Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Is this sort of sharing big enough to warrant dedicated and open-source devices just to do this? A sort-of glorified USB Drive with a sharing protocol and nothing else. You walk around and it just syncs up with things around you. Something that looks like an original iPod with a screen and folders of files.

I don't know anything about the AirDrop or NearbyShare protocols, but I wonder if they can be implemented in such a device?

All the recently announced dedicated AI devices make me think people might be into it.




If you haven’t seen it before you might find the pirate box interesting. No longer exists and definitely a relic of the era of piracy/crypto from a decade+ back.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PirateBox


This would be a really cool way to secretly do intel "dead-drops" where you just need to walk by a certain place at a certain time to receive your dead-drop/


I think some of the offline-first chat/social networks will work this way - briar? serval?


It’s already a thing for dead drop data exchange. Has been for about 20 years now. First with ad-hoc WiFi networks.


Way longer than that too. Transmitting encrypted data packets over radio waves was a thing during the cold war. Tune in to a certain frequency at a certain time, of course you must be in range too, record the packet then go back and decrypt it.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station still exist and there’s basically nothing you can do to trace recipients.


A lot has changed since then but they had techniques to identify the listeners as early as the 50s

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_RAFTER

Having said that there isn’t really anything special about this particular technique of using numbers stations. It’s just a part of the same trick to pass along information via an open channel without having to give away what the message is about or who the intended audience is supposed to be.

Taking out an ad in the classifieds section of a newspaper is ultimately the same trick just with a much lower bandwidth to transmit anything useful beyond a simple signal.




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: