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Sys-Admin Dispenses Passwords With a Banana (thenewstack.io)

Posted by timothy on from the difficult-to-defend-against-bananas dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A network administrator in Denmark is requiring users to perform a finger press on a banana to receive their Wi-Fi passwords. "The banana is mounted and in production," he posted Thursday, sharing two pictures. The banana uses a special new circuit board from Makey Makey to form a connection between the banana and a cheap Raspberry Pi computer with a screen attached, according to one technology site. They note that it could also detect finger presses on a doughnut, an apple, or even Jell-o, and offer this quote from the sys-admin about his motivations. "It's fun... It'll make people smile. It beats a static WPA password in funnyness." And most importantly, "When people leave our office, they can't access our WI-Fi because there's no banana to touch." This guy deserves some kind of award, come July 29th.

16 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's fun until... by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Obviously, the banana will be replaced from time to time...

    That being said, time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana :-)

  2. Office supplies by eexaa · · Score: 5, Funny

    This invention moves the bananas into the same category as printer ink cartridges.

    "My wifi doesn't work!" "Have you tried to replace your banana, sir?"

  3. Oh, sure, this guy gets the accolades by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    When I tried to do something similar, all I got was a sexual harassment lawsuit!

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Oh, sure, this guy gets the accolades by leob · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sometimes a WiFi password is just a WiFi password.

    2. Re:Oh, sure, this guy gets the accolades by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The OP never made any such suggestion that sysadmins are male. That bit of sexism is all on you. Further, if you think that female sysadmins have no use for a banana then maybe mom should let you out of the basement more often.

    3. Re:Oh, sure, this guy gets the accolades by kthreadd · · Score: 2

      For women that are affected by this problem it's not just a joke, it's how they are treated every single day that is the problem.

  4. Indeed, oldest one in the book by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    "Touch my banana and you get wi-fi"

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  5. Slow news day? by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So the banana's just a switch? It's not producing any randomness to feed into the key generation?

    Also, I don't see how they can't use the wifi from outside the building once they have the password. Unless they expire, which you can do without any fruit at all.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Slow news day? by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So the banana's just a switch?

      Yes, it looks like it just replaces the WPS button.

      Also, I don't see how they can't use the wifi from outside the building once they have the password. Unless they expire, which you can do without any fruit at all.

      I'm assuming the controller is on a timer, which is fairly standard these days. The banana is merely a supposedly more fun way of pressing a button (yes lame in my opinion, but that's all you need to make the front page these days - and because Raspberry Pi!)

  6. banana by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Man 1: I bet you $10 I can get Rachael to touch my banana.
    Man 2: You're on! ... 5 hours later
    Man 2: I thought you meant... never mind. Here's your $10.

  7. Electronics today. by SuricouRaven · · Score: 5, Interesting

    " The banana uses a special new circuit board from Makey Makey"

    Really? The Pi has GPIO pins, and you can't interface to a banana without a special new circuit board?

    You want a BS170 FET and a really high resistance pull-up/down, about 10M should do it. Two components, about 10p worth of parts, and a bit of wire.

    1. Re:Electronics today. by normaldotcom · · Score: 2

      For what it's worth, measuring capacitance via rise time on a GPIO pin is very challenging without an integrated comparator and fast GPIO. The Pi has no integral comparator and working with GPIO through the Linux kernel is always a bit laggy. A microcontroller is definitely a better tool for the job.

  8. Later on, he'll replace it with an orange by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ask users, "Orange you glad it's not another banana?"

  9. Re:It's fun until... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fruity banana
    At the Copacabana
    Attracted a fly
    Demanding WiFi

    "Hear my buzz roar
    As iWatch dance floor."
    "We won't be nice
    To you and your lice,"

    Said the bouncer so dour
    Wielding a swatter with power.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  10. Re:A Button. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

    The banana is a button. That's very juvenile. If someone in my office were to do this, I'd start loading them with enough "responsibilities" to make them leave.

    You mean the banana is a lie?

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  11. Meanwhile... by Shoten · · Score: 4, Funny

    In Berlin, at the headquarters of "Sprockets," the sysadmin is using a monkey instead of a banana.

    --

    For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.