[Powerstation-discuss] Internet Kiosks For Occupy

Mon Dec 5 21:14:09 UTC 2011

This time I am replying all for the selfish purpose of getting only one of
my email adresses on the list.

mediumreality.com
On Dec 5, 2011 1:11 PM, "Corey McGuire" <coreyfro at coreyfro.com> wrote:

> So, here's what I have been thinking.
>
> These laptops run on 18v.  That sounds like 3 x 6V SLA batteries.  I have
> a bulk source for these I am working with.  I am hoping to get 9, 6v, 12ah
> batteries (3S3P, 648WH of power, or easily 20 hours of run time) for < $150
> so I can get it paid for by the org.
>
> What I can do is weld a Kiosk for 3 to 4 terminals.  Embed the devices
> inside of this, stuff the batteries inside of this.  Stuff the application
> server inside of this.  Wire the terminals to the application server
> directly, put wifi on the application server (since it's handling the
> browsing, no fancy routing or proxy needed.)  That way, the throughly
> modern ITX system would be the only real intrusion vector.
>
> Maybe we can put all of that on a bike trailer and it can be ridden to NB
> everyday for a recharge.  Recharge, based on the chargers I have at my
> disposal, might take up to 10 hours depending on the drain.
>
> The kiosks, themselves, won't have a history.  All the history will be
> stored on the application server, and we can Live USB that easily enough.
>
> On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 12:50 PM, rachel lyra hospodar <rachelyra at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>> Re power- honestly the overall power needs of the camp far outstrip the
>> ability of the bike to provide, and it is too chaotic for that to relly be
>> gettin used much anyway. Can we comandeer the bike genny and dedicate it to
>> this project?
>>
>> Re wifi- I have an ancient pcmcia wireless card if that helps
>>
>> Re packing away during raids- psh. Portable is good as camp movs and
>> expands. I think having something to rally around and protect if a raid
>> comes, rather than disassembling the camp for them, is better.
>>
>> mediumreality.com
>> On Dec 5, 2011 12:20 PM, "Rubin Abdi" <rubin at starset.net> wrote:
>>
>>>  More emails to catch up on while on a flight with no net.
>>>
>>> Corey McGuire wrote, On 2011-12-04 14:37:
>>> > So, I've been working on turning some old, 486 laptops in to xterms for
>>> > Occupy.  They are uniquely suited because they have detachable
>>> keyboards,
>>> > meaning the brains, peripherals, and cabling would all originate from
>>> the
>>> > "screen".  They also have two PS2 ports making for easy use with-in a
>>> kiosk.
>>>
>>> I hate those machines. Glad someone's doing something with them, awesome.
>>>
>>> > The user experience, I would like to limit to a single "tabbed"
>>> browser, or
>>> > more accurately, a non tabbed browser limited to one window.  Who has
>>> seen
>>> > this?  What can we do, here?
>>>
>>> More or less did this for the touch panel netboot image. Have X just
>>> dump into Firefox with a couple plugins preloaded...
>>>
>>> * Tab Mix Plus to force single window mode
>>> * One of the kiosk plugins
>>> ** Restrict tampering with settings
>>> ** Force a home page, return to that page after an idle time out
>>> ** Prevent exiting out of the browser (which'll make X barf)
>>> * HTTPS Everywhere to force SSL on common sites (Gmail, Facebook, etc)
>>> * One of the private browsing plugins, hopefully with a clear
>>> history/cache button
>>> * Something else to do a private browsing garbage collection after a set
>>> idle
>>>
>>> > Networking...the eternal question.  I think wired locally so they are
>>> hard
>>> > to disrupt, but after that?  I don't know what you've got.
>>>
>>> Wifi there is pretty awesome, totally works when the Noisebridge
>>> internet box has 12V power. Also it's less hardware to deal with, tho
>>> these machines are fairly old right? Doubt they'll have any built in
>>> 802.11bg.
>>>
>>> If you can feed your box 2 wifi cards, drop one into access point mode
>>> and the other into client, that would be most optimal. Additionally you
>>> can burn some money and buy one of those CLEAR Wimax USB dongles, use
>>> that for internet access, all built into your server's box.
>>>
>>> > Installation...how and where?  I am thinking about getting a sheet of
>>> > steel, plasma cutting some bezels, bending it in to shape, and
>>> throwing a
>>> > pad lock on it.  But that's just one idea.
>>>
>>> The main concern here is providing them with something that can be
>>> package away easily and quickly due to raids. Sticking a bunch of these
>>> machines together would kind of suck, or making theme extremely
>>> klunky/heavy, etc.
>>>
>>> > security, what unobvious things should we think about?
>>>
>>> Software security:
>>>
>>> I wouldn't bother with encrypting anything on your X server as that
>>> would problematic to debug later on and you would have to setup a key
>>> within a partition that machine can hit. I would say create a bootable
>>> live image, dump that onto a CF card as read only (USB drives tend to
>>> walk away) and use that. If shit gets broken the machine can be rebooted.
>>>
>>> We can push all traffic through Tor but I honestly don't feel like
>>> that'll be any helpful. Running HTTPS Everywhere is key.
>>>
>>> Care should be taken to wipe privacy data when the machine has figured
>>> out that there's been an idle timeout (or even at 30 minute intervals
>>> and have the users deal). Having the machines boot a live image that's
>>> read only helps since all personal data quickly disintegrates after the
>>> power is pulled.
>>>
>>> Physical security:
>>>
>>> Good luck with that.
>>>
>>> One major problem I would recommend attending to first before working on
>>> anything else is power. There really isn't much of it there. Batteries
>>> tend to run dry fast there while people are plugging in their cell
>>> phones, other laptops, dead air wifi gear, lights, sewing machines. It
>>> would also be in your best interest in looking how to power your stuff
>>> directly from 12V DC instead of using a power inverter.
>>>
>>> It would be great if you didn't actually have to depend on occupy power
>>> for any of this. What if you took your terminals and the server, a car
>>> battery and a nice high gain antenna, strapped it all to a bike trailer
>>> or Bikefaust/bike cart) and we pedaled the thing out there every night
>>> for a bunch of hours. Hurm, writing another email about this.
>>>
>>> I'm kind of really strapped for time before the end of the year, but
>>> what little of it I do have free and if you're around I wouldn't mind
>>> hacking on some live boot stuff. This would be a good project to be very
>>> public about, a simple live boot image that provides everything you need
>>> to netboot other machines as internet terminals.
>>>
>>> Got a name for this?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Rubin
>>> rubin at starset.net
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Powerstation-discuss mailing list
>>> Powerstation-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/powerstation-discuss
>>>
>>>
>
>
> --
> Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler - Albert
> Einstein <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>
> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo Da Vinci<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Da_Vinci>
> Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when
> there is nothing left to take away - Antoine de Saint Exupéry<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry>
> Keep It Simple Stupid - Kelly Johnson<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Johnson>
>
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