{"id":138426,"date":"2021-03-10T08:36:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T13:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=138426"},"modified":"2021-03-15T15:32:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T19:32:15","slug":"wifi-names-in-lewiston-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2021\/03\/10\/wifi-names-in-lewiston-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative and curious WiFi names in Lewiston explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We name what\u2019s around us: cats, children, golf putters, and, sometimes, our home WiFi networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allowing one to connect to the Internet sans<\/em> wires, a WiFi setup actively broadcast its name beyond the boundaries of one’s home or business. They’re like digital bumper stickers: Viewable to anyone looking on a device for a network, they send a message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Wi-fi setups seen around Lewiston in recent days.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie Kelley-Romano, who studies narrative and pop culture as an associate professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies, says you don\u2019t need to overthink what\u2019s going on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s another way for people to express themselves and try to set themselves apart, right? So when you go to someone\u2019s house and you have to log into their WiFi and it\u2019s \u2018SKR Is the Bomb,\u2019 it\u2019s just kind of funny. It\u2019s one more way for people to prove that they\u2019re hip.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few of the WiFi names seen around Lewiston neighborhoods in recent days, and our best guess as to what they’re referring to. (By the way, the Bates wifi network is named “Bates Secure.”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karma Is A Bitch<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A version of the saying \u201cpayback is a bitch.\u201d It was also the name of a circa-2018 internet video meme\/challenge popularized by Chinese teenagers<\/a> and based on a scene from the CW Network\u2019s teen soap Riverside<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deathclaw<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A fictional reptilian species from the post-apocalyptic Fallout<\/em> video game franchise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Deathclaw is a genetically-engineered creature in Fallout<\/em> video game franchise; it’s also someone’s home Wi-Fi name in Lewiston.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Tin Knocker<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The WiFi owner might be a sheet-metal worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A female “tin knocker” counter-sinks holes prior to riveting in October 1942. (Photograph by Alfred T. Palmer, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Get Your Own Damn Wifi<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Like another name, \u201cDon\u2019t Even Think About It,\u201d it\u2019s a warning to attempted WiFi squatters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Upon a Tardis<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This name, and its neighboring Wi-Fi setup, Once Upon a Bad Wolf, might reference the TV show Doctor Who<\/em>: \u201cBad Wolf\u201d is an entity and \u201cTARDIS\u201d a time machine and spacecraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Obvious<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Someone who, to the annoyance of others, makes obvious statements. Obviously. (The phrase was made popular by Hotels.com through an eponymous character.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Braaap<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

May or may not be a reference to a group of friends who race stock cars at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. \u201dBraaap\u201d also refers to dirt bikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam\u2019s Italian<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Lewiston\u2019s famous sandwich shop dates to 1939.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A 1943 ad in The Bates Student<\/em> for Sam’s Italian Sandwiches, a mainstay on Main Street (now with other locations) since 1939.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Star Wars 79<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Might be a reference to 79\u2019s, the name of a cantina<\/a> that catered to clone troopers in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars<\/em>. Or the name could refer to issue No. 79 of the Star Wars<\/em> comic book published by Marvel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wheel of Time<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps a reference to the fantasy book series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty Fly for a WiFi<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Once thought to be a cool WiFi name, now not so much.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slanty Shanty<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In Season 04, Episode 07, of The Simpsons<\/em>, the family home is sinking into the ground, so Bart sells the \u201cSlanty Shanty\u201d as a natural wonder of the world. Barking to dazzled spectators, he invokes the \u201ctwisted creatures that live within,\u201d including the \u201cCueball, the man with no hair\u201d \u2014 Homer, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/lite-youtube>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n
Fort Kickass<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In an episode of the animated sitcom Archer<\/em>, Dr. Kreiger builds a cardboard-box fort and proclaims, \u201cYour authority is not recognized in Fort Kickass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stark Industries<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In the Marvel comics, it\u2019s the fictional multinational industrial company owned by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engine 7<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The name of the pumper at Lewiston Fire Department\u2019s Central Fire Station at 2 College St.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Lewiston Fire Department’s Engine 7 is seen on the Bates campus in this undated photograph. (City of Lewiston photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Railfan Ralph<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Local citizen who posts videos of trains on his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Loves<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Of course!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Hurts When IP<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A bit cheeky, yes \u2014 perhaps a play on the initials for “Internet Protocol.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We share a few creative WiFi names seen around Lewiston neighborhoods in recent days, and our best guess as what they refer to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":138446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[31,224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lewiston-auburn","category-society-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138426"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138637,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138426\/revisions\/138637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}