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Wireless Networking Hardware

Beer and Bluetooth 124

Posted by michael from the two-great-tastes-that-taste-great-together dept.
juxter writes "The BBC is reporting on a London bar which has installed a Bluetooth and WiFi access point. Owners of camera phones can wirelessly send their pictures to an overhead screen and web based gallery - The system runs the LocustWorld Linux based MeshAP which has been extended to drive bluetooth devices as well. Hopefully this will encourage more UK premises to deploy free hot spots."
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Beer and Bluetooth More

Beer and Bluetooth

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  • Great news (Score:4, Funny)

    by l33t j03 ( 222209 ) <l33tj03@hotmail.com> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @10:55AM (#5543999) Homepage Journal
    The more thongs pics there are out there, the better off we'll all be.

  • yay (Score:2, Funny)

    by TamathAltarak ( 655055 )
    At least now I can get my friend to see me looking thirsty while he stands at the bar chatting and not getting the beers in :-)

  • Amendment (Score:5, Funny)

    by govtcheez ( 524087 ) <govtcheez03@hotmail.com> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @10:57AM (#5544008) Homepage
    There are now two things that advance technology: alcohol and pr0n. Please update your notes accordingly.
    • Amendment to amendment.

      The alcohol is simply a catalyst for pr0n.

      Supporting arguments: beer + chicks = pr0n
      Also, consider girl A. Girl A observes ugly guy B. Girl A consumes beverages. Girl A thinks guy B is attractive enough to go home with.

      Similarly, Guy A with ugly Girl B. The collorary holds.

      So, there is still only one thing that advances technology: pr0n.

  • Ain't thinking... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cybermace5 ( 446439 ) <g.ryan@macetech.com> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @10:58AM (#5544017) Homepage Journal
    The first thing someone will do with their camera phone: take a picture of a mouthful of chewing-in-progress food. Then laugh endlessly when the picture comes up on the overhead.

    After that gets old...no, I don't want to think about it. They'd better enclose the bathroom with a grounded wire mesh shell.
  • Must ask them to serve Blue Beer next time.

  • Great danger! (Score:5, Funny)

    by John_Renne ( 176151 ) <zooiNO@SPAMgniffelnieuws.net> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @10:58AM (#5544020) Homepage
    Everybody that ever saw pictures of themselves taken after spending an evening drinking in a pub knows this forms a great danger. The last thing you want to see is proof afterwards

  • Whole New Meanings (Score:5, Funny)

    by big_gibbon ( 530793 ) <slashdot.philevans@com> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:00AM (#5544030) Homepage

    This really does give a whole new meaning to CAMRA [camra.org.uk]

    P

  • Web based gallery (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ehiris ( 214677 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:00AM (#5544036) Homepage
    The gallery software it uses is pretty lame.
    For a good web gallery app try coppermine [chezgreg.net].

  • Save time (Score:2, Funny)

    by SnuSnu ( 630537 )
    Stay at home and get a friend to spill some beer on your laptop. Then have a fistfight. Just like a real British pub!
  • So some Brits put some .gifs and some screenshots in the server's pub dir? I don't see why this is news, most of the stuff in that folder is junk anyways.
  • I just posted this [slashdot.org] yesterday in response to Sprint feeling that "Business Travelers" would be more interested in WiFi than the rest of us.

    Yay, now just bring it to the States in OUR bars and I will be thrilled.

    • Re:ok the UK has it, why not BW3 here in the State (Score:4, Informative)

      by generic-man ( 33649 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @12:36PM (#5544647) Homepage Journal
      Many bars are experimenting with it.

      The Foundry Ale Works [foundryaleworks.com], a local brewpub, partnered with Telerama [telerama.com] to provide wireless access. The access has been free for the last few months as a trial period, but next month they'll start charging. Telerama has wired up a lot of hotspots around Pittsburgh, including several cafes and restaurants.

      The first time I used the Foundry's wireless access, I helped the cute bartender study for an exam. The next time I came by with co-workers, she bought us a round of beers. This wireless thing just might take off after all. :)

  • Upskirt? (Score:5, Funny)

    by CrayzyJ ( 222675 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:05AM (#5544071) Homepage Journal
    How many upskirt pictures will be displayed on this thing before the owner turns it off?

    • Re:Upskirt? (Score:3, Funny)

      by cca93014 ( 466820 )
      It's London, not Tokyo.

