Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!barmar
From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
Subject: Re: finger weather (really Coke machines)
Message-ID: <1991Apr6.170852.14240@Think.COM>
Sender: news@Think.COM
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
References: <1991Apr4.182115.3531@watson.ibm.com> <40493@netnews.upenn.edu> <1991Apr5.192823.400@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
Date: Sat, 6 Apr 91 17:08:52 GMT

In article <1991Apr5.192823.400@spool.cs.wisc.edu> hollings@poona.cs.wisc.edu (Jeff Hollingsworth) writes:
>So I guess Wisconsin can claim the only Coke machine that can be controlled
>via the Internet.

Sorry, but Thinking Machines has had its Coke machine on the Internet for
at least five years.  If you telnet to Coke5.Think.COM, each character you
type is as if a nickel were dropped into the slot.

The subnet Coke5 is on a subnet to which we don't allow telnet from the
outside world, so you won't have much luck trying this.  But it works
in-house.  There's a terminal sitting next to the machine, and users can
type their name, get their drink, and then the price is deducted from their
paycheck (we also use the payroll deduction system for lunch and the
postage meter).
--
Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar