs to be getting their rocks off on them."

Then they went after private photographers own galleries, and the Wiki Commons. Oh, and they sell their own DVDs. Complete coincidence, there.

Unfortunately Burning Man itself has kinda become mainstream. It's less about art and free love and the like, and more about college guys getting drunk/stoned and harassing girls, trying to get them to strip. I imagine there are other, better, alt-fests around, but the closest thing I get to Hippydome is reading Brad Warner's series of Zen books.

Re:Wait.

[blhack]

They do this to prevent people from going there, taking pictures, and selling a "BURNERS GONE WILD!" calendar or something like it.

They're preventing *others* from profiting off of photos of burners, not profiting off of them themselves.

This is generally considered a good thing.

Re:Wait.

[Wyatt Earp]

When I was in Middle School through High School I spent the summers in Eugene Oregon, so I got burnt out really quickly on the nudist/hippie/stoner/exhibitionist subculture.

That and the fact that I hate the heat and the sun gives me migraines have kept me from Burning Man.

But I totally get that they've become the man now and are against the same sorts of open community that embraces them.

Re:Wait.

[random735]

spoken like someone who's never been there.

first off there's no food for sale.

There is ice, mainly because that's one item that most people will probably want and can't provide themselves very easily.

Coffee is also available for sale, i have to admit i don't understand that one, but plenty of people provide free coffee for themselves and anyone else. There was a community tea/coffee house around the corner from my tent that offered free coffee/tea every morning. My guess is they use it as a bit of a fundraiser for the organization....if that's a problem for you, don't buy it...I didn't.

I'm not sure what offends you so much about a week in which you can't spend money....i found it fascinating. Not going to claim society could work that way long term, but it's certainly a novel experience.

Re:Wait.

[deathguppie]

it's to prevent you from having your wife from finding out what you did there..

Re:Wait.

[Strange Ranger]

Burning Man itself has kinda become mainstream. It's less about art and free love and the like, and more about college guys getting drunk/stoned and harassing girls, trying to get them to strip. .

Except for your choice of the exceptionally strong word "harass", I think this might be a good thing. Having participated in my fair share of naked hippie art and body festivals I can almost assure you that, sadly, with few exceptions the girls who don't need to be talked into it are the last girls on earth anyone wants to see naked.

Re:Wait.

[DynamiteNeon]

"It's less about art and free love and the like, and more about college guys getting drunk/stoned and harassing girls, trying to get them to strip."

You seem to be confusing BM with spring break parties in Mexico. There are certainly a few of those types that show up every year, but it has grown enough that you get a variety of sub-cultures and not just hippies or frat-boys. Plus, the location they chose still tends to keep out more of the obnoxious people that couldn't handle the camping, which I believe was always intentional. Really, there's enough going on that you can choose what you want from the event and stay away from the things you aren't interested in.

Also, any large enough festival like this is going to have some bits of drama, most of it brought on from people that haven't really been there or get the point. I also don't really agree with the photo policies at BM, but I do understand the need to protect privacy in events like this.

They are specifically interested in giving people some control over their privacy (which is a good thing) so they can do what they want without fear of it ending up on youtube, facebook, or flickr. I wouldn't look at this like some evil corporation trying to take control of everything so much as a group that has good intentions and may just need to modify the rules to make sense. When the EFF criticized them last year they were willing to have conversations about how to change the rules, and that still seems to be an on-going conversation. I'm not sure where that is at exactly since I haven't paid attention to every detail, but I do believe they made at least some slight modifications during the last year or so based on the feedback.

Re:Wait.

[stephanruby]

Couldn't they just have said it Slashdot style? The people being photographed at Burning Man own the copyright of their own image. And please, since we can not determine who is sober and who is not during the event, for any non-personal publication of those photographs, do not make anyone sign any model release form until well after the event has ended. Get their email address, or contact information instead.

Re:Wait.

[Prien715]

It's a non-commercial event. You can't sell food there. You can't sell photos of the event. You can't go take pictures of the human carcass wash or critical tits ride. If there were photographers, these events couldn't happen. There are no "observer" tickets for the event -- it's not a concert.

Why is it that people always bitch about privacy, and about Google putting up photos of their house or their friends online, a non-profit bans this practice and everyone gets up in arms? I've taken numerous pictures at the event, and as long as you don't try to sell them, you don't get hassled.

