Urban Survival 101: Mobile Computing on the Fringe

On the road with little but a laptop an a video camera, you too can maximize your productivity in the field with focus, dedication and a highly adaptive outlook. Today, we're going to learn how to tap into troublesome, external power outlets with a laptop and how to connect to existing wireless networks nearby. Unless we're overtaken by tusken raiders or something, but that's rare.

Step 1 Quit Carrying That Laptop! Let The R2 Deal With It.

Yeah, it's a full-sized hand truck and it's all done up like it's something. Hey, with everything strapped on, who's going to steal it? I mean, what are they going to do, run down the street with a loaded handtruck? Besides, it can easily be disguised and it may even deflect bullets! That's why I highly recommend it for both home and the office.

Check out the slideshow:

Pimp My Hand Truck

Comments

[killerjackalope]

Nice instructable, as an addition to the list both Starbucks and McDonalds now offer free wireless, also if you see a certain sideways 8 symbol chalked on someone's gate that usually indicates an open network, try to avoid using residential networks, they're slower and it's rude... Another quick thing is that there are power adapters on trains, usually by the doors and toilets, these are usually used for cleaning purposes but if you aren't a nuisance a conductor usually wont annoy you... An external or homebuilt antenna can also be a big boon to a wireless laptop user, they make it way easier to find networks, also check that your transmission power is up all the way, it barely affects battery usage but makes a big difference to networking... An extra battery pack is also a great idea, it's just nice to know you have a backup in case of emergency or lack of power, use them alternately to make sure the packs stay good...

[Johenix]

Add Burger King, LeeAnn Chin, Cariboo Coffee and Barnes & Noble Books to the list. Wendy's and Taco Bell might be worth a look too.

[computer_freak_8]

I'm not sure about the "sideways 8" symbol, but check out this link.
(It also links to the corresponding Wikipedia article from that page.)

http://www.guide-to-symbols.com/warchalking/

Have fun!

[killerjackalope]

Depends where you are in the world then... Good little site, the symbols one...

[Gavabc123]

about using wireless internet from your neighbor's, i use my neighbors internet all the time without them knowing.

[killerjackalope]

I do it a bit aswell, mainly because they don't use their internet much... It's still not a great idea, a business wont reall notice the difference but a home user will see the difference immediately...

[febble]

Of course if you are in the UK then you only have to worry about the Misuse of Computers Act or the Telecommunications act - if you are using it without the explict permission of the owner

[Labot2001]

Starbucks and McDonalds now offer free wireless..

Starbucks' WiFi is "free" with the purchase of a coffee =o

[killerjackalope]

Really, I logged on once and have it saved as a network profile, granted it varies buck's to buck's

[Labot2001]

granted it varies buck's to buck's

Hmm, probably. Maybe it's just in the US? I dunno, I only saw it once, so it could definitely vary. But I don't buy coffee (or anything) from Starbuck's anyway. =P

[killerjackalope]

The funny thing is I get coffee from starbucks alot and have bought it three times... Pick the moment and the right person, nothing illegal, just good old fashioned being nice... But some of them change the code on a weekly rota, one each day, others generate one and keep it, some do change it about alot...

[keastes]

i wanna know where do y'all live starbucks down here (Albuquerque NM) t-mobile has a contract with all of the starbucks and its 10 bucks a day, oh well at least the city provides free wifi at the libraries.

[killerjackalope]

I live in Northern Ireland, see UK...

[ThirdEye4103]

hey a good name, you say your dads a Liar. I mean Lawyer!! so do me a favor, Have him find a law that says you HAVE to pay federal income tax. BECAUSE THERE ISNT! seriously, i put a 50,000$ reward in the newspaper for someone to find that law for me, and not one person ended up calling back.

[static]

Interesting, it never occurred to me to take note of 110 VAC receptacle that may be available for my use. Then again whenever I'm motor vehicle mobile/portable. I have plenty of electrical power available. As long as one isn't using an unwieldy wifi antenna, it would be hard for someone to guess if you are indeed piggybacking someones internet connection.

[GaSouthpaw]

So what you're actually showing us how to do is steal (power, wireless service) from whichever municipality or property we happen to be squatting in?

[HarveyDanger]

It ain't illegal unless the network is secure.

[A good name]

It's illegal to access someone's wireless network. Federally. Sure, you probably won't get arrested since the chances of the cops actually finding you are slim, but the power is even worse, since the people who own the power socket end up paying. This Instructable is illegal.

[HarveyDanger]

Do you have a reference for this? I'd like to see it.

