How do you send Hope and Fear on the Wireless?

[Zhust]

So the 2006 Art Theme page has this to say about the whole up-down Man thing (emphasis mine):

Within the Pavilion of the Future, participants will encounter a bewildering array of rooms arranged to form a maze. ... Artists will also be invited to install various kinds of voting devices in the vestibule of the Pavilion. ... All will offer up a stark and simple choice: Will you vote for hope, or will you vote for fear? ... Voting booths will also be stationed at locations throughout Black Rock City.

All of these devices will be connected by a closed Wifi network, and linked to ... determine the statistical mean of our participating community's hopes and fears at any given moment. As a result of these measurements, the Burning Man will either ascend while slowly raising its arms, as if to welcome all our hopes, or descend into a cage of fear located atop the Pavilion's elevated deck. ...

Ok, so how's this "closed WiFi network" going to work? Lots of projects (including one for a group I'm working with) will have this kind of hope/fear voting capability. Ours will already have a computer that will change behavior based on the participant's vote, so how do we integrate this with the main voting system?

Speculating -- a.k.a. "if this were up to me" -- I would have a WiFi secure web server set up centrally. Prior to the event, people with voting-type projects can request access to the server. If approved, they'd receive a passcode which they'd use as part of an HTTP request. For instance, if a participant votes for hope, they'd request something like:

Code: Select all

https://19.48.1.11/vote?code=1234&vote=hope

for hope or

Code: Select all

https://19.48.1.11/vote?code=1234&vote=fear

for fear.

At least, that would work really quite nicely for our project.

If you know anything, spill: dig?

[CLARKcon]

Nice jaycerochester. I have a thought: let's do a premptive HOPE/FEAR mock-trial vote here (not valid to persons in Ohio)...
Personally, I am voting for HOPE to win the 2006 Election. That's one vote. So folks, enter to cast your vote!
1234=hope (For your HOPE vote)
1234=fear (For your FEAR vote)
Drop your ballot off today!!!

[Chai Guy]

How can I vote to stop spending all this ticket money on gimmicks that are designed to satisfy the need for spectacle while producing a false sense of participation or “interactivity” and just burn the fucking man on hay bales again?

[DustMeOff]

Yay for that. Spend money on more porta-potties.

[Catblack]

...while producing a false sense of participation...

Wow, do you need your participation validated?

Thanks for sharing!

[mdmf007]

WTF for 50 more bucks you an provide showers and drinking water for every person in BRC

[theCryptofishist]

WTF for 50 more bucks you an provide showers and drinking water for every person in BRC

That's less than the price of your daily cup of coffee. Look into the face of this frazzled burner and think about the hope you are providing, the future you are providing. For the price of your cable and wireless bill for one month you could be making the world a better place for poor burners like these.