T R A V E L   L O G tj|ca|st
T R A V E L   L O G
tj|ca|st

F I F E S   R I D G E

Sunday, July 11, 2004

My photo shoot is a wrap with the setting of the sun, it's time to head up to Seattle. I get caught in traffic along the way, some college football game is letting out and the police are redirecting traffic, causing major traffic tie-ups. Eventually I arrive in Seattle, but, my evening isn't over just yet, for I have a mission to accomplish first before I can settle in for the evening.

You see, I need to spend a little time driving around in the city to sniff out someone's wireless connection. Huh? Sniff out a wireless connection you ask? Yes, I am indeed a desparado, in dire need of his Internet fix. I need to find someone who is broadcasting an Internet signal. And since Seattle is such a connected city when it comes to the Internet, it shouldn't be hard to find a reliable connection, probably not more than 5 minutes of searching should do the trick. The pre-installed wireless Internet sniffing software on my IBM ThinkPad is an amazing computer application. If tells me all the wireless services that are within reach of my laptop, and as I drive around Seattle, at times there are as many as 5 or 6 within reach of a given geography.

Having Internet access from the van is such a convenient thing. It beats having to go to a Starbucks to connect via my paid TMobile service. Heck, if I find a connection I can webmaster naked from the van if I wanted to (not that I do, or do I :). Jumping on someone's Internet bandwidth isn't hurting them, I'm not hacking into their computer and releasing nasty viruses. And it isn't costing them more, their service is charged to them as a fixed fee. It's just bandwidth I'm using. Sorta like I'm looking over someone's shoulder to watch TV while they are watching TV. Lastly, many folks have purposely setup their wireless service to broadcast across the neighborhood. Some folks just like to share.

As for the detail, whenever I can get in, the service is usually transmitted via a Linksys wireless router. They are pretty low-end equipment and most folks who don't know much about computers buy them because they are cheap and don't provide all the extra features most computer savvy folks want in their routers. Apparently making a Linksys router secure (so folks outside their network cannot connect to their Internet service, aka me) is not easy and most people give up.

I think I may be operating in a window of time that may be closing sometime in the not too distant future? As wireless products evolve, they will undoubtedly make them easier and easier to setup. So, perhaps in the not so distant future, the only way to get free access will be if someone is purposefully transmitting the signal for public use. Fortunately, there are groups of people across the country who are trying to make the Internet free to the masses. Case in point. In Portland, Oregon there is a group of folks who are working on ways of building cheap infrastructure that'll allow widespread transmission of free Internet services to the public at large. Let's hope they can fulfill their mission in a timely manner.

After I get my Internet fix, I find a suitable spot to park the van for my overnight. Soon thereafter I settle in for the evening. Tomorrow will be a bike tour day, a tour of Downtown Seattle.


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