David discusses a project in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in which transit buses become part of a wireless mesh - that lets riders get on the 'Net at T-1 speeds and which aims to make the buses more secure (drivers have panic buttons and cameras that, once the button is pressed, can be controlled remotely by police):
Steve does a video report on the Globe's Pulse Points - wicked-fast Web sites that blast information at your wireless-enabled laptop - but only if you're within range of one of their access points (currently South Station and Trident Booksellers and Cafe on Newbury Street).
Nope, no involvement with this for this Globe correspondent.
Massport can huff all it wants about "public safety," but John just won't buy the argument that that's why it costs so much to use WiFi at Logan Airport:
... Charging eight bucks for 24 hours of internet access might make sense in a coffee shop environment (although I still think it's like charging for using the bathroom) but in an airport it's more like Massport charges eight bucks an hour. No wonder they want to avoid competition.
The Boston Globe ran a story today titled "If we're Tech City, where's our WiFi?"
''No one's stepping up," said Michael Oh, a local technology executive and cofounder of the Boston Wireless Advocacy Group, a loose crew of volunteers pushing for more wireless access around town. "Boston is behind the curve on this compared to other cities."
Read the full story at boston.com.
The Town of Brookline has been developing a plan for a municipal wireless network that could serve the public with community hotspots, provide services for municipal and public safety departments, and add a new competitive broadband provider to the mix for residents and businesses.
There will be a public hearing on December 1st (details below) to discuss the project. It will be open to the public but it is most important that individuals who live or work in Brookline attend. If you have friends or family in Brookline, please spread the word. This info can be linked to at www.universalhub.com/brooklinewifi
If it's true, it's a helluva value, somewhere near the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Boylston St.
WiFi signals may not travel well past the front of stores. Main Streets hopes to encourage business owners to get the signal deeper into their buildings via discounted packages consisting of a Colubris repeater, installation and a decal that let's shopowners let the public know they offer free Wi-Fi. The equipment will cost about $300, installation about $45, although the first storeowners to sign up will get free installation.
The goal of the WiFi program is not to compete with ISPs but instead give business owners in each of the city's 19 Main Street commercial districts an new tool for attracting customers.
You got signal? I got signal! Brian Goodman of Boston Main Streets and Pat McCormick of the Boston Wireless Advocacy Group check out Roslindale WiFi under the stars - just like Hyde Park WiFi, only Rozzier - after a meeting about WiFi in Roslindale, Hyde Park and West Roxbury.
Hyde Park's become the second city neighborhood to get a city-sponsored WiFi zone after Roslindale. The city's Main Streets program last week installed a wireless access point atop the municipal building in Hyde Park (at Fairmount Avenue and River Street) - similar to the wireless access points that now cover Roslindale Square.
The service, separate from the Boston Public Library's existing WiFi service at the Hyde Park branch, is aimed at giving local businesses a way to give their employees and customers quick 'Net access. But anybody within sight of the municipal building can tap in.
The September Boston Wi-Fi Meetup (Wednesday, 28 Sept) is about the Boston Main Streets program to set up community Wi-Fi in Roslindale.
The newly re-done Terminal A sucks, at least when it comes to travelers with laptops, David writes:
... It cost tons of money and it shows. Yet travelers still have to hunt out the rare power outlets. Didn't Logan ask a single traveler what we want in a terminal? We would not have said overpriced, single-sourced wifi and no power outlets. Jeez! ...
John isn't buying Massport's contention that it had to shut down free Wi-Fi competitors to its paid service at Logan for public-safety reasons:
... Critical public safety communications? This is about homeland security? Please. They must think we're idiots.
Continental Airlines is fighting for their right to offer free WiFi (info below) at Boston's Logan Airport.
To support free WiFi at Logan Airport and to prevent a chilling precedent in FCC policy, please submit a public comment to the FCC. This PDF has instructions for submitting comments, both by e-mail and snail mail.
[via Pat McCormick]
The Daily Item had a story yesterday about Philadelphia's plans to move forward with it's citywide Wi-Fi initiative. Thanks to Steve Ronan for the pointer to the article.
Wireless Philadelphia has chosen three finalists to design, deploy and maintain high-speed wireless Internet access in the city: consortiums led by AT&T, Hewlett-Packard and Earthlink.
When I went down to Rozzie Square today for my weekly fix of chicken massaman curry, I took my laptop to try out this newfangled city-sponsored Wi-Fi hotspot. Bottom line: I should have left the laptop at home.
The full report:
According to an Intel survey, 12 metro regions have better overall wireless connectivity than Boston - including Minneapolis, Denver and Toledo, Ohio:
... Survey findings are based on the number of commercial and public or "free" wireless Internet access points (hotspots), airports with wireless Internet access, and broadband availability. The survey also included community wireless Internet access points, local wireless networks and wireless e-mail devices. ...
Glenn Fleishman at Wi-Fi Networking News wrote yesterday about a coffee shop in Seattle that decided to "experiment with taking back its culture by turning off the Wi-Fi juice on weekends."
In the story at Wi-Fi Networking News, coffee shop co-founder Jen Strongin said that before Wi-Fi, “People talked to each other, strangers met each other." Wi-Fi is pretty new as far as non-techies using it. As Voltaire once said "Common sense is not so common." I think that the cafe could keep their Wi-Fi open on the weekends if they helped educate their customers about free Wi-Fi etiquette. To many of us, it might just seem like common sense.
Two Boston area bloggers, Michael Feldman and Deborah Elizabeth Finn, attended last week's Boston Wi-Fi Meetup and wrote extensive summaries on each of their weblogs.
Michael wrote:
The session was called to order at 9:20 with a slide show from Adam Weiss, the museums's point man for the wi-fi project, giving an overview of what wireless technology is all about, and how the electromagnetic spectrum is divided up into hundreds of regulated and unregulated segments. Despite the well-known axiom that Powerpoint-type presentations have the highest noise to signal ratio known to man, this was a surprisingly useful overview, especially as it resonated in later references to open spectrum technologies. (The session was called to order at 9:20 with a slide show from Adam Weiss, the museums's point man for the wi-fi project, giving an overview of what wireless technology is all about, and how the electromagnetic spectrum is divided up into hundreds of regulated and unregulated segments. Despite the well-known axiom that Powerpoint-type presentations have the highest noise to signal ratio known to man, this was a surprisingly useful overview, especially as it resonated in later references to open spectrum technologies. (more)
Steve Garfield is posting a lot of notes and photos from the Boston Wi-Fi Summit over at the weblog he maintains for City Councillor John Tobin. (There's no category collecting all the related entries so start at the homepage and dig in!)
I'm posting video from today's Boston WiFi Summit at the Museum of Science.
It's over on Boston City Councillor John Tobin's Blog.
Enjoy!
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