Especially when the policy's author is was the lead council for the Electronic Freedom Frontier.

Re:Wait.

[uncanny]

why protect the idiots from themselves?

Re:Wait.

[Anonymous Coward]

Having lived in San Francisco, and had Burner girls as roommates, I can assure you that there are at very least two very hot girls who go every year. And one of them is a nubile, talented dancer.

For my tastes and from my experiences, Burner girls are usually quite attractive and pretty interesting but they always somehow manage to annoy the shit out of me.

Re:Wait.

[scribblej]

How exactly is Burning Man, a for-profit CORPORTION, hosting an event you must BUY tickets to, in any way described as 'non-commercial?'

It's a bunch of dumb hippies paying to get together and do drugs (excuseme, "EXPRESS THEMELVES") in the desert.

Re:Wait.

[Da_Biz]

Before you call anyone dumb, please learn to correctly spell words you've chosen to emphasize in caps.

Also, learn a bit more about corporations, both non-profit and for-profit. Black Rock (the LLC) has an "open book" policy of their finances: I suspect you'll find that the main coordinators make far less than your average "non-profit" executive (e.g., Blue Cross, local charities, etc.).

Re:Wait.

[Da_Biz]

A small (but important) addition: volunteers power the ice ("Camp Arctica") and coffee sales, with the proceeds going to local charities, who have frequently been in need (sometimes dire) of support from any avenue.

Re:Wait.

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget spreading herpes.

Re:Wait.

[C64]

Couldn't they just have said it Slashdot style? The people being photographed at Burning Man own the copyright of their own image.

In which case, Burning Man can't police it, as it's not their copyright to enforce. Which means each-and-every single burner will have to try and protect themselves. And not all burners are aware of all the myriad of ways their image could be exploited outside of the Burn.

This lets them centralize protecting attendees. Without getting sign-off from each-and-over person, without miles of paperwork, without random glitches. If you're worried about the organizers turning around and trying to profit from this and generally shutting the burners our from the content they produce... you may have the wrong idea about what Burning Man is, and the dedicated folks who make it happen. Yes, this system depends on benevolent dictators. But if you're attending Burning Man... you've already decided you trust them with *way* more then a random picture or two.

And really - this is something for the burners themselves to bitch about, if they feel it isn't in their interest. And given you're writing this *now* on Slashdot, chances are you aren't at the Burn.

Re:Wait.

[Prien715]

It's a NON-PROFIT. The tickets are to pay for porta-poties, rent the land, the construction of the man/temple, and pay for the cops the gov't makes them buy.

Their finances are open: if you disagree with the cost, you can drill down and disagree, but they're not making money.

And yes, a bunch of dumb hippies. Like the Sergei Brinn and Larry Page.

Re:Wait.

[SleazyRidr]

People like complaining.

Re:Wait.

[_KiTA_]

Also, any large enough festival like this is going to have some bits of drama, most of it brought on from people that haven't really been there or get the point. I also don't really agree with the photo policies at BM, but I do understand the need to protect privacy in events like this.

... Privacy? Do people really have an expectation of privacy when they are walking around clothesfree or topfree, outside, in a crowd of thousands of people?

Re:Wait.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bitching? Really??? Is that really what you think I was doing? If that's the case, one of us must really be in denial about his control issues.

Re:Wait.

[DynamiteNeon]

Well, I suppose I should elaborate since I may not have been as clear as I could have been.

When I'm talking about privacy here, I'm referring to the group privacy within Burning Man. In other words, the idea that what happens in Burning Man stays in Burning Man. The intent of these rules, as far as I understand them, is to make it so people can come to this event and not feel the need to hide themselves just because they're afraid of the outside world seeing them online.

The organization is trying to maintain some control over it so , for example, the "Burners gone wild" type videos or whatever they were called that Burning Man had to go after in previous years doesn't happen again.

So, I still do think the intent is noble.

There is a reasonable argument to be made about how realistic that is now that youtube, facebook, and flckr have become so common and people feel the need to share every aspect of their lives online. I'm not saying there is a simple answer to this, since copyright and privacy issues are full of gray areas.

Hopefully that clears up what I meant though.

License?

[Obfuscant]

Ummm, I'm confused. The frequencies that GSM uses are licensed by the FCC to specific operators. The phones are used under the control of the operator, who has a license for each and every cell site.

