This isn't entirely about free internet access though...
From the New York Times: "City officials envision a seamless mesh of broadband signals that will enable the police to download mug shots as they race to crime scenes in their patrol cars, allow truck drivers to maintain Internet access to inventories as they roam the city, and perhaps most important, let students and low-income residents get on the net."
The other good quote from this article: "'Government doesn't do service well,' said Eric Rabe, vice president for public relations for Verizon."
right. because Verizon DOES do service well. oh, the irony.
electricity is a highly regulated utility. everyone has access to it. not everyone has access to broadband internet, because the cable/telcos aren't required to offer it everywhere.
this bill is particularly damaging to remote/poor communities (hello, like 99% of texas!).
Re:"Free" as in Routers are Purchased by Magic Elv
on
Free Wi-Fi Threatened?
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· Score: 1
"Do you think it should be illegal for public libraries to provide public hotspots?"
You're missing the point. This is not about public libraries - they'll still be able to provide wireless hotspots. These bills are about municipal wireless efforts where the town is attempting to essentially allow free wifi access as a sort of public utility.
1) Free wifi is useful to the government as well as its citizens (think police, for starters).
2) Most of these municipal wifi plans aren't about competing with cable/telephone companies (though they will, obviously). Municipal wifi is usually about providing a basic level of internet ubiquitously
The real answer is that there are solid reasons that exist for municipal wifi. Say you have a city like Philadelphia blanketed with wifi, or wimax, or whatever they decide to use (wifi for now). Cops are always online, ambulances are able to be online while traveling, trucking and delivery are better able to work with real-time inventory.
Then there's the issue of the digital divide. Forget the individuals, let's talk about the communities that aren't cost-effective for the ISPs to run broadband into. If the government doesn't get involved, what are they going to do?
I live in Long Beach, CA. The downtown is covered with free wifi. It's great, but most certainly hurts the cable and telephone companies. Everyone I know who lives around there picks up the wireless from downtown at home. Don't think that these anti-municipal wifi bills weren't preceded by heavy lobbying from Verizon (in Texas) and the cable companies.
"If upheld, the patent could force Microsoft and other browser makers to take out a license if they want to run, within the browser, applications like Macromedia's Flash animation software, Adobe's PDF document software, or Sun Microsystems' Java programming language. A workaround could disrupt millions of pages around the Web, industry and standards experts warn."
from this article, which is merely a conventient summary of the ramifications if the Eolas patent is upheld. You really think the W3C would get concerned about Active X?
This would affect all browsers that use embedded plug-in and applet technology. Opera, Firefox, Netscape, IE - they're all in the same boat. In the past, Eolas has claimed they would only go after Microsoft, in order to give Mozilla a boost, but I'm sure that wouldn't last long.
The sad thing is that the real loser if Eolas wins is the end user. Rather than license the Eolas patent, browsers would most likely switch to an interface of some sort that forces the user to choose to use the plug-in or applet to view a site.
if the service goes down for a bit, fine. don't make me leave stuff running on my computer until gmail comes back up so i don't lose emails. until there's a 'save as draft' feature or gmail NEVER goes down, it just won't cut it.
i was going to correct myself after i posted and say something to the effect of abandoning the patent, but the truth is that "open source" is a technical term that has a technical meaning when applied to software, but is more and more acquiring a non-technical meaning in the tech industry and even outside the tech industry. this is evidenced by the simple fact you knew what i was saying even though you prefer my language to be more technical. so yes, i agree with you, but no, i don't agree with you.
That first sentence should include the word "first". MS is being sued "first" because they have the money. Despite claims to the contrary, it seems pretty clear that Eolas will follow the money.
In cases like this, where the patent holder claims to be trying to help the open source cause, they should help the cause by making the patent open source. Otherwise, they're vigilantes. They can do what they want, but there won't be any sympathy from me when they lose.
I've been working on a similar idea for news, and as far as I can tell fair use completely applies to this specific idea of yours - education and the arts, unbiased, not for profit.
There are already some sites out there doing something similar like the Media Awareness Project [mapinc.org] which collects and archives research on drug policy. From what I can tell, they only get sued when they get too big, present content with a bias, or try to profit.
I find it hard to believe my little project is the only one out there. We're working on web/p2p jointly, but there are bound to be others, and they'll all probably be open source. So once one good once comes out, we'll see lots of applications of this within research and academic communities.
Well, I have been talking with a few friends about something along these lines - first a website, but then a p2p client that decentralizes information. We're right at the birthing stage, but that's probably why no one has done it. The only way to pull it off is through fair use, and the only way to pull that off is to be completely non-profit.
The ideal would be a system that posts articles from current news sources (full text, not just links), individuals on the site, with a commenting feature. The articles (and maybe comments)would be archived (again, text, but just text) and searchable. The idea is there, and we're starting the ball rolling on the project. The whole thing will be open source. If you're interested (in any capacity), get in touch with me... periol[at]gmail[dot]com
Now it will be harder for new artists to get signed and the variety of music will suffer.
