[nycwireless] NY:MIEG Wireless, Wimax Mobile 2008 and Beyond: The future of Communications
Thursday January 17, 2008 Wireless, Wimax Mobile 2008 and Beyond: The future of Communications Members $30/Non-Members and Guests $50 To attend, please register at: http://bsobel.googlepages.com/nymiegeventregistration . Presented in association with NDC Capital Partners Wireless, Wimax, Mobile and Beyond: A Look at the Future of Communications Our first event of 2008 will be a breakfast and panel discussion on Wireless, Wimax, Mobile and Beyond-A Look at the Future Communications featuring leading technology innovators Our Distinguised Panel Includes: Eric Bader Eric, formerly the top digital executive at MediaVest, left the agency in November '07 to launch his own mobile-focused consulting firm. Bader, who as MediaVest's SVP/Director of Digital Connections was recently named Mediaweek's All Star in the digital category, has quickly become a leading voice in the emerging mobile media segment, working closely with various industry organizations suchas the Mobile Marketing Association and PG's own mobile testing lab. Bader's new startup venture is focused on mobile content initiatives. Laura Forlano Laura is a Visiting Fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School and a Ph.D. candidate in Communications at Columbia University where she is researching the socio-economic implications of the use of mobile and wireless technology. She is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Design and Management department at Parsons The New School for Design where she teaches Design in Everyday Experience, Introduction to Design and Management, and Sustainable Design. Dana Spiegel Dana Spiegel is Executive Director of NYCWireless and is an independent software consultant and founder of sociableDESIGN, a software and consulting firm that specializes in social software and wireless technology research and development. For the past 7 years, NYCwireless, a non-profit organization, has pioneered the building of free Wi-Fi hotspots in parks and public spaces, and has helped countless NYC residents get online in public spaces. The organization has worked closely with affordable housing developers to bring free Wi- Fi to 4 buildings in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, and has become a primary vehicle for people to learn about Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies. Ari Zoldan Ari Zoldan is CEO and Founder of Launch 3 Communications, a global telecommunication carrier. Launch 3 utilizes private direct connections both domestically and internationally by using fiber and satellite networks. The company is operating in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East and the Americas. Mr. Zoldan speaks globally on WiMax and emerging telecommunication products. In addition, Zoldan's company recently launched a large scale technology incubator with a concentration on mobile applications. Moderator: Sree Sreenivasan Sree has been a fixture on NYC-area television for almost seven years. He is WNBC's tech reporter, covering all kinds of technology issues, gadgets and trends. In addition, he is Dean of Students at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and continues to run, and teach in, the new media/web journalism program.In July 2007, he was promoted to Professor of Professional Practice. He also teaches workshops on web and internet applications, along with other topics, in newsrooms and educational institutions around the US and abroad. In addition to his work with NBC, He has also guest hosted segments of Asian America on PBS, a nationally syndicated English program about Asian American affairs. As a freelance journalist, he has written for The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Popular Science, Time Digital, The National Journal, India Today, Newsday, Bloomberg, Forbes.com, Sesame Street Parents and Rolling Stone to name a few. DATE: Thursday, January 17th, 2008 7:30am - 10am LOCATION: SobelMedia World Headquarters 4 West 43rd Street/Main Ballroom New York, NY 10036 Please RSVP to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] 2007 NYC Technology Sector Holiday Social
NYCwireless is joining a bunch of other NYC-based Technology organizations in supporting the 2007 NYC Technology Sector Holiday Social. Keep the evening of Thursday, December 13th, 2007 open for *FREE* drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Details and RSVP: http://www.orgcom.info/Holiday Everyone is invited-open source or closed- CTO or junior admin- personal business or Fortune 500. Our mission is to host a well rounded networking and social event, bringing together the various technology sectors and companies in one professional networking event. This is our second event, and this year, we have renamed the organizing entity to OrgCom, to emphasize the bridge-building amongst the most influential technical communities, and between the forward- looking firms in New York. And we're working hard to develop OrgCom into an ongoing social community and resource for technology professionals, both in the virtual and real worlds. With support from key groups, sponsors and interest from the City of New York, this year's event will be even better- and better still with your help. * Help Spread the Word -- Tell friends, co-workers, and in fact anyone. Mentions in blogs and media sites are greatly appreciated- check out our site and pass this message on. * Join New York's Technology Sector as a community: http://www.orgcom.info/Holiday/Participate * Support New York's Technology Sector as a sponsor: http://www.orgcom.info/Holiday/Sponsoring Questions? Contact Us http://www.orgcom.info/Holiday/ContactUs -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NYC Broadband Advisory Committee Manhattan Meeting, Dec 12 from 1-4pm
On Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 from 1-4pm, the NYC Broadband Advisory Committee will be holding a meeting at the Manhattan School of Music, Greenfield Hall, 120 Claremont Avenue at 122 Street, New York, NY 10027. If you live or work in Manhattan, you should attend this meeting. NYCwireless will be there, representing our work building free, public Wi-Fi. You can read the announcement here: http://tinyurl.com/2ckxdm -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NEW MEETING LOCATION with MatchupCamp, Wednesday November 28 @ 7pm
*** We are having a special meeting this month at MatchupCamp *** Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007 at 7:00pm For Your Imagination 22 West 27th Street 6th Floor New York, NY 10001 As part of NextNY, we've decided to try something new and have our November NYCwireless meeting as part of MatchupCamp. The meeting time is the same, but the location has changed. As innovators and entrepreneurs, we think that MatchupCamp is a great idea and something that many NYCwireless members will enjoy. About MatchupCamp - http://www.nextny.org/wiki/show/MatchupCamp - MatchupCamp – matchmaking for startups – is all about startup networking, creating a place for ideas and talent to meet. There are many events matching professional services to startups – this one will focus on those looking to get their hands dirty and build something new. MatchupCamp has the sole objective of bringing together people looking to start, expend, or join a startup in New York (and the tri- state area). *** Please be sure to register yourself at the MatchupCamp site *** -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] August NYCwireless Meeting Wednesday 8/30 7PM
All are invited - please re-post everywhere! TONGHT! Wed, August 30th, 2007 at 7:00pm Please note earlier starting time for meeting. Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) Agenda: -Michael Hallinan and Tejpaul Bhatia, GlobeCo2020 Company Description GlobeCo2020 is sharing the internet with the developing world. We are a media services company that delivers digital content into emerging markets. We aim to develop sustainable business models for broadband networks. We are focused on bridging the global digital divide due to poor infrastructure and unsustainable business models in the developing world. Join us at NYCWireless to help answer how wireless technologies can be used to bridge the global digital divide. Topics covered Wireless infrastructure in the developing world Content delivery as a business model A “franchise model” for wireless networks Emphasis on brainstorming, questions and feedback Michael Rourk Hallinan As a Captain in the Marine Corps, Michael has six years of experience planning, installing, operating and maintaining over 20 wireless and satellite voice, video and data systems in Australia, Kenya, Kuwait, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Iraq and Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of the US. Michael received the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal for leading 50 Marines with “inexhaustible energy” during the final combat offensive in Fallujah, Iraq. He also received a Navy Commendation Medal for leading 50 engineers in deploying wireless networks throughout Asia and the Middle East. He is an active member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and founder of Semper Fi House, a community support initiative for Marines. Prior to the Marine Corps, Michael founded Student Media Group, which distributed student media nationally for companies such as ATT and Citibank. Michael has also held various positions at Merrill Lynch, the US Senate and the US Department of Justice. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from Georgetown University. He is a board member of The Way of Grace Development Corporation, which is developing social and physical infrastructure in the war torn country of Liberia. Michael has worked with the SoCal FreeNet project, which brings free wireless access to lower-economic neighborhoods in San Diego. Tejpaul Bhatia Tejpaul Bhatia is the founder of Tej Media Networks, a consulting company that provides digital technology and strategy services to global media companies including ESPN, NBC, SONY, ABC, Brightcove and Corpus. Tejpaul was most recently senior manager of international business strategy for ESPN, where he planned and launched new media businesses in Mexico, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Europe. He joined ESPN in 2002 to build the underlying infrastructure for acquiring, distributing and tracking video on multiple digital platforms and was responsible for conceiving, developing and distributing ESPN360, the company’s customizable global broadband service. --- NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. --- NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks.-- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] FW: [nyphp-announce] [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Summer Soiree
From our friends at NYPHP... some of you may be interested in attending. New York PHP wrote on Monday, August 06, 2007 9:15 AM: Summer Networking Party and Joomla Gathering August 23rd at 6:30pm at The Delancey August's dog days are here but relief is on the way. NYCBUG and New York PHP are excited to team up again for an informal summer networking event. Even if you're not a member of these groups, you're invited. At 6:30pm on August 23rd, we'll be getting together on the roof-top lounge of The Delancey (http://www.thedelancey.com), in the Lower-East Side. The roof-top is a small piece of tropic serenity in Manhattan, with a relaxing fountain, lush plants, and a great view - and of course WiFi. There is no need to RSVP and all are invited to attend. Just stop by 168 Delancey, between Clinton and Attorney, and head upstairs. We hope you'll join us for this relaxing summer fling before Fall begins to fall. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] DonorsChoose.org - an American Express Members Project that I support
A friend of mine -- Oliver Hurst-Hiller -- forwarded me this email, and his organization, DonorsChoose.org, which provides resources for public education of students, is an organization that I and other NYCwireless members support. Others of you may also be interested in helping this fellow non-profit out. DonorsChoose.org just made the Top 5 finals of the American Express Members Project! As promised, I’m emailing you one last time to ask for your vote. If you voted prior to this past Monday then you need to vote again, since all vote tallies from previous rounds were zeroed for the finals. The project currently edging us out for the #1 spot is a real Goliath, as you can see from this New York Times article: “Procter Gamble is traveling incognito in the American Express Member’s Project... [PG employee] Mr. Allgood entered the science and theory behind the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program. But he said that the Member Project’s rules precluded him from naming it, or mentioning Pur or Procter.” (NYT, July 24, 2007) But that’s not going to stop us! :) If you voted in the contest already, it will only take you 30 seconds to vote this time. If it’s your first time voting, 2 minutes is needed to vote with your personal or corporate AmEx card. Please vote now for DonorsChoose.org’s submission: Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn. (http://www.membersproject.com/Education/5630) If we win, all the award proceeds--up to $5 million--will go to classroom projects on our site. Hundreds of thousands of public school students stand to benefit. Please refer to these simple voting instructions if you get stuck. We’re in the final homestretch, and the outcome will likely be decided by fewer than a hundred votes. Your vote now is essential. On behalf of all the schoolchildren whom your vote will impact, thank you for helping at this critical moment! Gratefully, Oliver P.S. Please forward this email to your friends and colleagues, asking them to vote for us too! -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] REMINDER: May 22 Brooklyn Broadband Hearing
digital divide, Lai said. After that, it's key that policy makers and other leaders in New York get as many people online as possible in short order, he added. * NET NEUTRALITY HEARING On Monday, April 30 at 1 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Committee on Technology in Government held an oversight hearing on the topic of Establishing Strong Network Neutrality Principles in Order to Protect the Internet.” The hearing focused on Resolution No. 712 (http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/textfiles/Res% 200712-2007.htm), which was introduced in the City Council in February 2007. Sponsored by Council Member Gale Brewer, Res. 712 calls upon the United States Congress to codify strong network neutrality principles in order to insure that the Internet will continue to foster innovation, increase competition, and spur economic growth as well as making the Internet faster and more affordable for all. We would like to thank Tim Wu and Henning Schulrzinne of Columbia University, Tim Karr of the Free Press and Craig Newmark of Craigslist (via written testimony) for testifying. Gale A. Brewer 29 West 95 Street New York, NY 10025 h. 212-749-0330 f. 212-749-0340 cell 917-881-3375 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.galebrewer.com DISTRICT OFFICE Hon. Gale A. Brewer City Council, 6th District 563 Columbus Avenue New York, NY 10024 tel 212-873-0282 fax 212-873-0279 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CITY HALL OFFICE Hon. Gale A. Brewer City Council, 6th District 250 Broadway, Room 1744 New York, NY 10007 tel 212-788-6975 fax 212-513-7717 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] The Indypendent: Municipal Broadband Takes On The Internet Cartel
http://www.indypendent.org/?p=1092 GOT A HOTSPOT: Jonathan Evans, Michael Evans and Kamal King of Wireless Harlem (above, from left) are helping to create free wifi hotspots throughout Harlem. Photo: Mauricio Quintero By Erin Thompson On a street corner in Harlem, Kamal King and Jonathan Evans are taking pictures of light poles. They record the coordinates of each light pole and will eventually send the data to city, which will hopefully allow them to install wireless radios on light poles around Harlem. When installed, these radios will begin the test phases of a Harlem- wide wireless infrastructure, which the Wireless Harlem Initiative aims to use to provide free or lowcost broadband residents to all nearby Harlem residents. Members of NYC Wireless, a non-profit that creates wireless hotspots around the city in public parks, local businesses and low-income housing, first introduced King and Evans to the possibilities of the low-cost broadband networks at Monroe College. “It was kind of exciting,” said Evans “NYC wireless came to our school, and this school is in the Bronx … And these white people came to our school and were like ‘hey this is wonderful.’” For their final project in the class, King and Evans hooked up a local coffee shop with a free Wi-Fi hotspot. “We got an A,” said King, who discovered the not-for-profit Wireless Harlem on the Internet one night and has been involved ever since. On a small scale, the efforts of community groups like Wireless Harlem and NYC Wireless reflect the hundreds of initiatives undertaken by communities and municipalities around the country to address the growing “digital divide.” According to a March 2006 report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, only 21 percent of households with an annual income of $30,000 or less had any broadband connection at home in 2006, while 68 percent of households that earn over $75,000 had a home broadband connection. This is especially the case in Harlem, where Wireless Harlem has spent the last year doing research and advocacy to push their project forward. “What our research told us is that there are too many people on one computer and that computer may be dial-up — and so there’s a bottleneck in the household, with four or five people trying to get on one computer,” said Michael Lewis, founder of Wireless Harlem. At the first of five hearings organized by the city to address the issue of Internet access, held on March 30 in the Bronx, community wireless campaigners, technology experts, policy advocates and students and teachers from the city’s underserved schools testified on the conditions of broadband access in New York. Andrew Gallagher, a public school teacher at the Bronx Writing Academy, said that only 20 percent of his students report having a computer and access to the Internet at home. Students from New York’s Brandeis High School reported that as few as nine laptops might serve 50 students, many of whom do not have Internet access at home. “Many of us even fail because we don’t have computers,” one student testified. For long-time advocates of broadband access, the hearings are a first step in joining the rest of the country. “There needs to be a wider public understanding of this issue, and that needs to be demonstrated by people showing up to these public hearings,” said Laura Forlano, a board member of NYC Wireless. Why has installing an increasingly vital communications resource — one which costs relatively little to install and maintain — become such a struggle in New York City and around the country? “The short answer is, unless someone is willing to go out and rewrite the past [Federal Communications Commission] FCC regulations and unless they open up the [telecommunications] networks to competition, there’s not a rat’s chance in hell that anything exciting is going to happen in New York,” said Bruce Kushnick, a consumer rights’ advocate and founder of Teletruth.org. While the FCC plays an important part by setting policy, other interests play an even more profound role. Who Really Owns the Internet? The word “Internet” brings to mind an ever-expanding, amorphous ether of infor-mation — a network that cannot be controlled and which expands and changes as more and more people use it. Yet the Internet depends on the physical infrastructure that must support the packets of data traveling between computer networks and servers. That infrastructure includes a web of cable, telephone and fiber lines crisscrossing the United States, allowing the data to zip around the country and world. While no one owns the Internet, a handful of powerful telephone and cable companies control the fiber, cable and copper wires that support the Internet. Competition in the telecommunications market has been obliterated by years of deregulation, mergers and the
[nycwireless] BROOKLYN BROADBAND HEARING: Tuesday, May 22nd, Noon to 3 pm at Brooklyn Borough Hall
conference at Columbia University to examine these and other questions. Expert representatives of major users, suppliers of telecom services and all levels of government will ask and answer the critical questions surrounding telecommunications reliability in New York. Additional details will be posted on the CITI and NYTRAC websites, or for more information, please contact John Heywood , CITI's Assistant Director, by email or at 212-854-4222. * About the New York City Council's Committee on Technology in Government The primary goals of the Committee on Technology in Government are: (1) to expand digital equality by increasing access to broadband in underserved communities of New York City (2) to increase the strategic use of technology in government, thereby, increasing efficiency in government and enhancing the quality of public services, and (3) to promote the openness and transparency of government by making sure that public information is accessible to every New York City resident. Through its ability to hold oversight hearings over City agencies and introduce and hear legislation, the Committee on Technology in Government works to achieve its goals in partnership with the private, public and nonprofit sectors. More information about the Committee and the Chair of the Committee, Council Member Gale A. Brewer, can be found at the following link: http://nyccouncil.info/issues/committee.cfm? committee_id=106ltsbdkey=5121 All Committee briefing papers from the current session (beginning in January 2004) are also available through this link. If you know of people who would be interested in the Committee on Technology in Government's activities, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them. If you know of anyone who would like to receive these e-mails, just have them e-mail me. I will put them on the list. Finally, feel free to post this information on any list serve you may belong to or on any website you are affiliated with. If you do not want to receive these e-mails anymore, please e-mail me, and I will take you off the list immediately. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at one of our hearings! Regards, Bruce -- Bruce Lai Chief of Staff Office of Council Member Gale A. Brewer New York City Council 250 Broadway, 17th Floor New York, NY 10007 E- mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- PLEASE NOTE THE NEW PHONE NUMBERS -- City Hall: 212.788.6975 Cell: 347.563.1295 Blackberry: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- District Office: 212.873.0282 Fax: 212.513.7717 -- Dana Spiegel sociableDESIGN :: www.sociableDESIGN.com 123 Bank Street, Suite 510, New York, NY 10014 m +1 917 402 0422 :: f +1 502 470 2089 :: e [EMAIL PROTECTED] Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] WSJ Online: ISPs, Businesses and Even Cities Seek to Offer Cheap or Free Connections -- Which Will Win?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117743976135380805.html REAL TIME By JASON FRY The Future of Wireless ISPs, Businesses and Even Cities Seek to Offer Cheap or Free Connections -- Which Will Win? April 30, 2007 Not so long ago, Wi-Fi was a home project for tech geeks with a high tolerance for fiddling with router settings and WEP encryption. Today, wireless Internet access is regarded as practically a digerati birthright. Finding yourself in an airport or hotel without free wireless access is as odd and unwelcome as finding out your rental car doesn't have a CD player. (Wait a year or two, and you'll be able to substitute satellite radio or iPod jack for CD player.) Wireless access is available in more and more places -- but there's no rhyme or reason to how you get it. Airports and hotels offer Wi-Fi for free. So do cafes, fast-food places, bookstores and other businesses hoping to make some money off people camping on the premises while they access the Net. Starbucks and McDonald's are wireless front ends for T-Mobile and Wayport, which offer a range of plans for hourly, daily or monthly wireless access anywhere a network hot spot can be found -- a strategy also followed by Boingo Wireless. And then some 300 cities and towns are at various stages in offering cheap or free wireless access. And, of course, there's just letting your wireless card hunt for a signal leaking out of your neighbor's home -- this weekend my wireless utility found five such networks. Three were unsecured; two were obviously the default network name that came with the router. I imagine that's fairly typical for a block of apartment buildings in brownstone Brooklyn. Hopping on your neighbor's signal is variously described as leeching, piggybacking, borrowing a signal, or daily life, and opinions about it cover a range that you can guess at from those terms. (My own network is open, but the SSID isn't broadcast -- a combination that reflects early tech woes and the fact that I've never made my mind up about what I ought to do.) It all adds up to a patchwork of approaches, and one should be cautious about making definitive predictions about how all this tumult will shake out. But the general direction is clear. Take last week's deal1 between Spain's Fon (pronounced fonn) and Time Warner Cable (pronounced Time Warner Cable). Fon2 sells wireless routers (called La Foneras) that let its members (Foneros) split their Wi-Fi connection into an encrypted channel for their own personal use and a public channel for the use of passers- by, creating a network of public wireless hotspots. Fon divides Foneros into three types: A Linus shares his or her access and in return can log onto any Fon hotspot free of charge; an Alien doesn't share access and can get 24 hours of access to the Fon network for $2 or $3; and a Bill shares his or her access and skips free log-on rights in exchange for half the money Fon collects from Aliens using that Bill's Wi-Fi connection. Fon's clever: It offers options for regular, on-the-go Internet users and businesses looking to make a little money from Wi-Fi, then throws some social-networking whimsy into the mix. (With a dash of marketing -- note that Fon's definition of Alien makes the entire world Foneros.) That said, the idea isn't one that makes you automatically think the world's rearranging itself. For one thing, U.S. ISPs' position on sharing an Internet connection wirelessly has been clear: It's stealing. From those ISPs' perspective, Fon must seem a hair too close to the dark side of social networking -- an interesting business model predicated on your customers stealing your product and handing it out to others. Except Time Warner Cable has now given its 6.6 million home broadband customers its blessing to become Foneros and thus share their bandwidth. While a Time Warner spokeswoman declined to offer much in the way of specifics about the deal, Fon USA CEO Joanna Rees says one benefit to Time Warner is that with Fon you can't leech … nobody talks about what the leeching numbers are, but they're significant. Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless3, is skeptical of the deal's impact, seeing it as little more than a public-relations move for both companies. Fon's network, he says, is to be perfectly blunt, tiny and predominantly residential, making it not particularly valuable in public places. Ms. Rees says Fon has 60,000 Foneros in the U.S., though she acknowledges that Fon may not have the visibility of, say, T-Mobile with its Starbucks locations. While she maintains Fon's footprint will be more effective over the long term, over the short term we have to be strategic. An example of that strategy: a Fonbucks campaign in which Fon has given away free La Foneras to people living near coffee shops. Mr. Spiegel calls Time Warner Cable's deal with Fon a parasitic
[nycwireless] ANNOUNCE: Community Wireless Summit May 18-20, 2007 -- Washington, DC.
