Live data from Hacker News

Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

amoses.dev

31–40 of 124 posts

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#31

I've recently vibe-coded "where-am-i", a small CLI that returns your approximate location using the technology described here. https://github.com/denysvitali/where-am-i Tbh, I think this geolocation method is amazing, and I'm grateful it exists, because GPS indoor really sucks.

Honest question - what's your use case for needing GPS indoors? I generally know where I am when I'm indoors :)

Not OP but navigating large malls, subway terminals, etc is nice

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#32
post #23

The root problem is that a lot of higher education is nurturing a culture of cheaters right now. Your future doctors, scientists, government officials, etc... will have had to compete and gain coveted academic and career opportunities, in an environment that both has been heavily gamified, and is being overrun by cheaters. Insulting measures like this TopHat practically endorses the culture of cheating, by telling st…

[deleted]

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#34
One time I worked at a zoom competitor, and our team got to prototype a "detect if these people are in the same room as each other" feature for dealing with echo cancellation etc, where everyone's laptop would emit a unique high frequency, and everyone's laptop would listen for other frequencies. Of course it worked in pristine conditions and fell down in the real world. But it was a fun experiment...

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#35
As the article mentions this tech has been in widespread use for over two decades now. You have likely used it on your phone today without knowing it. GPS is accurate but also very fickle (takes time to get a lock, battery hog, doesn't work great when surrounded by buildings, doesn't work great when inside a building, doesn't work in bad weather). Wifi data is plentiful today in every urban setting, and you can get an exact location in under a second.

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#37

I've recently vibe-coded "where-am-i", a small CLI that returns your approximate location using the technology described here. https://github.com/denysvitali/where-am-i Tbh, I think this geolocation method is amazing, and I'm grateful it exists, because GPS indoor really sucks.

Honest question - what's your use case for needing GPS indoors? I generally know where I am when I'm indoors :)

You're in a large building you're unfamiliar with. Particularly one with an unusual layout, like a mall or hospital.

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#38
I assume that smart comp sci kids already have some sort of proxy running on an Android phone that publishes the current in-classroom WiFi environment, and a browser plugin or Linux hack that their stay-at-home friends can run that intercepts the geolocation calls and spoofs the responses with what the in-classroom android phone is seeing.

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#39
post #23

The root problem is that a lot of higher education is nurturing a culture of cheaters right now. Your future doctors, scientists, government officials, etc... will have had to compete and gain coveted academic and career opportunities, in an environment that both has been heavily gamified, and is being overrun by cheaters. Insulting measures like this TopHat practically endorses the culture of cheating, by telling st…

In this moral framework, would it be acceptable for the lecturer to take attendance orally, or is that also insulting?

Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System

#40
post #23

The root problem is that a lot of higher education is nurturing a culture of cheaters right now. Your future doctors, scientists, government officials, etc... will have had to compete and gain coveted academic and career opportunities, in an environment that both has been heavily gamified, and is being overrun by cheaters. Insulting measures like this TopHat practically endorses the culture of cheating, by telling st…

It also doesn't help that our outrage-driven media overwhelmingly exposes us to cheaters.

Everyone's heard of Theranos, Enron, Martin Shkreli, and Bernie Madoff. This week, my 70+ year old aunt asked me about Charlie Javice and Frank. Yet, there are thousands of very successful people quietly building their castles who live and die in relative obscurity because their stories just aren't that thrilling.

If you spend a lot of time interacting with people in the latter category, or if you have them as your mentors, then you will be exposed to a model of what success through hard work and integrity looks like. If you don't, then it's very easy to think everyone successful is a cheater, and that cheating is the only way to break the ceiling into success.

Post reply on HN