back to article Train station's giant screens showed web smut at peak hour

Commuters at Washington DC's Union Station were left unsure if they were coming or going on Monday, when streamed smut started to appear on digital signs during peak hour. And it appears there's a rash of such incidents taking place around the world. As Twitter users like @_joannaw recorded, “The monitors at Union Station just …

  1. b0llchit Silver badge
    Coat

    Bottom or top

    "Rest assured, The Register will do its very best to get to the bottom of this story."

    Hm, I thought you, dear El Reg, would be on top of things...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bottom or top

      There is a saying - in order to get to the top, you will need to kiss a lot of bottom.

      Me coat...

    2. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      I hope if they do they give us a head

      s up

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I accidentally did this in a restaurant a few months ago.

    A thing popped up on my phone saying "stop streaming?", so I cancelled it...

    And the restaurant background music stopped.

    Obviously I should have started streaming my date's favourite music, but I didn't have any on my phone. Word to the wise - be prepared.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's a shame they don't have these screens on the London tube, could be fun at Cockfosters or Belsize park.

    1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

      Some tube platforms have overhead projectors for showing adverts when there's no train at the platform. And some escalators on the tube now have LCD screens for displaying adverts, rather than old fashioned posters.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Belsize park."

      IIRC where affluent men used to establish their mistresses in nice suburban houses.

      1. MyffyW Silver badge

        "Bank"

        When the money stops talking, let your fingers do the walking. I'm here all week.....

    3. tiggity Silver badge

      or Arsenal, Mudchute etc.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        No mention of Shepherds Bush. Slackers.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          London location name innuendo is rather lame.

          Writing this from a place right next to a village called Six Miles Bottom.

  4. Banksy
    Coat

    Did anyone get railed?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Penetrated"

    Fnnnaaarrr (snort)

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Does it have to be a train station?

    Passersby shocked by jumbotron showing Japanese porn in South Jakarta

    The complaint seems to be that it's Japanese porn instead of local porn for local people.

    1. DropBear
      Trollface

      Re: Does it have to be a train station?

      How did they know it was Japanese porn - did it come with tentacles...?

      1. David Webb

        Re: Does it have to be a train station?

        No, it came with pixels on the privates, if you're going to display porn in public at least display the uncensored stuff! I mean, I've heard Japanese porn is censored and has pixels on the privates, umm, so I was told by err, the next person who posted in this specific thread.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Does it have to be a train station?

          Errrm, yep. Apparently it is illegal to show pubic hair in Japan, for reasons of 'decency', which results in the removal of said hair, or pixellation of the privates.

          Or so says Dave from down the pub.

          1. David Webb

            Re: Does it have to be a train station?

            Ohh, you know Dave too? Dude told me about how the Japanese get around it with software that removes the pixels. Can't see why they would do that though when they can just go to the local train station and get the good stuff.

            Unless the good stuff was posted up by one of them trolls who will now send DCMA notices to the train companies and demand $100,000,000 per viewer of their illegally obtained porn.

            Dave says hi.

          2. Goldmember

            Re: Does it have to be a train station?

            Yep... Even the stuff behind the 18+ curtain in Japanese DVD shops is censored. Er, so a friend told me.

            I'm pretty sure they can just do a Google video search nowadays, so the obscenity laws are mostly pointless.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Does it have to be a train station?

          How do they know it was censored. It might have been lo fi vintage 90s realplayer porn.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Does it have to be a train station?

      Passersby shocked by jumbotron showing Japanese porn in South Jakarta

      Mmmmm...... Luka, Miku, and all the members of Ho-Kago Tea Time.....

      Hmm, what??? Oh, sorry. Distracted there for a minute...

  7. thomas k

    No wonder Thomas is smiling.

    Working up some steam.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: No wonder Thomas is smiling.

      Of course he is, he's got a man inside him working up quite a sweat.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    oh, the indignity!

    I missed my chance to be offended by a couple of days! It's terribly insulting!

    1. Sanctimonious Prick
      Happy

      Re: oh, the indignity!

      Assaulted!! It says so in the article!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: oh, the indignity!

