KisMAC, I could Kis you.
Today, I had to go out to New Westminster (about 40 minutes outside Vancouver). On my way out, I passed by a pizza place (Viva Sue Pizza) from which we used to order when I worked at BCTel (now Telus). Given that I was hungry, and expected I would continue to be unless addressed, I had the idea of ordering some when I left New West, so that I could pick it up on the way back. I punched 4-1-1 into my phone, but did not press Talk. "There's got to be an open, wireless network around here," I thought to myself...I woke my computer up, and loaded KisMAC. For those who are unfamiliar, KisMAC is a very powerful utility that scans for wireless networks, and reports all the attributes. I drove around the block, and about six or seven networks showed up. I pulled over to the side of the road, and decided that Ruths_Home_Network looked like a nice place to visit. Within seconds, I was online and surfing from my car. (Thanks Ruth!) A quick visit to the online business listing, and I had the number to Viva Sue. Twenty-five minutes later (traffic was bad) I had two pizzas in my hands.
Thank you, KisMAC: you saved me a dollar (or maybe more) that I would have had to otherwise pay to a service that should be free. Just for fun, I left my computer on for most of the way home. Several open networks showed up, included a whole whack in my east-side neighbourhood, or "the hood" for short.
I feel I should mention that if you don't want to drive the streets looking for open networks, you should check out FatPort. A very cool, Vancouver-based company, FatPort is hitting the cafés, beaches, bars, etc. by storm!
Comments
You know we really should be on the vanguard of plotting out these free wireless hotspots around town. You know I enjoy the service provided by the good folks at Fatport, but lets face it free WiFi is one of lifes great little treasures. Really who wants to pay to surf wirelessly. Oh and last thought, "hood" hotspots should not be mapped for they are unsafe to sit at with computer hardware. - kerry, Tuesday, August 12, 2003 Viva Sue's pizzas are the best;) - Psy Snoop, Thursday, September 2, 2004 |  |
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