 Saturday morning, Bryan, Andy and I hopped in the suburban and headed out for Magnolia Park. We several sacks of gear, tables, a wallmart tarp tent, and some snacks. Bryan was dressed most un-ninja like which was good considering the locale. It turned out to be quite the family affair, and a steady stream of visitors stopped by throughout the day. Our wireless setup was fairly dialed, a Net4521, 16dbi Vagi Antenna, and a 6′ bogen light stand. It and the VOIP ATA/Phone could easily fit in a carry-on bag, but would likely get you stopped and strip searched by TSA. |
 We weren’t really sure who would show up or what to expect out of the other groups save perhaps some Internet connectivity. Magnolia Park, being on a hill, facing west seattle, with only a few houses visible is not the greatest source of free wireless, but we were confident that the Alki group could not only see the city and it’s in-exhaustible supply of free radiating internet, but they had the will to make it happen. We had plenty of snacks and alt-tab to make us not really care about the outcome either way. Our tent protected us from the angry birds’ poop and the fall leaves without threatening to blow away even once. When Troy showed up with Pizzas, our levels of Internet interest hit rock bottom. All we really wanted to do at that point was play in the Bouncy Castle next door. |
 After the Pizza settled, and the VOIP phone started ringing, we remembered our ‘emergency status’, and attempted communications with our neighbors to the south. They seemed rather anxious for us to adjust our equipment at times (which we did not do, it worked fine) and asked if we could see their flashing LED flashlights amidst the glow of the booming Alki neighborhood (they could see our laser). We joined the IRC server provided by extremeboredom, and offered them pictures of our setup and tried to explain the wonders of alt-tab’s context switching effects. |
Towards the end of daylight, the Gasworks crew had given up on their scheme to traverse a network in the city, and instead moved to Elliot bay Marina, a park of sorts, to link up. Their OLSR routes converged, and they joined the IRC conversation.
Successful at connecting all three parties, it was unanimously declared that too cold to continue, we should all meet at Magnolia, and bask in Matt Wilson’s german portable heat device. Unfortunately, the Gasworks people did not show, so we could not offer them chips.
More pictures are available here, here, and here.
I am called Sekiku Joseph. I am currently in the USA on a short study visit. I am interetsed in the wirelss networks. We are building one in Tanzania but with a lot of hurdles. Have recently finished one at a school.. visit http://kijohnah.blogspot.com
will be happy to talk to you. I have no number inthe US but can be reached via email