Saturday, November 9, 2002

National Organization on Disability: Disability News National Organization on Disability:  Disability News Go to NOD.org's News section to find up-to-date disability coverage from around the U.S. and beyond. http://www6.lexisnexis.com/wpublisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayCiteList&;orgId=60&topicId=5772&topics=single  comments? [] 9:01:09 PM     New York New Tech and the waking WiFi giant Yesterday I attended Hilary Clinton's "New Technologies for New York" conference in Canandaigua. (news coverage) The summit was interesting, worthwhile, and to Clinton's credit...but I was impressed by the fact that it was dominated by telcoes large and small.  WiFi was mentioned (in passing!) as the one growth area in a very troubled industry...but they clearly don't know what to do with it.    I point out that unlike DSL or T1s or cable or any other broadband solution....WiFi is exploding precisely because it can be deployed, maintained and shared by individuals working incrementally out at the grassroots.  Ultimately broadband backhauls and WiFi "last-links" are complementary and interdependent solutions...but in the near terms they are psychological and strategically difficult to reconcile, especially if you are a well-established ISP that risks losing existing business based on traditional offerings.  This is, of course Netsville's opportunity and comparative advantage, but it makes the battle for mindshare difficult.    Our focus nearly-free public assess points and "for-the-public-good" stance (of the sort Netsville and Englewood share) may help us differentiate ourselves from the traditional " for-the-ISP's-good" models of wireless service.   comments? [] 12:35:30 PM     The wireless last mile, and the frictionless next economy. If the curb-to-home solution is wireless (and I think it is), the missing link is social, not technical. We need a business model  that exploits the intrinsic shareability of wireless access points.  (And when I say business model, I do not rule out public utility models like the ones that bring us fresh water. ) Kevin Werbach writes ...the six national US carriers are still facing a death spiral of undifferentiated competition. My guess is that the survivor will be the first one to implement the third leg of the stool: last-mile wireless broadband. Think about this: One bill for wireless access at home, in public places, and on the road. Voice and data. It feels like one network to you, but on the back-end there will be roaming agreements and different prices for the different services. That's a compelling bundle. It's the only one I can think of that competes with the other bundle-of-the-future: cable companies offering wired home broadband + TV programming + VOIP telephony. UPDATE: Andy Grove apparently agrees with me on the wireless broadband piece. (via John Robb) comments? [] 12:25:51 PM     We need a voluntary but virulent virus to stitch together the emergent WiFi infrastructure The infrastructure is already here (in New York).  What we need is a voluntary but virulent virus to stitch it together.... Lighting up Manhattan with WiFi Marcos R. Lara of the Public Internet Project has unveiled an amazing map of WiFi access points in Manhattan, compiled by volunteers who drove along every street. As you'll see, virtually all of the island is covered. Pretty remarkable for a technology that has been on the market for just three years, operates in unlicensed bands, and is deployed bottom-up by individuals and small businesses. Email Marcos if you want to see the full research.   (From http://werbach.com/blog/ ) Welcome to the Public Internet Project. We are dedicated to the evolution and development of close range wireless technologies in urban environments. In the fall of 2002 we completed our most extensive, research quality, survey of 802.11b wireless access in NYC to date ... Can I get a deeper analysis of this data? Sure can, if you know anyone looking to get an edge on what is happening in the 802.11 market send them our way. Our very large, low error data set has ~1 million data points and can be sliced and diced in many ways, far too varied to mention here. Contact us for more information at info@publicinternetproject.org. comments? [] 12:15:58 PM     Index to David Beazley's Python Tutorial Slides PythonGuide. Index to David Beazley's Python Tutorial Slides. [all] [Vaults of Parnassus] comments? [] 12:05:13 PM     Wi-Fi That Follows You Around Smart Radio reduces radiation, increases reach...A LOT.  I find that "conventional ISP" experts tend to predict that WiFi networks will "collide and collapse" when densitites increase.  I think they greatly underestimate the pace and potential of innovation, and the promise of simple social conventions (analogous to driving on the right). Vivato's prototype panel is about 2 feet by 4 feet and a few inches thick. Resembling a cubicle half-wall left lying around the office, it contains the array of antennas, a one-unit high rack mount server (or at least the components of one), and sports only a power cord and gigabit ethernet jack on its exterior. Software controlling the antennas detects Wi-Fi clients in the area and adjusts the signal across the array many times per second. The goal is to create directed beams of radio waves rather than a large spherical coverage area. By directing radio energy in small beams, the base station can support two-way TCP/IP connections more than four miles away in outdoor tests without violating FCC regulations, according to engineers at the company. Most amazingly, Vivatoís array controller follows individual users as they walk around using their laptops, adjusting the direction of its beams many times per second to keep users connected. (more at http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,56166,00.html) comments? [] 11:56:18 AM

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