Not at all. Didn't you RTFA (ha)? Because Sony/BMG don't think like you do.
They told regulators that combining their music units would be good for consumers because it would allow more money to be invested in new artists, thus promoting cultural diversity in Europe.
See, this is a *good* thing. Fewer companies means more cultural diversity. Fewer companies means they'll care more about the artists.
When the number of major music companies equals zero, just think how much more cultural diversity there will be. I can't wait. Download away!!!
i've had to test a few wifi routers, and the buffalo routers [buffalotech.com] have significantly outperformed anything from linksys, netgear, or d-link. i recommend them to everyone i work with.
I have an Evo N1000c that was part of my school's [drew.edu] ubiquitious computing program. I work at the school helpdesk, and we had problems with the Evos from the first day. After three months, my computer was receiving 0x8e stop errors at least once a day, if not more frequently.
HP replaced my mainboard three times, my hard drive twice, and EVERY OTHER COMPONENT on my computer except for my batter at least once. I bought new memory, which didn't fix the problem.
Finally, we sent my machine to be aggressively tested by HP. After *they lost it* for a while, they returned it claiming that it was fixed, but wouldn't tell us what they did.
I have my doubts that this problem is industry-wide. We're talking about two-year old laptops here. HP simply had a very, very serious quality-control problem. They deserve absolutely no kudos - it took the threat of potential legal action for them to even pay attention to our issues.
Oh, come on. Even if you can't RTFA, at least read the blurb. It's not emails from Gmail that aren't getting through, it's *invites*. Every invite I've sent to a yahoo account goes into Bulk Mail. I haven't heard anything about hotmail invites.
There has been way too much emphasis on wireless "security" lately, and almost none on the subversive possibilities of wireless networking. Every time I see a city is putting up a wireless network, I get excited. More and more of the commercial wireless companies are starting to give up on their business models, because giving out wireless bandwidth is cheap and easy.
Seriously, the advent of free wireless, whether municipal or "lilypad", means that the internet is becoming a technology with increasingly low entrance requirements. Find an old laptop, run Linux, and start a blog.
If you're going to worry about security, do it on the machines. Leave the network infrastructure alone. Rawk!
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't entirely about free internet access though...
From the New York Times: "City officials envision a seamless mesh of broadband signals that will enable the police to download mug shots as they race to crime scenes in their patrol cars, allow truck drivers to maintain Internet access to inventories as they roam the city, and perhaps most important, let students and low-income residents get on the net." The other good quote from this article: "'Government doesn't do service well,' said Eric Rabe, vice president for public relations for Verizon."
right. because Verizon DOES do service well. oh, the irony.
electricity is a highly regulated utility. everyone has access to it. not everyone has access to broadband internet, because the cable/telcos aren't required to offer it everywhere.
this bill is particularly damaging to remote/poor communities (hello, like 99% of texas!).
"Do you think it should be illegal for public libraries to provide public hotspots?" You're missing the point. This is not about public libraries - they'll still be able to provide wireless hotspots. These bills are about municipal wireless efforts where the town is attempting to essentially allow free wifi access as a sort of public utility.
"I think they're lying. Plain and simple."
You aren't the only one who's suspicious.
1) Free wifi is useful to the government as well as its citizens (think police, for starters).
2) Most of these municipal wifi plans aren't about competing with cable/telephone companies (though they will, obviously). Municipal wifi is usually about providing a basic level of internet ubiquitously
The real answer is that there are solid reasons that exist for municipal wifi. Say you have a city like Philadelphia blanketed with wifi, or wimax, or whatever they decide to use (wifi for now). Cops are always online, ambulances are able to be online while traveling, trucking and delivery are better able to work with real-time inventory.
Then there's the issue of the digital divide. Forget the individuals, let's talk about the communities that aren't cost-effective for the ISPs to run broadband into. If the government doesn't get involved, what are they going to do?
I live in Long Beach, CA. The downtown is covered with free wifi. It's great, but most certainly hurts the cable and telephone companies. Everyone I know who lives around there picks up the wireless from downtown at home. Don't think that these anti-municipal wifi bills weren't preceded by heavy lobbying from Verizon (in Texas) and the cable companies.
The lesson I'm taking away is that I can drive drunk OR talk on the cell phone, but not both. Now THAT'S really bad.
"If upheld, the patent could force Microsoft and other browser makers to take out a license if they want to run, within the browser, applications like Macromedia's Flash animation software, Adobe's PDF document software, or Sun Microsystems' Java programming language. A workaround could disrupt millions of pages around the Web, industry and standards experts warn."
from this article, which is merely a conventient summary of the ramifications if the Eolas patent is upheld. You really think the W3C would get concerned about Active X?
This would affect all browsers that use embedded plug-in and applet technology. Opera, Firefox, Netscape, IE - they're all in the same boat. In the past, Eolas has claimed they would only go after Microsoft, in order to give Mozilla a boost, but I'm sure that wouldn't last long.
