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How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

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Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#91

Post by ldng »

monort wrote: post #79
Moru wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then you watch the news reports daytime and realize what you thought was massive during night was pretty small after all.

Your statement seems to be incorrect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q919bQOThvM

I don't how it's incorrect. It's a matter of context and point of view. I's one big avenue blocked over 3-4 blocks.

Last 11 of September, at very least 600000 Catalans over 11km protested in favor of a referendum for their independence. That was a huge manifestation.

The Hong-Kong manifestation isn't that big in size. But it's important and in a more repressive context.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#92

Post by teekert »

portstarboard wrote: post #86

It’s good that the weather is really gentle now in Hong Kong. Here in Ukraine this past winter the “designed in California” didn’t last too long during -13C..-18C nights, even with an external battery, so walkie-talkies were helpful at times. However, the cellular networks did work in the downtown, perhaps with just minor outages, even during the most violent crackdowns. And to address some of the either Russian trol…

Thanx for your reply!

You know, it is very hard here to form an opinion on these things (Netherlands), we never ever see anything Putin says, we just have conflicting messages in and outside of the news (like http://www.elsevier.nl/Cultuur--Televisie/achtergrond/2014/9...), the article is about how our news organizations manipulated Putins words. We also hear 30 min after a plane is shot down that the Russians did it. And we hear Assad fired chemical weapons (he didn't but that is given much less attention to.)

Assad has been calling the rebels terrorists all along (http://www.globalresearch.ca/bashar-al-assad-interview-the-f...) but we were supporting them? But now we don't anymore... What are we supposed to think of all this! It drives me crazy.

Makes me not just want to call Putin a bad guy, I simply don't know and can't trust the news.

So I highly appreciate your insights in these matters.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#93

Post by taejo »

jMyles wrote: post #62
reckoner13 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does China use the same frequency bands as US?

Looking at this document ( http://www.ncc.gov.tw/english/files/07060/92_070605_1.pdf ) it's not immediately clear. A ctrl-F for "emergency" and "police" yields no results. However, there is a FRS band which is the same as the US. Moreover, the bands used by "push-to-talk" radios are ones that transmit reasonably far for lowish power and penetrate walls. No reason to think they'll be different worldwide.

That document is about the Republic of China (Taiwan), not about Hong Kong or the People's Republic of China.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#94

Post by benliong78 »

notastartup wrote: post #59
sounds wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

servalproject.org is free (and open source) P2P voice, chat and online status. Uses Ad Hoc networking, which iirc FireChat uses bluetooth so servalproject should get better range. I'm not affiliated with the project in any way (I'm not in Australia) but I've happily used it for some tests.

this is interesting what is ad hoc networking and how does it work offline? Firechat uses bluetooth but doesn't work with iphone to android communication?

They somehow managed to do that: allow communication between two platforms. No one is quite sure how though. It's their secret source that they aren't open sourcing.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#95

Post by portstarboard »

portstarboard wrote: post #86

It’s good that the weather is really gentle now in Hong Kong. Here in Ukraine this past winter the “designed in California” didn’t last too long during -13C..-18C nights, even with an external battery, so walkie-talkies were helpful at times. However, the cellular networks did work in the downtown, perhaps with just minor outages, even during the most violent crackdowns. And to address some of the either Russian trol…

As we joke here, if the CIA gave the world the internet, the KGB gave it the internet trolls. Try harder, @teekert, link-spamming buddy.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#96

Post by lifeisstillgood »

morsch wrote: post #84
Zirro wrote: post #3

If the authorities sought to disrupt these networks, would it not be possible to jam Bluetooth (and Wi-Fi) signals within a certain area?

The next step would be exchanging messages via NFC. E.g. say for a p2p-twitter app, users A and B go into the exchange with their own versions of the global p2p-twitter feed, and exit the exchange with a merged version. You could do federated, store-and-forward direct messaging, too. We already have a protocol for a very similar use-case: SMTP. :) Of course, with a sometimes-offline P2P mesh you usually don't know if…

I absolutely love that idea !

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#97

Post by McDoku »

pmorici wrote: post #81
McDoku wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't recall the US banning twitter or censoring any social network. No prohibition of coverage. Not to mention there was a tremendous amount of sympathetic coverage. Time 2011 person of the year was the protester. It was a huge conversation that entered the common narrative. Apples and Oranges. Yeah, there are best practices for dealing with crowds and there needs to be security at huge protests. The cloak and the…

He is saying that they blamed the protestors for inconveniences caused by police actions not that the police in the US blocked cell service. The strategy for dealing with the protests in the US was just to wait them out and then when the media got bored they sent in the police to clear out the camps while people weren't paying attention.

I think he was saying all of the above, but I am not sure any of the strategies he mentioned will work in Hong Kong.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#98

Post by jschwartzi »

benliong78 wrote: post #94
notastartup wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is interesting what is ad hoc networking and how does it work offline? Firechat uses bluetooth but doesn't work with iphone to android communication?

They somehow managed to do that: allow communication between two platforms. No one is quite sure how though. It's their secret source that they aren't open sourcing.

You could conceivably do this with Bluetooth Low Energy, which has pretty diverse support nowadays. Mesh networking is one of its touted capabilities.

Re: How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

#99

Post by someone234 »

portstarboard wrote: post #86

It’s good that the weather is really gentle now in Hong Kong. Here in Ukraine this past winter the “designed in California” didn’t last too long during -13C..-18C nights, even with an external battery, so walkie-talkies were helpful at times. However, the cellular networks did work in the downtown, perhaps with just minor outages, even during the most violent crackdowns. And to address some of the either Russian trol…

Are you suggesting that the Russian "Empire" is more influential in Ukraine than the US Empire? :P

Or maybe that the West doesn't spew propaganda too? :)

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