Contact: Sascha Meinrath Executive Director CUWiN Foundation [EMAIL PROTECTED] 217-278-3933 x31 INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT TO ADDRESS FUTURE OF BROADBAND -- Community Technology Leaders from Six Continents to Participate -- Champaign-Urbana, I.L., April 18 -- The CUWiN Foundation and the Center for Community Informatics (CCI) will host the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks (http://WirelessSummit.org) from May 18-20, 2007 at Loyola College in Columbia, Maryland. The summit is the largest gathering of wireless network developers, technology and policy experts, and community organizers working to build universal, low-cost broadband networks around the world. We are proud to host an event that brings together technologists and activists committed to universal access to informatics, said Marco Figueiredo, CCI Director. The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks explores the opportunities and challenges facing the growing movement to build community and municipal broadband networks, said Sascha Meinrath, co-founder and Executive Director of CUWiN. This event showcases cutting-edge technologies and develops political strategies to increase digital inclusion. Since the first National Summit for Community Wireless Networks in 2004, over 300 Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprung up in the United States alone. The Summit will focus on how these networks can better serve their target populations, the policies needed to support broader deployment of community wireless systems, and the latest technological and software innovations. Presenters at previous summits have included FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Jim Baller of the Baller Herbst Law Group, Annie Collins of Fiber for Our Future, Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America, Harold Feld of Media Access Project, Robert W. McChesney of Free Press, Matt Rantanen of Tribal Digital Village, Greg Richardson of Civitium LLC, Paul Smith of the Center for Neighborhood Technologies, Jim Snider of the New America Foundation, Dana Spiegel of NYCwireless, Esme Vos of Muniwireless.com and many other luminaries. High-speed broadband access is the electricity of the 21st century, yet many rural and poorer urban communities are being left off the grid, said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, the DC-based policy think-tank. The innovators and organizers at the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks are blazing the trail to make broadband affordable and available to everyone. About CUWiN (http://www.cuwin.net) The CUWiN Foundation is a world-renowned coalition of wireless developers and community volunteers committed to providing low-cost, do-it-yourself, community-controlled alternatives to contemporary broadband models. CUWiN is fiscally sponsored by Grassroots.org, a non-profit 501c3. CUWiN's mission is to develop decentralized, community-owned networks that foster democratic cultures and local content. Through advocacy and through our commitment to open source technology, CUWiN supports organic networks that grow to meet the needs of their communities. About CCI (http://cci.cs.loyola.edu) The Center for Community Informatics engages Loyola College’s students, faculty and staff in supporting the creation and deployment of informatics tools for community empowerment. CCI develops the Community Telecenter Free Software Toolset; promotes awareness events for the Loyola College community; offer courses in Community Informatics; promotes Digital Inclusion Conferences; researches and develops human-friendly technologies to facilitate inclusion in the New Society of Knowledge; and, evaluates, documents and develops sustainable models for Universal Access to Informatics. # # # -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] ARTICLE: Wireless co.: We ’re a latte cheaper than Starbucks
Wireless co.: We’re a latte cheaper than Starbucks By Julie Shapiro Enterprising New Yorkers who want to make some fast cash need look no farther than the nearest Starbucks. FON, an international wireless Internet company, is giving free wireless routers to anyone who lives near a Starbucks. The idea is to undercut Starbucks’ $10-a-day Internet fee by charging customers only $2 — a profit that users will split with FON. “You get a free router, share the signal and help people save money at the same time,” a FON spokesperson said. So far, FON has received several thousand orders for free routers from people who live within 150 feet of Starbucks or another coffee shop, the spokesperson said. Starbucks representatives declined to comment directly on FON’s offer, but said, “We provide a premium service and our customers see value in paying for it. We believe our customers want a fast, guaranteed wireless experience.” T-Mobile currently provides Starbucks’ wireless Internet service. FON, a Madrid-based company founded by Martin Varsavsky, is just over a year old. The unique FON routers, which offer separate channels for public and private use, form a worldwide network of over 300,000 hotspots, a representative said. Users can choose to share their wireless signal for free and receive free wireless from other FON users around the world, or they can charge for their signal and hope to make a profit. Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless — a nonprofit that builds free public wireless networks — is skeptical of FON’s plan. Most of the FON hotspots Spiegel has seen in New York City are in the apartments of people who live above the first or second floors. Since wireless Internet travels only 100 to 150 feet indoors, “Only a handful of apartments are able to take advantage of the hotspots,” Spiegel said. “Everyone else in New York City has no advantage.” While some Starbucks are located on the first floor of apartment buildings, others are in business buildings, surrounded by open lobbies with high ceilings, Spiegel said. In these cases, he doubts anyone will be able to take advantage of the FON promotion. Besides, Spiegel said, sharing one’s Internet service can be illegal. Internet service providers like Comcast and Time Warner do not allow consumers to resell their Internet connection — in fact, consumers aren’t even allowed to give the connection away for free. Smaller companies like Speakeasy and bway.net, on the other hand, allow consumers to profit from reselling. Spiegel estimates that 99 percent of all Internet connections in the United States fall into the first category, making FON-style sharing illegal. FON C.E.O. Varsavsky posted a response to this criticism in his blog, saying that FON has not received complaints from Internet service providers. “We don’t want anyone to violate terms and conditions that [Internet service providers] choose to enforce,” Varsavsky wrote. Still, Varsavsky acknowledged that no Internet service providers have changed their terms and conditions to permit sharing. FON’s announcement of the free routers caused a stir on online message boards, where posters were split between enthusiasm and skepticism. On Gothamist.com, a New York City Web site, a poster named “jg” wrote, “Gross. Make Internet free.” While Spiegel and NYCwireless appreciate that FON educates the public about wireless Internet, he basically agrees. “NYCwireless has as philosophy that in public spaces, Internet should be free,” Spiegel said. “[FON has] a philosophy that you should be paying for the Internet in some way or another.” -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] New Email Server for NYCwireless List *TEST*
Testing the new email server -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Mailing list outage
The NYCwireless mailing list was transferred over the past few days to a new IP address due to the previous IP address being placed on an RBL. The list should be fully functional now. If you see any issued, please be sure to let us know. Thanks! -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NYCwireless 2006: A Year in Review
For those of you that missed our meeting last night, I gave a presentation about all of the things that NYCwireless (and other too) have been up to in 2006. You can see the presentation here: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/12/27/nycwireless-2006-a-year- in-review/ We have a great 2007 already starting to take shape, so stay involved! There are a bunch of projects that are upcoming. And thanks for a great 2006! We couldn't have done it without all of your help and support! -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] REMINDER: November NYCwireless Meeting *TONIGHT* Wed, Nov. 29th, 7pm sharp
NYCWireless November Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! *TONIGHT* Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 7:00pm sharp! -- Please note earlier starting time for meeting Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) Agenda: 1. Berlin Wireless: Alex Toland and Ulf Kypke from Berlin's Freifunk and wlanhain community wireless groups will talk about a new project for an all-in-one wind and solar-powered hotspot/panoramic camera sculpture for a community-planned park in Berlin's Friedrichshain neighborhood. 2. Connecting non-profits: Marc Baizman, a Project Manager at the technology assistance provider NPower, will speak about the technology needs of the non-profit sector. The meeting will be streamed live to Berlin where they are hosting a simultaneous Freifunk community wireless meeting. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] November Meeting: *THIS* Wed, Nov. 29th, 7pm sharp
NYCWireless November Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! *Next* Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 7:00pm sharp! -- Please note earlier starting time for meeting Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) Agenda: 1. Berlin Wireless: Alex Toland and Ulf Kypke from Berlin's Freifunk and wlanhain community wireless groups will talk about a new project for an all-in-one wind and solar-powered hotspot/panoramic camera sculpture for a community-planned park in Berlin's Friedrichshain neighborhood. 2. Connecting non-profits: Marc Baizman, a Project Manager at the technology assistance provider NPower, will speak about the technology needs of the non-profit sector. The meeting will be streamed live to Berlin where they are hosting a simultaneous Freifunk community wireless meeting. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Question about Telkonet
Has anyone had any interaction with a company called Telkonet, which claims to operate a bunch of non-free hotspots in NYC? Has anyone actually connected to one of their hotspots? They claim that they offer large areas of coverage (like the southern half of central park) which seems unlikely, and I'm trying to understand if anything of what they claim is accurate. Thanks, -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Wireless Harlem Presentation PodCast available
If you missed Michael Lewis' presentation on Wireless Harlem, or want to see/hear it again, you can download a podcast of it on my blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/10/30/podcast-michael-lewis-on- the-wireless-harlem-initiative You can also download the presentation as a PDF from our website: http://www.nycwireless.net/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=51 -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] ANNOUNCE: *TOMORROW* October Meeting, Wed Oct 25th @ 7:00pm - Wireless Harlem Presentation
NYCwireless September Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! **Please note earlier starting time for meeting** Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 7:00pm Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) Agenda: Michael Lewis, Executive Director of Wireless Harlem (http:// www.wirelessharlem.org), will be speaking about the Wireless Harlem initiative and the feasibility study the organization recently finished. Wireless Harlem's mission is to close the digital divide in Harlem by making access to information ubiquitous for all of its residents. Its objectives: * Deploy scalable community-wide wireless broadband network * Ensure everyone has access (residents, schools, business, visitors/ tourists) * Become innovation testing resource for new wireless broadband applications Wireless Harlem and NYCwireless share many goals and objectives, and we are working together to help bring Wi-Fi to New York City. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] CORRECTION: October Meeting, Wed Oct 25th @ 7:00pm - Wireless Harlem Presentation
NYCwireless October Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! **Please note earlier starting time for meeting** Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 7:00pm Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) Agenda: Michael Lewis, Executive Director of Wireless Harlem (http:// www.wirelessharlem.org), will be speaking about the Wireless Harlem initiative and the feasibility study the organization recently finished. Wireless Harlem's mission is to close the digital divide in Harlem by making access to information ubiquitous for all of its residents. Its objectives: * Deploy scalable community-wide wireless broadband network * Ensure everyone has access (residents, schools, business, visitors/ tourists) * Become innovation testing resource for new wireless broadband applications Wireless Harlem and NYCwireless share many goals and objectives, and we are working together to help bring Wi-Fi to New York City. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] ARTICLE: New York Post: 'NET LOSS IN PARKS - CITY IS BUNGLING WI-FI PLAN: CRITICS
'NET LOSS IN PARKS CITY IS BUNGLING WI-FI PLAN: CRITICS By SAM GUSTIN October 23, 2006 -- Bureaucratic bungling, incompetence and old- fashioned greed have short-circuited a plan to install free wi-fi in city parks, critics charge. Two years ago, the city Department of Parks and Recreation awarded a contract to set up wireless Internet access in 10 city parks, but to date, only two of those parks are up and running. Parks spokesman Ashe Reardon conceded that only a handful of hot spots in Central Park currently work. Wi-Fi Salon, the company awarded the contract two years ago to take the parks wireless, claims Battery Park also is online. It's been a long process, said Reardon. But we're working on it. City Councilwoman Gale Brewer told The Post she's frustrated by the situation and blasted the Parks Department as technologically challenged. Wi-fi activists also are fed up. No one at the top of the Parks Department food chain knows anything about wi-fi or the Internet, said Dana Spiegel, the executive director of NYC Wireless, a volunteer group. In one case, she said, the department demanded a $1.5 million insurance policy from the community group Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza after it said it wanted to install a free hot spot there. I don't know what liability the city was worried about, said Friends director Tom Payne. That the antenna would fall on somebody's head? In another example of bureaucratic bungling, a firm building Philadelphia's free, citywide wireless network offered to construct a hot spot in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn at no cost to the city - but the department held it up, critics said. Sources inside and outside city government charge that the department is dragging its feet in order to sign up corporate sponsors - and pump revenue out of them. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] [CUWiN Press Release] 2007 Internation Summit for Community Wireless Networks -- SAVE THE DATE!
This conference should be of interest to many of you. NYCwireless will be there representing NYC. *** PLEASE FORWARD *** NETWORK DEVELOPERS AND IMPLEMENTERS, POLICY EXPERTS, AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS WILL GATHER AT LOYOLA COLLEGE IN COLUMBIA, MARYLAND, MAY 18-20, 2007 TO EXPLORE THE FUTURE OF BROADBAND. The Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN) and the Center for Community Informatics (CCI) will host the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks from May 18-20, 2007 at Loyola College in Columbia, Maryland. The summit is the largest gathering of wireless network developers, technology and policy experts, and community organizers working to build universal, low-cost broadband networks around the world. We are proud to host an event that brings together technologists and activists committed to universal access to informatics, said Marco Figueiredo, CCI Director. The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks explores the opportunities and challenges facing the growing movement to build nonprofit, open-source, community and municipal broadband networks, said Sascha Meinrath, co-founder and Executive Director of CUWiN. This event showcases cutting-edge technologies and develops political strategies to increase digital inclusion. Since the first National Summit for Community Wireless Networks in 2004, over 300 Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprung up in the United States alone. The summit will focus on how these networks can better serve their target populations, the policies needed to support broader deployment of community wireless systems, and the latest technological and software innovations. Presenters at previous summits have included Annie Collins of Fiber for Our Future, Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America, Harold Feld of Media Access Project, Robert W. McChesney of Free Press, Matt Rantanen of Tribal Digital Village, Greg Richardson of Civitium LLC, Paul Smith of the Center for Neighborhood Technologies, Jim Snider of the New America Foundation, Dana Spiegel of NYC Wireless, Esme Vos of Muniwireless.com and many other luminaries. High-speed broadband access is the electricity of the 21st century, yet many rural and poorer urban communities are being left off the grid, said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, the DC-based policy think-tank. The innovators and organizers at the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks are blazing the trail to make broadband affordable and available to everyone. For more information on the summit will soon be available at: www.WirelessSummit.org Hope to see you there, --Sascha Meinrath Summit Director -- Sascha Meinrath Executive Director * Principal * President CUWiN *** The Ethos Group *** Acorn Active Media CUWiN.net * EthosWireless.com * AcornActiveMedia.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] ANNOUNCE: October Meeting, Wed Oct 25th @ 7:00pm - Wireless Harlem Presentation
NYCwireless September Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! **Please note earlier starting time for meeting** Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 7:00pm Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) Agenda: Michael Lewis, Executive Director of Wireless Harlem (http:// www.wirelessharlem.org), will be speaking about the Wireless Harlem initiative and the feasibility study the organization recently finished. Wireless Harlem's mission is to close the digital divide in Harlem by making access to information ubiquitous for all of its residents. Its objectives: * Deploy scalable community-wide wireless broadband network * Ensure everyone has access (residents, schools, business, visitors/ tourists) * Become innovation testing resource for new wireless broadband applications Wireless Harlem and NYCwireless share many goals and objectives, and we are working together to help bring Wi-Fi to New York City. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] TONIGHT: NYCwireless September Meeting - 9/27 @ 7:15 - Get Free WIRED NextFest Tickets!
NYCwireless September Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 7:15pm Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) *** We have a bunch of free tickets for WIRED's NextFest, taking place from Sept 29-Oct 1. We will be distributing the tickets (worth $15) to any member that attends this month's meeting. If you're not a member yet, please join (only $35), and you will be eligible for a free NextFest? ticket. *** Agenda: 1. Lise Brenner will talk about PETER STUYVESANT'S GHOST, an art and historical environment project inspired by the rapid cultural and physical changes during the Dutch colonial period in what is now New York City. Using sound as the primary medium of performance, PSG hopes to tap into the visceral response that hearing generates. The overall goal is a rich, many-layered experience of the footprint of Peter Stuyvesant's 17th century farm, known today as 4th Avenue to the East River, and East 4th to 23rd Streets. Events include guided walks, referencing specifically created maps and soundscapes, a daily internet radio broadcast, and a panel discussion. Ryan Holsopple will talk about the technical specifics of the PSG Telephone Tour, which involves sound art and open source telephony. 2. Molly Steenson will talk about her ethnographic research in Bangalore, India, on mobile phone sharing in lower and middle class Indian mobile users. She conducted the study in July-August 2006 while at Microsoft Research India and discovered that unlike countries like Japan and Korea, mobile phones are shared in a variety of ways, regardless of class. She's particularly interested in how this plays out in domestic and urban space. Molly is a graduate student at the Yale School of Architecture, where she is researching historical precedents for mobile, social interactions in architecture. Previously, she was an associate professor at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Ivrea, Italy, where she led the Connected Communities research group. Molly has worked for a variety of web and technology companies, including Scient, Razorfish, Phoenix Pop, Netscape and Reuters, and was the co- founder of Maxi, an award-winning webzine in the late 90s. Online, she's at girlwonder.com. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NYCwireless September Meeting - 9/27 @ 7:15 - Get Free WIRED NextFest Tickets!