How is Burning Man getting away with using these frequencies without a license?

More important, what happens when half a dozen people in an area with existing service start setting these up and interfering with the big companies who are selling service? We lived through the heyday of CB radio and how unusable it became when the FCC gave up on licensing after an explosion of popularity. Do we have to live through the same thing with our cell phones?

Re:License?

[Anonymous Coward]

TFA says they get a license for the bands they are using up there. Of course, they could be lying through their teeth. In either case, the FCC really doesn't do that much unless you are causing QRM to folks who do have licenses.

Re:License?

[Wesley Felter]

The FCC grants them a temporary experimental license because they can't cause much interference out in the middle of the desert. If you fire up OpenBTS anywhere in civilization you're probably breaking the law. Fortunately the equipment is a bit more expensive than CB radio and the carriers have a real incentive to crack down on interferers, so I doubt there will be too many problems in the real world.

Re:License?

[Anonymous Coward]

Their FAQ, http://pagalegba2010.wikispaces.com/FAQ, has a link to the experimental FCC license: http://openbts.sourceforge.net/FieldTest3/STAGrant.pdf

Re:License?

[TubeSteak]

Ummm, I'm confused. The frequencies that GSM uses are licensed by the FCC to specific operators. The phones are used under the control of the operator, who has a license for each and every cell site.

It's the confusion born from not RTFAing.

GSM operates on licensed bandwidth, so for any U.S. installation, the OpenBTS crew always obtains a FCC license and works with the local carrier to coordinate frequency use. When attendees get into range and power up their phones, the system sends them a text that says "Reply to this message with your phone number and you can send and receive text messages and make voice calls."

I'm guessing the person who modded you up didn't RTFA either.

Re:License?

[Anonymous Coward]

Shut the fuck up cuntface. No one asked you.

Re:License?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod parent up. Real data, as opposed to an AC just mouthing off, like the GP. Oh, wait, that was me.

Re:License?

[Obfuscant]

It's the confusion born from not RTFAing.

This is /..

When I see "open source" I assume that there can be no "licensing fee". My bad.

Re:License?

[batkiwi]

Do you seriously not understand the difference between a software license and a license to use radio spectrum? Buying a completely GPL'd car (hardware and software open sourced/specced) would not mean that you don't need a "driver's license" to drive on public roads since there can't be "Licensing fee" for GPL software...

Bad license choice

[kRutOn]

Cool project. Unfortunately the use of AGPL will guarantee no one ever uses it. Too bad. Imagine having a base station where you have to require a partition for the source. Or people with broken cell phones saying you're not providing an equal opportunity to download the software source. Ugh.

Re:Bad license choice

[mercutioviz]

Not sure I grok this... what license would be better than AGPL for this particular software?

Re:Bad license choice

[TheRaven64]

Anything? The AGPL attempts to close some 'loopholes' in the GPL, which makes it even more of a pain to comply with than the GPL. Given the choice between a proprietary solution for $250K and an open source solution for $10K and having to deal with the AGPL, I suspect a lot of people would opt for the proprietary solution. Once you factor in lawyer time, it might even be cheaper...

Re:Bad license choice

[Anonymous Coward]

Only if you want to keep some of the code you write for yourself. If you give in to the Viralness of the AGPL and release any changes or wrapper code, then what's the big deal?

If you want their software to run a business and make a profit, buy the proprietary option. I don't see how setting up rogue cell towers without FCC licenses would be a good business model anyway.

Re:Bad license choice

[stephanruby]

Imagine having a base station where you have to require a partition for the source.

Are you saying that posting the source code on github or posting it on their asterisks server wouldn't qualify??? Are we both even reading the same license, because it doesn't seem like we are. Please tell me which key paragraph/phrase I've missed, assuming I'm the one who's read the license incorrectly.

Or people with broken cell phones saying you're not providing an equal opportunity to download the software source.

Now, I know you're just joking. You really have to work on your humor, a few of the mods actually took your post at face value.

good job the software is free

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the money you save will be needed for spending $25k on transmitting hardware (or have a highly qualified electronics engineer spend a couple of months building it for less), a 100 ft guy-wired radio tower with antennas and a crew of climbing riggers, a 150ft $750K telescopic crane with operator, 3 skilled RF engineers to wire it up, 2 people with a degree in CS to set up the software and 5+ days to spare to set it up and debug it, oh and a license.

but at least the software is free

Re:good job the software is free

[mspohr]

If you RTFA, you would find out that they do the entire thing for a cost of about $10,000. Not cheap but much less than "standard" GSM base stations.

