Warchalking is the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi wireless network.

Inspired by Hobo#Hobo_symbols, the warchalking marks were conceived by a group of friends in June 2002 and publicised by Matt Jones who designed the set of icons and produced a downloadable document containing them. Within days of Jones publishing a blog entry about warchalking, articles appeared in dozens of publications and stories appeared on several major television news programs around the world.

The word is formed by analogy to Wardriving , the practice of driving around an area to detect open Wi-Fi nodes. That term in turn is based on wardialing , the practice of dialing many phone numbers hoping to find a Modem. See also demon dialing.

Having found a Wi-Fi node, the warchalker draws a special symbol on a nearby object, such as a wall, the pavement, or a lamp post. Those offering Wi-Fi service might also draw such a symbol to advertise the availability of their Wi-Fi location, whether commercial or personal. The marks are designed to be recognized by those in the know. A well-known photograph of such a warchalk symbol was created by Jones s colleague Ben Hammersley, and has been widely reproduced.

Warchalking never seemed to catch on as an activity, despite its widespread coverage. Instead, the symbols were almost immediately adopted by commercial enterprises interested in or offering Wi-Fi, such as [http://www.cooldeli.com/pr_20021108_warchalking.html Schlotzsky s Deli s Cool Cloud] and [http://jiwire.com/ JiWire] (a Wi-Fi hotspot directory and how-to site). The symbol is now widely used as a shorthand in logos and advertising.

The Warchalking.org domain was abandoned; it s currently occupied by another party.

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