      It's more likely there will be pictures of people getting drunk and fighting each other.

      And yes I do live in London.
    • Well a friend of mind thought she might want to do that with my camera. Posted them on my photo gallery, she never did it again :)

      Rus

    • Re:Upskirt? (Score:3, Flamebait)

      by SubtleNuance ( 184325 )
      and a room full of adults would have a problem w/ nudity because..? not everyone in the world is a reactionary, fundemental puritan. You know most of the world isnt as alarmed by people without clothes on as america eh? again, this American-ism is the minority.

      • and a room full of adults would have a problem w/ nudity because..? not everyone in the world is a reactionary, fundemental puritan. You know most of the world isnt as alarmed by people without clothes on as america eh? again, this American-ism is the minority.

        Sure, you could argue that this should be no problem for a bunch of adults. But after a few weeks of up-skirt photos and goatse uploads, the place will start looking like Hooters - no women except for the employeees.

      • I think he actually means 'unwanted' upskirt photos, i.e. sadacts taking pictures of girls without their knowing, which is, to anyone sane, quite obviously not on. Ergo, he has a good point.
      • On the contrary, I'm an American and I like nudity!
    • 1 picture plus 1 lawsuit

  • Thank goodness for technology... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TopShelf ( 92521 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:05AM (#5544073) Homepage Journal
    Now, the rest of the pub can intervene to help prevent egregious cases of "beer goggling".

  • WiFi Image Capture (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ShawnDoc ( 572959 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:06AM (#5544077) Homepage
    In a previous story which I cannot find, a piece of software was discussed that you run, and it automatically graps images being transfered via WiFi and creates a real time collage of what people are downloading onto their computers. Can anyone tell me the name of the software or where to get it.

    My company currently runs their WiFi with no WEP encryption at all and I figured it would be a dramatic way to show the higher ups how easy it is to steal info from a wireless network.

    • The only thing I can think of that is close is the set of programs in dsniff but there isn't anything there specifically for wireless.

      There is another application, also not specifically for wireless called driftnet that will grab images off the network and show them in a window. Kinda neat, in a scrapbook-collage sort of way.
    • If you have a mac then there is etherpeg [etherpeg.org]. This will do what you want for any interface you want, including wireless. I ran it once at a conference for a laugh because I was bored. As the large JPGs of Japanese girls in swimsuits started filling my screen I decided it was a pretty poor idea!

    • Re:WiFi Image Capture (Score:4, Informative)

      by fo0bar ( 261207 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @01:19PM (#5544977)
      In a previous story which I cannot find, a piece of software was discussed that you run, and it automatically graps images being transfered via WiFi and creates a real time collage of what people are downloading onto their computers.

      You are thinking of Driftnet [ex-parrot.com]. And this is not limited to wireless networks without WEP. Once you have the WEP key (trivial if you work at the origanization, slightly less than trivial if not), you still receive all packets travelling across the network. Much like a hub, which will also work with Driftnet. Certain cable networks allow you to see peers within your local segment too.

      Driftnet by itself is slightly limited display-wise. It does have a basic realtime image viewer, but I've found that plugging it into xscreensaver [jwz.org] is much more enjoyable.

      • It will work on a LAN w/ a hub. Will not work w/ a switch...

        If youve got a HUB && GNU/Linux @ work -- you MUST have a look at driftnet.

        I turned it off after i saw the pics of a butch-cross dresser in period costumes. brrrr.

      • That looks like the one. The bad part is, I don't have a WiFi enabled computer and don't have the time/resources to hunt one up.

        Anyone know where to find a Windows version of this?

  • Let's get it over with (Score:5, Funny)

    by JargonScott ( 258797 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:06AM (#5544082)
    Let's go ahead and bluetooth/wireless/etc everything in site, so this all can end.

    When I can see if my dog is out eating poop in the back yard across her webcam toting, pringles can antenna/802.11b utility collar, all from the comforts of my fridge mounted display, I'll be in good shape.

  • Gallery (Score:3, Funny)

    by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:06AM (#5544083) Homepage
    You've got to wonder how long it will before someone gets caught our when they say they weren't down the pub :)

    Rus
  • The locustworld is a neat bit of kit offering WiFI/Internet access at a resonable price. However does anyone know what sort of range it can achieve without having to resort to pringle cans as directional arials?