NYCwireless September Meeting Announcement All are invited - please re-post everywhere! Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 7:15pm Bway.net 568 Broadway at Prince St, NE corner Suite 404 New York, NY 10012 (lobby sign-in required) *** We have a bunch of free tickets for WIRED's NextFest, taking place from Sept 29-Oct 1. We will be distributing the tickets (worth $15) to any member that attends this month's meeting. If you're not a member yet, please join (only $35), and you will be eligible for a free NextFest? ticket. *** Agenda: 1. Lise Brenner will talk about PETER STUYVESANT'S GHOST, an art and historical environment project inspired by the rapid cultural and physical changes during the Dutch colonial period in what is now New York City. Using sound as the primary medium of performance, PSG hopes to tap into the visceral response that hearing generates. The overall goal is a rich, many-layered experience of the footprint of Peter Stuyvesant's 17th century farm, known today as 4th Avenue to the East River, and East 4th to 23rd Streets. Events include guided walks, referencing specifically created maps and soundscapes, a daily internet radio broadcast, and a panel discussion. Ryan Holsopple will talk about the technical specifics of the PSG Telephone Tour, which involves sound art and open source telephony. 2. Molly Steenson will talk about her ethnographic research in Bangalore, India, on mobile phone sharing in lower and middle class Indian mobile users. She conducted the study in July-August 2006 while at Microsoft Research India and discovered that unlike countries like Japan and Korea, mobile phones are shared in a variety of ways, regardless of class. She's particularly interested in how this plays out in domestic and urban space. Molly is a graduate student at the Yale School of Architecture, where she is researching historical precedents for mobile, social interactions in architecture. Previously, she was an associate professor at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Ivrea, Italy, where she led the Connected Communities research group. Molly has worked for a variety of web and technology companies, including Scient, Razorfish, Phoenix Pop, Netscape and Reuters, and was the co- founder of Maxi, an award-winning webzine in the late 90s. Online, she's at girlwonder.com. NYCwireless monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month. They are free, and open to all, RSVP not required. NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] FON NYCwireless
Michel, I think you might be misreading that email announcing the FON presentation. NYCwireless does not have any partnership with FON. In addition, we have not participated in (nor have we yet been engaged to participate with) FON's plan to hand out routers for an East Village project. At our meeting where FON presented, they showed off their new hardware, but it wasn't yet functional, and so we weren't able to plug it in and play with it. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Aug 28, 2006, at 5:20 AM, michel memeteau wrote: Hi NY , I 'm michel president of Marseille Wireless France , I'm frequently in touch with the FON people in France , They are starting to propose projets we could do together etc I was pretty surprise to read http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/2006-July/ 010046.html and the FON partnership .. I'd like to know more about it . FON gave some routers but then which kind of access/firmware was use ? was it a pay as you use access ? Did I miss a page with more precise information about it ? -- %---% Michel memeteau sip:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 0491886375 0624808051 jabber : [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NO AUGUST NYCWIRELESS MEETING
There will be no NYCwireless meeting this month, due to summer/travel schedules. We will be holding a normal meeting on September 27th. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] WIRED NextFest: Get a discount through NYCwireless
NYCwireless members receive 40% OFF general admission to WIRED NextFest WIRED Magazine would like to specially invite NYCwireless members to attend the third annual WIRED NextFest this fall in New York. WIRED NextFest is the premier future-forward event in the US, featuring over 100 interactive exhibits on the future of communication, design, entertainment, exploration, green, health, security, play and transportation. WIRED NextFest, WIRED's vision of a new world's fair, is open to the general public from Friday, September 29, through Sunday, October 1. WIRED NextFest Friday, September 29, 2006 Hours: 9 am to 6 pm Saturday, September 30, 2006 Hours: 9 am to 6 pm Sunday, October 1, 2006 Hours: 9 am to 3 pm Javits Center, Hall 3B New York City With everything from robots, androids, suborbital space ships, and a Mars bio-suit, to fuel-cell cars, flying vehicles, a virtual climbing wall and much more, WIRED NextFest is an inspiring, entertaining event for visitors of all ages. NYCwireless members can purchase tickets to WIRED NextFest for $12 - that's 40% off the regular general admission price. To receive this special member rate, please use promo code WLNFDSC. For more information on WIRED NextFest, go to www.nextfest.net. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Wireless Census THIS WEEKEND
Awesome! I won't be around, but please take photos, and keep documentation! This is huge! Also, do you know how you're going to gather people's data? Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Aug 15, 2006, at 5:23 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Good news. Our Wireless Census of Manhattan is back on track. Our four units should be arriving this week. Each unit will include: * an Orinoco Gold wifi card PCMCIA in a USB chassis) * a Garmin GPS 18 sensor with a serial interface * a serial-usb adapter (for the Garmin) * a 7dbi magnetic roof mount wifi antenna * a power inverter for car Please let me know offline if you're available to do a route THIS WEEKEND. Each surveyor (or surveying team) will need to provide a laptop (Mac, PC, Linux) with either two USB ports or a Serial/PCMCIA combination. Questions: 1. What days and time are good for you? (Friday night to Monday) 2. What zipcodes are good for you? 3. Do you have a laptop? 4. Do you have a car? 5. Are there other folks you know? 6. How confident are you in being able to participate? If we get enough takers, I'll try to schedule a training session to walk through configuring a laptop with the peripherals. So let me know via email. Rob Kelley NYCwireless.net -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Podcast Interview on Wi-Fi Networking News
http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/07/30/podcast-interview-on- wifinetnews/ Glenn Fleishman of Wi-Fi Networking News interviewed me this past week on his podcast series. In the podcast, Glenn and I speak about NYCwireless and the work it has done and continues to do in New York City. We also cover: NYCwireless’ efforts to put Wi-Fi in New York parks, the challenges with that, and what’s happening in Central Park, and an RFP issued by the economic development arm of the city that will examine the state of broadband across all the boroughs and what might be done to improve access to the Internet to all residents. Podcast [40 min., 20 MB, MP3] - http://www.wifinetnews.com/audio/ wnn_012_dana_spiegel.mp3 Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Help for a story about NYC Wi-Fi hotspot users
My friend Amanda is a reporter for Crain’s New York Business, and is doing a story about Wi-Fi hotspot users. She is looking to interview a few people. Please contact her directly: -- I am looking for regular Wi-Fi hotspot users in NYC, who use hot spots for leisure or work purposes. I would like to briefly interview users and learn about their experiences using hotspots and reasons why they use hotspots. I will use these interviews and include the feedback in a feature story I am working on for a weekly local business paper called Crain’s NY Business. My deadline for conducting these interviews is this Thursday July 13. Please feel free to call me directly at 212-210-0203 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] before Thursday if you would like to talk. I look forward to your help and feedback. Thank you! Amanda Fung Reporter Crain's New York Business (212) 210-0203 -- -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] New York Daily News: Students spread wi-fi
Here's a great article in the New York Daily News about some of the work that we've been doing with Monroe College. Thanks for making these projects happen, Rob! -- Students spread wi-fi Tech wizards bridge digital divide in city BY BILL EGBERT DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Increasing numbers of city residents will be able to surf the Web while they dunk their doughnuts, thanks to technology students at a Bronx college. Students in Monroe College’s advanced wireless technology course are installing wireless Internet connections at several locations in the Bronx and upper Manhattan, including a Dunkin’ Donuts in the east Bronx. Last semester, they installed wi-fi in Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Park, and at a Harlem coffee shop. “It’s good experience for them in a cutting-edge job,” said their professor, John McMullen. “And it’s a service to the community as well.” Not only will the Web access be free to anyone with a wi-fi-ready laptop, the installation and equipment are essentially free to the hot spot hosts. While the students earn college credits, the hardware is donated by NYCwireless, a nonprofit promoting free wi-fi access in the city. “The Monroe College students have done a lot of really important work,” said Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless. “They’re really plugged into their community. They’re the ones who know where the best places will be for new hot spots. They also help involve the community, which is crucial.” While City Hall is lagging far behind cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia in backing citywide wi-fi networks, small-scale initiatives like Monroe’s and SoBRO’s new hot spot at the HUB are starting to fill the gap – to the delight of local businesses left on the wrong side of the digital divide. “We’re really excited about it,” said Billy Gonzales, owner of Billy’s Deli Grocery at 83 West Fordham Road, due to be wired shortly. “Our customers are excited too. I think it’ll be good for business.” Other spots the class will turn hot this year include the Dunkin’ Donuts on Boston Road and Burke Ave. in the Bronx, Java’s Brewin’ Coffee Shop in Harlem, Coogan’s Restaurant in Washington Heights and Little Hands Day Care in Brooklyn. Monroe’s first collaboration with NYCwireless – wiring Stuyvesant Park in Manhattan – was a first in more ways than one. The hot spot was installed in conjunction with alternative energy nonprofit SolarOne, and is the first solar-powered wireless access in the New York area. An interactive map of free wi-fi hot spots throughout the metro area can be found at http://www.nycwireless.net. Bronx businesses interested in being wired as a public hot spot can contact McMullen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Help Needed: Installation of Madison Square Park Hotspot
We're planning on installing a hotspot at Madison Square Park on Saturday, June 24. If you are interested in helping out with this installation, please email Rob Kelley ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) directly. Place: Madison Sq Park (not Garden) Cross-Streets: 23rd St and Broadway Time: This Saturday at 9:00 am. We'll be trying to include some training on how to: 1) set up a Supernode using Soekris hardware 2) set up and point antennas 3) configure a DSL modem 4) CORRECTLY run ethernet cabling from the Access Point on the roof to the basement of the Shake Shack Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Help Needed: Installation of Madison Square Park Hotspot
We're planning on installing a hotspot at Madison Square Park on Saturday, June 24. If you are interested in helping out with this installation, please email me directly. We'll be trying to include some training on how to: 1) set up a Supernode using Soekris hardware 2) set up and point antennas 3) configure a DSL modem 4) CORRECTLY run ethernet cabling from the Access Point on the roof to the basement of the Shake Shack Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Gotham Gazette: Wireless Access
Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/tech/ 20060613/19/1882 Wireless Access by Marcus Banks 13 Jun 2006 Earlier this month the New York Times criticized the slow growth of wireless Internet access in New York City, which was the centerpiece of Andrew Rasiej's bid for the office of public advocate last year. The Times noted that free or low-cost wireless access is particularly needed in poorer neighborhoods, where the cost of DSL or high-speed service is prohibitive. New York City's current patchwork approach to wireless access is markedly different from that of other cities and many rural communities. The national trend is toward developing free or low-cost wireless networks that are accessible anywhere within a given region. New York City has focused on wireless access in parks. Thus far the Department of Parks and Recreation has been trying to provide wireless access in selected parks through partnerships with various non-profit and commercial groups. In addition, several organizations have worked independently to light up selected parks. For example, the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation provides wireless access in Bryant Park, and the Alliance for Downtown New York provides the same service in eight public spaces, including three parks, in lower Manhattan. Both groups worked with NYC Wireless, a non-profit organization that advocates universal wireless access in New York City. Parks Department Strategy The parks department first solicited bids for vendors to provide wireless access in 2003. Despite skepticism from some City Council members and NYC Wireless, the department perceived wireless access as a means of generating new revenue. The bid sought out companies willing to pay a significant license fee to outfit some of the city's largest parks, in exchange for selling subscriptions and/or pay-as- you-go wireless access. Few vendors were interested, and over a year later the contract was finally awarded to Wi-Fi Salon, a small firm in Manhattan. Although Wi-Fi Salon has successfully launched wireless service in part of Battery Park, it is almost one year behind schedule for launching wireless service in nine other parks throughout the city. The parks department has given Wi-Fi Salon a deadline of the end of this summer for completing this contract, and may approach other vendors if this is not met. Because the original bid did not generate as much interest or revenue as anticipated, the parks department issued a second bid for wireless vendors earlier this year. The new bid has lower licensing fees, allows vendors to bid on one park at a time rather than multiple parks only, and assumes that wireless access will be free to all individuals. In addition, there are shorter deadlines for completing projects once a contract is awarded. There are early signs of success for this approach; NYC Wireless is involved in providing wireless service in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, and a Long Island company will work on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and in Brooklyn's Columbus Park. NYC Wireless Perspective Even though NYC Wireless successfully competed for the recent parks department bid, Executive Director Dana Spiegel expresses concerns about it. He believes that wireless service should be treated as an amenity that is as important as a park bench. Spiegel also worries that, because of the costs associated with responding to the parks department bid, many qualified groups have ignored it. Spiegel feels that the city should pay for park access if no other funds are available. With that said, in many instances parks conservancies or Friends of groups could pay for installation and maintenance of wireless service. However wireless access is funded, Spiegel argues that it is a modest financial proposition, which pays for itself in the creation of more vibrant parks. Most NYC Wireless projects have not included the parks department. Union Square, Tompkins Square and Stuyvesant Cove Parks all offer wireless service established by NYC Wireless and interested local groups. A similar installation at Brooklyn Bridge Park is currently in development. Narrowing the Digital Divide One of the most important goals of universal wireless access is to narrow the digital divide. The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and Urban Communications Transport Corporation recently launched the first freely available wireless network in the South Bronx. Urban Communications Transport is a minority-owned business that was initially founded to provide wired Internet access in disadvantaged communities, and has now moved into the wireless realm. If the South Bronx network proves successful, it could serve as a model for similar networks in other neighborhoods throughout the city. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http
[nycwireless] Call for participation - Mobile Asia Competition 2006, Art Center Nabi
MOBILE ASIA COMPETITION 2006 ORGANIZED BY ART CENTER NABI SEOUL, KOREA The progress of mobile technology characterized by mobility, connectivity, and dispersion seems to resonate with the diasporic experiences of Asians who are mobile, dispersed yet connected with each other through socio-cultural dynamics and relations. With the mobile market and its culture expanding beyond Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan to the Southeast Asia, the need should be raised for reflecting upon the currency of culture and the urgency of new identities that are evolving with mobile technology in Asian region. Mobile Asia Competition 2006 hosted by Art Center Nabi pays attention to the role of media makers and artists in articulating and expressing the Asian mobile cultures. Artists and media makers always appropriate and challenge the given technology through creative ideas and critical practices to broaden the space of possibilities. Especially, the recent emerging ubiquitous mobile environments requires both popular sentiment and critical thoughts. Mobile Asia competition 2006 investigates the new forms of Asian identities and cultures in the creative works of artists and designers who dare to experiment, play, and wrestle with the mobile technologies. CATEGORY 1. Works made to be viewed and experienced on mobile devices (1) Game, Interactive Art (2) Screen-based arts : Animation, Motion Graphic, Documentary, Music Video, Narrative film, etc. 2. Works made by mobile phones such as camera phone, video phone. 3. Idea proposal for wireless art projects on the theme of ‘connectivity and social network’ Art project that expresses the theme of social network and connectivity while exploring new and artistic ways of using diverse personal media such as mobile phones, laptop, PDA and internet network. PRIZE The total award money is US $20.000 and the selected works will be exhibited in various on and offline venues. Category 1 2 (Mobile content): US $10.000 - One winner from each category will be awarded with $5000. - The works by winners and other selected works will be screened and exhibited at Art Center Nabi, ResFest Korea 2006 (digital film festival), and Korean mobile phone service including DMB channel. Category 3 (Wireless art proposal): US $10.000 - One winner will be awarded with $5000. - Additional $5000 and technical support will be offered for the realization of the proposal if the work is decided to be realized for the exhibition at Art Center Nabi. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES .Category 1 2 seek for completed works, and Category 3 for project proposal. .Projects that are under development will also be considered for Category 3. .Project proposal should relate to the theme and topics of the Award .The works that are already presented or won in other competitions are not eligible for entry. _HOW TO SUBMIT .All submissions should be processed through the official online platform. .Biography, project proposal, and other supporting materials (image, sound, movie files) should be uploaded in appropriate format indicated in each section. .However, the works applying for Category 1 2 should be sent via registered mail in the format of CD-Rom, DVD, Mini DV tape with a copy of filled-out online registration form printed from the website. Please go to http://www.nabi.or.kr/pages/submission.asp to complete your submission. (all submissions) Mail address (Category 1 2 only): Art Center Nabi [Att: Mobile Asia Competition 2006] 99 Seorin-dong, Jongro-ku, SK bldg. 4th fl. Seoul, Korea 110-110 _IMPORTANT DATES Deadline for Submissions .Category 1 2: August 31, 2006 .Category 3: July 31, 2006 Notification of winners September 15, 2006 CONTACT For more information, please visit www.mobileasia.org . Or contact at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Art Center Nabi 99 Seorin-dong, Jongro-ku, SK bldg. 4th fl. Seoul, Korea 110-110 www.nabi.or.kr --- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Meraki mesh nodes
http://meraki.net/mini.html This looks like an interesting product. Do people have ideas for how we would deploy a bunch of them for a project in NYC? Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Getting the right Linksys for Supernode (WRT54GL)
Ming, What are you basing this statement on? I've used many revisions of the 54G and the new 54GL and have never had the problem you highlight. Neither have many other users of this particular Linksys product. Furthermore, Netgear is not really supported for using with OpenWRT. I believe that the people behind the project are working on additional compatibility, but the Linksys WRT-54GL is still the most widely used router and the one with the best support for OpenWRT. If you have been having a particular problem, please be specific. Perhaps people on this list can help you. Also, earlier Linksys firmwares have had some of the issues you indicate, but to the best of my knowledge, these have been resolved by upgrading your firmware from Linksys. I am unaware of this type of problem when using OpenWRT. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jun 1, 2006, at 7:02 PM, Ming Lim wrote: Actually the Linkysis product you referenced really sucks! It stalls on you every 2 weeks and then you have to reset it again. It's not worth the money -- Netgear is a better product! m On 6/1/06, Rob Kelley [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm following up some requests from last night. If you're interested in flashing your own SuperNode, you can get your own base GL at Amazon and Newegg: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BTL0OA/002-0864115-2816861 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124190 Both are pretty cheap ($50-$60 after rebate). Retail stores usually sell the non-L version. Mail order is safer! Rob -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- Ming Lim Ph: 858.395.8478 Email 1: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Email 2: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: Your C3 EXPO VIP Pass June 27-29th in NYC
C3 Expo has offered NYCwireless VIP Guest Passes. Just use the registration below if you are interested in attending. -- Visit C3 EXPO.com and pre-register for your VIP Guest Pass with source code 6ASSNGEN before May 30th for FREE expo admission and receive a 50% discount off the C3 Conference Program. Your C3 EXPO VIP Guest Pass is your invitation to New York's forum for the latest advances in Corporate Information Technology, C3 EXPO C3 brings IT professionals together with the industry's premier solutions providers, technology manufacturers and consulting services. If you're in IT, be at C3: June 27-29, 2006 in New York City. Register today to attend C3 and visit in person with experts from leading IT vendors like Fujitsu, CSC, Quest Software, Sony, Citrix Online, Intel, Sun Microsystems, Computer Associates, Kodak, Serena and more! https://secure.pnmi.com/c3expo/?source=6ASSGEN -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Rescheduled: Brooklyn Bridge Park Network Installation on Monday May 22 @ 5:30pm
We will be installing of the Brooklyn Bridge Park on this Monday, May 22 at 5:30pm. Please email me directly if you are interested in participating. We will be installing the hotspot plus 2 antennas, doing some spectrum analysis, and also checking the coverage of the hotspot in the park. We need your help to make this project a success, so please try to help out with this installation. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Parks Dept. Wifi... Will it be free?
On May 17, 2006, at 2:33 PM, Dustin Goodwin wrote: I have been reading all the stories around the Parks Dept. plans and franchise they granted to Wifi Salon etc. 1. I was surprised that the franchise agreement from the city to the providers set deadline for turning on service. It does not seems that the light poll franchise has any similar stipulation as there appears to be zero usage of those franchises. The quote from Wifi Salon is telling: Marshall W. Brown, the owner of Wi-Fi Salon, said: That's the timetable set forth by Parks. Let's see if that's attainable. Later he added, It's obviously going to be tight, but I'm confident we'll be able to pull it off. Not clear to me the city can do anything to force them to go into service. Other then revoke the franchise? That's right. Though truth be told, Marshall has had 2 years to make this work so far. The current RFP has defined delivery dates in it to maintain the exclusivity of the franchise. If you miss the date (presumably without working with the Parks Department), they have the right to revoke the franchise they've granted you. This is something they learned from their awful experience with Marshal. It was mentioned at the hearing that the extension was so WiFi Salon could purchase more equipment, but I think that's just Marshall making excuses. Most of the parks should have been up by now. Incidentally, WiFi Salon pays a _minimum_ of $30,000 to the parks department per year. They like that money, and I'm sure that they believe (rightly so) that if they pulled the contract, they'd never get as sweet a deal from anyone else. So their interests are aligned with the service provider, which goes against the public's interest. 2. Lots of these articles mention free wifi in the parks. I doubt the parks franchise agreement dictates free.. I am certain the light poll franchise had nothing similar. The current RFP requires free end user service. The light pole franchise had no such requirement because DOITT expected no Wi-Fi to be deployed, only cell based wireless. Even with Wi-Fi, they never expected anything except the extension of an existing network. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] A selection of news stories about yesterday's City Council Hearing on parks-based wi-fi
Deadline Set for Wireless Internet in Parks http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/nyregion/16wifi.html [NYCwireless], a nonprofit group that did the technical work for those projects, has also set up networks at Union Square, Tompkins Square and Stuyvesant Cove Parks, and is building a network at Brooklyn Bridge Park this year. So far, the city's own efforts have paled compared with those achievements by private groups. - New York Parks To Offer Free Web Access http://www.nysun.com/article/32788 For the many New Yorkers seemingly locked to their laptops, the expansion of wireless access cannot come fast enough. But one suggestion at yesterday's hearing - taking Wi-Fi to the city's beaches - had even a leading wireless advocate issuing words of caution: I think it's a wonderful idea, but you have to be careful about getting sand in your laptop, the executive director of [NYCwireless], Dana Spiegel, said. - Wireless Internet access urged for NYC parks http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--parks-wi- fi0515may15,0,3939253.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork We believe that free Internet is an amenity and should be provided to all New Yorkers just as grass, trees and benches are, said Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless, a nonprofit organization that has worked with business groups and park boosters to set up wireless Internet access in several parks and open spaces. - Techies Urge Wireless Web Access In NYC Park http://www.wnbc.com/news/9221264/detail.html Wi-Fi Internet Access In NYC Parks? http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_136070920.html Wireless Internet access urged for NYC parks http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/index.ssf?/base/ news-18/1147739966322390.xmlstorylist=simetro New York Central Park With WiFi http://www.spotlightingnews.com/article.php?news=2201 Deadline Set For Wireless Internet In Parks http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003589801 CENTRAL PK. TO BECOME A WEB SITE http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/68590.htm Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] A selection of news stories about yesterday's City Council Hearing on parks-based wi-fi
Deadline Set for Wireless Internet in Parks http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/nyregion/16wifi.html [NYCwireless], a nonprofit group that did the technical work for those projects, has also set up networks at Union Square, Tompkins Square and Stuyvesant Cove Parks, and is building a network at Brooklyn Bridge Park this year. So far, the city's own efforts have paled compared with those achievements by private groups. - New York Parks To Offer Free Web Access http://www.nysun.com/article/32788 For the many New Yorkers seemingly locked to their laptops, the expansion of wireless access cannot come fast enough. But one suggestion at yesterday's hearing - taking Wi-Fi to the city's beaches - had even a leading wireless advocate issuing words of caution: I think it's a wonderful idea, but you have to be careful about getting sand in your laptop, the executive director of [NYCwireless], Dana Spiegel, said. - Wireless Internet access urged for NYC parks http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--parks-wi- fi0515may15,0,3939253.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork We believe that free Internet is an amenity and should be provided to all New Yorkers just as grass, trees and benches are, said Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless, a nonprofit organization that has worked with business groups and park boosters to set up wireless Internet access in several parks and open spaces. - Techies Urge Wireless Web Access In NYC Park http://www.wnbc.com/news/9221264/detail.html Wi-Fi Internet Access In NYC Parks? http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_136070920.html Wireless Internet access urged for NYC parks http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/index.ssf?/base/ news-18/1147739966322390.xmlstorylist=simetro New York Central Park With WiFi http://www.spotlightingnews.com/article.php?news=2201 Deadline Set For Wireless Internet In Parks http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003589801 CENTRAL PK. TO BECOME A WEB SITE http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/68590.htm Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Article: The right way to run a Wi-Fi cafe
