I always used to see this when I walked around the city with my iPod touch. I thought it was just people trying to be nice. Guess I'm naive.
The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
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Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#12When a computer running an older version of XP can't find any of its "favorite" wireless networks, it will automatically create an ad hoc network with the same name as the last one it connected to -- in this case, "Free Public WiFi." Other computers within range of that new ad hoc network can see it, luring other users to connect. [...] Computers with the XP bug that try to connect to the Internet will remember the name, create their own ad hoc networks and entice other users wherever they go.
If this was the case, wouldn't we see all manner of oddly named hotspots at airport locations, and wouldn't they also propagate as people try to connect to them?
I suspect this story may have been "simplified" to the point where the interesting details have been lost.
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#13I say we call it the world's first "computer prion".
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#14So this is basically a self-propagating virus started by someone indeed offering Free Public WiFi, now kept alive by hopeful XP users clicking on the network? That is so wild. It's like the ad-hoc wifi equivalent of a chain letter. Edit: Thinking about it, it's even crazier... Because the bug only happens when there aren't any available networks, it springs up in situations when there are a lot of people looking for…
> This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own.
Not really. It's emergent behavior in a complex system. You have a lot of entities (in this case, unpatched Windows XP SP2 and below systems), and a set of very simple local rules (if (winxp and no wifi) then create last adhoc network, if (human and see "free public wifi") then click link).
The fascinating behavior that emerges from the interplay of these local rules is the global "virus" if you will. It's a fascinating area of research, and even aside from the inflated egos of some physicists in the area, I'm glad I'm studying the field.
Read Duncan Watts' book "Six degrees" for a decent popsci introduction to the field (you might have to skip some self-aggrandizing of physics as the Savior of Intellectual Thought though).
Edit: cellular automata are a more recognizable CS example of this.
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#15Strange that they say it's only been around for 4 years. I seem to remember the first time this story came through Reddit was about 4 years ago, and the phenomenon it described had been going for several years at that point.
It's actually surprising to see it here now. I was expecting to see a [2007] tacked on to it.
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#16Around for "about 4 years now"? I remember seeing it at a conference 7 years ago.
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Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#17So this is basically a self-propagating virus started by someone indeed offering Free Public WiFi, now kept alive by hopeful XP users clicking on the network? That is so wild. It's like the ad-hoc wifi equivalent of a chain letter. Edit: Thinking about it, it's even crazier... Because the bug only happens when there aren't any available networks, it springs up in situations when there are a lot of people looking for…
> This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Not really. It's emergent behavior in a complex system. You have a lot of entities (in this case, unpatched Windows XP SP2 and below systems), and a set of very simple local rules (if (winxp and no wifi) then create last adhoc network, if (human and see "free public wifi") then click link). The fascinating behavior that emerges from t…
That's not contradicting me? Evolution is a special case of emergent behavior in a complex system.
The rules of the buggy system mean that any ad-hoc network can be replicated if a user connects to it. That creates selective pressure on the name of ad-hoc networks in that convincing more users to click on them causes further replication.
So we have a (somewhat) self-replicating entity, with variation, and a selective process applied to that variation. Sounds like evolution to me.
(Of course the names are originally made by people; but if we assume that ad-hoc networks aren't named with the intention of creating a self-replicating pattern, they're effectively random from the perspective of the ecosystem. The success of "Free Public WiFi" is a product of selection, not human design.)
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Not really. It's emergent behavior in a complex system. You have a lot of entities (in this case, unpatched Windows XP SP2 and below systems), and a set of very simple local rules (if (winxp and no wifi) then create last adhoc network, if (human and see "free public wifi") then click link). The fascinating behavior that emerges from t…
That's not contradicting me? Evolution is a special case of emergent behavior in a complex system. The rules of the buggy system mean that any ad-hoc network can be replicated if a user connects to it. That creates selective pressure on the name of ad-hoc networks in that convincing more users to click on them causes further replication. So we have a (somewhat) self-replicating entity, with variation, and a selective…
Evolution requires mutation. If the name occasionally got garbled then it would be evolution.
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#19Another HN evergreen.
Project idea: automatically extract HN evergreens :-)
Re: The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Not really. It's emergent behavior in a complex system. You have a lot of entities (in this case, unpatched Windows XP SP2 and below systems), and a set of very simple local rules (if (winxp and no wifi) then create last adhoc network, if (human and see "free public wifi") then click link). The fascinating behavior that emerges from t…
That's not contradicting me? Evolution is a special case of emergent behavior in a complex system. The rules of the buggy system mean that any ad-hoc network can be replicated if a user connects to it. That creates selective pressure on the name of ad-hoc networks in that convincing more users to click on them causes further replication. So we have a (somewhat) self-replicating entity, with variation, and a selective…
Yeah I went back and read your comment again and see how you meant "evolution", which is perfectly valid (i.e., special case of emergent behavior). However, I know this is going to get increasingly pedantic, but evolution usually implies some sort of survival-of-the-fittest rule, which seems to stretch the definition here:
> That creates selective pressure on the name of ad-hoc networks in that convincing more users to click on them causes further replication.
I was thinking in a more formal mathematical sense. You can write a fairly short agent-based model (for example) to simulate the spread of "Free Public Wifi" and look for conditions where it remains suspended in the population. The analogy is closer to a virus than evolution.
But hey, I didn't mean to imply that what you were saying was wrong or --gasp-- a bad analogy in anyway, and I warned you that this was going to get pedantic. :)