The sad thing is that the real loser if Eolas wins is the end user. Rather than license the Eolas patent, browsers would most likely switch to an interface of some sort that forces the user to choose to use the plug-in or applet to view a site.
If you are somewhere that you know has WiFi (office, known hotspot, Starbucks etc), it is not much use.
erm, don't forget all of New York City (well, except for Harlem).
right. like all those times when gmail is down.
if the service goes down for a bit, fine. don't make me leave stuff running on my computer until gmail comes back up so i don't lose emails. until there's a 'save as draft' feature or gmail NEVER goes down, it just won't cut it.
i was going to correct myself after i posted and say something to the effect of abandoning the patent, but the truth is that "open source" is a technical term that has a technical meaning when applied to software, but is more and more acquiring a non-technical meaning in the tech industry and even outside the tech industry. this is evidenced by the simple fact you knew what i was saying even though you prefer my language to be more technical. so yes, i agree with you, but no, i don't agree with you.
DNS change
That first sentence should include the word "first". MS is being sued "first" because they have the money. Despite claims to the contrary, it seems pretty clear that Eolas will follow the money.
In cases like this, where the patent holder claims to be trying to help the open source cause, they should help the cause by making the patent open source. Otherwise, they're vigilantes. They can do what they want, but there won't be any sympathy from me when they lose.
Yeah, but you're forgetting that the USPTO hasn't adjusted to the fact that computer technology works in doggie years, not human ones.
And we care why?
It's called supply and demand. Yes, it impacts computer hardware too. Adapt or die. There's nothing to see here.
I've been working on a similar idea for news, and as far as I can tell fair use completely applies to this specific idea of yours - education and the arts, unbiased, not for profit.
There are already some sites out there doing something similar like the Media Awareness Project [mapinc.org] which collects and archives research on drug policy. From what I can tell, they only get sued when they get too big, present content with a bias, or try to profit.
I find it hard to believe my little project is the only one out there. We're working on web/p2p jointly, but there are bound to be others, and they'll all probably be open source. So once one good once comes out, we'll see lots of applications of this within research and academic communities.
Well, I have been talking with a few friends about something along these lines - first a website, but then a p2p client that decentralizes information. We're right at the birthing stage, but that's probably why no one has done it. The only way to pull it off is through fair use, and the only way to pull that off is to be completely non-profit.
The ideal would be a system that posts articles from current news sources (full text, not just links), individuals on the site, with a commenting feature. The articles (and maybe comments)would be archived (again, text, but just text) and searchable. The idea is there, and we're starting the ball rolling on the project. The whole thing will be open source. If you're interested (in any capacity), get in touch with me... periol[at]gmail[dot]com
Now it will be harder for new artists to get signed and the variety of music will suffer.
Not at all. Didn't you RTFA (ha)? Because Sony/BMG don't think like you do.
They told regulators that combining their music units would be good for consumers because it would allow more money to be invested in new artists, thus promoting cultural diversity in Europe.
See, this is a *good* thing. Fewer companies means more cultural diversity. Fewer companies means they'll care more about the artists.
When the number of major music companies equals zero, just think how much more cultural diversity there will be. I can't wait. Download away!!!
i've had to test a few wifi routers, and the buffalo routers [buffalotech.com] have significantly outperformed anything from linksys, netgear, or d-link. i recommend them to everyone i work with.
I have an Evo N1000c that was part of my school's [drew.edu] ubiquitious computing program. I work at the school helpdesk, and we had problems with the Evos from the first day. After three months, my computer was receiving 0x8e stop errors at least once a day, if not more frequently.
HP replaced my mainboard three times, my hard drive twice, and EVERY OTHER COMPONENT on my computer except for my batter at least once. I bought new memory, which didn't fix the problem.
Finally, we sent my machine to be aggressively tested by HP. After *they lost it* for a while, they returned it claiming that it was fixed, but wouldn't tell us what they did.
I have my doubts that this problem is industry-wide. We're talking about two-year old laptops here. HP simply had a very, very serious quality-control problem. They deserve absolutely no kudos - it took the threat of potential legal action for them to even pay attention to our issues.
Oh, come on. Even if you can't RTFA, at least read the blurb. It's not emails from Gmail that aren't getting through, it's *invites*. Every invite I've sent to a yahoo account goes into Bulk Mail. I haven't heard anything about hotmail invites.
uh, no they won't. they'll simply use all the available bandwidth, or at least all the bandwidth allocated to them.
the bandwidth will cost exactly the same amount whether or not it is used. it's not like the city is using cable or something.
There has been way too much emphasis on wireless "security" lately, and almost none on the subversive possibilities of wireless networking. Every time I see a city is putting up a wireless network, I get excited. More and more of the commercial wireless companies are starting to give up on their business models, because giving out wireless bandwidth is cheap and easy.
Seriously, the advent of free wireless, whether municipal or "lilypad", means that the internet is becoming a technology with increasingly low entrance requirements. Find an old laptop, run Linux, and start a blog.
If you're going to worry about security, do it on the machines. Leave the network infrastructure alone. Rawk!
No, that would be warSwimming