You can use Wi-Fi Thank You for this. http://www.wifithankyou.com Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On May 11, 2006, at 11:34 PM, Kevin Mark wrote: -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Thu, May 11, 2006 at 08:30:01PM -0400, Jon Baer wrote: 7. Good music It would be pretty nice to have something like the NYCWireless Cafe of the Month/Year or some type of award (or spotlight) that recognizes a coffee shop for it's excellence in making the WiFi junkie feel most @ home. Id personally nominate the Tea Lounge on Union in Brooklyn. - Jon Hi, How about a page to submit a review of a wifi spot? and then have it added to a zipcode-based search. Cheers, Kev - -- | .''`. == Debian GNU/Linux == | my web site: | | : :' : The Universal | debian.home.pipeline.com | | `. `' Operating System| go to counter.li.org and | | `-http://www.debian.org/ |be counted! #238656 | | my keysever: pgp.mit.edu | my NPO: cfsg.org | -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFEZAItv8UcC1qRZVMRArdWAJ4o0+ENZIkPDOn0FdusPq4tNerLHACfT0xi UoWkhUrHW9UH/Yjkf+XIBO8= =gnAK -END PGP SIGNATURE- -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Brooklyn Bridge Park Network Installation
We are planning on doing the installation of the Brooklyn Bridge Park on this Saturday, starting around 11am. Please email me directly if you are interested in participating. We will be installing the hotspot plus 2 antennas, doing some spectrum analysis, and also checking the coverage of the hotspot in the park. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: WirelessMon 2.0 beta test
*** IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING, PLEASE EMAIL ME ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) DIRECTLY *** PassMark Software will soon be releasing a new version (v2.0) of its WirelessMon software. This application is designed to monitor wireless networks and report various statistics about the networks in the area. In addition to this it can produce maps of wireless network coverage. Some screen shots of the software and a download of the V2 beta are available here: http://www.passmark.com/forum/viewtopic.php? t=384 We are currently in the beta test stage and are looking for people to test this software. In searching for appropriate testers in the New York area I came across your nycwireless website. I was impressed both by the professionalism of the site and the quality of its directors. As such, I would like to invite you and any directors or members you feel appropriate to beta-test this software. In return I am authorised to donate $US100 towards your organisation plus the keycodes for five (5) copies of the final product when it is released. To give you an idea on what we would like from the testers please read below. Testing should cover several areas. - Usability - Stability - Compatibility with GPS Wireless cards - Accuracy of data reported - Completeness and accuracy of the included help file The following items are requested as output of the test if you choose to participate: 1) A complete description of the hardware used during testing. Obviously the more variety of hardware used the better. 2) A wireless network coverage map and the corresponding project file. To complete this, a NMEA GPS unit and wireless PC will be required. 3) A test report containing a brief overview of the testing done and results obtained. Any comments on user-friendliness will be appreciated as will screenshots. 4) Because some of the reports, maps and screenshots may be useful in producing marketing and promotional material we request that testers make a short statement in their report to the effect that they surrender all intellectual property rights to PassMark Software. Testers should also notify us as to their preference for anonymity or not in case we wish to approach them to provide testimonials. Important Note! We do not expect testers to connect to open networks that they do not control. This is illegal in some countries and is not required or expected as part of the project. The tester will need to supply their own hardware and electronic map for the area they are monitoring. If the map is obtained from a copyright protected source, please include the source in the report so that we may contact them for permission to reproduce the image. If you and your association are interested in being part of this test, or if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me (details below). I thank you for your kind consideration. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: A note from the Save the Internet Coalition
SaveTheInternet.com Coalition PRESS ADVISORY Monday, April 24, 2006 Contact: Trevor Fitzgibbon, 202-246-5303 Alex Howe, Fenton Communications, 202.822.5200 Strange Bedfellows Unite to Save the Internet Father of the Internet Vint Cerf joins Gun Owners of America, librarians, consumer groups and others to announce SavetheInternet.com Coalition On Monday, diverse coalition launches national campaign to stop Congress from gutting Network Neutrality -- the First Amendment of the Internet WASHINGTON - The SavetheInternet.com Coalition will hold a national conference call Monday to announce a campaign to defend the free and open Internet from a bill being voted on in the House of Representatives beginning next week. On Monday, April 24, at 1:00pm, Vint Cerf -- the father of the Internet -- will join Gun Owners of America, Consumer Federation of America, American Library Association, Public Knowledge, major public interest groups and others to announce this diverse grassroots coalition. The coalition is spearheaded by Free Press, a national, nonpartisan group focused on media reform and Internet policy issues, and the Web site is already up at www.SavetheInternet.com Congress is currently rewriting our nation's telecom laws. The SavetheInternet.com Coalition will mobilize public pressure to force Congress to resist a multimillion dollar lobbying effort by Internet providers like ATT and Verizon to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Network neutrality is the First Amendment of the Internet, said Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press. It ensures that the public can view the smallest blog just as easily as the largest corporate Web site by preventing companies like ATT from rigging the playing field for only the highest-paying sites and services. Net neutrality is the reason why the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech online -- and the public demands Congress not dismantle it. Without Net Neutrality, issue organizations would essentially have to pay protection money to dominant Internet providers or risk that their Web sites were not as fully functional as corporate sites. Gun Owners of America opposes any attempt to limit or curtail political speech, said Craig Fields, director of Internet operations for Gun Owners of America. Without statutory network neutrality, there is nothing to prevent big telecom companies from injecting political bias into the very skeleton of modern communications. If the telecoms believe they can frame opposition to their power grab as a liberal or anti-free-market attack, they are sadly mistaken. WHAT: National conference call -- launch of SavetheInternet.com Coalition's national campaign to protect Net Neutrality WHEN: Monday, April 21, 1 p.m. EDT / 10 a.m. PDT WHO: Vinton Cerf, Father of the Internet Craig Fields, Gun Owners of America Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America American Library Association Charter members of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition include: Professors Larry Lessig of Stanford University and Tim Wu of Columbia University (Fathers of Net Neutrality), Free Press, Gun Owners of America, right-of-center Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds, MoveOn.org Civic Action, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, Common Cause, the American Library Association, U.S. PIRG. As early as next week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, a major overhaul of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The current version of the bill -- sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Rep. Charles Pickering (R-Miss.), and Rep. Bobby Rush -- includes no meaningful protections for network neutrality. The future of the free, open and innovative Internet we have all enjoyed through the years is not guaranteed, said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a public interest group working on technology and intellectual property issues. If the bill before the House Commerce Committee gives control of the Internet to the telephone and cable companies, the Internet we have come to appreciate could well cease to exist, and it will be almost impossible to get it back. For more information, visit www.SavetheInternet.com ### -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet
This MoveOn campaign, as all (or just about all) campaigns for common carriage and net neutrality isn't about free, but about unfettered access. Just like you can pull out of your driveway and go to the local store, or even across the country to a store in California, without being restricted and cut off from that means of transportation (via car, bus, bike, feet, etc.). This is, right now, how the internet currently works, so there's plenty of evidence that such a scheme leads to tremendous economic growth. As usual, Jim, you are purposely putting misrepresentative words in our collective mouths. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 20, 2006, at 10:29 PM, Jim Henry wrote: I don't know. If the Internet should be free, then why not food and water? It's certainly more of a necessity! ;-) -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dana Spiegel Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 5:08 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet Dear MoveOn member, Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod? These activities, plus MoveOn's online organizing ability, will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law that gives giant corporations more control over the Internet. Internet providers like ATT and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents ATT from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays ATT more. Amazon.com doesn't have to outbid Barnes Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer. If Net Neutrality is gutted, MoveOn either pays protection money to dominant Internet providers or risks that online activism tools don't work for members. Amazon and Google either pay protection money or risk that their websites process slowly on your computer. That why these high-tech pioneers are joining the fight to protect Network Neutrality [1]--and you can do your part today. The free and open Internet is under seige--can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7355-3566631- h60jchVLX1e9.A7zdEdFewt=4 Then, please forward this to 3 friends. Protecting the free and open Internet is fundamental--it affects everything. When you sign this petition, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee next week. MoveOn has already seen what happens when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. Just last week, AOL blocked any email mentioning a coalition that MoveOn is a part of, which opposes AOL's proposed email tax. [2] And last year, Canada's version of ATT--Telus--blocked their Internet customers from visiting a website sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating [3]. Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on the verge of selling out to people like ATT's CEO, who openly says, The internet can't be free. [4] Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can make sure they listen to our voices and the voices of people like Vint Cerf, a father of the Internet and Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, who recently wrote this to Congress in support of preserving Network Neutrality: My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would place broadband operators in control of online activity...Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online [4]. The essence of the Internet is at risk--can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7355-3566631- h60jchVLX1e9.A7zdEdFewt=5 Please forward to 3 others who care about this issue. Thanks for all you do. --Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team Thursday, April 20th, 2006 P.S. If Congress abandons Network Neutrality, who will be affected? * Advocacy groups like MoveOn--Political organizing could be slowed by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay protection money for their websites and online features to work correctly. * Nonprofits--A charity's website could open at snail-speed, and online contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't
Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet
Again, Jim, you are misrepresenting what I said! The free and open Internet is under seige. Free as in unrestricted access, not free as in we shouldn't have to pay for internet service, which all of us already do. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 21, 2006, at 1:02 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Dana, Not so! From the original messagage: The free and open Internet is under seige--can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: On Thu Apr 20 20:00:59 PDT 2006, Dana Spiegel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This MoveOn campaign, as all (or just about all) campaigns for common carriage and net neutrality isn't about free, but about unfettered access. Just like you can pull out of your driveway and go to the local store, or even across the country to a store in California, without being restricted and cut off from that means of transportation (via car, bus, bike, feet, etc.). This is, right now, how the internet currently works, so there's plenty of evidence that such a scheme leads to tremendous economic growth. As usual, Jim, you are purposely putting misrepresentative words in our collective mouths. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 20, 2006, at 10:29 PM, Jim Henry wrote: I don't know. If the Internet should be free, then why not food and water? It's certainly more of a necessity! ;-) -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dana Spiegel Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 5:08 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet Dear MoveOn member, Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod? These activities, plus MoveOn's online organizing ability, will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law that gives giant corporations more control over the Internet. Internet providers like ATT and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents ATT from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays ATT more. Amazon.com doesn't have to outbid Barnes Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer. If Net Neutrality is gutted, MoveOn either pays protection money to dominant Internet providers or risks that online activism tools don't work for members. Amazon and Google either pay protection money or risk that their websites process slowly on your computer. That why these high-tech pioneers are joining the fight to protect Network Neutrality [1]--and you can do your part today. The free and open Internet is under seige--can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7355-3566631- h60jchVLX1e9.A7zdEdFewt=4 Then, please forward this to 3 friends. Protecting the free and open Internet is fundamental--it affects everything. When you sign this petition, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee next week. MoveOn has already seen what happens when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. Just last week, AOL blocked any email mentioning a coalition that MoveOn is a part of, which opposes AOL's proposed email tax. [2] And last year, Canada's version of ATT--Telus--blocked their Internet customers from visiting a website sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating [3]. Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on the verge of selling out to people like ATT's CEO, who openly says, The internet can't be free. [4] Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can make sure they listen to our voices and the voices of people like Vint Cerf, a father of the Internet and Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, who recently wrote this to Congress in support of preserving Network Neutrality: My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would place broadband operators in control of online activity...Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online [4]. The essence of the Internet is at risk--can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http
Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet
You're wrong, again, Jim. Content providers (who are only 1 aspect of people who provide information/service on the net) already pay for their pipe. ATT and Verizon's concept of freedom isn't freedom at all. Its double taxation. You would have a content provider pay for their bandwidth in exactly the same way that a consumer does (these relationships between backbone providers and ISPs are similar regardless of the direction of bitflow, and then PAY AGAIN just to get their bits to be carried at some point further downstream, which they've already paid for when they paid their ISP (who pays THEIR backbone provider). This is discrimination of the worst kind. Furthermore, backbone prioritization has the effect of REDUCING the speed of organizations that don't pay up. In addition, this amounts to unfair marketpower, since the backbone provider wouldn't be able to exert such directed market pressures if they weren't leveraging US, their monopolized end users. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 21, 2006, at 7:43 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Max, OK,then I don't see any conflict with some of the proposals coming from ATT and Verizon with this concept of freedom. Consumers will still be able to access any content on the Internet as long as they pay for access. Content providers will still be able to provide content as long as they pay for the pipe. The bigger the pipe they want, the more they pay. If they want their packets tagged for priority routing and QOS, they pay more. Sort of like the postal service or UPS. Now, when you talk about providers actually BLOCKING certain web sites I am totally against that. So when I hear that Google is one of the advocates of this neutrality, YET, are partners in crime with china depriving their citizens of certain content, I just see Net neutrality as mostly a bunch of hypocritical bs, though there are a few well intentioned individuals involved in it. Jim -Original Message- From: MAX Wireless [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 12:44 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'Dana Spiegel'; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: RE: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet FREE INTERNET! WOW! Where do I sign up? With my QWEST charges and my ISP charges I'm pushing $40 a month. Doesn't look free to me. In the context of the MoveOn article the word Free was meant to convey Freedom, as in Freedom of Speech, not . Btw, heard this morning TV stations are looking to lock the channels on your TV from being changed when a commercial comes on. But for a fee they'll allow you to undo the lock. I have very little info on it, just heard it on CBS radio news this morning. What's the world coming to? 1984 twenty two years late? Larry ;-) It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. Benjamin Franklin -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Henry Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 8:29 PM To: 'Dana Spiegel'; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: RE: [nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet I don't know. If the Internet should be free, then why not food and water? It's certainly more of a necessity! ;-) -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 268.4.4/320 - Release Date: 4/20/2006 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet
office. * Parents and retirees--Your choices as a consumer could be controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc. * Bloggers--Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips--silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets. To sign the petition to Congress supporting network neutrality, click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7355-3566631- h60jchVLX1e9.A7zdEdFewt=6 P.P.S. This excerpt from the New Yorker really sums up this issue well. In the first decades of the twentieth century, as a national telephone network spread across the United States, A.T. T. adopted a policy of tiered access for businesses. Companies that paid an extra fee got better service: their customers' calls went through immediately, were rarely disconnected, and sounded crystal-clear. Those who didn't pony up had a harder time making calls out, and people calling them sometimes got an all circuits busy response. Over time, customers gravitated toward the higher-tier companies and away from the ones that were more difficult to reach. In effect, A.T. T.'s policy turned it into a corporate kingmaker. If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's a good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. T. had to abide by a common carriage rule: it provided the same quality of service to all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while tiered access never influenced the spread of the telephone network, it is becoming a major issue in the evolution of the Internet. Until recently, companies that provided Internet access followed a de-facto commoncarriage rule, usually called network neutrality, which meant that all Web sites got equal treatment. Network neutrality was considered so fundamental to the success of the Net that Michael Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described it as one of the basic rules of Internet freedom. In the past few months, though, companies like A.T. T. and BellSouth have been trying to scuttle it. In the future, Web sites that pay extra to providers could receive what BellSouth recently called special treatment, and those that don't could end up in the slow lane. One day, BellSouth customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot faster than YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just seem to run more smoothly. Tiered access will turn the providers into Internet gatekeepers [4]. Sources: 1. Telecommunication Policy Proposed by Congress Must Recognize Internet Neutrality, Letter to Senate leaders, March 23, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1653 2. AOL Blocks Critics' E-Mails, Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1649 3. B.C. Civil Liberties Association Denounces Blocking of Website by Telus, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Statement, July 27, 2005 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1650 4. At SBC, It's All About 'Scale and Scope, BusinessWeek, November 7, 2002 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1648 5. Net Losses, New Yorker, March 20, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1646 6. Don't undercut Internet access, San Francisco Chronicle editorial, April 17, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1645 Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Questions about kernel version, soekris4801
I'd recommend you look at Pyramid Linux, which is the next generation of pebble, created by Rob Flickenger of Metrix and NoCat fame. Its based on Ubuntu Breezy, and is fully upgraded. http://pyramid.metrix.net/DownloadPage Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 19, 2006, at 6:05 PM, Rick Mann wrote: One of the things I want to do is run pptp-client (pptp- client.sourceforge.net), which requires some kernel modules. However, these are now included in 2.6.15. How hard is it to upgrade the kernel in pebble, and still have it run on a Soekris net4521? I also have a net4801, but I don't see that as one of the module package options during the install. Is Pebble up-and-running on a 4801? How do I install for a 4801? Thanks! -- Rick -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: CWN-Summit Digest, Vol 20, Issue 3
Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 13:00:18 -0500 From: Sascha Meinrath [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [CWN-Summit] The New Network Neutrality: Criteria for InternetFreedom. To: National Summit on Community Wireless Networking Participant E-mail List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Hi all, A couple folks asked that I send this out to this list also... *** I just posted this on my own blog (saschameinrath.com) and on MuniWireless.com -- thought I would send it out to the list for feedback. --Sascha With the San Francisco and Philadelphia wireless debates heating up, it's become clear that there's been a lack of attention paid to the undermining of many of the freedoms we've grown to expect (and perhaps take for granted) on the Internet. With this in mind, my colleague, Victor Pickard, and I have been thinking more and more about the interconnections between Internet Freedom and Network Neutrality, and the inadequateness of current conceptualizations. Here's an overview: An extraordinary debate has unfolded in recent months. Heated discussions concerning “Net Neutrality” have spilled outside the policy power- centers of congress and the eighth floor of the FCC. These debates have transcended their normal boundaries of inside-the-beltway public interest circles to rage across the Internet as well as the business and editorial pages of major media outlets. Generally referring to nondiscriminatory interconnectedness between communication networks allowing users’ to access and run the content, services, applications and devices of their choice; net neutrality principles are the critical foundation of the Internet’s relative openness. Increasingly, however, telecommunications companies are motioning that within a newly “deregulated,” post-Brand X climate, they are eager to create tiered Internet services more in line with a cable television model. As congress debates whether net neutrality protections should be written into current legislation, the battle lines have been drawn between the big telecommunications companies who own the pipes, on one side, and Internet content companies and public interest groups, on the other. The fact that people are paying attention to these crucial Internet principles––and the policies that may undermine the public’s freedom of access to information on the Internet––is something to be applauded. However, it is the authors' contention that the ways in which net neutrality have been defined in normative discourse thus far, with an emphasis on non- discriminating wires and common carriage, are too limiting in their scope. We propose a far more encompassing program for net neutrality provisions, one that we believe will better enable the Internet to reach its democratic and participatory potentials. Our new formulation of net neutrality goes beyond questions of open access to consider the broader contours of Internet architecture, including software, hardware, wireless infrastructure, economics, and open protocols and standards. Drawing from the research of Yochai Benkler, Mark Cooper, Lawrence Lessig, Tim Wu, and others, we envision a more open and participatory Internet. Frequently referred to as a commons-based approach to the management of communications systems, this model emphasizes cooperation and innovation as opposed to privatization and enclosure. Much of the recent discussions on net neutrality implicitly relate to these precepts. However, we demonstrate that the linkages among net neutrality and the more encompassing provisions of “open architecture” need to be made more explicit. Understanding that all technology is inscribed with social values that foreclose certain possibilities while encouraging others, this project is necessary to better clarify what we mean when we talk about “net neutrality” and, with eyes to the future, to situate this debate within a larger vision of Internet openness and freedom. To summarize, our contribution will synthesize existing commons-based models to create a more expansive standard of net neutrality that is conducive to Internet openness. We propose a model that runs counter to U.S. phone and cable companies’ plans, but also challenges the overly narrow constraints of current public interest arguments. Using a theoretical framework based on critical approaches to Internet technology and close analysis of news coverage and policy briefs, our paper illuminates the current debate around net neutrality, explicates limitations of this discourse, and proposes a set of policy guidelines for a more open and participatory Internet. Originally posted at: http://www.saschameinrath.com/node/363 -- Sascha Meinrath Policy Analyst* Project Coordinator * President Free Press *** CUWiN ***
Re: [nycwireless] NY Press: NEW YORK: NOT-SO-WIRED CITY (fwd)
Ah, if only this were true. 1) Even if its only worth 5 cents, it will still be stolen unless it is locked up. 2) The linksys is really only dependable for one-off's (meaning a cafe or single apartment. The hardware itself is unreliable, and if you use it continuously for a year or two, its not going to last. This is why we use soekris boards for our park APs, and why the budget for the APs in an apartment are based on using either Cisco or Soekris gear. They will last for 3-5 years without having to be replaced. The Linksys has a half-life of between 1-2 years of continuous use (maybe worse if its mounted outside in an all weather enclosure. For a single apartment or cafe, using the Linksys gear is a great idea, and the NYCwireless Supernode is built on this gear. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 6, 2006, at 5:12 PM, Hammond, Robin-David %KB3IEN wrote: True, actual installations are ALL DIFERENT. I'm assuming door locks and risers you can trust ;) Providing 'adequate security' can always be asbused to give carte-blanche to spend as much money as posible. And yet /stuff/ still happens. I choose the linksys as it available everywhere, not because it is good (or bad). Also they are so cheap they are hardly worth stealing. Current linksys performance is not an issue I know enought about to debate adequately. There can only be one 'best' of anything on the market (for a given set of values), odds are i won't pick it randomly. As always what (warantees) you violate is your own buisness. Google some some lecture about capacitors, lightening etc and insert here. I also would not build a revenue model on this technology either. nuff said On Thu, 6 Apr 2006, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 15:04:49 -0400 (EDT) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Hammond, Robin-David %KB3IEN [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] NY Press: NEW YORK: NOT-SO-WIRED CITY On Thu, 6 Apr 2006, Hammond, Robin-David %KB3IEN wrote: The most rediculously over engineered router I ever built was barely over 1000. The least functional probably about 5000 cents. 50 usd. Im presuming the 5k figure represents at most seven hundred for a router, leaving 4300 for access points, wire and various frobs. So if 3km of cat5e goes for $400, there is 3900 remaining in budget. At $40 usd for a wrt54g, that limits you to 90 something access points, at 2 per floor a 45 storey building is unwired for $5k usd. With enough change left over for rj45 heads, a spiffy hub or six and a new crimping tool, you will need one when all is said and done. I encourage my competitors to budget like that. There's a difference between 'works for me after weeks of hacking' setup and a deployable solution that works right on day one, and on day 1000 without maintenance. You need: a) enclosures etc to make sure stuff doesn't get jacked. b) pay for labor to run the wire around. It could be 300-1000$ for that. c) non-ghetto APs. I encourage competitors to build their business based on wrt54g and unofficial firmware -alex Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. -- Nikita Khrushchev Robin-David Hammond KB3IEN www.aresnyc.org. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NY Press: NEW YORK: NOT-SO-WIRED CITY
