When The Power Goes Out, Get Out The Generator And Power Up The Wireless Router
from the addicted? dept
Now that Washington DC experienced a power outage along with the hurricane last week they can apparently sympathize with those in the Northeast who experienced the big blackout last month. They've written up their own version of the NY Times articles from last month talking about how the powergrid works, and what happens when it fails. More interesting, though, is the sidebar article that went along with it, talking about how one guy, upon losing power, fired up his generator - turned on his fridge and then got his computer and wireless router running. He even put a sign on his front lawn telling others that they were free to share in his wireless internet connection whenever his generator was on. Talk about sharing. How long until we hear that he gets sued by his broadband provider for giving away his connection? The article also includes stories of others who went hunting for wireless connections at local retail outlets or at local offices that still had power (or generators running).
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
