PirateBox: an “artistic provocation” in lunchbox form

“When NYU art professor David Darts shows people his lunchbox,
“a smile just starts creeping up on their face.”

“Painted black with a white skull-and-crossbones, the metal box
doesn’t hold a pastrami on rye; instead, it’s stuffed with
networking equipment and batteries, and it hosts a Debian Linux
install running a barebones Python-powered Web server. The goal of
this “PirateBox”: to create an open file-sharing network in any
public space, and to do with total privacy.

“Inside the PirateBox sits a Free Agent Dockstar, an Asus
WL330GE wireless router, and a SanDisk 16GB flash drive. The
software, including Debian Linux and the DD-WRT open-source router
firmware, is all free. The total build cost is under $100, not
counting the lunchbox enclosure and the optional battery pack (the
PirateBox can alternately run on AC power).”

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