Also, re: "crew of climbing riggers, a 150ft $750K telescopic crane with operator, 3 skilled RF engineers to wire it up, 2 people with a degree in CS to set up the software and 5+ days to spare to set it up and debug it"... They sent one of these to Haiti and it was set up and running in about an hour in a hospital which used it for two weeks until their regular phones were fixed after the earthquake.

Re:good job the software is free

[Locke2005]

How much of that $10,000 is the cost of the Solar Power? Photovoltaics, inverters, and batteries ain't cheap. As far as the crane, they've got plenty of those on site for the build anyway, so it's a shared expense. The labor is presumably all volunteer.

Re:good job the software is free

[borcharc]

All you need is a $700 USRP radio with the $275 RFX900 transceiver daughterboard and your are in business.

The software is quite simple to get operating with several step by step how-to guides around the net. As for all that effort in setting up a tower, ham's do it in an afternoon all the time and don't spend all the cash you speak of. As for the license, experimental licenses are cheep and easy to obtain. One could run license free in the 900mhz ISM band (USA) that overlaps 900mhz GSM used elsewhere in the world and keep the power down or crank it up to 1500 watts and call it amateur radio on the same 900mhz band with a easy to obtain license.

[Citation Needed]

[Anonymous Coward]

[I]Citation Needed[/I]

lol

Re:[Citation Needed]

[rhook]

I think what he's trying to say is that he was Steve Jobs best customer.

Re:[Citation Needed]

[shoehornjob]

I think what he's trying to say is that he was Steve Jobs best customer.

Score...literally. OMG so funny wish I hadn't spent my mod points as rhook clearly needs to be modded up. As for Steve's excessive LSD use he obviously didn't listen to me when I told him not to eat the brown acid. Sadly some things can never be undone.

OpenBTS With FreeSWITCH

[mercutioviz]

FYI,

Some have inquired as to using OpenBTS with FreeSWITCH as well as Asterisk. Alberto Escudero (aka AEP) wrote this wiki page nearly a year ago:

http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/OpenBTS

It's slightly dated but the information is accurate.

-MC

Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[RobotRunAmok]

Burning Man had its brief, shining moment, but when was that...? Circa mid-90's? Now it's a staged pseudo-event the very promotion of which cuts against the grain of what it was supposed to be. I see the jowly middle-aged Marketing Suits queuing up for their Burning Man tickets and I am reminded of the giddy tourists in and around Woodstock, NY paying $25 for a tie-dyed peace-sign T-shirt.

Re:Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[Nursie]

Doesn't mean it can't still be awesome.

Some of those marketing suits probably did some pretty wild stuff in their younger days, before settling down to make some serious money.

Re:Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[KingAlanI]

Maybe it's an outlet for any remaining desire to not "act like suits".

Re:Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[scribblej]

Already commented so I can't mod you up, but I'm sure you're right. I've never personally been aware of BM as anything but a corporate mess milking money from the wannabe hippies. They're literally paying THE MAN as a way to show what hippies they are! WTF.

Re:Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[drinkypoo]

These days you can actually just buy a package, they drive an RV out there for you, they ferry you out to it in a plush, air conditioned SUV, they cook for you, they do everything but find you drugs and sluts. And most of those guys have plenty of experience with the former and can use it to get the latter. I have heard that arrests are up at burning man already, they have attractive female cops undercover asking for drugs. I thought that was entrapment... but I wouldn't go to burning man at this point anyway, it's way too big.

Indeed this is my problem with most festivals or events of any type, instead of a few gigantic events, we need more small events. The big events take too much of a toll.

Re:Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[Anonymous Coward]

Where can you buy this package? I've never heard nor seen anything like it. There definitely are people who come just to get wasted and fuck sluts, but they mostly show up for the final two days and seem to be more of the frat boy and trustafarian type.

Arrests probably are up this year, I think after last year all the various police organizations who attend are feeling a lot more pressure to "perform". Otherwise people might start asking tougher questions about why they keep spending so much money buying shit like brand new nightvision goggles every year just to ogle naked Burners.

