19 April 2007

We've all had those moments of annoyance when we're stuck somewhere
far from home (or even near to home) and need to get online to check an
e-mail or look up an address. But when you open your laptop, there's no
WiFi to be found, and you're forced to use old-school methods like
looking at a map, calling someone, or even talking to a real live
person to get the information you need. You might have one of those
WiFi finder thingies, or you can walk around with a laptop outside and
search for signals, looking  like an idiot the whole time. You'd think
there would be a better way to find WiFi hotspots.

Well if you've got an Asterisk PBX somewhere in your house, there is. Thanks to the new Asterisk WiFi Hotspot Finder plugin,
you can call your house, dial extension 9434 ("WIFI," naturally), put
in the zip code, and Asterisk will tell you where to find a free
hotspot. Or a paid one if you're really desperate. In fact, if you
don't have an Asterisk PBX, you might be tempted to set one up just so
you can try out cool tricks like this one.