http://www.nypress.com/19/14/newscolumns/feature.cfm NEW YORK: NOT-SO-WIRED CITY Thanks to the big telcos, we lag in installing a wifi overlay By Louise Radnofsky In the beginning, there was warchalking. As the oft-related story goes, in 2002 web designer Matt Jones decided to take his laptop, with a newly acquired wifi card, on a walk around London. From the cloud of coverage created by overlapping unsecured wireless broadband networks in city offices, he found he could connect to the Internet. Then, drawing inspiration from the signs marked by hobos during the American Depression, Jones began to chalk up symbols to tell other would-be Internet users when they had arrived at a hotspot location. Four years later, the idea of being able to gain a wireless connection to the Internet anywhere has exploded. Philadelphia will become the largest single population to implement a network later this year. Sixteen other American cities have already awarded contracts to companies, almost all of them small and independent, to provide free or low cost wireless broadband for public use. New York City lags far behind all of these municipalities. Politicians [here] don't know the difference between a server and a waiter, said Andrew Rasiej, who ran for public advocate last year on a platform of providing municipal wireless broadband. This is a city that made most of its money in the Industrial Age, and the people who control most of its power structures are Baby Boomers who don't know much about technology. The city inched closer to municipal wireless broadband last December when the City Council passed a bill creating a special taskforce to advise Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on technological options for unwiring New York, but this has stalled in the new session. Impatient activist groups have taken matters into their own hands. NYCwireless has installed wireless networks in Bryant Park, Union Square Park, Tompkins Square Park, Bowling Green Park, City Hall Park, and South Street Seaport. The group also maintains a database for users to identify neighborhood hotspots. And in keeping with the original, co-operative sentiments of Jones' activity, the group provides open-source software, free of charge, to any apartment building or block that wants to build its own mesh wireless network. For around $5,000, a tech-savvy apartment resident can attach a router to a physical Internet connection in the building, and plug in two or three access points at electrical points on each floor of a typical six-storey building, according to NYCwireless Executive Director Dana Spiegel. These access points transmit wireless signals to residents on each floor, creating a mesh: a network that has no identifiable center—or owner—because each computer added creates more paths of connection. Organizations like NYCwireless can afford to give away their creations —often enhanced versions of other groups' work across the country— because they've entirely bypassed the hefty research and development investment costs of the major telecommunications companies. It's not this black box, über-technology that requires zillions of dollars to do, said Sascha Meinrath, project director of the Champaign-Urbana [Illinois] Community Wireless Network, whose software was developed by part-time volunteers sitting around drinking coffee and testing ideas. To many, the municipal wireless movement challenges the very concept of ownership: making a traditionally privately held utility available to everyone for next to nothing. Spiegel said communal networks brought people together. Discussing the recent New York Times feature, Hey neighbor, stop piggy-backing on my wireless, Spiegel said, That's completely wrong. It should be, 'Hey neighbor, it's great to finally meet you.' Unsurprisingly, the giant telephone companies have made no secret of their hostility to the new technology. They are currently lobbying intensely at a federal level and in 15 states to pass laws banning municipalities from providing free wireless broadband, citing anti- monopoly concerns. Several traditional companies, including New York City's main Internet providers Verizon and Time Warner Cable, impose non-sharing policies on users. Spiegel pointed out that there was no law against sharing an Internet connection. NYCwireless recommends ISPs that do not restrict use in this way, and instructs users how to set up security software to prevent harm to computers on a network. Groups like NYCwireless see wireless broadband as bridging socio- economic divides as well as bringing smaller communities together. While Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum has openly dismissed Internet access as a priority for low-income communities, NYCwireless secretary Laura Forlano describes a home broadband connection as helping users to find jobs and retail bargains. Everyone knows
Re: [nycwireless] WRT54GL model
You won't be able to find a 54G that will work with OpenWRT. WRT-54G v5 revisions don't run Linux (and haven't for the past 6 months). So if you want a 54G you should only buy the 54GL. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Apr 3, 2006, at 11:27 PM, Jon Baer wrote: Greetings ... I recently installed White Russian RC5 on my WRT54G @ home to test our some wifi port knocking software and want to get another box to just play around with and was trying to figure out what would make the GL model more efficient if I could get another G model at a lower price (w/ the correct needed version). Anyone have one of these that can tell me what is installed on it that would make it worthwhile to pay extra for? (Or if anyone was selling one). Thanks. - Jon -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] User suspension from mailing list
Rubin has been suspended from the list due to repeated inappropriate postings. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Mar 21, 2006, at 9:10 AM, Dylan Mcduffie wrote: ...This thread is growing old and is not worth the amount of space it takes in my mailbox. --- Ruben Safir [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, 2006-03-20 at 23:36 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So, which part of this is unclear to you, Ruben? ISPs are not common carriers. Done and done. In the alternate reality, the one you wish you lived in, they might be, but here on earth, we aren't. Why did you snip the part on the common definition of Common Carrier. Just because some business minded extremest like yourself have managed to so far keep ISP's exempt from regulatory constrainst of common carriers on the federal level (only on the federal level) in NO WAY changes the fact that ISP's are common carriers. And the government has, will, and will in the future regulate ISP's since they are OBVIOUSLY common carriers. Ruben -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] New Yorker Article [was: Multichannel News-AnalystsQuestionBellInvestments]
Ruben has been warned, and the rest of the list should be clear on this as well: Ongoing discussion and debate is good and welcome. Even heated debate is fine from time to time. However, we do not allow attacks or berating comments. Keep things civil and respectful. If you cannot, you will be removed and banned from this list. I have not had an opportunity to read today's postings, however I suggest everyone take a night off and come back in the morning. I'm sure that many (most?) of you could continue discussing with cool heads, but I'd request that for the lists sake, let's hold our discussions until everyone has a chance to cool down. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Mar 20, 2006, at 11:12 PM, Jim Henry wrote: And I thought you were filtering out my posts! sigh -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ruben Safir Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 10:11 PM To: Jim Henry Cc: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: RE: [nycwireless] New Yorker Article [was: Multichannel News-AnalystsQuestionBellInvestments] On Mon, 2006-03-20 at 13:10, Jim Henry wrote: Robin, I think what you are missing is the fact that one has no right to insist on their traffic being prioritized when it traverses the network, which is private property, Thats incorrect twice. First, it a common carrier and secondly, Your private property argument is without any merit. Ruben -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 268.2.5/284 - Release Date: 3/17/2006 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] New Yorker Article [was: Multichannel News -AnalystsQuestionBellInvestments]
network. You are stuck getting the slow speed version. And given all of the past behavior of the telcos, this is exactly what they would do with this power. This wouldn't be an issue if SBC and Verizon didn't own the backbone, since the backbone providers either would never offer this optimized service, or would offer it equally to you and SBC/Verizon. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Mar 18, 2006, at 4:42 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sat, 18 Mar 2006, Dana Spiegel wrote: And here is where we have the astroturf statements. Network Neutrality IS NOT regulation of the internet. It is a means of PRESERVING internet freedom. This doublespeak is being promoted solely by telcos and their astroturf organizations. Private individuals have not been concerned with attacking Net Neutrality. However astroturf organizations have been able to mis-represent Net Neutrality as government regulation. It is not. The ONLY people who benefit from NOT having Net Neutrality are the telcos and the cablecos. Private individuals and most business BENEFIT from having Net Neutrality. Who said? As an ISP, I am *against* any kind of net neutrality that would apply to my network. I don't want government to tell me what I can and what I cannot do with my customer's traffic. Yes, most likely, I will not touch any kind of packets, but if I choose to give higher priority on *my* IP network to PilosoftVOIP packets, I should have this choice. If your suggestion is that Net Neutrality should only apply to ILECs and cablecos - oh I'm all for it...But it kind of seems unfair, doesn't it? Not being a biggest fan of the incumbents, it does seem somewhat silly to hamstring them. The right thing of course would be to reverse the TRO and mandate ILECs to provide unmolested layer2 DSL transport to third-parties. But that battle seems to be lost. Possibly, the only condition when net neutrality makes (sort of) sense is that ILEC would have to choose between providing access to competitors like us, or to be bound by net neutrality provisions. -- Alex Pilosov| DSL, Colocation, Hosting Services President | [EMAIL PROTECTED]877-PILOSOFT x601 Pilosoft, Inc. | http://www.pilosoft.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] New Yorker Article [was: Multichannel News -AnalystsQuestionBellInvestments]
Jim, I don't know anything about the Center for Individual Freedom. From their issues page, they seem to attack any government regulation or taxation, regardless of the purpose of the action. For the rest of our readers, I want to state for the record that we, as supporters of Net Neutrality, do so only as a reactionary measure. I think you would be hard pressed to find a one of us who supports government regulation just for the hell of it. Our fight for Net Neutrality comes as a direct reaction to statements made by Ed Whitacre, CEO of SBC, John Thorne, a Verizon senior vice president and deputy general counsel, and William L. Smith, CTO of BellSouth. Coupled with the vast majority of this country only having a choice between a single cableco and a single telco in order to get internet access, we feel that the normal marketplace mechanisms that would (possibly) counteract the telco and cableco drive to control the internet are visibly absent. As a result, we, people who generally oppose additional regulation by our government, believe the creation of Net Neutrality regulation is the only way to counteract actions taken by the consolidating telco and monopolistic oligopolies. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Mar 15, 2006, at 11:44 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Frank, Yepper, and here is yet another article: Center for Individual Freedom Dear Friend: Why after so many years of fighting to keep the Internet largely free of regulation and taxation are some lawmakers and Internet companies now advocating for increased regulation of the Internet? The United States House of Representatives may consider a provision that will lead to regulation of the Internet. Please contact your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner and ask them to keep the Internet free of regulation. Use the hyperlink below to send your personalized letter to your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner today! http://capwiz.com/cfif/issues/alert/?alertid=8574316type=CO Last week, several news publications -- citing anonymous sources -- reported that new legislation to regulate the Internet (so-called net- neutrality) will be considered as part of a telecom reform bill currently being debated in Congress. Over the past few months, proponents of so-called net-neutrality regulation have been using scare tactics with the general public and our elected officials - demanding legislation for a problem that doesn't even exist! Even the Wall Street Journal calls these proponents' tactics silly and dismisses the notion that it is the end of the Internet as we know it. Some major corporate interests like Google and Yahoo! would like for you to believe they are David facing Goliath -- claiming that broadband providers like Comcast, Cox and ATT will keep you from accessing their products. Nothing could be further from the truth! Never, in the history of the Internet, has a broadband provider blocked a customer from accessing their Yahoo! Mail or Google search engine. Yet, these companies want Congress to enact legislation that will protect them from this non-existent problem. Ironically, these calls for the government to become the Internet's traffic cop are being led by companies like Google, which only a short time ago made headlines when it chose to cooperate with the Communist leadership of China. Remember when Google caved to the Chinese government and agreed to block access to all information and websites that speak about freedom and democracy? When they agreed to censor all information that discusses Tiananmen Square and independence for Taiwan - or anything else that can be interpreted to go against the interests of China's Communist leadership? Can you believe it's supposed conservative lawmakers who are now cow-towing to these interests and offering to legislate and regulate the Internet in response to these ridiculous demands? We have witnessed the success of the Internet and all that it does: brings families closer, grows economies, creates a new generation of entrepreneurs and increases access to information for people all over the world. All this with little, if any interference from the government. The Internet must remain free from government regulation and taxation! Contact your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner today! Ask them to reject calls to regulate the Internet. And, ask them to urge their colleagues to do the same. Use the hyperlink below to send your personalized letter to your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner today! http://capwiz.com/cfif/issues/alert/?alertid=8574316type=CO Sincerely, Jeff Mazzella President Center for Individual Freedom www.cfif.org -Original Message- From
[nycwireless] Wireless Community: Stop using Broadband
posted at http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/03/15/stop-using- broadband/ Stop using Broadband No, I don't mean that you should cancel your high-speed internet connection. What I mean is: Stop using the term broadband. I think that we need to change how we argue our points against the teleco and cable monopolies. You see, Broadband isn't the internet. Its just a way to get access to the internet. Most other countries understand this, but in the USA, we're so blinded by the marketing and PR of our Telco and Cable companies, that instead of pushing for high-speed access to the internet, something that should be available to everyone (you should especially know this if you read this blog!), we're talking about Universal Broadband. Universal Broadband has a great ring to it. But its wrong. Broadband is a marketing term that has been co-opted by Telco and Cable companies to mean whatever high-speed network *they* provide. And this is where things get confused. We're starting to see legislation that promotes Universal Broadband, which is good in theory. But when we phrase it like that, we're implicitly promoting certain ways to get high-speed internet access. In effect, we're using legislation and our own PR efforts to market for the type of crappy, slow, restricted internet access that our Telco and Cable companies offer. *Instead, we should be pushing for and talking about High-speed Internet, high-speed connections to that cloud of services and content that we're all providing for each other, in whatever form makes sense to you, the end user.* In many cases, it will be broadband dsl and broadband cablemodem service. But it might also me your local municipal or private Wi-Fi network, or satellite-based service. Or something we haven't thought of yet. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: A better idea for Net neutrality
Jim, You are correct. They are upfront about their constituency. Where the problem lies is in their insistence that they are representing the public. They are not. They are representing the people who fund them. In that respect, they are an illegitimate organization. The misrepresentation of the people they claim to represent makes them illegitimate. And as for them making good sense, perhaps they do, if you are a large private organization trying to monopolize a marketplace. To many others, including most of the informed and uninformed public, they practice religious free market worship. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Mar 15, 2006, at 7:13 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Rob, If you can post policy positions from one point of view, why can't you tolerate me posting a position from another point of view? PFF is a legitimate organization. Instead you imply it is disingenuous. Why? Check out PFF's web site and they are quite up front about their positions and their constituency. Anyone who understands how business works realizes that the positions they espouse make good sense. Respectfully, Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rob Kelley Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 6:13 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: A better idea for Net neutrality Ok, I'll call it. Astroturf! For those who don't know, Policy Analyst Randolph May is actually with the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a well-known astroturf group (looks like grassroots but really funded by the telcos): [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Progress_and_Freed om_Foundation ] Jim, this is just more of the same disingenuous stuff we've seen before. Are you paid to post this stuff to the board? Because the articles neither align with NYCwireless's mission nor any savvy person's common sense. Rob --- Jim Henry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Here's a thought provoking article from CNET on the so-called net neutrality proposals. Jim A better idea for Net neutrality By Randolph J. May Policy analyst Randolph J. May says the time is right for advocates to step back from the precipice. http://news.com.com/A+better+idea+for+Net+neutrality/2010-1028 _3-6048882.html?tag=sas.email Read all technology news from this week: http://www.news.com/thisweeksheadlines/ Copyright 2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. CNET Networks, Inc. 235 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94105 U.S.A. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 268.2.1/278 - Release Date: 3/9/2006 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: Multichannel News - Analysts QuestionBellInvestments
Again, Jim, you love to mis-represent. If *you* understood how our economy functions, you'd know that what would happen if these companies went belly up would be that, after a short period of dark time, lots of little companies would be formed (some non-profits like NYCwireless, in fact), that would start to provide the missing service. Many of these companies would be started by and employ many of the same technicians and engineers that were abandoned when their bosses ran their telco and cableco companies into the ground. Soon, there would be many companies competing, buying up the (now cheap) resources of the rotting carcasses of those old telco and cablecos, and putting the existing infrastructure back to use, but running it in a more efficient manner. This is what Joseph Schumpeter, a great economist, called Creative Destruction. It is the way healthy economies and competitive marketplaces work. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Mar 15, 2006, at 10:27 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Ruben, Telcos don't pay franchise fees in most cases to the best of my knowledge and are now doing their best to avoid paying them as cable companies do, even as the telcos begin to roll out video service. On the other hand, cable companies DO pay them. In addition, yes they also provide local access channels for the communities they serve. I don't know how you can interpret that as some sort of monopoly for either cable or telcos. These channels are USED by the local communities. They are PROVIDED by the cable companies at no charge and with no restrictions in ADDITION to the fees paid to the community. Often the cable companies also provide studio services for the community's use. They are no monopoly. The communities are not required to use them and there is no restriction against the community using a different medium such as over the air radio or TV, Internet, etc., to communicate to their citizens. Also, you keep confusing my references to cable, with your interpretation of telco. This seems to happen often on this list. They are NOT the same. Yes they are starting to converge but they are different industries with vastly different origins under vastly different regulatory infrastructure. To repeat a point, you go on to make statements about these industries that indicate an almost total lack of understanding about how our economy functions. Yes let's suppose all companies in both of these industries went belly up tomorrow. You think no one would notice? Let's see. The techs and engineers would not report to work, they'd be seeking other jobs. Their motives just aren't as altruistic as yours I guess, for they are in it for the money as they have families to feed. The vehicle fleets would be auctioned off. The multi-million dollar switches and routers in the headends and COs would be sold off to help satisfy debt to creditors. Soon, video, data and voice services would be failing. Forget that residential services would drop and people would be unhappy. More importantly, businesses would no longer be able to conduct business. Layoffs would ensue. I think it could come precipiticiously close to bringing our whole economy down. Given the choices I think many people would actually choose the model we have now. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ruben Safir Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 10:04 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] As to it not being about profit, I could not disagree more. Who is it supposedly making such a decision? Certainly no one in control of enough resources to make a substantial increase in broadband penetration. If so they'd be gone pretty quickly for fiscal incompetence. And this is where the lie is. The ability to provide broadband has been built into the telco system since the late 1970's and the franchise fees are the public access channels which provide exclusive monopolies to cable and telco to the last mile into the home. This resource should NOT be treated as a property of Cable or Telco providers. It is, by definition, 100% a public trust. WHO GIVES A RATS @$$ if every cable company and telco company goes belly up in the morning. The economy won't even BLINK, and it would free up billions of dollars of public investment. The current way that common carrier access is handled is exactly as if the roads and highways where sold lock stock and barrel to FedEx. Rather than the roads being a MEANS of competition for serves, they are being used to squash innovation. PERIOD. Those franchise fees that your complaining about, that is CHEAP stuff for the cable companies and something that they wouldn't want tampered with, THAT IS FOR SURE. If your such a genius about business, look up
[nycwireless] Article: Big Apple Wi-Fi...When? (Wi-Fi Planet)
From http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/02/16/wi-fi-planet-big- apple-wi-fiwhen/ Wi-Fi Planet has an article[1] that investigates if and when New York City will have a unbiquitous Wi-Fi network. The article, however, is a clear misrepresentation of reality. Inexplicably, they have failed to even mention the dozen or so public hotspots that NYCwireless has helped create in New York City’s parks and other public spaces, including Bryant Park, Union Square Park, City Hall Park, and the South Street Seaport. By leaving out this information, the article gives the false impression that New York City doesn’t have a vibrant community of people who, though community wireless and non-profit means, have given free Wi-Fi to a sizable percentage of residents. Gerry Blackwell, the author, implies that New York could only gain some form of Wi-Fi network through municipal or solely private investment. NYCwireless has proven over the past five years that community and non-profit means should be a component of any such network, and that as a non-profit, we’ve done more for the development of Wi-Fi in this city than private companies and government agencies combined. [1]http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3585761 Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Announcing the Second National Summit for Community Wireless Networks -- March 31-April 2, 2006. St. Charles, MO.
NYCwireless will be presenting. *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** *** PLEASE FORWARD *** The Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN), Mid-Rivers Community Wireless Network, and Free Press invite you to join us for a Community Wireless Networking Summit, March 31-April 2, 2006 in St. Charles, MO (right outside St. Louis). Imagine Implement: The 2006 National Summit for Community Wireless Networks will focus on grassroots action; impacting national regulations and policies; and building the coalition of community groups, researchers, policy leaders, decision-makers, and activists working to create better broadband services and telecommunications infrastructures. With Network Neutrality under attack and broadband service continuing to stagnate, it's time we organized to take the public airwaves back from corporate interests and put the public interest back in the spotlight. Community Wireless Networks are often owned by the communities that deploy them and offer better services for cheaper prices than traditional ISPs. Anyone interested in making the public interest the number one priority in broadband service provision should definitely attend this summit. Community Wireless developers from across North America will be demonstrating cutting-edge technologies; researchers and programmers will discuss recent breakthroughs and developments; and policy-makers and funders will strategize with participants on the new initiatives being launched and how we can make an impact in DC. More summit information is available online at: www.wirelesssummit.org Register online at: www.wirelesssummit.org/register Have questions or want to present? Send us an e-mail at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] See you in St. Charles, --Sascha Meinrath Summit Director Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] FW: Fon Is Just Another For-Fee Hotspot Operator
This provides an interesting counterpoint to all of the media hype surrounding FON. Fon Is Just Another For-Fee Hotspot Operator By Glenn Fleishman Special to Wi-Fi Networking News Permanently archived item http://wifinetnews.com/archives/ 006270.html After cogitating on it for a couple of days and talking to other reporters, it's pretty clear that Fon has a great smokescreen with its free Linus model: The fact is, Fon is just a paid hotspot operator that wants to eschew all venue signing, installation, and management costs. Fon has three kinds of hotspot users, but attention has focused on the Linuses, those who opt to let others who are also Linuses use their hotspots for free. This will always be a subset of all users. Let's say Fon reaches 1m installed hotspots by 2010, one of the stated goals of the founder. If even 750,000 are Linus hotspots, only 750,000 people will be able to use those hotspots at no cost. Six billion people--okay, the tens of millions of travelers with Wi-Fi laptops or handhelds or phones-- will pay. Let's not lose sight of the fact that there are now hundreds of aggressive hotspot builders cherrypicking the best remaining locations. If Fon only gets the dregs of locations (suburbs, apartment buildings, coffeeshops without service right now), then they're a niche-filling for-fee network. If they offer roaming across other networks and resell to aggregators, then they become a backfill network for missing locations, but only if people in those locations find it worthwhile to collect small fees in exchange for sharing bandwidth. Primarily, Fon is for-fee. Primarily, it faces the same location, location, location issues as other for-fee operators. Locations that want to offer free Wi-Fi will (quote)not (end quote)install Fon. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Wireless Community blog: Network Neutrality Senate Hearing and Reports
http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/02/08/network-neutrality- senate-hearing-and-reports/ Yesterday the US Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on Network Neutrality[1], gearing up for possible legislation that would encode network neutrality[2] into law. Reuters reports: High-speed Internet providers and Internet content companies clashed before lawmakers on Tuesday, in a dispute over whether a law enshrining the right to surf anywhere on the Web would help or harm consumers. Representatives of local telephone and cable companies that offer fast Internet access, known as broadband, said passing a new law could stymie innovation while companies like Google said that could happen without legislation. Broadband providers have largely pledged that consumers will be able to access any Internet site. But some also said they may charge more for services that use faster private Internet networks, like downloading movies. In the middle were lawmakers who were divided and uncertain about whether they should act. Republicans and Democrats both expressed support for unfettered Internet surfing, but a few Republicans cautioned about legislating too quickly.[3] The testimony has been posted[4], and there’s lots of commentary available: * Dueling Network Buzzwords: 'Neutrality' Versus 'Diversity' [8] (Technology Daily) * Politicos divided on need for 'net neutrality' mandate [5] (News.com) * Ensuring Open Internet an Issue Before Congress [6] (MediaWeek) * Network Neutrality Hearing Reactions [7] (Media Policy Blog) [1]http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1705 [2]http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/network-neutrality [3]http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx? type=technologyNewsstoryID=2006-02-07T232443Z_01_N07259780_RTRUKOC_0_US -INTERNET-NEUTRALITY.xml [4]http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1705 [5]http://news.com.com/Politicos+divided+on+need+for+net+neutrality +mandate/2100-1028_3-6036231.html?tag=nefd.lede [6]http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1001958729 [7]http://mediapolicy.blogspot.com/ [8]http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb- MBSE1139339451850.html Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] The End of the Internet?
