A Hacked WiFi Router, an API, and a Toy Bus: It's the Ambient Bus Arrival Monito 53
JohnGrahamCumming writes "In this simple project, a hacked Linksys WRT54GL talks to a public API to get real-time bus information, and displays the times of the next buses on a model bus. Never miss the bus again! 'It's possible to reflash the Linksys with a custom Linux installation that lets me control the box completely (and still use it as a wireless router). There are various project, but I used OpenWRT. With OpenWRT it's possible to SSH into the box and treat it as any Linux server (albeit a rather slow one). But there's plenty of power to grab bus times and update an LED display connected to the WRT54GL's serial port. "
Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)
I know you're joking, but in a lot of large cities a car is unnecessary, and commuting by car is a very expensive option even if you have one (due to high fuel price, $20+/day parking, opportunity cost of driving yourself when you could be reading Slashdot on the bus, etc.) My wife and I earn enough to keep a nice car, but choose not to own one. We both have bicycles for commuting, and sublet our appartment's car spaces which more than covers membership in a car share program and rental cars when we go on holiday.