        Yes, I believe they were assaulted by some nuts. :| *

        If I were Samsung, I would just build phones that only display random pr0n, make billions and thousands of dollar bucks, and THEN they've got something!

        "it's Japanese porn instead of local porn for local people."

        We're a local porn shop, for local porn people, we want no porn trouble from you!

        * the rare, yet magically delicious, straight-faced emoji

  9. the Jim bloke

    Obligatory

    Pics..

    or it didnt happen.

  10. cd / && rm -rf *
    Thumb Up

    "rather stained his Google search history"

    Priceless.

  11. Aladdin Sane

    Definitely wasn't Virgin Rail then.

  12. TRT Silver badge

    Was it...

    Red Tube?

  13. Mr Dogshit
    Headmaster

    It's called a "railway station" in English, actually.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Why?

      A bus stops at a bus station, not a road station. You can therefore catch a bus at a bus station.

      I do not want to catch a "railway", I want to catch a train. Shouldn't I be going to a train station?

      (I know it's a quirk of the language, so this is more a general wonderment rather than a finger-pointing exercise at you)

      1. Spacedinvader
        Trollface

        A bus stops at a bus stop...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          My mates

          car stopped, when asked, outside a bus stop.

          Driving test 4 failed...

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "A bus stops at a bus stop..." and it stops at train crossings, so yes, you're right; it's a train AND a bus all at once! We'll have to consult Professor Hawking if we want to understand this down to the quantum level.

          1. Mark 85

            We'll have to consult Professor Hawking if we want to understand this down to the quantum level.

            I would think the answer is "42".

        3. Goldmember

          Recently they've started to announce that "the next station stop will be... " on trains in the grim North West.

          1. LesB
            Meh

            Station stops and other such things

            And have you noticed that the thing you're sitting[1] in isn't a train any more, it's a "service". As in the next station stop for this service is Lesser Picklington[2]...

            It all started getting silly when they started calling us "customers" rather than "passengers". At least the latter implied some suggestion that the ride they were taking you for was a literal rather than metaphorical one.

            [1] Or standing, depending on the time and location

            [2] Or wherever

      2. The Nazz

        In my part of the world, the populous "metropolitan" areas of West Yorkshire

        It's correctly called a railway station, as whenever i get to it there's never a train in sight. Just rails. And some old infrastructure well beyond needing a refresh (by which i do not mean overpriced,overlit retail outlets).

        But very rarely a train.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        and a porn station is a hub which confuses the matter even more.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          And a fap station is a computer.

      4. Mike Moyle

        Well, I'm sitting at a "work station", but...

      5. noominy.noom

        Railway is British?

        I've been living in America for near 60 years and I've only heard train station. I thought the railway station term was British.

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Huw D

      Re: Rather good.

      And the "Fat Controller" is an S&M reference, right?

      1. Robin

        Re: Rather good.

        And the "Fat Controller" is an S&M reference, right?

        Well they do live on the island of Sodomor.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Rather good.

        No, he's my gaffer.

        Tubby twat he is.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mind the gap

    "Alight" to get off.

    1. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Mind the gap

      I ride the commuter rail to South Station in Boston. The recorded announcements are sometimes interesting. Recently, I heard the following:

      "When leaving the train, please use caution to avoid tripping at the space between the train and the platform. Thank you."

      Three words would have sufficed, but this is America, and, well...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Mind the gap

        "When leaving the train, please use caution to avoid tripping at the space between the train and the platform. Thank you."

        Either the space has gotten wider, or the drugs have gotten stronger, since I last tripped in Boston.

      2. MrDamage Silver badge

        Re: Mind the gap

        In Sydney we get "Please mind the gap when alighting from the train."

        Fucking iZombies have to be reminded to watch where they're putting their feet apparently.

        1. collinsl Bronze badge

          Re: Mind the gap

          Same in the UK, or "Please mind the gap between the trains and the platform edge"

          On the tube there are still some "Mind the Gap!" automated and manual announcements.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Mind the gap

        Love the red line in from Quincy - had 3 separate holidays there.

  16. SkippyBing

    Reminds me of the time this happened in a local bar. Would have been around Feb 2008.

