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Microsoft Ad Campaign Puts a Hotspot Inside a Magazine

Posted by timothy on from the now-there's-a-premium dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft is putting in real Wi-Fi hardware hotspots inside some copies of the latest issue of Forbes magazine. The unique Office 365 promotion was revealed in a post on the Slickdeals.net message board. The WiFi router, when activated, offers 15 days of free WiFi service via T-Mobile's network on up to five devices at once." Which is more impressive: Wi-Fi hotspot in 2013, or E-ink display in 2008?

30 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. It's a shame... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...Playboy stopped its print edition.

  2. Oh boy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This'll be fun for stewardesses.
    "Sir, please turn off your magazine."

    1. Re:Oh boy. by Wookact · · Score: 3, Informative

      Statistically there are more females then males in that job field. Why do you have to point it out? I truly don't understand why that would stick in anyones craw.

    2. Re:Oh boy. by crakbone · · Score: 2

      Because he would be looking at the magazine too.

    3. Re:Oh boy. by Sir+or+Madman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What's troll-y is claiming that you don't see how that language could annoy anyone. There is a perfectly suitable gender-neutral word that makes exactly the same point. It's 2013 ffs.

      When I read stuff like "stewardess", I think old-timer or non-native-English speaker.

      And yes I realize this is /. and /. is not know for being a bastion of progressive thought on gender and bias. But sometimes I get annoyed at careless crap like the above and attempt to piss into the wind. Sue me.

    4. Re:Oh boy. by noh8rz10 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      regardless of gender, it's appropriate to call them flight attendants. stewardess is archaic and inaccurate and frankly demeaning.

    5. Re:Oh boy. by noh8rz10 · · Score: 2

      But sometimes I get annoyed at careless crap like the above and attempt to piss into the wind. Sue me.

      I won't sue you, but I will mod you up!

    6. Re:Oh boy. by Dishevel · · Score: 2

      Luckily you stated "male" because we all know there are no flight attendants that are "men".

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    7. Re:Oh boy. by Dishevel · · Score: 5, Funny

      The problem today is the insane number of people who scour the planet looking for ways in which to be offended.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    8. Re:Oh boy. by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 4, Funny

      What's troll-y is claiming that you don't see how that language could annoy anyone. There is a perfectly suitable gender-neutral word that makes exactly the same point. It's 2013 ffs.

      When I read stuff like "stewardess", I think old-timer or non-native-English speaker.

      And yes I realize this is /. and /. is not know for being a bastion of progressive thought on gender and bias. But sometimes I get annoyed at careless crap like the above and attempt to piss into the wind. Sue me.

      No one's going to sue you, cupcake. Just be a dear and make me a sandwich, hmmm?

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    9. Re:Oh boy. by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Funny

      What's troll-y is claiming that you don't see how that language could annoy anyone. There is a perfectly suitable gender-neutral word that makes exactly the same point. It's 2013 ffs.

      When I read stuff like "stewardess", I think old-timer or non-native-English speaker.

      And yes I realize this is /. and /. is not know for being a bastion of progressive thought on gender and bias. But sometimes I get annoyed at careless crap like the above and attempt to piss into the wind. Sue me.

      No one's going to sue you, cupcake. Just be a dear and make me a sandwich, hmmm?

      You forgot the 'sudo'

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    10. Re:Oh boy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      i'm tired of people being upset that they can't offend people anymore and not expect people to stand up for themselves. stop being offended that you can't just expect people to sit there and take it.

    11. Re:Oh boy. by dead_user · · Score: 2

      Yep, nobody at all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs_by_ethnicity#European_descent

    12. Re:Oh boy. by FuzzNugget · · Score: 2

      I thought they were called "flight attendants"

      *shrug*

    13. Re:Oh boy. by bonehead · · Score: 2

      It's really strange that we need to come up with neuter terms for everything.

      Is it really unexpected, though?

      We live in a world where it's considered inappropriate to acknowledge the very real fact that not all people are exactly the same.

      If you're talking about the one black guy in a group of 10 other white people, you can't do the obvious and convenient thing and just say "Check out the cool jacket the black guy is wearing". You're supposed to be "PC" and refer to him as "the third tallest guy in that group", or some similar silly bullshit.

      I tried to be at least halfway PC for awhile, but it's really gotten the the point of silliness. Fuck it, I refuse to play along. There are different races. They do exist. Men and women are not identical. Sure, we may all be capable in the workplace, but there are still differences.

