Thus spake Tyler Durden (camera_lumina@hotmail.com) [25/03/05 10:30]: : Has anyone heard of a utility that can search for a WiFi hotspot while : driving and then launch an email? Someone once said, "Cypherpunks write code." : In other words, say you want to send out a few anonymous emails, and you : don't even want to enter a Cyber-cafe or whatever. So you load up the : emails in your mail tool and drive down Main Street. The launcher utility : detects the presence of open wi-fi hotspots and belches out a few of the : emails while the spot's in range....all the while you don't even slow down. : : Sounds possible to me. the only problem might be the need for : authentication, etc...in some hotspots, but given enough hotspots surely : there are some that don't need it... I imagine that, depending on where you're driving, you wouldn't need to bother with hotspot authentication: you're bound to stumble onto an open WiFi network at *some* point in your journey. Given that there already exists utilities that detect WiFi networks and map them with GPS units, I don't think it would take much to, at that point, run, say, 'postfix start && postqueue -f'. Or perhaps mixmaster/mixminion might be more appropriate. It sounds not only possible, but plausible. And I'd be surprised if someone didn't already have this working somewhere.

From: Damian Gerow <dgerow@afflictions.org> To: cypherpunks@al-qaeda.net Subject: Re: WiFi Launcher? Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 12:50:04 -0500

Thus spake Tyler Durden (camera_lumina@hotmail.com) [25/03/05 10:30]: : Has anyone heard of a utility that can search for a WiFi hotspot while : driving and then launch an email?

I noticed you did a little editing! Sigh. Few can stand in the light for very long, save the various beautiful women that clamor to spread my DNA...

Someone once said, "Cypherpunks write code."

Yes but I'd amend this to say, "Cypherpunks in the process of becoming economically successful probably don't have time to write code but others can sure feel free to try..."

: Sounds possible to me. the only problem might be the need for : authentication, etc...in some hotspots, but given enough hotspots surely : there are some that don't need it...

I imagine that, depending on where you're driving, you wouldn't need to bother with hotspot authentication: you're bound to stumble onto an open WiFi network at *some* point in your journey.

Exactly. And also, no harm in trying several times, the "Johnny Appleseed" approach...

Given that there already exists utilities that detect WiFi networks and map them with GPS units, I don't think it would take much to, at that point, run, say, 'postfix start && postqueue -f'. Or perhaps mixmaster/mixminion might be more appropriate.

It sounds not only possible, but plausible. And I'd be surprised if someone didn't already have this working somewhere.

These days one has to act very quickly in order to create something original. The question is, will a TLA do it first and post it, along with a TINY little ID tag? -TD

Thus spake Damian Gerow (dgerow@afflictions.org) [25/03/05 15:21]: : : I noticed you did a little editing! Sigh. Few can stand in the light for : : very long, save the various beautiful women that clamor to spread my DNA... : : Editing? I don't follow. All I may have edited was the formatting. Ah, you mean the removal of the self-congratulatory cruft at the top. Yes. I did a little editing.

Thus spake Bill Stewart (bill.stewart@pobox.com) [25/03/05 17:23]: : If you're in range for 100 meters at a 18kph city crawl (or bike) : that's about 5 meters/sec so you've got 20 seconds, and it can work. : If you're driving 90kph and catch 10 meters of the edge of a range, : you've got 0.4 seconds to do the job, which is pretty dodgy - : lots of mail servers take a few seconds to really sync up, : especially if you've got to do a DNS lookup or two. Bike would be more likely than car. Or even walking. Modify your mode of transportation to meet your needs; don't try to cram near-impossible technological feats to meet your mode of transportation. In theory, all you're doing is: - Finding an AP - Associating with the AP - this could mean just setting your SSID, it could mean cracking WEP keys, it could mean providing authentication... - Grabbing an address (DHCP) At this point, you're looking at around five seconds of work. Which, at the aforementioned 18kph, gives you another 15 seconds to send off any mail. If you run a local DNS server (faster), you'll save yourself a few seconds. The actual MTA transmission only takes a few seconds; that is, unless you're spamming, in which case it may take longer. If you're sending out via something that encrypts and authenticates, it might take a bit longer. All the same, 15 seconds is plenty time to get off at least a few messages. At which point, you just keep on moving, and let your gear find a new AP, and start all over again. : Directional Antennas are unlikely to be useful - : if you've got them aimed right, you might win, : but you're much more likely to miss entirely : or have only a few meters that you're in range. Directional antennas would be pointless. Go for a high-gain omnidirectional. You might lose a little range, but it's highly unlikely you'd be able to gain anything from the range. Plus, I'm assuming a secondary goal would be indiscretion: someone walking down the street pointing three duct-taped together Pringles cans at people's houses probably isn't terribly indiscrete. It'd be much better to just keep a larger omni antenna in the bag on your back (with the laptop/PDA/whatever).