WiFreakyFi

I'm housesitting for a friend in SF right now, and since they don't have a DSL line, I figured I could find an open wireless point to borrow. From one corner of the apartment I could get enough signal to get on a network but couldn't connect to anything online. I pulled down my airport status and noticed an option marked "Connect..." so I clicked it and to my amazement saw the reports from a modem. A minute later I had a connection. Then I realized what just happend.

Holy crap, I just caused someone's airport to dial out successfully because I told it to.

Now I've had an open wireless point in my last three homes, free for anyone to use because I think it's a great shared resource, and I'll rarely need all the bandwidth my DSL or cable line offers. I don't feel bad borrowing someone's line either, but tonight I felt like I crossed some boundary accidentally, by launching a modem and tying up a stranger's phoneline in a home somewhere nearby. I had no idea that Apple Airports allow network users control of the point's modem, but apparently it's been in there since the first versions.

So complete stranger, thanks for the bandwidth I'm using to post this, but I'm going to log off and probably not use it again.