Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What's in a network name?

If movies and teevee shows have taught us anything, it's that a computer network is going to become sentient in the not too distant future and decide to wipe humanity off the face of the earth. And when the robot historians of the future write the chronicles of that dark time, they probably won't trace it all back to something with a cool name like SkyNet:
A Chicago area blogger has made it her mission to expose the unusual and humorous names people in the region give their WiFi networks.

Alexandra Janelli, the blogger behind WTFWiFi, said she began her quest when she lived in New York and found networks with names including "I eat babies for breakfast," "tequila rabbi" and "I've seen you naked," the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

Janelli said she has since moved to Evanston, Ill., and discovered networks there and in Chicago with bizarre names including "Michael Jackson Day Care Service," "Andrews Don't Snitch," "Baby Loves Glue" and "Stop looking in my windows."
I recently set up a new router, and while most of the networks in my neighborhood just have the default name of their devices, I learned that there are a couple with charming names like "Salty Sweaty Balls" and "eye see u pee." I'm pretty sure neither of those is the network for the elementary school behind my house.

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