4 ms·

Amazon had (perhaps still has) whispernet - a global coverage of cellular networks. It was used to download books to your kindle, essentially anywhere in the wo

Amazon had (perhaps still has) whispernet - a global coverage of cellular networks. It was used to download books to your kindle, essentially anywhere in the world, without having to have a local plan or WiFi. It was 2G iirc, enough for book download. Uploading a perceptive hash of what you are watching - e.g. a frame every few seconds - also fits on 2G speeds.

bogwog 5y ago
Also maybe I'm mistaken, but don't most modern cars have a built in modem for sending telemetry to the manufacturer as well?
- hellojesus 5y ago
  Yes. Toyota seems to like putting the transceiver behind the glove box, forcing you to introduce a bundle of rattles to your newly purchased vehicle to remove. Also, I'm pretty sure removing it disables some of the front speakers, requiring manual wire connecting to get them back. You could maybe leave the device in there but encase it in a Faraday cage, but still rattles are introduced. Ford, iirc, places it on the floor under or behind some seats making it much easier to deal with. I think MA just passed a law about not allowing vehicles sold there to sell your telemetry data or something.
  - vineyardmike 5y ago
    > I think MA just passed a law about not allowing vehicles sold there to sell your telemetry data or something. i believe they just have to share the data with others, which they don't want to do.
scoopertrooper 5y ago
Whispernet is dead from what I understand. As countries began shutting down 3G networks, Amazon was no long able to get connectivity at a price point where it was economically feasible.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  Not dead, just replaced. https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=21328123011 https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=213281...
- rdtwo 5y ago
  Why not use helium network?
bryanrasmussen 5y ago
Ok, so... TV phones home a lot, with info about stuff, some info big lots of bandwidth. could there be an attack with buying some tvs and putting them on public WiFi - and could one find a way to increase the amount the tv was sending so it amounted to an attack - but still have plausible deniability. If tvs were put on public wifi, which I guess there is no reason why you shouldn't put your tv on public wifi, and the tv is using lots of bandwidth, and your tv is popular in a country with lots of free wifi, is that tv manufacturer guilty of an attack on the free wifi infrastructure of that country? I'm asking for a short story or several I might write some day.

bogwog 5y ago

Also maybe I'm mistaken, but don't most modern cars have a built in modem for sending telemetry to the manufacturer as well?

hellojesus 5y ago
Yes. Toyota seems to like putting the transceiver behind the glove box, forcing you to introduce a bundle of rattles to your newly purchased vehicle to remove. Also, I'm pretty sure removing it disables some of the front speakers, requiring manual wire connecting to get them back. You could maybe leave the device in there but encase it in a Faraday cage, but still rattles are introduced. Ford, iirc, places it on the floor under or behind some seats making it much easier to deal with. I think MA just passed a law about not allowing vehicles sold there to sell your telemetry data or something.
- vineyardmike 5y ago
  > I think MA just passed a law about not allowing vehicles sold there to sell your telemetry data or something. i believe they just have to share the data with others, which they don't want to do.

scoopertrooper 5y ago

Whispernet is dead from what I understand. As countries began shutting down 3G networks, Amazon was no long able to get connectivity at a price point where it was economically feasible.

ceejayoz 5y ago
Not dead, just replaced. https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=21328123011 https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=213281...
rdtwo 5y ago
Why not use helium network?

bryanrasmussen 5y ago

Ok, so... TV phones home a lot, with info about stuff, some info big lots of bandwidth. could there be an attack with buying some tvs and putting them on public WiFi - and could one find a way to increase the amount the tv was sending so it amounted to an attack - but still have plausible deniability. If tvs were put on public wifi, which I guess there is no reason why you shouldn't put your tv on public wifi, and the tv is using lots of bandwidth, and your tv is popular in a country with lots of free wifi, is that tv manufacturer guilty of an attack on the free wifi infrastructure of that country? I'm asking for a short story or several I might write some day.