Article may be outdated

This article is 67 days old. Some details may have changed since publication.

Hacker News·3 min read·medium

Banned Book Library in a Wi-Fi Smart Light Bulb

S
sohkamyung
Banned Book Library in a Wi-Fi Smart Light Bulb
AI Summary

A developer has created a 'Banned Book Library' by modifying inexpensive Wi-Fi smart light bulbs to host digital archives. The project uses open-source firmware to create a discreet, local access point for restricted information.

Why it matters

Demonstrates the intersection of hardware hacking and digital activism as a means to bypass censorship.

Dive DeeperCreate a free account to unlock

A long while back I had an idea to hack a WiFi smart light bulb to do something more useful to me. Actually, I had a few different ideas of things to do with them. One of these ideas was to modify the device to have an open WiFi access point and a web server hosting banned books. The idea was that if you lived somewhere that banned books you thought were important, you could theoretically stick a digital copy of the book on one of these light bulbs. Then you could go install it somewhere in your community. As long as the light bulb is switched on, then anyone in the vicinity can still access the banned material assuming they have an electronic device with WiFi. Since the device is a light bulb, it would be difficult to detect and likely to go unnoticed. A cyberpunk digital dead drop. These devices are also fairly inexpensive, so leaving them around town as is hopefully not very cost prohibitive.

Continue reading on Headlinne

Create a free account to read the full article.

Read full article →
technologycultureeducation
Political Bias
Center
LeftLean LCenterLean RRight
Confidence: 70%

Describes a technical project and its motivation without editorializing the legality or ethics.

Get smarter about the news

Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.

Create free account

Already have an account? Sign in