Re:Burning Man: Disneyland for Marketing Suits

[Nursie]

Indeed, and to use up all that cocaine that was just cluttering up the office....

Nekkid People

[Macrat]

Where do naked people carry their phones?

Re:Nekkid People

[Anonymous Coward]

Guess?

Re:Nekkid People

[Sulphur]

In their other hand.

Re:Nekkid People

[yanyan]

Remember that the most popular guy on the beach is the one who can carry a dozen donuts and a cup of coffee in each hand.

Re:Nekkid People

[hitmark]

in their bodbelt: http://podbelt.com/

How do you know that now?

[weston]

It's not as if most carriers have a reputation for really caring about customer privacy...

Networked displays

[solweil]

It would be interesting to use the network to coordinate light and fire displays across the playa.

RMS

[tsa]

Does this mean that RMS can finally use a cellphone?

don't understand the sms part

[AnEducatedNegro]

how do you relay sms messages to/from the handset? do you have to setup a gateway with an existing SMS provider?

What about the FCC?

[vvaduva]

There is no mention of FCC's licensing....I thought you need a license to operate a transmitter over 0.1 watt, or something really low like that. I am sure the FCC goons will put their knees on the neck of this project soon to protect their corporate buddies in the cell phone industry.

Re:What about the FCC?

[Muad'Dave]

I thought the same thing, but they apparently have an Special Temporary Authority (STA) granted: http://openbts.sourceforge.net/FieldTest3/STAGrant.pdf

First: Inform yourself. Then: Post.

[RichiH]

I am interested in how the people around OpenBTS got licences for 26c3 in Berlin and Fosdem 2010 in Brussels (the licence for Brussels came too late, they could not actually _use_ it. They will in 2011, though).

It's possible to get licences in the middle of civilization.

Gotcher license right here.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

Ummm, I'm confused. The frequencies that GSM uses are licensed by the FCC to specific operators. The phones are used under the control of the operator, who has a license for each and every cell site.

This group, (The OpenBTS project) has permission from the carrier with the license for the area (who doesn't happen to have a cell covering the site) to use the band there.

Additionally (as others have pointed out), they have a specific short-term ("experimental") license to perform this test during the period including the festival and the runup to it. This license includes the right to stimulate the cellphones into operation.

The group also provides emergency service to disasters that have taken out the cellular infrastructure, until the carriers can get it back up, and makes low-cost base station equipment designs (using off-the-shelf hardware) available to third-world countries. ($10k and dropping.) The burning-man event gives them an annual opportunity to do an acid test on their latest software and hardware.

... what happens when half a dozen people in an area with existing service start setting these up and interfering with the big companies who are selling service?

Just what you'd expect: The FCC hunts 'em down and shuts 'em down if they're strong enough to be noticed and especially if they interfere with the license holding service provider for that area and band.

Unlike WiFi, but like broadcast radio, the DSM protocols don't support sharing a given band in a given area. The license holders carefully design their cell site arrangements so their own cells don't step on each other (and nearby neighbors near the edge of their area). If you set up an unlicensed homebrew minicell on band that's in use and don't do it inside a shielded box, you'll trash the licensed service and be in deep kimchi, just as if you wiped out a broadcast station with your pirate radio.

Which is why the OpenBTS project was careful to get permission from the licensed carrier and a license from the FCC to run the Burning Man cell site.

the technical imperitive

[doom]

It often strikes me as an interesting thing that we have no social mechanism for turning down a technical capability, even when we largely believe it's a bad idea. If a gadget exists, we have to have it, like it or not...

This is me writing on the subject of cellphones at burning man, back in 2005: MORE_OR_LESS

Sure we have such mechanisms

[Ungrounded Lightning]

It often strikes me as an interesting thing that we have no social mechanism for turning down a technical capability, even when we largely believe it's a bad idea.

Sure we have mechanisms for turning down a technical capability.

It's called "personal choice".
\
Freedom means each person gets to make that choice for his/her SELF.

"Social Mechanism?" You mean "way for a group to impose its choices on those who disagree with them", don't you?

The closest you have in a free society is persuasion. And others get to argue the other way, or just ignore you. When persuasion becomes social pressure to conform, freedom is replaced by groupthink.