This is a small utility that updates our SpaceAPI[1] file in the server with an open/closed status for the space.

It works by checking the MAC addresses of the computers in the space's network and comparing it to a list of addresses of known devices.
If any of the known devices is in the network, the space is "open", else it is "closed"

We are using our laptop and cellphone MAC addresses.

You need to have 2 things set up beforehand:

1.- Host key based authentication between the computer in the space and your website host
2.- A list of known MAC addresses of devices that indicate the space is "open"

The list of MAC addresses is found in a simple text file, with one address per line.

[1] http://hackerspaces.nl/spaceapi/