The Times: Tech column - Free WiFi/Jihadi video games/World Cup websites
By David Rowan
HOW would you like a fast, permanent internet connection, from your favourite cafe or park bench, that will not cost you a penny? Thought so. It's time to join the latest communications revolution sweeping Britain, one that harnesses the co-operative spirit of the net community for remarkable local benefits. From Bethnal Green to Bath, volunteers are sharing their spare bandwidth with strangers through wireless neighbourhood networks.
Anyone whose computer has a wireless network card and an antenna can get online via radio signals that link to a nearby base station. There are more than 60 free local wireless networks across Britain, and the number is rising fast. Many were set up to allow groups of friends or colleagues to work away from their desks, using a radio data standard known as 802.11b, but now they are attracting wider use among those who appreciate the benefits of wireless net access. As long as you are within reach of a wireless "node", you can surf at six megabits a second - fast enough for videoconferencing, game-playing or MP3 streaming. And depending on the rules of your group, access may cost nothing or a token contribution.
This is a grass-roots movement, whose members spread the word through websites such as Free2Air.net and Consume.net. At Consume.net, you can type in your postcode to discover your nearest network. If it is too far away to gain a signal, these sites will show you how to get started, using cheap, readily available equipment such as an antenna that must be mounted on an outside wall. Most internet service providers naturally disapprove of any sharing of bandwidth, but the networks point out that ISPs cannot easily find out who is using a subscriber's excess bandwidth.
Still, as demand grows, the corporate sector senses new commercial opportunities. In the US, Microsoft is working with Starbucks to wire up every coffee shop; in Japan, McDonald's plans to connect 4,000 restaurants.
Here, the Government has until now prevented commercial exploitation of this part of the radio spectrum, but that is about to change. BT, seeing its moment, recently pledged to build 400 wireless "hotspots" by next June, with up to 4,000 sites by June 2005, to raise £30 million a year. Well, did you expect it to be free?
++++
Here's a suggestion for bringing peace to the Middle East: banish the video game designers. For some years, Israeli programmers have produced such delights as Intifada, a game that trains players to wipe out Palestinian rock-throwers: if an Israeli is knocked out, you lose a round and a warning appears: "Remember, your goal is to kill Arabs!" Now Syria has come up with a game called UnderAsh, the hero of which is a Palestinian stone-thrower called Ahmad. The boy has to reach Jerusalem's Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) by stoning Israeli soldiers while avoiding tanks and settlers' bullets. The game is a hit for the Dar Al-Fikr publishing house, which sold 10,000 copies in Syria in its first month.
++++
Not a good World Cup so far for Fifa's official website (www.fifaworldcup.com), which could barely cope with traffic over the weekend (they must have presumed everyone would be busy watching football matches). In a rather greedy deal with Yahoo!, Fifa has been charging $19.95 £14) to watch video highlights yet, because of the Kirch group's hold on rights, you can see just four minutes of each match.
Even then, you can forget it if you use a Mac: the website supports only PCs running Microsoft software, something that has been enraging the talk boards. So it will be interesting to see what happens to an unofficial site, Worldcup-02.com: as we went to press, it was still showing video highlights of the England-Sweden match. Owned by a Nottingham-based company called Nokamu, the site claims a "fair dealing" justification under copyright law, and adds that it is "for the fans, by the fans" and so should be left in peace. That's not likely to impress Fifa's lawyers, but all power to Nokamu for playing a high-risk game.
(The Times, June 5 2002)
HOW would you like a fast, permanent internet connection, from your favourite cafe or park bench, that will not cost you a penny? Thought so. It's time to join the latest communications revolution sweeping Britain, one that harnesses the co-operative spirit of the net community for remarkable local benefits. From Bethnal Green to Bath, volunteers are sharing their spare bandwidth with strangers through wireless neighbourhood networks.
Anyone whose computer has a wireless network card and an antenna can get online via radio signals that link to a nearby base station. There are more than 60 free local wireless networks across Britain, and the number is rising fast. Many were set up to allow groups of friends or colleagues to work away from their desks, using a radio data standard known as 802.11b, but now they are attracting wider use among those who appreciate the benefits of wireless net access. As long as you are within reach of a wireless "node", you can surf at six megabits a second - fast enough for videoconferencing, game-playing or MP3 streaming. And depending on the rules of your group, access may cost nothing or a token contribution.
This is a grass-roots movement, whose members spread the word through websites such as Free2Air.net and Consume.net. At Consume.net, you can type in your postcode to discover your nearest network. If it is too far away to gain a signal, these sites will show you how to get started, using cheap, readily available equipment such as an antenna that must be mounted on an outside wall. Most internet service providers naturally disapprove of any sharing of bandwidth, but the networks point out that ISPs cannot easily find out who is using a subscriber's excess bandwidth.
Still, as demand grows, the corporate sector senses new commercial opportunities. In the US, Microsoft is working with Starbucks to wire up every coffee shop; in Japan, McDonald's plans to connect 4,000 restaurants.
Here, the Government has until now prevented commercial exploitation of this part of the radio spectrum, but that is about to change. BT, seeing its moment, recently pledged to build 400 wireless "hotspots" by next June, with up to 4,000 sites by June 2005, to raise £30 million a year. Well, did you expect it to be free?
++++
Here's a suggestion for bringing peace to the Middle East: banish the video game designers. For some years, Israeli programmers have produced such delights as Intifada, a game that trains players to wipe out Palestinian rock-throwers: if an Israeli is knocked out, you lose a round and a warning appears: "Remember, your goal is to kill Arabs!" Now Syria has come up with a game called UnderAsh, the hero of which is a Palestinian stone-thrower called Ahmad. The boy has to reach Jerusalem's Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) by stoning Israeli soldiers while avoiding tanks and settlers' bullets. The game is a hit for the Dar Al-Fikr publishing house, which sold 10,000 copies in Syria in its first month.
++++
Not a good World Cup so far for Fifa's official website (www.fifaworldcup.com), which could barely cope with traffic over the weekend (they must have presumed everyone would be busy watching football matches). In a rather greedy deal with Yahoo!, Fifa has been charging $19.95 £14) to watch video highlights yet, because of the Kirch group's hold on rights, you can see just four minutes of each match.
Even then, you can forget it if you use a Mac: the website supports only PCs running Microsoft software, something that has been enraging the talk boards. So it will be interesting to see what happens to an unofficial site, Worldcup-02.com: as we went to press, it was still showing video highlights of the England-Sweden match. Owned by a Nottingham-based company called Nokamu, the site claims a "fair dealing" justification under copyright law, and adds that it is "for the fans, by the fans" and so should be left in peace. That's not likely to impress Fifa's lawyers, but all power to Nokamu for playing a high-risk game.
(The Times, June 5 2002)
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