[static]

Comments here are approaching 2 years old, and a lot has occurred in that time. Some time spent with using Google will reveal that using even an unsecured wifi  without express permission signal may be illegal. State and local laws may vary. Personally may network is left open, and sharing my internet connection doesn't violate my ISP TOS, if you are in range you are welcome to use it. Up to the point your use degrades my use. Meaning no hours of viewing videos or large file downloads.

[A good name]

Meh, my dad's a lawyer. It's stealing unless it's specified as a "public access network" If it's "Unprotected" It's illegal.

[lukeyj15]

Well you could compare it to someone's house. If it's unlocked, you can still be arrested for entering. But if it's a public place, a coffee shop for example, you can't...

[octavian234]

(removed by author or community request)

[A good name]

It's next to your "a" key Octavian :P

[joseph_trout]

Actually its not even illegal to use a secured network. As long as they are not using wpa. At that point to get the password for the network you have to send a signal to the router which is illegal.

[HarveyDanger]

Interesting. I shall look into this further!

[cgel1015]

You mean, it "is not" illegal?

[GaSouthpaw]

Consider this- say your house has a nice yard, but with no fence around it, and someone decides to camp on your lawn. You'd consider that trespassing, right? It's the same principle. And plugging into a power outlet is illegal in most every city- which is why the thing was locked and the creator of this how-to showed you how to break into the outlet cover and set his coat on top of the power cord. That's also stealing. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

[HarveyDanger]

Well, I don't know about Georgia, but up here the law is that if someone doesn't take the time to educate themselves and secure their wireless network, then it isn't illegal. The computer "asks" to use a wireless network when it connects. If it isn't refused, then it's perfectly all right in the eyes of the law. It's inconvenient, yeah. I'd sure as hell (politely) ask whoever was accessing my internet to get off. At that point, whether or not it's illegal, I don't know, since the owner of the network has explicitly stated that they don't want you on there. Seriously. though. if people are too lazy to just follow instructions on securing a wireless network, then they have no right to complain. Actually, I think a better analogy would be leaving your car parked somewhere shady and keeping it unlocked, and finding out that someone took a joyride. Also, the thing wasn't locked, just closed. He didn't break into anything, he only opened it (how would someone break into a locked panel with just a prong from a power cable?).

[pork_hunt]

The ignition key is the drivers "permission" to operate the vehicle. No key, no permission...

[HarveyDanger]

Well then assume you left the key in the car, too. =P That'd still be the same as leaving your network unprotected. It's illegal, but it's your own damn fault.

Also, I've searched, and there's no Federal law against using unprotected hotspots. There are, however, laws in several states, and in NY people can actually be fined for not securing their own network. I suggest looking up the laws in your own before hopping on to an unsecured network, but 99% of the time nobody will give a damn either way if all you're doing is surfing the internet.

[mjarthur]

i set up my wireless net to be open so my neighbors can use it, if someday someone is using too much of my bandwidth i might put a password on it, but for now its fine

[bwpatton1]

The only problem with this is if your neighbors do something illegal on your internet connection than you get arrested.

[Rogue Agent]

How is this a "Winner"? Not only is it poorly done, it encourages stealing. Grey legalities of wireless aside, bypassing a lock to use a power outlet is stealing. No grey area there.

[octavian234]

PARTY-POOPER :(

[CybergothiChe]

You can't like own electricity, maaaaan...electricity is a living thing, maaaaaan

[vitruvian8807]

Very cool instructable +fav and 5 stars. However, I just use my Windows Mobile Device for all this.

[resonanteye]

I liked the movie stuff. I have lived in the cities (about ten different ones last count) for 20 years, and the different flavor of "kook" (I'd call them "local harbingers of capitalism") are what make each city really have its own .personality, now that most places arre just hunks of crappy condos/apt buildings/offices...every city has its own feeling, and the homeless locals are the best way to find the soul of a city. I'd love to see these done about places besides berkeley. capitol hill in seattle, downtown portland, center city/south street in philly, the quarter in New orleans...every city has its free zone

[blacknkhak]

money may not be a reason for this directors work buuuut... maybe a documentary of american street life would fit a broader audience than drunks and kooks. There is a reason general audience (G rated) movies make so much more money than the r rated stuff. think "family viewing". Public broadcast stations will air this type of work if it is deemed socially relevant. I think it is. the addition of a narrative and linear plot components would make this a genre. people would take it more seriously and it would get the respect it deserves.

[hondagofast]

I once made a map of all the working power outlets in my town and all the safe wireless networks. Where the hell did I put it. The battery on my laptop last 2:15 with the screen brightness all the way down and a maximum of 50% processor usage. And it's a 366MHz Pentium II. Oh my wonderful IBM ThinkPad.