Jim, We should the telco's like we trusted them when they said they'd provide a fiber optic network to every home? Rght. I'll tell you what: If you believe the telco's, then I've got a bridge to sell you. From the article you pointed out: McSlarrow pointed out that the cable industry has invested $100 billion on its networks in the last 10 years. This model works, he said, why change it to pursue hypothetical theories. Well, that's great, except we (the taxpayers) gave them $200 billion to invest in those networks over the last 10 years. Where'd the other $100 billion go? Dana Spiegel sociableDESIGN :: www.sociableDESIGN.com 123 Bank Street, Suite 510, New York, NY 10014 m +1 917 402 0422 :: f +1 760 454 3690 :: e [EMAIL PROTECTED] Read the Social Technologies blog: http://www.sociabledesign.com/blog Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Feb 8, 2006, at 7:29 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Dana, Read this article: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6305438.html? display=Breaking+Newsreferral=SUPPnid=2228 and I think you will begin to see that such fears are unfounded. Jim -Original Message- From: Dana Spiegel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 11:09 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: 'Rob Kelley (yahoo)'; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] The End of the Internet? Jim, I hardly think that's the point. Besides the fact that Jeff Chester _is not_ extreme and _takes no side_ in the article re: nuclear power, you are (as I've come to expect from your posts) arguing irrelevant details instead of the larger issue. In the article below, which everyone should read, Jeff lays out a number of important points regarding the promises that were made when we (taxpayers) helped these companies build their networks, and these companies' failures to live up to their end of the bargain. Furthermore, instead of trying to provide what they promised to us, they are taking advantage of the monopolistic market position we put them in. Net neutrality is not a new thing. It is the oldest and most important part of the internet's infrastructure. Now, after pulling a bait and switch on us over the past 2 decades, the telcos are trying to pull another bait and switch on us. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Feb 7, 2006, at 9:16 PM, Jim Henry wrote: This guy (the author, not you Rob) references nuclear power like it's a BAD thing! Concern for large companies exercising their market power over their netwokrs isn't going to get much traction when it only comes from people on the extreme. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rob Kelley (yahoo) Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 12:50 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: [nycwireless] The End of the Internet? The Nation gets hip to Network Neutrality... From The Nation [posted online on February 1, 2006] http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/chester The End of the Internet? by JEFF CHESTER The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online. Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency. According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers--would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to- peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out. Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users--would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing platinum, gold and silver levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received. To make this pay-to-play vision a reality, phone and cable lobbyists are now engaged in a political campaign to further weaken the nation's communications policy laws. They want the federal government to permit them to operate Internet and other digital communications services as private
[nycwireless] outdoor rated cat5 cable
Does anyone have a good local source for outdoor rated cat5 or cat5e cabling? I need perhaps 50 ft of it. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: [wsfii-discuss] Re: wsfii-discuss Digest, Vol 12, Issue 3
An interesting perspective from some international Community Wireless organizations regarding FON. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info Begin forwarded message: From: Ramon Roca [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: February 7, 2006 6:02:46 PM EST To: Discuss list on the World Summit on Free Information Infrastructure [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [wsfii-discuss] Re: wsfii-discuss Digest, Vol 12, Issue 3 Reply-To: Discuss list on the World Summit on Free Information Infrastructure [EMAIL PROTECTED] Clever analisys. And yes, at least now are saying who they are, believe or not at the beginning they were trying to convince us that they was really a non-profit org, so just because of that, we have to donate our networks to them xDDD. Some people at guifi are already trying to get their wrt54gl for 25 € (plus taxes and shipping). I'll let you know if it works :) BTW and now seriously, just thinking that the best message that real Commons inspired networks can send to those bloggers/false philanthropists/investors instead of donating our assets for their spoil is to list our networks and show to the world how global we are. If there is really any philanthropist who wants to invest in developing free networks, will clearly know where they are and which principles apply. Skype was somewhat pioneer in the voip, but on wifi they are just another newcomer, and still now truly commons inspired networks are stronger. Hopefully will be also in the future, but imho that's in our hands to make it happen, otherwise we can't blame for somebody doing something that we didn't had enough courage to do. Good night! En/na kdag ha escrit: the case of FUN* -FUN boss sold 2 ideas in the .com era, now he calls himself a philantropist..FUN is next. -FUN began as a .es and called up a social movement!, now they are a .com (in their most sincere act) -last week they got some money from skype and seems also google is investing ..little but investing... -their FUD affects the work of the free networks, the perception that users/audience in cities where they come to operate with the social approach. their commercial appropiation of the open/libre networks discurse, spoils the course of the wireless communities. -another example on how capitalism digests anything...just open a blog full of hype. ...and here we stand and actually they sell the wrt54g for 25 euros with the pre-installed firmware, im not sure if one signs a contract to not re-flash the device? i will like to get some for: http://www.medellinwireless.net or http://www.altred.net those tipical wireless community projects in this developing world :P ...etc... /ad *typo intended for avoiding blogsphere and google speculation. ___ wsfii-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/wsfii-discuss ___ wsfii-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/wsfii-discuss -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: The NYC Grassroots Media Conference Next sat FEB 11th
NYCwireless will be presenting at the Media Policy: Why it Affects Everyone panel at 11:15. I hope to see you there! Announcing the 3rd Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference Saturday February 2nd at New School University 65 Fifth Avenue at Thirteenth Street Register Now! http://www.nycgrassrootsmedia.org New York, NY - The NYC Grassroots Media Coalition (NYCGMC) will present its third annual conference at New School University Saturday, February 11th from 10am to 6pm. The conference theme, forging stronger connections between independent media and communities organizing aroundissues of justice and equality, seeks to address pressing issues of representation and diversity within the NYC community and beyond. Registration for the event costs $20 for adults, $5 for youth and $30 at the door. A projected one thousand students, activists, media makers, community workers and artists will convene in Manhattan for a day of more than 40 workshops, do-it-yourself (DIY) trainings, discussions, panels, art exhibitions and films. Kaajal Shah, of The Ave Magazine noted: In these times, conferences like this are vital in helping to facilitate the process of engaging young people in ongoing organizing work. The struggle to find accurate, truthful media remains a struggle in our communities. It is our responsibility to not only hold these information sources accountable but to also have the ability to create our own tools of conveying our stories through our voices. A goal of the conference is to address pressing media policy issues threatening to limit grassroots communication. Karen Helmerson, Director of Electronic Media and Film at New York State Council on the Arts said “The NYC Grassroots media conference offers a fresh look at policy in our digital society and broadens the scope of representation from the ground up - so critical to a healthy democracy.” Workshops will include “STORMWATCH: The Struggle for a Renewed Activist Mediaafter Hurricane Katrina” with Praxis Project, The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund Oversight Coalition, Emergency Communities “Do It Yourself Media Criticism” with Fairness and Accuracy in News Reporting, “Media Policy: Why it Affects Everyone” with Free Press and NYC Wireless, “Using Youth Media to Fight Stereotypes” with Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media (AWAAM) Community art exhibitions and film screenings presented by Hip Hop Association, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, Urban Visionaries, The Media That Matters Film Festival and Third World Newsreel. Katy Chevigny, Independent Filmmaker and Executive Director of Arts Engine, Inc. states: New York City is filled with millions of voices, each with it's own story to tell. The Grassroots Media Conference is one of the best events for media makers to share those stories and the strategies they employ for getting them out there! The NYC Grassroots Media Coalition is a project of Paper Tiger Television in collaboration with May First /People Link, North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) and the NYC Independent Media Center. For a full list of workshops descriptions, speakers, schedule information and to register please visit http:// www.nycgrassrootsmedia.org Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now
Begin forwarded message: From: Timothy Karr, Campaign Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: January 24, 2006 2:33:28 PM EST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now Dear Dana Spiegel: After destroying TV and radio, mega-media corporations are scheming to control what content you can view and which services you can use online. Streaming video, Internet phones, podcasting and online games are the future of the Internet. But companies like Verizon, ATT and Comcast want Congress to let them deliver only their own products at super-high speeds ... while sticking the rest of us in the slow lane. This predatory scheme would be a dead end for independent voices and Internet innovators: bloggers, producers, and any new channels and services that might compete with the conglomerates. The only way to stop them is to raise hell right now: Tell Big Media and Congress: Hands Off Our Internet. Go to http:// www.freepress.net/action/neutrality From its beginnings, the Internet was built on a cooperative, democratic ideal. The infrastructure’s only job was to move data between users — regardless of where it came from or what it contained. This “network neutrality” fostered a medium that did not exclude anyone, allowed for far-reaching innovations, and created the Internet as we know it. Past experience shows that when large media companies are left to their own devices, the result is content and services that serve nothing but their bank accounts. An open and independent Internet is the antidote to these media gatekeepers. If big media companies are allowed to limit the fastest services to those who can pay their toll, upstart Web services, consumers, bloggers and new media makers alike all would be cut off from the digital revolution. Tell Big Media and Congress: Hands Off Our Internet. Go to http:// www.freepress.net/action/neutrality Free Press will deliver a letter to the CEO of your broadband provider and send copies to your members of Congress, urging them to write “network neutrality” into law. Act now. We must defend our Net freedoms before we lose them altogether. Onward, Timothy Karr Campaign Director www.freepress.net P.S. Please forward this e-mail right now to everyone you know who uses the Internet. P.P.S Check out the new Free Press Web site — Dead End for the Internet? — to learn more about net neutrality and how to ensure that the Web remains an open road. Go to http://www.freepress.net/ deadend/ /*Your email ID. diaEmailID='75421859' thread=330/--*/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Fwd: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now
Thanks Bill Bob. And frankly, it has nothing to do with small or large profits. It has only to do with the co-option and private-gating of a public resource that everyone has helped to build. How would you feel if some private organization contracted with your city to manage sidewalks, and then afterwards erected fences to only let those who paid them an entry fee (at a price _they_ determined) to walk on those sidewalks, or those who ran stores paid them to leave the sidewalk in front of their store open (again at a price the management company determined)? What if there were two private companies that did this in your town, and claimed that they were competing because there were 2 of them. Meanwhile, you still can't use the sidewalk unless you pay one of them. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 24, 2006, at 7:57 PM, Billy Bob wrote: I don't believe that anyone begrudges a private corporation a reasonable profit... It's when they have humongous profits from products that have become a necessity of life for most of us, that we have a problem. I don't believe that we would be squabbling about the price of gas for our vehicles, if the corporations providing us the gas, were having a great year instead of the outrageous triple digit percentage profit gains at our expense. Especially when the general public sees no need for the high prices we pay, that are producing those outrageous profits. We will probably look at the Internet providers the same way. Why can't we go where we want to after paying to get on? And why should anyone be directing how I use my computer or what applications I prefer to use? I believe that my ISP already, and has all along, stated that I get x bandwidth per month for a price. If I go over that, I have to pay more. I think that is reasonable. I don't think it's reasonable for my ISP to tell me how I can use my bandwidth like my utility company doesn't tell me how I can use my electricity if the application is legal under the law. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Henry Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 6:34 PM To: 'Dana Spiegel'; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: RE: [nycwireless] Fwd: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now Shame on those evil big companies for wanting to make a profit! Shame on them for wanting to control how the very networks which they built and run, with their stockholders' money, are run! g Sorry sometimes I just can't resist! Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dana Spiegel Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 2:39 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: [nycwireless] Fwd: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now Begin forwarded message: From: Timothy Karr, Campaign Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: January 24, 2006 2:33:28 PM EST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now Dear Dana Spiegel: After destroying TV and radio, mega-media corporations are scheming to control what content you can view and which services you can use online. Streaming video, Internet phones, podcasting and online games are the future of the Internet. But companies like Verizon, ATT and Comcast want Congress to let them deliver only their own products at super-high speeds ... while sticking the rest of us in the slow lane. This predatory scheme would be a dead end for independent voices and Internet innovators: bloggers, producers, and any new channels and services that might compete with the conglomerates. The only way to stop them is to raise hell right now: Tell Big Media and Congress: Hands Off Our Internet. Go to http:// www.freepress.net/action/neutrality From its beginnings, the Internet was built on a cooperative, democratic ideal. The infrastructure's only job was to move data between users - regardless of where it came from or what it contained. This network neutrality fostered a medium that did not exclude anyone, allowed for far-reaching innovations, and created the Internet as we know it. Past experience shows that when large media companies are left to their own devices, the result is content and services that serve nothing but their bank accounts. An open and independent Internet is the antidote to these media gatekeepers. If big media companies are allowed to limit the fastest services to those who can pay their toll, upstart Web services, consumers, bloggers and new media makers alike all would be cut off from the digital revolution. Tell Big Media and Congress: Hands Off Our Internet. Go to http:// www.freepress.net/action/neutrality -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net
[nycwireless] ARTICLE: Advocates of Wi-Fi in Cities Learn Art of Politics
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/technology/circuits/19wifi.html January 19, 2006 Advocates of Wi-Fi in Cities Learn Art of Politics By GLENN FLEISHMAN SEATTLE, Jan. 18 - The idea of building citywide wireless networks from the community level was suspiciously simple back in 2000, although the plans sounded like the work of underground revolutionaries. All of us were very idealistic, and all quite strongly opinionated, said Adam Shand, founder of Personal Telco, which had visions of such a network in Portland, Ore. There as elsewhere, it was seen as a three-step process. First, build home-brew Wi-Fi antennas and develop software to make outdoor wireless networks affordable and practical. Second, persuade thousands of people in each city to stick Wi-Fi antennas out their windows, on their roofs or in their places of business to serve collectively as the nodes of a network. (Some groups sought to share existing commercial broadband Internet access - often regardless of whether an Internet service provider allowed that kind of sharing - while others wanted to build a separate community network.) Third, link those thousands of nodes into neighborhood networks that would themselves connect into a cloud of free citywide Wi-Fi coverage. That's free as in free beer as well as free as in freedom: most advocates envisioned no restrictions on content or participation, and no access charges. In contrast, almost all early Wi-Fi hot spots were pinpoints of service, had fees attached and restricted use. Step 2 was never completed, which is why victory speeches seem, at first glance, out of place. Nonetheless, community wireless accomplished spectacularly well what it set out to do, said Dana Spiegel, president of NYCwireless, a volunteer wireless advocacy group in Manhattan. While attendance at some community networking groups has plummeted and some smaller groups have disappeared, their technical and political impact has never been higher. Wireless advocates no longer dangle dangerously from rooftops mounting antennas built inside potato-chip cans, although some still provide technical help to business owners and nonprofit groups in creating free Wi-Fi hot spots. The problems that were hard in 2001 were technical ones, Mr. Spiegel said. Now, they're personal and relationship and political ones. The technology, we almost don't even think about it anymore. Greg Richardson, president of Civitium, a consulting firm, says that movement was the impetus for government-run citywide wireless Internet plans. Mr. Richardson has been a consultant on municipal wireless policy and technical issues for Philadelphia, San Francisco and other cities. Community wireless gave municipal planners the validation that a lot of those ideas could work, Mr. Richardson said. Early and continuing municipal efforts to provide small areas of free access in parks and downtown districts were and still are often created in conjunction with these community groups. The move from building physical networks to building political influence, many advocates say, stems in part from an August 2004 forum organized by the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network in Illinois. At the event, many community wireless leaders met for the first time. Sessions were conducted with politicians and members of nonprofit groups interested in diversifying media ownership. Sascha D. Meinrath, the network's project coordinator, said he saw a political awakening hit the technically focused participants. We could develop all of these technologies, we could come up with the holy grail of wireless technologies, and then it would be illegal to deploy it, he said. After they returned from the conference, several wireless advocates became involved in the political debates over municipal broadband. These debates intensified after Philadelphia announced in late 2004 that it would build a citywide Wi- Fi network. In quick succession, other cities announced their own plans, including Minneapolis; San Francisco; Anaheim, Calif.; and Tempe, Ariz. Much of the advocates' involvement has centered on stressing network neutrality, in which a network operator has little say over what devices are used on a network and for what purpose. The issue became more prominent after recent statements by the chief executive of ATT (the former SBC) suggesting that content providers like Google might be required to pay fees to reach ATT's Internet access customers. Scattered reports also indicate that some access providers may be blocking or interrupting Internet phone services. Michael Oh of NewburyOpen.net, a commercially sponsored free Wi-Fi zone on Newbury Street in Boston, said, I don't think anyone in the SBC world or the policy-making world would have anticipated that there would have been anyone at the table like us when it came to municipal
[nycwireless] BellSouth wants new Net Fees
Posted on: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/01/17/bellsouth- wants-new-net-fees-2/ According to an article on MarketWatch (http://www.marketwatch.com/ news/story.asp?guid=%7B02432D2D-1EE0-4037-A15F-54B748D6CF26%7D): BellSouth Corp. confirmed Monday that it is pursuing discussions with Internet content companies to levy charges to reliably and speedily deliver their content and services. Bill Smith, chief technology officer at BellSouth, justified content charging companies by saying they are using the telco’s network without paying for it. Higher usage for broadband services drives more costs that we have to recover, he said in a telephone interview. He suggested that Apple Computer might be asked to pay a nickel or a dime to insure the complete and rapid transmission of a song via the Internet, which is being used for more and more content-intensive purposes. He cited Yahoo Inc.’s plans to stream reality TV shows as an example. It’s the shipping business of the digital age, Smith said, arguing that consumers should welcome the pay-for-delivery concept. So, let me get this straight. Right now, I buy my internet service from an ISP, and while that ISP doesn’t guarantee that I will be able to access every single site, they do ensure that I am able to get onto the internet completely, and that any generally available web page will be available to me. This is the definition of how the internet works. This also means that if Apple’s iTunes online store is online and generally accessible, it will be accessible to me just like anyone else on the internet. Now, Bill Smith and BellSouth are saying that, maybe, if I use BellSouth as my ISP, I won’t be able to get at any generally available internet site that hasn’t paid them to access their network— a network for which I’m already paying a monthly fee. They are saying that, just because I’ve paid them $50 or $100 for internet access, that this fee doesn’t give me access to the internet in general? They are saying that, once I’ve paid them to access their “pipes”, that I should have no expectation to be able to get to any website that I want, or get service from a third party at best-effort broadband speeds? Normally, such a statement is just hot air, since BellSouth just provides the last mile. But they are the provider of most internet connections in the southeast. And Verizon and ATT (SBC) have been saying the same thing, and they actually control the pipes that make up the infrastructure of the internet. So, if Apple doesn’t play along, does that mean that Verizon and ATT will start refusing to carry their traffic on the internet’s backbone, thereby affecting many more people than just Verizon and ATT customers? Seems like this is a great time for the FTC (not even the FCC) to step in. If this were any other industry, this would be considered extortion and racketeering, both very serious crimes in our country. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Fwd: ISOC-NY Monthly Membership Meeting
Begin forwarded message: From: David Solomonoff [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: January 13, 2006 1:51:47 PM EST To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: ISOC-NY Monthly Membership Meeting Please forward as appropriate. Thanks! David The Internet Society of New York meets every month on the third Thursday. All meetings are free and open to the public. If you would like to receive regular announcements and participate in online discussions about Internet issues, you can subscribe to our announce and discuss lists here: http://www.isoc-ny.org/cgi-bin/mail/mojo.cgi ISOC-NY Monthly Membership Meeting Thursday, January 19, 2006, 7-9 pm (3rd Thursday of the month) New York University, 5th floor conference room, Pless Hall, 82 Washington Square East Topics to be discussed: Nominations for officers and Board members for 2006 -- David Solomonoff, President Internet Society of New York [EMAIL PROTECTED] isoc-ny.org -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Governement run telecom and broadband
Jim, This is my last response to you, because you seem to be doing what many right-wing politicians are quite good at: changing the subject. This shouldn't be a discussion about whether the municipal networks are going to work or not. I dare-say that common sense tells us that some number will be successful, and some number will not. How you evaluate their outcomes relies almost entirely on your point of view. The real, fundamental problem is that America has slow, expensive, and only partially available broadband when compared to just about every other industrialized nation. This is especially embarrassing considering that we invented the damn technology, and nurtured it for its first two decades. This is a _fact_. No amount of hewing and hawing, or dancing around the subject will change this. Another fact: our sorry state of broadband has occurred over the past 5 years. A period of time when Conservative Republicans have been running this country and calling (almost) all of the shots. So, there arise really two questions (which you seem to be entirely unable to answer and which is why, I suspect, you'd rather change the subject): 1) Why is the state of broadband in America so awful? and 2) What are you going to do about it? This is less a question for you directly, but rather a question for those in charge of this Country. And the answer _isn't_ more competition in the future and a more open marketplace with fewer regulations. THAT is an end result of good policy-making. I want to know what we're doing that's failing, and what we should be doing instead. If we put in place good policy, more competition in a healthy marketplace will happen by itself. And I'm not pro-muniwireless or anti-muniwireless, or left-wing or right-wing, or even Republican or Democrat. I'm an independent. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 12, 2006, at 8:24 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Dana, I've read the article you reference, and, like the one I provided a link to, it is interesting. They make some good points. However, like the PFF paper, it's an advocacy document. I found no mention of municipalities failing, or at least not doing as well, as commercial enterprises in delivering critical services. There are certainly examples, such as Philadelphia's PGW or NYC's water utility (nowhere near as bad as PGW I'm sure, but failing to meter water is still pretty bad). No mention of a possible negative outcome from a municipal offering. I am not too familiar with freepress.net but from checking their web site, even though they claim to be non-partisan the stories they offer seem to be coming from a leftist point of view. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dana Spiegel Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 11:06 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Governement run telecom and broadband Jim, Perhaps you should do a bit more research. The PFF is well known to rely on half-truths and misrepresentations of fact to support their anti-municipal agenda. Free Press has released a white paper that provides the whole story, and if you look at government broadband initiatives, they are overwhelmingly cost saving and beneficial to local communities. http://www.freepress.net/docs/mb_white_paper.pdf Also, PFF's supporters include (and are primarily) every incumbent telecom and cable company: http://www.pff.org/about/supporters.html While this isn't a problem in and of itself, it should make you wonder where their views and motivations are coming from. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 9, 2006, at 10:04 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Here's an interesting study on government going into the telecom business. http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/pop11.3govtownership.pdf Jim -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.14.14/222 - Release Date: 1/5/2006 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Governement run telecom and broadband
Jim, Perhaps you should do a bit more research. The PFF is well known to rely on half-truths and misrepresentations of fact to support their anti-municipal agenda. Free Press has released a white paper that provides the whole story, and if you look at government broadband initiatives, they are overwhelmingly cost saving and beneficial to local communities. http://www.freepress.net/docs/mb_white_paper.pdf Also, PFF's supporters include (and are primarily) every incumbent telecom and cable company: http://www.pff.org/about/supporters.html While this isn't a problem in and of itself, it should make you wonder where their views and motivations are coming from. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 9, 2006, at 10:04 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Here's an interesting study on government going into the telecom business. http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/pop11.3govtownership.pdf Jim -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Municipal Broadband - Must read!