      It would be much healthier if we could all acknowledge our differences and get on with more important things instead of being expected to pretend that human beings are all stamped from the same cookie cutter.

      Pretending that reality is offensive is neither healthy nor productive.

  3. In America we use internet to bring you magazines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    in Microsoft Russia we use magazines to bring you internet.

  4. Re:Security breach by PTBarnum · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So it's just like employee smart phones, then? If random devices can extract sensitive data from your WiFi network, you're doing your security wrong.

  5. I can't wait to see the EULA/ToS by MasseKid · · Score: 2

    Seriously, I wonder what kind of goodies are in there. Furthermore, I wonder how long till this becomes a "Receipt of Unsolicited Merchandise via mail" vs EULA/ToS case?

  6. Before you go running out to buy this.. by bogie · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From the slickdeals thread:

    "it takes you (when it works) to Microsoft.com, nowhere else."

    I can't confirm that, but I would be surprised if Microsoft gave away 15 days of unrestricted Internet access to anyone and everyone who simply picked up a Forbes magazine. But who knows.

    It's also not confirmed if you can buy this on the news stand or if it's just for Forbes subscribers. So far I've only read of people getting it via subscription.

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  7. Why are our landfills overflowing? by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's because of toxic trash like this.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re:Why are our landfills overflowing? by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Did you ever consider that they both suck?

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  8. Re:Wi-Fi hotspot in 2013 by noh8rz10 · · Score: 2

    i think if they distributed iphones as advertising that would be pretty cool! Or maybe if the phone's ring played a commercial each time. then it would be subsidized!

  9. Pwnie express by DrYak · · Score: 2

    With stuff like RPI/beagleboard this would be fairly cost-effective, and people may never even realize.

    And some companies like Pwnie Express even produces ready-to-use devices for that purpose.

    Check their Power Pwn for exemple...

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  10. Re:Security breach by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's amazing. I've got the same combination.... ah, fuck it.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  11. Re:That's so cool! by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

    ...instead of a welfare second-class faget OS.

    Why would you say something like that? Linux doesn't drive a Harley-Davidson.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  12. One just arrived, I kid you not by DorkLensman · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just had a "matrix" moment. I read the summary ... and within 10 minutes, a priority mail package arrived. "What's this?" ... opened the envelope and out popped a suspiciously thick copy of Forbes, containing one of the hotspots. Surreal. Hopefully, I will have time tonight to do some testing.

    1. Re:One just arrived, I kid you not by DorkLensman · · Score: 2

      There's a lot of stuff in that little device. Try browsing to 192.168.100.1 ... admin/admin ... there's an HTTP server there (naturally) ... with a lot of settings (FTP, VPN, and on and on). I don't know what actually works. The server says it is "RALink 4.0.0.0" And ... while stumbling through the menus, I found the System Command option. And did an 'ls'. Some sort of tiny unix/linux in there. Have fun, everyone.

  13. Tested it yesterday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I received one of these at work yesterday. When you open the page that contains the WiFi hotspot it pulls a tab in the fold of the magazine. This activates the hotspot. You can then connect to the hotspot using the included password (Office365). When you open a browser it will redirect you to the Microsoft Office 365 website, but it only does this first time that you open the browser. You can then navigate to other sites and browse the web as usual. I was also able to open and login to WoW. It was not fast mind you but it worked. I went to speedtest.net and checked the speed to the nearest remote server. It tested out at about 1.5M download and 0.5M upload.

  14. Re:Waiting for a /. user to fix that... by DougOtto · · Score: 2

    Sounds like a hosts file problem.

    --
    Solving Unix problems since 1989...
  15. Re:Wi-Fi hotspot in 2013 by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah, I didn't think this was even a valid question. The display from 2008 was a static backlit affair. The hotspot allows you to connect a slew of devices to the Internet for a while.

    The 2008 display was neither static nor backlit(it was electrophoretic and reflective); but it was effectively useless because it wasn't bitmapped. Unlike the (much more expensive) e-ink screens used in kindles and their ilk, this one had 14 segments, all fixed shape. They didn't do anything to block you from reprogramming it; but all you could do was blink the segments in different patterns(and, unlike the classic '7-segment' LED and LCD displays, these segments were whole letters and chunks of background, not designed for even crude rendering of characters). More or less useless.