Meet Patti!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

How U doin?

I am sitting on my new couch, in my new apartment, using my new lappy to pick up free wireless internet and post on my blog. A shout out goes to "Lou" for not securing his wireless network. Life is good. :)

It was less good earlier today, however. I am still recovering from the worst migraine I've had in probably five years. Gross. It was made worse for the fact that I couldn't find my bottle of ibuprofen anywhere. It must be in one of these boxes.

posted by Patti at 21:16

12 Comments:

  • Free ... well, some would debate that it's stealing. Thoughts?

    http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/04/news_pf/State/Wi_Fi_cloaks_a_new_br.shtml

    By Blogger Grubesteak, At 21:31  

  • Well, Steak, I would say that it is not. What is the last part of that link?

    By Blogger Patti, At 05:32  

  • Nahh, I disagree with you also, Grubey. It's not as though one is taking internet AWAY from someone, is it?
    *picturing Patti wearing all black and wearing panty-hose over her head poking around for pieces of internet to put in her pocket*

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 08:02  

  • The link is a San Francisco Gate story about how a guy was arrested for stealing bandwidth.

    It actually is stealing, because someone else is paying for a service and you're piggybacking off the money they spend for the signal. The sad part is that some go out and think "I want wireless internet" so they get it but aren't told about how to secure their signal.

    It's a different story if 1.) your neighbor doesn't care if you use his bandwidth, or 2.) It's a public hotspot, such as many coffee shops and retail businesses (even City Hall) has made available to help bring in customers.

    And yes Meghan, it does take away from the person who pays for that service. Sunflower charges for how much bandwidth is used, just as your water bill is charged according to how much water is used. It's exactly the same as if someone came and hooked up a hose outside your house and watered his lawn with it.

    By Blogger Grubesteak, At 13:35  

  • Well Steak, you'll be happy to know that "Lou" got wise and cut me off. Now I have to walk down the hall and use the wireless coffee cafe.

    By Blogger Patti, At 19:41  

  • thanks debbie downer!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 23:29  

  • wwwhhahaaa wwaaaaaaa (you know, like a trombone)

    By Blogger Patti, At 06:21  

  • Yeah Grubey what'd ya do, post a group e-mail to all the wireless users warning them "beware a girl named Patti, you very well may be her next victim..." mwaaaahaaahaaaaa!
    Very interesting, you're information, though...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 06:44  

  • *sigh*

    Anytime anybody wants to step up and give a rebuttal rather than just taking what someone says and running with it, that would be great.

    You see, I expected some sort of debate. Something like, "Well, if Lou didn't want people taking his wireless signal he should clamp it down and keep it out of my house."

    Any takers? Anyone?

    By Blogger Grubesteak, At 05:17  

  • Doubt anyone is going to see this, but maybe they are still checking it.

    If this neighbor is actually getting charged based on how much of his bandwidth he uses, then yes, you are directly causing one of his utility bills to be higher and are therefore "stealing" (although it is stealing a service not material goods, not sure about that distinction).

    However, unless that is much more prevalent in the midwest, I've never heard of a service provider doing that, it seems that option would be the minority.

    It seems to me that MOST people pay for 24/7 internet access at a minimum given bandwidth. Then they proceed to be at work 8-12 hours a day, and when they are at home they are probably watching tv and maybe occassionally surfing the net.

    Given THAT charicature of the situation, it seems more like someone using an unsecured wireless network is just sharing resources that are already being payed for. I would see it more like using the light from someone's porch lamp to read by when the porch lamp owner isn't sitting on his porch.

    Whether it is stealing or not comes down to whether the person doing the surfing is causing the payor's bill to increase by their activity, AND whether the payor has the intention of sharing or not.

    One thing I do agree on, is that every "Cable Internet Self-Install Kit" and every wireless router should come with directions for securing your network. There are too many people out there with unsecured networks and for that matter not running any form of firewall (other than the included windows firewall which they probably haven't set up properly anyway).

    Just my .02

    By Blogger ~mike, At 05:59  

  • I agree with you, Mike. They should come with easy instructions, or at least some sort of warning label.

    I get charged a minimum amount, but I can go over my bandwidth (and often did until I had to up my usage - I like to download torrents on occasion). So, extra usage caused me to pay more than the base rate.

    But, in the same scenario, if someone had their water house coming into my window of my house, you better believe I'd be using it. Under the same circumstances, if a neighbor keeps his wireless signal open, then it's his/her fault.

    But if I'm crusing around looking for open signals (such as the news story I linked to), that's a little different. There, one is going out of the way to find a free signal. I just can't go along with that.

    I just wanted a friggin conversation stimulator man.

    By Blogger Grubesteak, At 20:23  

  • Dude, I think you got your friggin conversation starter. Debbie downer. I loved that. And actually, I CAN see Patti creeping around in black with the pantyhose over her head!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 22:04  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]



<< Home