Jim, this has been a good discussion so far, and I certainly respect your right to argue that you don't want to pay as much in taxes as you do. But making the analogy that our government collecting taxes is robbing individuals and amounts to extortion is blatantly incorrect. By your argument, as a private citizen, I should come after *you* for making use of lots of public infrastructure for free if you don't pay your taxes. Let's not forget that fundamentally, our government is a collective organization of THE PEOPLE of the USA. And by collecting taxes (ignoring the argument about *how much* to tax) is an action that is given BY THE PEOPLE to our government to enforce based on the understanding that some amount of this country (services, land, etc.) is public property/service specifically because holding it in the public's interest benefits many/most/all people collectively, and that the cost of providing those services must be a burden on many/most/all people. Taxes are the way that we have all agreed we can share this country with each other. Now, you can argue you are paying to much in taxes, or that you don't believe that your taxes are being used in your best interest. That's exactly the purpose of the 1st Amendment. And you should argue those things, because we do need to talk about them. The fundamental argument that is being made by a number of individuals is that access to the internet has become (is becoming) a public service, and that as a public service, we need to think about it in a different way. Just as we don't allow streets to be built and sold using market mechanisms (we understand that this would not serve everyone's best interest), perhaps we shouldn't allow internet service to be provided solely based on market mechanisms. Capitalism isn't what made this country great. Capitalism makes a small percentage of this country wealthy. But generally, it works. The issue at hand is: does capitalism and free market economics work properly for internet service, and is the outcome of this method proper? Economics 101 will tell you that there are limits to free market economies and the powers of capitalism. Its just a tool, and like any tool, its not universal. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 7, 2006, at 7:23 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Rob, And as my tax dollars won't be funding what you do in NYC, as long as you don't snare any federal funds, I have absolutley no objection to it! I merely wanted to correct the misunderstanding about broadband being cheaper elsewhere than in the U.S. It's not. Don't forget, it's capitalism that made this nation the greatest in the world, and in fact it's capitalism that makes all these neat wireless gadgets that we love so, possible! I doubt that even our socialist European neighbors, or the Asians who produce most of the wireless gear, would make it at all if there were not big money in it. WRT my statement that taxation is theft, if I told you to give me several thousand dollars or I would come and get you, you would probably laugh it off, even if I promised to use the money for a good purpose. However, once you heard that I had done just that to hundreds or thousands of people, that those people are now in prison because they would not give me their money, that they are going to STAY in prison, and that the highest legal authority in the land had confirmed that it's ok for me to do that, I bet you would give me some money the next time I asked. You may feel it's all ok, but if I were in your shoes I would feel I've been robbed. Yes, taxation is theft. When someone works hard to become a success, it's immoral to take their money by threat of force to give it to someone who didn't earn it. We've gotten way off track in the last hundred years and are using forced wealth redistribution to fill society's needs that have always been served by charity and church. Anyway we're getting off topic. I only wanted to correct the misunderstanding that broadband is cheaper elsewhere than in the U.S. and since then I've only responded to related points made by others. I really want to stay on topic if possible. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rob Kelley Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 1:50 PM To: 'nycwireless' Subject: RE: [nycwireless] Municipal Broadband - Must read! Jim: Maybe in airpower's home of Lansdowne, PA, people think taxation is theft (though I doubt it). Here in NYC, as in NYCwireless, people put up with some of the highest income tax rates in the country. Why? Because we believe in the city, the urban environment, and communal services. Tax-ranting is really out of place. If you want low taxes, try Alaska
Re: [nycwireless] Municipal Broadband - Must read!
And of course, herein lies yet another good example. Coca-cola does sell us our water. Go to any supermarket and you can buy water by the gallon from any number of companies. But this doesn't mean that your government turns off the water utility. If they did that, people wouldn't be able to live. Water Utilities and Private water companies serve two different markets and purposes. And they are compatible with each other. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 7, 2006, at 9:59 PM, Rob Kelley wrote: I agree the market is not going to solve this one. New York City has a water supply. City leaders made it a priority to control this and built reservoirs. Having this steady, reliable and affordable supply expanded the city's growth rate and tax base. Now what about our broadband supply, especially compared to South Korea? Not so good. Put another way, what if the city leaders didn't have the foresight back then about ensuring steady, reliable, and affordable supply? What if instead Coca-Cola sold you your water? Broadband is a crucial part of a municipality's infrastructure. For the sake of its future New York City needs a clear broadband policy NOW. Rob --- Schainbaum, Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Citywide or statewide franchise, makes no difference. Still a franchise and still a state-granted monopoly. What is the problem with monopoly? Well, the classical analysis finds dead-weight costs. What's the problem with a state-granted monopoly? Well, there's at least two. First, an ordinary monopoly might be disentrenched. That's at least the belief of some people in some economics depts. Second, competition for grant of the monopoly through use of influence with the local government, whether that be a municipal or a state government, just seems to lead to obviously sub-optimal outcomes. Jim Henry wrote: Look to the franchising issue to change, if not go away. Due to the ILECs entering the video market they are trying their very best NOT to have to jump through all the hoops the cable company's were forced to. They've already gotten the law changed in Texas to where a company can apply for a state wide franchise rather than have to apply for a franchise with each municipality. Since municipal video franchises were just a way for the munipalities to extort all kinds of services for free or discount in return for the franchise, this should be at least some improvement. I'm sure the cable company's are not going to sit still and allow this to change for Verizon, Quest, and SBC(ATT) and not have a level playing field so they will do their utmost to be included in these changes or get the law changed back so that the ILECs must compete with the same rules. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Schainbaum, Robert Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 8:13 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Municipal Broadband - Must read! Subsidy or no subsidy, we only have to consider the far superior quality of South Korean broadband to realize that the entire notion of providing a market solution to satisfy a market need has absolutely broken down in the case of our country. It has always seemed to me that the underylying theme theme in the capitalistic creed is a lack of orthodoxy. It seems a failure of the creed to ignore the crucial fact that private solutions to telecommunications problems in the US or through the private economy usually (if not always) involve the grant of a local franchise. I don't see why the municipality can't grant itself the franchise. I'm tired of any reflex response that fails to take account of our surpassing failure in this crucial are of our business and social infrastructure. Jim Henry wrote: Lars, Perhaps there is no subsidy in your case. I may have mis-understood. If the municipality involved did not fund the fiber build with tax dollars, and is making a profit on the network, which is necessary in order to support and maintain the fiber network, then there is none. I do feel it would be much better, more efficient, and more economical to have the network operated and maintained by a commercial enterprise than a government entity. As to the cost of your Internet connection, it sounds like a good deal to me and I did not want to imply otherwise. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lars Aronsson Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 4:33 PM To: 'nycwireless' Subject: RE: [nycwireless] Municipal Broadband - Must read! Jim Henry wrote: I'd be willing to bet you are not counting the taxes you and your fellow subjects pay for that municipal fiber network as part
Re: [nycwireless] Municipal Broadband - Must read!
Also, don't mistake the electrical and water systems that we have now with the ones that were (or more likely weren't) in existence when these utilities or natural monopolies were created in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Broadband today is much more like the state of the electrical system in the early part of last century than it is like the electrical or water systems of the 21st century. So Jim's (and in part Alex's) points below about the electrical and water systems are comparing very old apples to very young oranges. Now Alex, your point about the natural monopoly of the phone and coax physical infrastructure is dead correct, as is your separation of broadband or internet service over those physical lines from the physical lines themselves. This is an important distinction that the FCC has completely backwards, and frankly, I think that, given that we're arguing mostly about physical infrastructure, we should be pushing for FTC regulation of these natural monopolies, and getting the FCC out of the picture since this isn't their jurisdiction anyway. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Jan 8, 2006, at 6:15 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sun, 8 Jan 2006, Dustin Goodwin wrote: I am not sure what rocket you had to strap to this article to make the leap from public policy that promotes broadband to socialism. But it must have been large! Is NYC's water tunnel number 3 socialism or smart public policy? What the rural electrification authority socialism or There is such thing as 'natural monopoly'. Gas lines, water lines, *phone lines and coax lines* are natural monopolies and does not make sense to have multiple companies competing with each other. Now, putting *content* over those lines is definitely *not* a natural monopoly. Broadband is definitely *not* a natural monopoly. smart public policy? YOUR ALREADY PAYING SUBSIDIES to the incumbent Oh, man, don't even start with rural electrification. That is *definitely* socialism. In fact, that was Lenin's #2 order right after the revolution. (Trust me, I spent 16 years in Soviet Union). telcos and getting nothing for it. How about we stop talking about socialism and start talking about replacing dumb public policy (like paying incumbent telcos for broadband we don't get) with smart public policy. If you happy with current arrangement good for you. I am glad your broadband sucks and is expensive. Maybe you do something that doesn't depend on ubiquitous global Internet connectivity priced properly. But I doubt it. There's an obvious solution, 'structural separation' for ILECs - one entity owns the wire plant and COs, another entity owns everything inside COs. Entity #1 would sell access to wire plant to all comers. Of course, with current FCC this has a chance of snowball in hell of happening. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Signing of Public Broadband Commission into Law
Michael Santorelli, the Legislative Policy Analyst for the New York City Council informs me that on Thursday, December 29, 2005, at 2pm Mayor Michael Bloomberg will sign Int. No. 625-A into law establishing a Public Broadband Commission! The signing will take place in the Blue Room at City Hall is open to the public, so everyone should attend. Everyone should attend to show Mayor Bloomberg how much we, the people, care about this issue. As I’ve written about in the past, the Public Broadband Commission is a great first step for New York City in establishing affordable, universally available broadband. There’s been some more coverage in Crains NY Business, Government Technology online, and Telecom Web. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] From Wi-Fi Net News: Vivato Ceases Operations: Breaking News
This seems to have been coming for a long time... Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- Vivato Ceases Operations: Breaking News --- By Glenn Fleishman Special to Wi-Fi Networking News Permanently archived item http://wifinetnews.com/archives/006144.html Breaking news--Vivato has ceased operations according to a company spokesperson: I just confirmed this minute that early enterprise wireless switch maker Vivato has shut down. [1] Unstrung was reporting earlier today that the buzz on the street was a Dec. 20 halt. A reliable source told me this evening that the shutdown had already occurred, and I was able to confirm it late this evening with the company. Vivato made news in Nov. 2002 when John Markoff [2] filed a major business story in The New York Times about the then-revolutionary product that Vivato was slated to introduce the next year. The company's braintrust was extolled, and the firm had prototypes to show off. In the months that followed, they offered extensive demonstrations of their technology, which involved a phased-array antenna that was intended to control and receive signals intelligently, steering Wi-Fi to users and being highly receptive to distant transmitters. The demonstration worked terrifically. A number of San Francisco- based journalists and community wireless advocates put a demonstration switch to the test and were quite honestly amazed. But in practice, the multi-thousand-dollar gateway couldn't be put into effective production. Delays dogged the company as, according to reports I received, the units coming off the production line were incapable of achieving the expensive, handmade prototypes' characteristics. Originally, the system was billed as delivering three simultaneous steered beams across entire floors of buildings from indoor placement or entire sides of buildings from outdoor locations, but that appears to have been impossible to achieve. I knew that Vivato might not be able to deliver because a major PR effort to broadcast Wi-Fi across Central Park quietly failed for technical reasons--it was never announced publicly and those involved didn't want to talk about it. At the same time, normally straight- talking people within the company couldn't give me a clear and frank answer as to delays in production. The firm reportedly created an inventory of its 802.11b switches which came on the market just after 802.11g hit ratification, making them obsolete for enterprise purposes on delivery. The inventory of that first-generation device were unsellable at retail because of performance and the 802.11g issue. A number of gateways were sold off around the country to smaller firms, colleges, and institutions at bargain prices. Several colleges I've spoken with have one or two Vivato 802.11b gateways for lighting up arenas or other outdoor spaces. An 802.11g switch took a while to produce, but it limited claims to a single steered channel when it shipped in 2004. They paired this switch with a much cheaper bridge that would fill in niches that the main device couldn't cover. Between shipping their 802.11b and 802.11g switches and thereafter, founders, key executives, and engineers left the company. The firm refocused on outdoor markets, like ports and stadiums. As Vivato's first and later products came to market, another firm was gaining interest: Airgo. Airgo's multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO) technology--also first [3] reported by Markoff in the Times 10 months after his Vivato piece--would turn out to be cheaper and simpler than Vivato's approach, and, more importantly, the first generation of the chips in products shipped in late 2004 and worked as advertised. While a single MIMO gateway can't cover an entire floor of a business, a single Vivato gateway can't serve enough users; Vivato's monolithic approach wasn't compatible with the scale of users, purposes like VoIP over Wi-Fi, and the throughput that's now demanded in enterprises. MIMO hasn't penetrated the enterprise yet, but as part of the 802.11n standard, it's the direction to invest in by company IT departments. Simultaneous with the growing awareness of impending MIMO shipments in 2004 was the maturation of the wireless LAN switch market. WLAN switches, unlike Vivato's beam-forming antenna, could coordinate access points located throughout an enterprise. The first devices generally required a special Layer 2 switch to which the APs had to be directly connected; that difficulty was relatively quickly eliminated in most products by 2004, which then supported Layer 2 tunneling for APs to be located anywhere on a network and controlled centrally. Cisco's acquisition of Airespace, one
[nycwireless] New Haven Advocate Article: Take My WiFi, Please (Dec. 1, 2005)
http://newhavenadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:135562 Take My WiFi, Please Wireless internet service is on New Haven's hi-tech horizon. What's it mean for you? by Mark Oppenheimer - December 1, 2005 Rico is sitting in a Fair Haven laundromat, looking up a recipe for vegetarian mofongo. Britney is in the back room at BAR, pricing out botox injections on her laptop. Hannah is sitting cross-legged on the Green, checking prices for hemp imported from British Columbia. This is the wireless vision for New Haven, and it's a realistic one. For a city's residents to get the most from the internet, they have to have internet accessaffordable, high-speed internet access. Best of all, wireless internet access. Coffeeshop owners have figured this out; they know that many Americans will go wherever there is free internet access. A lot of us who own laptop computers like using those computers outside of our houses. Some of us have computers equipped to pick up wireless web signals, but we lack the internet service provider to give us such a signal; we have computers but no AOL or Earthlink, in other words. This is like having a cable-ready TV but not subscribing to Comcast. Here's the problem: If you can afford a computer and have the leisure time, you can do your internet job searches or single-white-female searches in the coffeeshop. But what if you live in a poor neighborhood where there are no coffeeshops that beam an internet signal to customers' computers (assuming the customers can afford computers)? And what if internet in your house-from AOL or Earthlink or Comcastis too expensive? What if, after paying for food and heat and diapers, you can't afford web access? And what if all the good jobs that would help you make more money are listed on the web? This is a problem that government can help fix. And governments in Europe and Asia have done exactly that. They have guided their technology policies so that web access is cheaper and more widely spread than in the United States. It's faster, too, by a factor of dozens. But in the United States, there is no federal government plan to bring high-speed internet access to anybody, and none of the 50 states has made high-speed internet access a priority. Which means it's up to us: the little guy, the neighborhood, the small town, the city. And, thank goodness, New Haven seems to have figured it out. In August, New Haven hired Civitium, a Georgia-based digital technology consulting firm, to help the city figure out the best way to get affordable internet service to the entire city. The firm worked fast, submitting its recommendations within two months; next month, according to Mayor John DeStefano, the city will issue a request for proposals, asking internet providers to bid for the contract to bum-rush New Haven into the age of wireless web. The new wireless network could be up and running by sometime maybe next summer, DeStefano says. The goal is to have a city that beams that wireless signal everywhere, to every neighborhood, from the Hill to Fair Haven, from East Rock to West Rock, over to the Annex and Morris Cove. Then, if you have a computer (and used computers can now be had for $200 or so) you'll have internet service. You can find a job or a date, buy a book or a sweater. Just how will New Haven make this happen? There are several ways that cities have gone about achieving this goal. Sometimes, citizens take matters in their own hands. If the residents of an apartment building buy small routers for their apartments, they often have enough coverage radius that the street in front of them becomes a wireless hotspot. Many businesses offer strong wireless signals, knowing that neighbors can use the signal (in our offices, the Omni Hotel WiFiwireless fidelitysignal is strong enough that we can use it). In New York City, NYC Wireless, a non-profit organization, has gotten parks to agree to place routers at key spots to turn the parks into free wireless hot spots. So you can sit in Bryant Park or Union Square and check your email on your laptop. Parks and businesses and citizens can team up, too, to make a whole block or neighborhood WiFi-enabled. Then there is municipal broadband. Dana Spiegel, the executive director of NYC Wireless, defines municipal broadband as merely the local government stepping in to spur the development of universal coverage and affordably priced broadband. That's what New Haven's city government is planning, but there a couple of ways they could go about it. In Lafayette, La., the government built its own fiber cable network and has become a wholesale broadband internet provider. It not only gets revenue from its internet customers, but it also gets savings on its telecommunications costs, because it no longer has to pay a telecom company to carry its phone and internet traffic
[nycwireless] Wireless Detection Tools Article
Network Computing has just published a great article reviewing a number of wireless tools for displaying and analyzing wireless signals, including some free ones. If you attended our meeting a couple of months ago where Cognio presented, then you've seen what the magazine calls the most well rounded analysis tool of the bunch. http://www.networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml? articleID=174402549amp;pgno=1 Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Wi-Fi Salon Delays Free Public Wireless Networks
posted at: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2005/11/17/wi-fi-salon- delays-free-public-wireless-networks/ According to the NewYorkology Blog, the Wi-Fi Salon has delayed installation of the rest of their network (they only got 1 hotspot out of 18 up and running) due to a delay in a potential park ad sponsor’s marketing plan. According to Marshall Brown, “Put simply, we are in continued negotiations with a lead sponsor and several other sponsors. Their product launch delays affected their marketing spends, and in turn changed our timetable.” Marshall has certainly been working diligently (we’ve spoken a number of times about his networks), but it seems this job is a lot harder to sell to sponsors then originally thought. Marshall has been working for the past 2 years to get advertising sponsors for his park installations, and has only been able to succeed once, at Battery Park. The unfortunate reality, for us as New Yorkers, is that the NYC Parks Department brought this situation on itself. They announced months ago that Wi-Fi Salon is paying them a fee for the right to install these public park networks. To date, only 1 of 18 parks in the Parks Department Network has been brought online (in a similar amount of time–2 years–NYCwireless and other free public hotspot partners had brought online almost half a dozen locations). NYCwireless has always been of the mind that such public networks really don’t generate revenue, and for the NYC Parks Department to require a license fee to install in these parks is a disservice to the residents in these communities, who are the ones that aren’t getting their Wi-Fi. We support Marshall and his vision to bring Wi-Fi to all of New York. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had much success, and it seems he’s still struggling. Perhaps part of the problem is that he’s going it alone, and he’s being forced make enough money to pay off the Parks Department. One of the other issues with Marshall’s “If you build it, they will come” strategy for his hotspots is that he is selling them as “Community Hotspots” yet there’s no community. If you look at the Battery Park portal, there are only a few posts, and all (most?) of them are by Marshall. Building a hotspot that serves the community, and getting that community onboard requires much more than just a fancy portal page. It requires outreach, training, and even some marketing. It requires developing relationships with active community members, and encouraging them to reach out to others in their neighborhood. Unfortunately, this type of community building is beyond both Marshall, who’s primary concern is selling advertising, and the NYC Parks Department, who thinks that they can just sit back and watch the money roll in. As New Yorkers, we owe it to ourselves to make sure that such projects are handled properly, and that they are created as coalitions of appropriate and talented parties. Reach out to the NYC Parks Department, and let them know that you expect more from them. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NYCwireless Network Neutrality Broadband Challenge Gets Press
posted at: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2005/11/17/nycwireless- network-neutrality-broadband-challenge-gets-press/ NYCwireless' Network Neutrality Broadband Challenge[1] is starting to get some attention, with articles appearing in both Muniwireless[2] and ISP Planet[3]. The ISP Planet article Why It's Important To Be Neutral is particularly comprehensive, interviewing Joe Plotkin, one of our Board Members, about why his company, Bway.net, supports Network Neutrality: I'm not advocating legislation here. We do control our own network. I'm just signing a pledge of how we're doing business. We have a right to throw people off the network for violating our Terms of Service, but since the early days of wireless, we were one of the first to allow our DSL customers to share their connections wirelessly. We get customers because of it. I think it's foolish of companies like Time Warner to prevent it because the more they do, the more customers I pick up. ... That's why there's so much concern about Whitacre's statement. When Whitacre says he will extract money from Google, ignoring the fact that the internet was built on an open platform, he is assulating the benefits that we as a society have reaped and that American business has reaped. The internet was successful because it was a common platform that allowed everyone to interconnect with everyone else. [1] http://www.nycwireless.net/tiki-index.php?page=BroadbandChallenge [2] http://muniwireless.com/community/894 [3] http://www.isp-planet.com/politics/2005/net_neutrality.html Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief
