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Archive for the 'Grass Roots Wireless' Category

Wi-Fi in Rural Africa

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 17th, 2008

Rick Merritt of EE Times talks to Eric Brewer on his vision for a WiFi backbone network that could bring a better life to rural Africa. Brewer spoke about sensor networks at the IEEE Workshop on Wireless Mesh Networks yesterday. He describes his work in the video (below).

“I want people to think big,” said Brewer, [...]

Philadelphia WiFi Rescued?

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 17th, 2008

A group of local investors will rescue Philadelphia’s trailblazing wireless network from what seemed like imminent shutdown, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. A new for-profit company will replace Earthlink. The network seemed doomed last month when Earthlink went to court seeking permission to remove its transmitters from city streetlights.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, [...]

Mobile Mashup

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 15th, 2008

Pachube, a mashup for sensor networks, enables people to tag and share real time environmental data from objects, devices and spaces around the world. The key aim is to facilitate interaction between remote environments.

Make Magazine says only eighteen feeds are conected so far - but the datastreams are already quite interesting - from a [...]

Free Internet Auction: On Again

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 12th, 2008

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he still wants to auction spectrum for free Internet service. Martin testified Tuesday at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee (pdf).
“I think the business model that we should be advocating is trying to take into account some kind of a lifeline broadband service for consumers,” Martin [...]

SF WiFi: We’re Free

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 12th, 2008

Free wireless Internet may be available to all San Francisco residents by the end of the year, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
San Francisco-based Meraki Networks will install free wireless Internet throughout the city, starting with Valencia Garden Complex, a 260-unit residence located at 360 Valencia St. where Wednesday’s announcement was made.
Actually, some 100,000 San [...]

Santa Fe WiFi: Threat to “Electrically Sensitive”

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 11th, 2008

A proposal to put free wireless Internet service in public libraries and a handful of other buildings in Santa Fe has been delayed by objections from residents who say they are electrically sensitive.
“These are our last refuges,” complained Arthur Firstenberg, a leading opponent of the Wi-Fi plan (below).

Firstenberg, who contends Earth is being engulfed in [...]

Meraki and San Francisco Partner for WiFi

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 11th, 2008

Meraki is announcing today that it has partnered with the city of San Francisco to provide free wireless internet access to affordable housing complexes in the city.
In a press conference with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom today, Sanjit Biswas, founder and CEO of Meraki, will showcase two affordable housing developments that it has unwired.
Earlier this [...]

White Space Pow Wow

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 10th, 2008

A full-day workshop called “Safely Accessing the TV White Space Spectrum - What Can We Do???” has been organized by the SDR Forum, aimed at providing a neutral venue for this controversial topic.
The Software Defined Radio Forum is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of software defined radio technologies for [...]

T Minus 10 for MetroFi

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 7th, 2008

You pay the bills!
You fight the city. You fight the state.
You fight the unions. You fight the community.
You think you can do a better job, you do it.
I am finished! It’s all yours. I quit!
- The Hospital

MetroFi hopes to make a decision on whether to shut down Portland’s free Wi-Fi network within the next 10 [...]

Documenary on Wireless Philadelphia

Posted by Sam Churchill on June 6th, 2008

On June 12, 2008, Earthlink Wireless plans to disconnect their municipal WiFi service in the City of Philadelphia.

Change is in the Airwaves: A Documentary about the Philadelphia Wireless Initiative from George Rausch on Vimeo. Documentary filmmaker George Rausch has released his unfinished documentary about the endeavor, forgoing further editing and technical corrections.

My aspiration for [...]