    Rus

  • Don't drink and surf! (Score:3, Funny)

    by smittyoneeach ( 243267 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:12AM (#5544127) Homepage Journal
    You [theonion.com] could be next...

  • School Disco (Score:1, Interesting)

    by archetypeone ( 599370 )
    Chances are it will be a huge hit here [schooldisco.com]...
  • Seriously, in Seattle I used to hang out in a CyberCafe run by Speakeasy Networks [speakeasy.net] Watched them come up from a Cafe with internet to a full blown Broadband ISP. Really neat place before they had a fire and it's got closed. The bits about the Cafe wasn't Company Propaganda

  • Mmm, great. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pnot ( 96038 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:36AM (#5544257)
    So after 8 hours staring at a screen and tapping at a keyboard, I can head down the pub to... stare at a screen and tap at a keyboard?

    Thanks, but no thanks. Pubs, IMHO, are for beer and conversation. I find them pleasant precisely because I'm not plugged in, wired up and in constant electronic communication with the world and its dog.

    That said, the Progress bar is already pretty loud and flashy, and has little in the way of decent beer, so there's little to lose.

    • Re:Mmm, great. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by squaretorus ( 459130 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @12:26PM (#5544587) Homepage Journal
      Pubs, IMHO, are for beer and conversation.

      I agree. Unfortunately most city centre landlords think they are for drinking lager and 'listening' to deafening chart / dance music.

      Bring back the pub with a TV (sound down) in the corner where the loudest thing is the barmans shirt and it takes you longer to pick a beer than decide wether to nudge!
      • why on earth would you want a tv with the sound down?
        • So that people can say 'what you think he's saying then?'

          Another benefit is that the older clientelle can demand the younguns read out on screen info - like scores, news headlines etc... Great for knackering an intimate moment!

          Snooker is particularly good on a sound down TV. Quietly hypnotic
    • That would be true for most pubs in the UK, but don't forget this is in London and every pub is full of braying wankers talking in their mobiles. This sort of thing is ideal for the 'Nathan Barleys' of London.
      Pubs are for chilling out/relaxing because the week has been shitty!
    • And last time I was there, four people got stabbed by some coked up arsehole. Lovely.

  • Hmmmm (Score:4, Funny)

    by kien ( 571074 ) <kienNO@SPAMmember.fsf.org> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:41AM (#5544277) Journal
    There's a "free as in beer" joke in here somewhere; I'm just not sure what it is. :)

    --K.

  • I wonder (Score:3, Redundant)

    by The-Perl-CD-Bookshel ( 631252 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:43AM (#5544292) Homepage Journal
    Who will be the first to take a picture of their "naughty bits" and zap them up to the big screen?
  • Imagine a geek putting bluetooth on his beer bottle/mug and having it connected to a display screen:

    (Geek is drinking a beer, and a girl comes up to him for some reason)

    Girl: Hello...

    Geek (who has been drinking, so is tipsy.. plus he's been looking at a lot of porno before coming to the pub): Hey baby.. how about I plug my input device into your USB port and upload my data to your harddrive?

    Girl: O_O Bastard! (girl slaps geek, throws his beer on him. this causes display screen to go crazy) *ERROR ERRO

  • New bar games galore! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mattsucks ( 541950 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @11:54AM (#5544349) Homepage
    Think of the possibilities when beer, cameras, and a big screen at the head of the bar are combined:

    "Am I Drunk or Not?" - you take a picture of yourself/friend/stranger and post it. In true reality TV style, the whole bar votes on whether the pictur-ee is a) as drunk as they think they are, b) drunker, or c) not drunk enough. Much hilarity and yelling ensues!

    "Shot Shots" - take a picture of a shot of something, put into the picture rotation. Whenever it comes up, everybody drinks one

    "Hot Shots" - variation, but with a picture of a particularly attractive patron. Assuming there are some. The chance of "hot" being "hot" decreases as the night goes on

    "Who's ____ is that?" - take a picture of a random body part of someone ... post it. First one to guess who it is, and what part, gets to buy me a round. (wait, did I say _me_? i meant the photographer)

    any more ideas?

  • Voting on the best pic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TheProphetMargin ( 660155 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @12:03PM (#5544410)
    Now if they could just rig the whole thing up to a voting script so everyone could vote for their favorite picture. The top score each hour could win a free drink....the only thing better than beer is FREE beer.