Jim, What makes VoIP so special? Certainly, if SBC provides VoIP, they should make an attractive package for their customers. But in the end, their subscribers are just buying bandwidth in bulk month over month. What gives SBC the right to treat one IP based service in particular as special? Its all just IP packets. And what gives SBC the right to inspect these packets at their discretion? This would be like your bank or credit card company inquiring about what you are purchasing with your money, and furthermore telling you that you can't purchase other financial services with your money because they already provide them. What if you want to use a VoIP provider that emails you your voicemails, while SBC makes you dial in via your home phone only to get them? Shouldn't you have the right to choose what service you want to use? Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Nov 1, 2005, at 10:18 PM, Jim Henry wrote: I can certainly agreee with not allowing other voip providers to traverse your network at no charge, especially if your company provides voice services. To a lesser extent I can agree with restricting anything you wish as long as you put it in your Terms of Service ahead of time. However, I don't think the latter strategy will survive in a free market. If this fellow actually said he wants to charge for every web page view that travels SBC's network then I think he is being irrational and will not succeed at it. Jim -Original Message- From: Dana Spiegel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 7:43 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: 'Dustin Goodwin'; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief We should be clear about this. What Mr. Witacre is intending is not just to charge you and me (which he already does), but to charge each and every single company that provides us a web page. Frankly, I think he's smoking something. In addition to being impossible to manage such a scheme from a contract and payment point of view, the only way to maintain it is to collude with the other backbone providers. This is not to say he won't try, nor that we aren't moving dangerously close to monopoly power with broadband--both cable/dsl and backbone (we have been racing towards this for some time now). What Dustin is suggesting is to head this off at the pass. Instead of just ignoring this lunatic (Mr. Witacre), we should use this as a rallying cry to ensure that the foundations of the Internet--and this _is_ about SBC trying to change the fundamental operations of the Internet--remain uncorrupted by corporate greed and monopolistic practices. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Oct 31, 2005, at 8:02 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Well, me too, but I'm willing to pay for something better than AOL. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dustin Goodwin Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 7:40 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief Just go ahead and turn the Internet off if you can only connect me to the AOLized version of it. - Dustin - Jim Henry wrote: You can't argue with that. They invest hundreds of millions of dollars in transport and need to get their ROI. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dustin Goodwin Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 2:40 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief Please never tell me again there is no need for an alternative to the Cable/Bell broadband duopoloy. / If there were any delusions that Ma Bell Wasn't Back http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/27/1635247tid= 215, SBC CEO Edward Witacre has cleared that up in an interview http://www.businessweek.com/@@n34h*IUQu7KtOwgA/magazine/conte nt/05_45/b3958092.htm with Business Week Online. When asked about Google, Vonage and other Internet Upstarts he responded in typical Ma Bell Style: 'How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?'. - Dustin - / -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http
Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBCchief
Nope. UCE is already being sent by a large number of ISP subscribers who's computers have been turned into spam zombies. Even if you _chose_ to do this, you would be required to follow the law on this. Even if you were following the law completely, the ISP might have legitimate reason to prevent you from being a spammer due to the fact that the volume of your network and services use is damaging both their network service and the experience of other subscribers. If you were sending out a trickle (hundreds/thousands of emails per hour) such that you weren't damaging the resources of the ISP, and you were following both the law and common sense such that the ISP doesn't receive complaints, then the ISP has no reasonable reason for preventing you from doing what you are doing. In the case of the porn website, you also have to follow the law on this one. There's copyright for one, and requirements that you protect minors from accessing such a service. If your porn site were so popular that it received significant traffic, then the ISP might again consider that you are damaging their service and the service of their other customers. Regardless, neither of these instances are even close to what SBC is suggesting they want to do. Nor are they anything but extreme fringe cases for the concept of Network Neutrality. And even then, Network Neutrality is the concept that no general carrier of internet packets has the right to filter, limit, or inspect the packets that cross their networks based on the content or origin of those packets. Besides, I pay for my internet connection. Some of that money goes towards peering agreements Covad has with other big ISPs, and pays for transport over large backbone providers as well. Google pays for their network connectivity (I'm sure they buy in bulk!), which similarly trickles down the network provider chain to reimburse all of the networks for transport already. So, who the hell is SBC to say that just because they own a significant chunk of the pipeline, they get to charge more for their transport? And on both sides, no less? Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Nov 2, 2005, at 7:29 PM, Jim Henry wrote: No. It's all dependent on the providers terms of service, which defines what you are buying and paying for. You have the option of not buying if you don't agree. For example, suppose I want to buy an internet connection to send unsolicited commercial email in mass mailings to millions of people? Do you think that will be tolerated for long? Suppose I wish to host a porn web site on my connection? In each of these cases I will be in violation of most providers' TOS. Jim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christopher Mc Carthy Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 10:51 AM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBCchief Or put another way - what if the cable company has their own search page - but you want to use Google. Should you have to pay to use that? Or your favourite news site? I always thought you were paying for a connection to the net, and for a certain amount of bandwidth capacity. What you do with it (surfing, VoIP) is up to you isn't it? Christopher MC CARTHY Technical Communicator CertEx GL TRADE Headquarters 42 Rue Notre Dame des Victoires F-75002 Paris +33 1 53 40 00 00 (switchboard) +33 1 53 40 01 16 (direct line) www.gltrade.com -Original Message- Message: 6 Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 00:38:40 -0500 From: Dana Spiegel [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Jim, What makes VoIP so special? Certainly, if SBC provides VoIP, they should make an attractive package for their customers. But in the end, their subscribers are just buying bandwidth in bulk month over month. What gives SBC the right to treat one IP based service in particular as special? Its all just IP packets. And what gives SBC the right to inspect these packets at their discretion? This would be like your bank or credit card company inquiring about what you are purchasing with your money, and furthermore telling you that you can't purchase other financial services with your money because they already provide them. What if you want to use a VoIP provider that emails you your voicemails, while SBC makes you dial in via your home phone only to get them? Shouldn't you have the right to choose what service you want to use? Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402
Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief
We should be clear about this. What Mr. Witacre is intending is not just to charge you and me (which he already does), but to charge each and every single company that provides us a web page. Frankly, I think he's smoking something. In addition to being impossible to manage such a scheme from a contract and payment point of view, the only way to maintain it is to collude with the other backbone providers. This is not to say he won't try, nor that we aren't moving dangerously close to monopoly power with broadband--both cable/dsl and backbone (we have been racing towards this for some time now). What Dustin is suggesting is to head this off at the pass. Instead of just ignoring this lunatic (Mr. Witacre), we should use this as a rallying cry to ensure that the foundations of the Internet--and this _is_ about SBC trying to change the fundamental operations of the Internet--remain uncorrupted by corporate greed and monopolistic practices. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info On Oct 31, 2005, at 8:02 PM, Jim Henry wrote: Well, me too, but I'm willing to pay for something better than AOL. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dustin Goodwin Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 7:40 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief Just go ahead and turn the Internet off if you can only connect me to the AOLized version of it. - Dustin - Jim Henry wrote: You can't argue with that. They invest hundreds of millions of dollars in transport and need to get their ROI. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dustin Goodwin Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 2:40 PM To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net Subject: [nycwireless] Not sure about muni-Wifi? Read this from the SBC chief Please never tell me again there is no need for an alternative to the Cable/Bell broadband duopoloy. / If there were any delusions that Ma Bell Wasn't Back http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/27/1635247tid= 215, SBC CEO Edward Witacre has cleared that up in an interview http://www.businessweek.com/@@n34h*IUQu7KtOwgA/magazine/conte nt/05_45/b3958092.htm with Business Week Online. When asked about Google, Vonage and other Internet Upstarts he responded in typical Ma Bell Style: 'How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?'. - Dustin - / -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.6/152 - Release Date: 10/31/2005 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.6/152 - Release Date: 10/31/2005 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/ nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] [Fwd: [wsfii-discuss] Reminder: World Summit on Free Information Infrastructures]
Register for the World Summit on Free Information Infrastructures! We are reaching maximum capacity; register *now* if you plan to attend. http://www.wsfii.org/register/ The World Summit on Free Information Infrastructures ( http://www.wsfii.org/ ) is happening in London, 1st-2nd October 2005. Wsfii will bring together pragmatists and innovative practises from across the world, from free wireless networking and open hardware. free maps, free media, open civic information, and community currencies. A provisional programme is available here: http://www.wsfii.org/programme.html The event is open to all but you *must* register if you plan to attend because space is limited. A Wsfii membership fee of ten pounds is expected to help pay for costs: ask about concessions if you can't afford it. Wsfii is the kickoff event of the NODE.london Open Season on technology, media, art and politics, happening throughout this Oktober. Highlights: * Future Wireless at the Science Museum - http://cybersalon.org/ * Open Congress at Tate Britain - http://opencongress.omweb.org/ * Gilberto Gil, Minister of Culture, talking about the Brazilian goverment's adoption of Open Source Software and Culture more info at: http://nodel.org Wsfii Info What: World Summit on Free Information Infrastructures (WSFII) Url: http://www.wsfii.org/ Programme: http://www.wsfii.org/programme.html When: Saturday and Sunday, October 1-2 2005 (2005-10-01 - 2005-10-02) Where: Limehouse Town Hall, 646 Commercial Road, London, E14 7HA Map: http://tinyurl.com/7m5qw Registration: http://www.wsfii.org/register.php -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Google Offers Free Wi-Fi VPN
http://wifi.google.com/faq.html Google plans own WiFi service: Web site By Adam Pasick http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050920/wr_nm/google_wifi_dc Online search leader Google is preparing to launch its own wireless Internet service, Google WiFi, according to several pages found on the company's Web site on Tuesday. A WiFi service, which offers a high-speed connection to the Internet, would take Google even further from its Internet search roots and move it into the fiercely competitive world of Internet access providers and telecommunications companies. The Google Web site has several references to Google WiFi but provides few details. One page, http://wifi.google.com/faq.html, refers to a product called Google Secure Access, which is designed to establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi. A separate page, http://wifi.google.com/download.html, offers a free download of Google Secure Access, carrying the headline: Your wireless connection is almost ready to use. Google declined to comment further. Speculation about a forthcoming Google WiFi service has been rife since August following an article in Business 2.0 magazine, but the company has refused to discussed its plans. Analysts have voiced concerns that Google could extend itself too far beyond its core business, while acknowledging its vast financial and engineering resources could produce results. Becoming a service provider would be quite a stretch for Google, but considering the billions of dollars Google could throw at the problem it could become a reality, Ovum analyst Roger Entner wrote in the wake of the Business 2.0 article. Depending on how Google can adapt to these challenging areas and how committed it is to the space, it could become a home run or could break the bank. WiFi is an increasingly popular technology that is used to provide high-speed wireless Internet access in homes, business and public spaces like airports and coffee shops. Google launched a sponsored WiFi hotspot in San Francisco's Union Square district in April with a start-up called Feeva. The FAQ says that the Google Secure Access service is in beta, meaning that the company does not consider it a fully finished product -- standard operating procedure for services like Gmail. Google, which is rapidly expanding beyond its core Internet search service, introduced an instant messaging and telephony service called Google Talk in August. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] NYCwireless Projects Update
For those of you who were unable to attend this week's meeting, I wanted to provide brief updates on some projects: !New York Done Right NYCwireless is collaborating with Open Resource Group to launch a site called New York Done Right. Its basically an organizational tool where we can work through projects and fund-raise, and is intended to support bottom-up organizational process. You can use it at [http://www.nydoneright.com|http://www.nydoneright.com]. It's far from perfect and complete, so if you have comments/suggestions about the site, please just email me. !Dag Hammarskjold Plaza A member of The Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza has contacted us about the possibility of getting that park lit up with wireless. We are starting the process of organizing about this. We will be using our new project management tools [http://www.nydoneright.com/cgi-bin/soa/team.pl?rm=view_teamteam_id=7|here]. Please contact [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]|Ben Serebin] if you'd like to get involved !WifiDog We're just about ready to launch this. Please keep an eye out for an email from Rob Kelley. We're still looking for people who would like to host WifiDog Nodes! !Harlem Wireless There's no update on this project, unfortunately. I've sent some inquiries to the organization from which we're waiting for approval, but haven't heard back yet. They are still working through the approval process. !Village Wireless American's for Informed Democracy, NYU Chapter, is working on a grant proposal to help deploy lots of hotspots in the Village, around the NYU area. We're working with them to help them with the technology aspect, and once they get the grant, there will be lots of work to do to get the WifiDog nodes configured and distributed for this project. -- -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.nycwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Community Wireless blog: http://sociable.blogspot.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] ANNOUNCE: NYCwireless Monthly Meeting, Sept. 7, 7:30pm - NYDoneRight and Katrina
New Location --- Rave Wireless 514 West 25th Street @ 10th Avenue 3rd Floor http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=mapq=514+West+25th+Street,+New+York,+NY Date September 7 @ 7:30pm Agenda -- At our meeting on Wednesday evening, NYCwireless will announce a collaboration with Open Resource Group on at site called http:// www.nydoneright.com. New York Done Right is an online site that will aid all New Yorkers and New York organizations in working together to help New York become a better city. The site helps groups plan, organize, participate and even fundraise for projects throughout the New York City. NYCwireless has always about helping community communication and connecting people with each other, and New York Done Right is a tool that will take our mission and that of many other organizations to the next level, engaging every New Yorker in helping each other. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New York Done Right’s first projects will provide resources for organizing people and funding for disaster aid from New Yorkers to the Gulf Coast. Our meeting will also include a discussion of some of the wireless coordination that is happening to help aid disaster relief in the Gulf Coast. To learn more, and find out how you can help, please attend. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Community Wireless blog: http://sociable.blogspot.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Katrina Rebuilding: Technological Assistance?
This is a good question. Read Sascha Meinrath's take on mesh networks for disaster recovery here: http://www.saschameinrath.com/2005aug30disaster_recovery_cuwin -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.nycwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Community Wireless blog: http://sociable.blogspot.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Katrina Rebuilding: Technological Assistance? Curious to see if anyone is aware of efforts to plan for rebuilding IT infrastructure after the current crisis in the Katrina-ravaged areas has subsided. I am specifically interested in efforts that we could connect with to leverage wireless skill with enabling the aid agencies IT staff to support larger operations once they need it. Perhaps deploying mesh networks and the like. Also leverage this opportunity to build community wireless when the rebuilding is well underway. I'm looking for connections with other like minded efforts. At present it's pretty early and nothing obvious is posted. Some info may appear on www.boingboing.net in the way of coordinating efforts for techy types. Bill -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] New York Post: CITIES, PROVIDERS WAR OVER WI-FI AS UTILITY
http://www.nypost.com/business/51774.htm CITIES, PROVIDERS WAR OVER WI-FI AS UTILITY By SAM GUSTIN What if wireless, broadband Internet access was as abundant as electricity — and cities provided it at a low cost to every citizen? Today, virtually every new laptop comes equipped with a Wi-Fi card, allowing users to get online wherever there is a wireless network. Chances are if you walk down your block in either direction, you're bound to find a hot spot. Wi-Fi component shipments increased 7 percent between the first quarter and second quarter of this year, according to a report released Friday from Infonetics Research. The increased abundance of Wi-Fi has far-reaching consequences for the future of the Internet, and powerful forces are staking out positions in what could be the next great chapter of the Internet wars: the battle to control wireless broadband distribution. Wi-Fi will be a public utility, said Esme Vos, the editor of muniwireless.com. Cities will set up these networks for public access and local government applications like public safety, mobile voice-over-IP, public works, and health and human services. Hundreds of free Wi-Fi networks have sprung up around the country, including dozens in New York, threatening the iron grip that the major, regional Bell operating companies have had on broadband distribution. The major providers are currently supporting legislation introduced by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) — who worked at Bell Labs for 16 years — that essentially bars municipalities from offering low-cost broadband to citizens. Aligned against Sessions and the providers is an unlikely coalition of cities, nonprofits and community groups across the country that support a bill introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), which would protect the ability of local governments to provide broadband. Last week, Intel said it will help 13 cities develop municipal Wi-Fi networks, pitting it directly against the regional Bells, which oppose such efforts. While lawmakers wrangle over the future of Wi-Fi, local communities have taken Wi-Fi into their own hands. More than 50 municipalities have created Wi-Fi networks for public access or public safety use including Corpus Christi, Texas; Spokane, Wash.; and Dayton, Ohio, according to muniwireless.com. Philadelphia and San Francisco are racing to become the first major U.S. city to offer municipal Wi-Fi. We have an opportunity with broadband to fulfill our highest democratic aspirations, said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. Access to broadband is now an essential part of American life. Chester said Verizon and the other providers are stifling competition by working to prevent independent service providers from gaining access to broadband bandwidth. Verizon's Vice President for Internet and Technology Policy, Link Hoewing, defended the company's position by saying: We think the private — sector model is a good one. But Executive Director of NYCwireless Dana Spiegel worries that, contrary to perceptions of a connected city, many are left out. Only 10 percent of low-income families in New York City have access to broadband, because Time Warner and Verizon keep prices for broadband artificially high. Just like the grass and the trees and the benches are provided by the city, Spiegel said, we think that broadband Internet access should be provided as well. Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Community Wireless blog: http://sociable.blogspot.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] IEEE Guide to 802.11 Working Groups
An interesting list of all of the different 802.11 working groups in the IEEE: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/ QuickGuide_IEEE_802_WG_and_Activities.htm Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Community Wireless blog: http://sociable.blogspot.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] InternetWeek Article: Government Bridging The Digital Divide
http://www.internetweek.com/168601371 Government Bridging The Digital Divide By Christopher T. Heun InternetWeek During the last four years, as the United States slipped from fourth to 16th in the world in broadband Internet access, the major telecommunications companies have been either unable or unwilling to provide better connectivity. In response, many cities and towns are building the high-speed wireless networks themselves. Between 250 and 300 municipalities across the country have invested in the technology or begun plans to do so. One of the most recent is New Haven, Conn., which said Tuesday it had hired municipal broadband consultancy Civitium to begin the first steps of planning a network. Civitium has also advised Houston, Portland, Miami Beach, Fla., and Philadelphia, home of the nation’s most ambitious project covering 135 square miles and a population of 1.5 million. Advocates say making high-speed wireless Internet access affordable, and available in low-income areas that do not currently have it, will bridge the digital divide and translate into improved educational opportunities and economic growth. There’s also the potential for police and emergency services to reduce response times, and even, using remote cameras, do things like ease traffic congestion and read parking meters. “A lot of cities are getting involved in this specifically because they’ve been lied to and burned by the telecom companies, and they’ve thrown up their hands and said enough,” says Dana Spiegel, a software consultant and executive director of NYCwireless, a nonprofit that has helped set up dozens of free public wireless hotspots in New York City since 2001. “If a city decides for the benefit of all residents that everyone should have access to broadband services at an affordable rate and if Verizon (Communications) or SBC (Communications) is not doing that, then the city should have the right to do that. But don’t tell that to companies like Verizon, who have cried foul -- and lobbied successfully in 14 states to restrict such municipal wireless projects or block them outright -- claiming they’re an unfair use of taxpayer money. (Philadelphia managed a last second dodge from a Pennsylvania ban.) But very few cities are out to become door-to-door deliverymen of subsidized Internet service. In a survey of networks developed by 83 towns and cities, JupiterResearch found nearly two-thirds are designed for government and commercial use; only 4 percent are dedicated solely to serving wireless broadband to residents and businesses. In fact, the goals of municipal networks are three times as likely to be economic development and IT cost savings than universal accessibility. That’s certainly the case for the city of Philadelphia, which has chosen a wholesale business model. It contracts with ISPs to deliver broadband to homes and businesses and uses that revenue to pay the debt service on building the network and generate the cash to service it. Dianah Neff, Philadelphia’s chief information officer, estimates the city can save $2 million annually on telecom costs and cut in half what its remote facilities pay for T1 lines. The biggest draw, though, is bringing broadband Internet to low- income communities, where such a thing is rare, for about $20 month. “We have a vibrant downtown but we have failing neighborhoods,” she says. “You can’t leave a third of your population behind.” In addition to providing the link to the Internet, Philadelphia will coordinate with school districts to distribute 10,000 computers to low-income homes in the next five years along with the necessary training. Local nonprofits, paid by the city, will provide tech support. That outreach is key, Neff has told the more than 100 cities who have sought her advice. “The neighborhood approach, using existing nonprofits that a community knows, is the best way,” she says. “You can’t just go in and assume you know what a neighborhood needs.” The cost for all this? Roughly $150,000 per square mile over five years is the JupiterResearch estimate, with one-third of costs coming up front. JupiterResearch doesn’t paint a very rosy picture when it comes to profits: just 54 percent of the initiatives will break even charging $25 per user per month; that figure climbs to 88 percent when the monthly fee is raised to $100. But Neff disagrees. She projects Philadelphia will spend much less, about $10 million on infrastructure, financed through private investment, grants and sales of taxable bonds; with total costs reaching $18 million, her costs are between $70,000 to $100,000 per square mile, she says. Construction will begin late next month, once a broadband provider is chosen. As in Philadelphia, JupiterResearch found in its survey that a little cooperation goes a long way to reduce costs and share risks