    In all fairness if they hadn't left the computer running iTunes and connected to the TV screens where any slightly inebriated idiot could get to them I wouldn't, I mean a passerby wouldn't have had the opportunity...

    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Perhaps they wanted to avoid the passengers confusing a warning with an advertisement for some peddler of clothes or other.

      Or something else alltogether.

  17. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Holmes

    "believe parties unknown may have penetrated the security of its digital signage "

    You think.

    I passed through a London Tube station a couple of years ago and all the escalator poster frames had been replaced by individual flat screens showing posters for London shows. They could be the equivalent of (very large) digital picture frames but my guess is they all get fed off a common server.

    Now if someone gets into that things could get quite strange....

    1. Simon Harris

      Re: "believe parties unknown may have penetrated the security of its digital signage "

      Occasionally they fail and you get to see BSOD and BIOS startup screens instead of adverts.

      1. Aladdin Sane

        Re: "believe parties unknown may have penetrated the security of its digital signage "

        Always worthy of a link.

  18. FuzzyWuzzys
    Happy

    I remember seeing this done about 5 years ago in Youtube vid when big screens first appeared in stations. Couple kids managed to tap into the system and project the camera live from their mobile phone camera to the big screen, then in the background you could see the security guards running across the concourse and then the kids running from the station yelling abuse at the station security guards!

  19. The Nazz

    Pornhub

    Did the screen show the Pornhub symbol in the corner (as i'm led to believe it does) or is this @joannaw already an afficianado?

    I'm also guessing she's not due any royalties from the screening?

  20. Alistair
    Coat

    Okay -- so rush hour porn posting at passengers

    is this not

    <earworm of the day>

    what Starland Vocal Band were singing about in Afternoon Delight?

    1. W4YBO

      Re: Okay -- so rush hour porn posting at passengers

      "<earworm of the day>..."

      Ouch! Shame on you!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could be a good marketing strategy

    If they want to encourage more people to come on public transport, insert short bits of pr0n in between the adverts on the ubiquitous flat screens. And set up some vending machines that dispense paper tissues.

    Although the limited resolution of the big dot-matrix displays may have disappointing results.

    1. eldakka

      Re: Could be a good marketing strategy

      If they want to encourage more people to come on public transport,

      I really hope they don't...

  22. JJKing
    Coat

    Train tutorials

    Oh please, they were just try to teach the trains how to pull out on time.

    Mines the one with a hole in the right pocket.

  23. Steven 1
    Coat

    Toot toot!

    Said Thomas as he shunted Henrietta roughly from behind....

    1. The Sod Particle

      Re: Toot toot!

      Thomas's carriages are Annie and Clarabelle as any fule kno

  24. Arachnoid

    Hmm the Train now coming into Belles end has been delayed

    Maybe they need a condominium building

  25. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Next stop: Blameville.

  26. Stevie

    Bah!

    And while everyone was looking at the screen, Jason Bourne killed another fifteen CIA grab-team agents, a couple of freelance assassins and a Treadstone asset.

  27. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Windows?

    There's a huge LED matrix sign showing ads in the central reservation of a local dual carriageway. Passing it the other day the ad was running in a windows that didn't fit on the screen. I was more surprised that it's got a computer powerful enough to run paid-for Windows and that they needed a full fat OS just to run a crappy slideshow. I know the PC part of an enormous display is probably a tiny part of the cost, but considering the numbers of these things littering the road side all over the country, you'd think running a cheap SOC like a Raspbery Pi with a stripped down and free Linux would mount up the savings over a large number of devices.

    I'd not put it past these ad agencies to be using a full MS Office installation so they can use Powerpoint to run the slideshow too. I wonder if they are using SMBv1 over 3g for advert updates?

  28. jelabarre59

    NJ Tpk

    Now I'm thinking of how the New Jersey Turnpike has replaced all their neon signs with digital "overhead sign structures" (NJDOT's term for them), imagine someone hacking *their* infrastructure.

    Of course, being NJ, they'd probably show vids with Snooki and the rest of the Jersey Shore cast (blech!!!).

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