    The Prophet Margin
    "Guess when the war will start http://www.missfreedomflag.com "
  • As if it wasn't easy enough to get busted by the wife checking out the bar chicks! Now I've gotta try and sneak in those peeks to the up-skirt shots on the tube??

    It's a conspiracy.
    • Wouldn't it be a major factor in choosing
      which place you'd like to hang out and toss
      back a few beers?? ...if there were lots more
      pubs with free access points. It'd just be
      a bonus if the place you like to hang out at
      would do this.

      I mean, the internet and beer just BELONG together! haha
  • There's a bar in Portland (Oregon), Claudia's I believe (on Hawthorne) that will be installing WiFi gear soon.
  • Just send a picture of yourself pointing at your empty bottle to the screen, get your next one quick!

    Blue teeth are one thing in a bar... just don't want to see the other blue parts that might be hiding out in a bar late at night.
  • It doesn't mention free internet access. I believe it's simply a wireless intranet they use for their own application: putting images up on the ceiling. Cool, of course, but not a free hotspot.

  • Bluetooth beer monitoring (Score:4, Funny)

    by certron ( 57841 ) on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @12:55PM (#5544733)
    Why doesn't someone stick a small bluetooth device in the beer mugs themselves, so you can tell when they are empty? Then they could be refilled, or someone who has had too much too quickly can be engaged in conversation, instead of giving them more beer. I heard some company did this, probably I saw it on TechTV, but I don't know if they used bluetooth. Probably they just used their own thing, and the mugs talked to the table (well, not the table itself, and not the mugs, really... but y'know, the electronics stuff does the talking.)
    • the problem here is when a drink is brought to the table and you wanted another brand or not one at all. I was thinking that a button on the table could be used to indicate a refill was needed but you know how many false alarms there would be as people pushed buttons on other tables?

      I think it would be far better to have a computerized tap station where you swipe your smartcard or iButton and get your drink and get billed at the same time. The Bartenders Unions might not like that and there's no cute wait
      • I think it would be far better to have a computerized tap station where you swipe your smartcard or iButton and get your drink and get billed at the same time

        That would be appaling for the quality of the beer. Better off having a waitress system whereby you can order drinks from your table (perhaps with 10% service charge) and have them brought to you...
      • "...but you know how many false alarms there would be as people pushed buttons on other tables? "

        Like beer-tapping gone horibly wrong. Start hitting your buddy's refill buzzer when he's draining the lizard! Wait, I'm seeing a drinking game here...
  • Clearly, this article write-up needs more buzzwords.

    Does anyone know if this customer-based web-enabled bluetooth solution set new paradigms for the 21st century?

    - A.P.
  • but i don't see how simply putting up a enabling connection to their server via wifi / bluetooth devices will mean free internet access, as the poster seems to be implying ("Hopefully this will encourage more UK premises to deploy free hot spots."). If anything, as a (probably) large well invested business interest they will most likely have have pretty tight security on it, with little or no net access.

    besides does anyone really want to risk lookin up from your pint to see teh goatse.cx ? yes i'm talking
  • a similar (same?) concept [go.com] is already up n running in NY @ the Remote Lounge [remotelounge.com]

    from the article: Controlled Entropy Ventures is seeking investors to expand the lounge into different markets. The company says it expects to expand overseas in London.

    i dunno about the wi-fi stuff tho. if this is the same company it may be jumping the gun a bit. afterall, the press love buzzwords like that.

  • Bluetooth Developer Kit? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dubl-u ( 51156 ) <2523987012@pota . t o> on Wednesday March 19, 2003 @02:00PM (#5545387)
    Say, this makes me wonder. Have people used cheap Bluetooth developer kits that they like? I'm just looking for something simple like this USB kit [delcom-eng.com]. After all the talk about the Ambient Orb [slashdot.org], I'd like to build some wireless toys.

  • name (Score:2)

    by jpc ( 33615 )

    I like the fact it is called the Progess Bar.

    Right up there with the excellent band My Computer.

    Its down in my old haunt of Tufnell Park, will suggest it for the next Lonix meeting (a change from hacking the wifi at Wagamama anyway).
  • "Owners of camera phones can wirelessly send their pictures to an overhead screen and web based gallery"

    Man, some intersting stuff is bound to appear on the screen.
  • Drinking too much beer usually causes me to end up with a blue eye and a missing tooth...

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