Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
WiFi Hog - Early Xmas For Nihilistic Technofetishists
Do you long to stake your claim to the wireless wide open spaces? Here's the tool for the bandwidth hog (cybersquatter?) in all of us.
(From WiFi Hog)
WiFi Hog is a laptop-based system that allows the user (or "hog") to gain complete control over public access wireless networks. It is a laptop connected to a Portable Video Jammer (PVJ) that communicates to software consisting of a packet sniffer and wireless stumbler which monitors incoming packets from an open node. Only the WiFi Hogger's IP address is allowed access, blocking others from the net.
The idea is presented as an alternative to the utopian vision of wireless networks being open, shared, and utilitarian for everyone. This project is a cautionary one, and comes as a reaction to the battle over free wireless spectrum where corporate pay-per-use and free community networks are fighting for signal dominance in public spaces.
If the option exists to connect and the network is made available then why can't people use it in any way they want - even block it. WiFi-Hog is a personal tool to enable both private interaction in public space as well as social obstruction and deconstruction of shared resources.
The creator of this system is Jonah Brucker-Cohen.
I'm going to dedicate this story to all you Panther Moderns (from Neuromancer, natch - get your mimetic polycarbon suit on) out there who long to test the limits of tolerance on public networks. Fortunately, this product is not available commercially (yet!). Story found here.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/9/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'- Joe Haldeman, 2011.
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion. - Philip K. Dick, 1969.
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?' - Robert Castle, 1939.
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1953.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity
'Cultured brains on a slab.'
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Good For 100 Years
'...power pack the size of a pea.'
Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses
'...the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses.'
