if you're not encrypting your wireless, aren't you basically saying "please feel free to use this"???

There seems to be some debate on this issue.

[link]

Yesterday's story about a creative approach to dealing with uninvited (and unwanted) users on a private wireless network -- by intercepting and modifying the images received downstream -- provoked some thoughtful comments on open wireless networks, and a storm of analogies about networks and property generally. Read on for some of the most interesting comments in the Backslash summary of the conversation.

I think if it were HARD to put a password on it, I might feel sympathy. And if your neighbor were suddenly being a huge bandwidth hog, I'd say...put a freakin' password on it. And if you're so clueless as to not get that you're leaving it open, I feel a little sorry. But if you're net-savvy enough to do stuff like redirecting their traffic? Put a freakin' password on!! It doesn't have to be anything complex or crazy, and you can probably make it so you don't even have to REMEMBER it, so....if you care so much that someone is using your wireless, DO something!

I have the following available on my site. Which of them should I enable. (Well referrer aand webalyzer I turned on because obviously stats I want - but what about the rest.)

Webalizer
ModLogAn
Referrer Log
Agent Log
Directory Indexes
mnoGoSearch
AWStat
error log

I think the difference between redirecting and encrypting is about what you want to say to the person using your network.

I used to swap images for people who hotlinked to my site. They used to be small "please don't" images, and then I shifted to really large blank images. A forum user somewhere (he never said) was pissed enough to write me and ask me to stop because someone had tried to hotlink one of my images and it was messing up his browser screen.

I told him that the real problem was the hotlinking, and to get the original poster to edit or delete. He didn't think that was a fair solution, and was really pissy at me.

Eventually I stopped doing that, and now just send nothing at all. But knowing I pissed someone off enough to think about hotlinking (he eventually ceded that it was wrong, but never budged on thinking I was evil myself) meant that maybe it'd be done a little less, instead of it just being done a little less to me.

But, ita, there are people who either don't mind or actively want people to have use of their wireless, whereas I've not heard of anyone who'd say "Yes, please hotlink!"

I don't know about people who actively want to be hotlinked (I've also never encountered people who actively want to share their networks either, but I don't dispute their existence). There are sites who certainly possess the knowhow to prevent it and don't, and I can only assume it's not a deal for them.

But it doesn't make hotlinking not rude, and I think the same for piggybacking on wireless.

I downloaded an album, and now I can't get iTunes to recognize it -- any ideas? The songs are each apparently mp3s, but nothing I've tried has worked -- importing the folder into iTunes, adding each file individually into iTunes, just opening the folder and double-clicking on a song, nothing! Weird, right? Is there any way to tell if they aren't actually mp3s or something?

I've also never encountered people who actively want to share their networks either, but I don't dispute their existence

When I was at school, I did this. I'd do it here, too, except it's New York City - there are 25 wireless networks within range of my card, which implies even more than that number of people with laptops. If it were just a few, I'd happily leave it open (probably with limited access - web only - for those not me).

My wireless network is open, and I don't mind if people share it. (They don't, as far as I can tell -- I can see about as many other networks as there are adjoining apartments to mine, so everyone seems to be using their own.)

Does anyone around who knows about Photoshop elements? For the past week or so, all of the images I open are locked, so that I can't add text or anything like that. This didn't used to happen. I've checked all of the preferences, but can't figure out how to change it.