Homeless as Wireless Hot spots (Melvin: college, living, park)

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

The homeless are used each and every day in different ways for "studies" and I don't hear anyone complaining about that.

The one I'm reading about in this thread seems pretty simple and if it's true 50 bucks for what they're doing then it beats the hell out of what the going rate is for some of the things organizations or universities have homeless do.

At least the one posted in this thread acknowledges homeless as real people.

All my opinion, and yes, we all have one.

[lucknow]

I'm wondering how much microwave radiation these people are going to be exposed to? I'll bet it's massive. It will cost a lot if in 10 years all these people are dying in the hospital of various cancers.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by lucknow

I'm wondering how much microwave radiation these people are going to be exposed to? I'll bet it's massive. It will cost a lot if in 10 years all these people are dying in the hospital of various cancers.

Seriously? You mean if overdose, alcohol poisoning, assault, exposure to the elements, malnutrition, or 100 other various diseases, doesn't get them first?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by lucknow

I'm wondering how much microwave radiation these people are going to be exposed to? I'll bet it's massive. It will cost a lot if in 10 years all these people are dying in the hospital of various cancers.

Basically it's like a cell phone.

[Lije Baley]

For some background on my following opinion, I've been accused of being a tree hugger (I am a big fan of hiking, organic foods & recycling whenever possible) and a sissy when playing sports (ice hockey and wrestling - win with honor, not win at all costs). Anyway, based on what I read in that linked article this mushy-minded political moderate thinks this is a good project: homeless people make some money and do some useful work ---> helps their emotional state ---> creates more positive outlook ---> generates mental energy enabling them to look for a permament job ----> improves their life significantly.

and.....

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Finally, I guess it could almost be an advocacy type program....all these young, hip visitors having to face (in a non-confrontational manner) the fact that there are homeless people.

+1

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Ok, now you've got me thinking about "WiFi babes"... it's an idea that could probably work!

This is what got me. Yesturday I was standing outside Bikini's Sports Bar on 6th Street (a Hooters with less clothing) reading the twitter feeds on my phone which was mostly people upset at the Homeless Hotspots, and not 50 feet from me was one of the girls you plug your phone into. Have you seen the girls that walk around that you can plug your phone in to charge it? They are very attractive, and for that reason I am sure is why the New York Times only focused on the Homeless Hotspots. Our culture is so used to objectifying attractive females and thinking of females as "hardware". But when it is unattractive homeless males then it becomes a problem and the New York Times wrote that article that created all of the national media backlash.

I really don't see how a homeless guys being a 4G hotspot is making him into "hardware" more-so than an attractive lady you plug your phone charger into.

It is a job. The homeless hotspot guys I met seemed to be enjoying themselves and having their job, and it is a shame they had to shut down the program and fire the guys because of the national backlash.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

It is a job. The homeless hotspot guys I met seemed to be enjoying themselves and having their job, and it is a shame they had to shut down the program and fire the guys because of the national backlash.

I don't think that's what happened. I am pretty sure that they were only doing this for a day or two anyway for SXSW. It wasn't a permanent job for these people.

[Westerner92]

I nearly posted this yesterday to see what people thought. It's giving jobs to willing workers. Several of the people were interviewed, and they were more than happy for the opportunity. It's basically the 21st Century equivalent of selling newspapers on the street corner (although that still happens). If the people hadn't been homeless, then the bleeding hearts would have had no issue.

[Bo]

If those wifi jobs hadn't gone to the homeless, they would have gone to 20 year-old interns. That wouldn't have been newsworthy at all.

[Aquitaine]

Wifi routers, like cell phones, do not emit any microwave radiation. Their emissions are on the radio (RF) part of the spectrum, not the microwave part -- and even so, a wifi router's transmission strength is (at most) 1 watt.

You could have a wifi router or a cell phone surgically implanted in your bum and you wouldn't suffer any adverse effects ... from the radio emissions, anyway (sitting down might not be comfortable).

For a frame of reference, amateur radio (that has been popular for what, 70 years now?) and AM radio emit orders of magnitude more (though of course there are more wifi routers than there are radio stations) but you could have 100 wifi routers going in one room and you still wouldn't be anywhere near the broadcast strength of an AM transmitter.