Bike-powered VoIP

Inveneo's mission is bringing low-cost technology solutions to developing communities, and to that end they've developed this fly bicycle-powered, Linux-based VoIP, e-mail and web browsing system. It uses a combination of Linux and Asterisk, combined with off-the-shelf hardware, to provide a rider with about an hour of talk time for every 15 minutes of workout on the bike. WiFi routes the traffic to a central hub with existing phone infrastructure up to 100 miles away. We gotta see if we can hook one of these up in the office and get some discounts for giving back to the Vonage grid.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Respect for the guy on the bike

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Is the rider included or do you have to pay extra for that?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Shouldn't it be all the obese people in the RICH countries who bicycled to keep their appliances going?

I say there is a potential for this solution outside the developing world...

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

If you got Lance Armstrong on the bike, would you get ultra-broadband?? Seriously though, hooking up a bike to a computer system might be a good way to stop surf potatoes from turning into fat lards...

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

If they could find a way to get all of the exercise bikes in the company gym to work that way then they may be on to something

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

I am starting to think that it should be mandatory for all people wanting to use their computers to have to manually power it themselves. Kudos to Inveneo.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM]

Don't try riding in the street and surfing at the same time, or you'll discover a new meaning for "system crash".