well at least we all know where to get a cold beer next summer hehe
vb:literal>
well at least we all know where to get a cold beer next summer hehe
If you leave beer on your porch and I help myself, you soon have to replenish your supply. If you don't password protect your WAP and I connect, surf the web, chat on IRC, upload scary photos of my brother in law out geocaching then leave when I'm done, you still have your broadband connection. I see the logic in what you say, however, it's apples and oranges. Just adding fuel to the fire here.
If you sit outside my house and use my wifi, if I'm not home, no big deal, but if I'm online, it can slow down my connection with both of us using it. That does negatively affect a service that I'm paying for.
Another issue that (hopefully) doesn't happen very often, if someone does something illegal on your service (say an upstairs neighbor downloads illegal music, or worse...), the authorities will look at you first and it may be difficult to prove you didn't do anything wrong. I know people that have experienced this and it wasn't fun.
Having said all that, I've been known to hang out near the local VIP or hotel and log caches. I figure that there are lots of people inside doing the same thing and I'm not bogging down the system with my 1 or 2 page queries. Probably still wrong, but I see it as a minor thing.
The opinion I've stated in based on several years of "Wardriving", and wondering myself what the legality of it is.
Here's a good article that bsically backs up my position.
But having said that, it's never stopped me so far... LOL!
Would be nice to know clear-cut what the actual rules are: I stumbled across this article on the "Netstumbler" website.
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.~~Albert Einstein~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest. - Sam Levenson (1911 - 1980)
I used to use NetStumbler, but the wireless cards in today's laptops are so sensitive that all you have to do is keep checking for wireless networks on your computer and they'll be there. No special program needed to find them.
(Of course, like older GPS receivers, you have the "yo-yo" effect: by the time your receiver/computer has picked up the signal, you're beyond the cache/WiFi hotspot. So you have to back up! LOL!)
We vacation in Canada a lot, and have found that the personnel in local libraries - which almost always have public internet access (sometime you have to pay a nominal fee) - are VERY helpful to tourists looking to "get connected".
So, if the coffee shop in Vassalboro offers free WIFI and free peeks, where's the downside?