Archive for March, 2006

Last week, Tina Nerat wrote about the upcoming Broadband Forum II, which I hope will provide a big boost in helping to get a redundant fiber line to our region (see this post) and better broadband coverage generally. I won’t go in to details about the event since her article covers it pretty well. And next week, Chris Crawford will cover the Forum and it’s topics again in the Times-Standard. We are trying to keep this vital subject in front of the public to try and move the region forward on telecommunications.

One idea that has not had much coverage, and I think deserves a real push is the need for regional telecommunications planning. Right now there are lots of jurisdictions from cities to counties each trying to figure out the future. Most of the these entities don’t really have the resources to research and understand the issues. And none of them really know what the other is doing.

One of the big lessons I learned on a trip to Blacksburg, VA (the original ‘electronic village’) was that the entire state of VA has planning committees devoted to telecommunications infrastructure, and these entities talk to each other.

It seemed like every city and berg had a committee (not of politicians, but of industry people) helping plan the future. And every county had a similar committee. And above that were committees that covered multiple jurisdictions which, given the nature of telecommunications, gave them a broader overview of planning, the ability to coordinate projects and develop projects that gave rural areas a larger footprint, and more leverage for dollars and attention.

I really believe a similar approach needs to be established here. After meeting with the City of Eureka about some wireless concepts, it was obvious, the different parts of the city did not have a clear idea of what the other parts wanted or were planning. And there was no facility for discussing similar ideas with other cities or with the county.

Whether it happens at the grassroots level with municipalities forming telecommunications planning committees, and connecting them together with other entities, or it starts at a regional level with mulitple counties forming a telecommunications committee that then communicates with their local costituents, I don’t care. But I think this kind of thinking and planning needs to happen right now or everyone will lose.

Technorati Tags: redundant fiber broadband

Perhaps we should look even more closely at the proposal by DG Energy Solutions. Or anyone else, for that matter. According to the Earth Policy Insitute, the cost of wind energy has dropped below that of conventional sources in certain areas of the U.S. From the article:

During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy.

The article goes on to claim that this crossover trend will continue to spread. But will our area embrace alternative energy or reject it as another intrusion in to our ‘ecosystem’.

Interest in wind energy is rising as production costs fall. Although media attention focuses on communities with a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) response to wind turbines, such as the large, off-shore wind farm planned off Cape Cod, in most of the country wind farms are enthusiastically welcomed. Here, it’s the PIIMBY syndrome—put-it-in-my-backyard.

Will Humboldt County be a NIMBY or a PIIMBY community? What are the stances of our supervisorial candidates on this issue? Looking at the web sites of the candidates (those that I am aware of), Only Pat Higgins’ site makes a vague reference to supporting alternative energy.

Technorati Tags: alternative energy

Just a follow up on my post regarding the businessman who found a wireless connection in Eureka by sitting outside the Best Western in his car. Some jurisdictions appear to think this is a crime. A man in Rockford, Illinois was arrested and fined $250 for using a non-profit organization’s wireless network. From the article:

“We just want to get the word out that it is a crime. We are prosecuting it, and people need to take precautions,” Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Wartowski said.

What’s not clear from the article is who was the victim of the crime? Was it the non-profit organization? What if it was part of an outreach program? After all, they must have left their network open for a reason since it’s fairly easy to secure. I know lots of people who leave their wireless connection open. It’s a neighborly thing to do. (This doesn’t mean you have to leave your computer or your LAN open as well).

I don’t know the local statutes on using someone’s open wireless network, but wouldn’t it be nice render this all moot with a wireless cloud in downtown Eureka?

Beginning at the end of last week thousands of Cox Cable Internet customers experienced a serious degradation of services. According to Mark Geiger, Director of Network Operation for Cox, the issue began with circuits on the AT&T fiber line that is our one link to the rest of the the Network. It’s unclear if AT&T customers were similarly affected. I haven’t heard of any issues with DSL service. While the circuits issue was eventually cleared up on AT&T’s end, problems continued with Cox’s service. According to Geiger, “On Sunday and Monday, the problem changed to a load balancing issue with our MLS. Whether it was related to the circuit issues and having to bounce the ports or not, I can not directly correlate.” I think he is being overly circumspect and generous. The coincidence of the circuit issues and the subsequent internal problems make it hard to imagine they aren’t related.

However, the lesson of this incident is simply to underscore the obvious: Shit happens. Whether it’s a backhoe cutting a line or a software glitch, hardware failure or a human error, eventually something will have negative effects on our single fiber connection to the global telecommunications system. If we had that second line in place another circuit issue on one line would allow service providers to automatically switch to the reliable line.

This is not just a convenience to keep our web surfing happy. This is a major economic, safety and security issue for the county. Redundancy for our region is an imperative.

Technorati Tags: redundant fiber broadband

A week ago I noted that Worth Dikeman’s web site was totally blank even though it was included in a  large ad in the Times-Standard. I thought then it was not a good sign of his organizational ability to publicize a site that was empty. Checking back with his site I find there is now content. However, some pages are still under construction including the Endorsements page. In addition, clicking on the ‘Home’ button gets a ‘file not found error’ message. It’s kind of ironic that his campaign slogan is ‘Ready for the People’. Maybe so, just not the web site.

Last week I gave a talk at a local chapter of the Kiwanis Club about how the Internet is evolving and touched on some key things happening locally that may help us keep up with these changes. I talked about a couple local community wireless projects in the works and at the end of my talk was rewarded with an anecdote about how one businessman improvised. He had come in to Eureka for a meeting and discovered he had left a file he needed on his computer back at the office. With no Internet access where he was, he drove around looking for a wireless connection. He found one by sitting in the parking lot at the Best Western. I guess they have an open connection. He was able to access his office, get the file he needed and get to his meeting.

Congratulation to this gentleman on his resourcefulness. But is this any way to run a business? Or for a city or county to run its telecommunications infrastructure? For an area that wants to attract high tech clean industries, in lieu of declining timber and fisheries I am hoping. I am hoping things will improve soon.

On April 5 and 6 Broadband Forum II will be held in Fortuna and Eureka, and will address a range of telecommunications infrasturcture issues. Decision makers from government and business will be invited to learn about the next steps needed to be taken in ensuring redundant fiber access for our region. They will also have the opportunity to understand some of the options for making broadband access more available through wireless networks and other options.

I am hopeful this event will bring about real action in our community. We’ve talked about these things long enough. For more information on the Broadband Forum II go here.

I finally have a reason to join AARP! They’ve been sending me stuff ever since I turned 50, but I always just assumed it was for folks already out to pasture. After all it is the American Association of RETIRED Persons. I’m not anywhere near one of those.

But now they’ve got my attention. They are among 64 organizations that include the likes of Microsoft, TiVo, Yahoo, and Google that are sending letters to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in support of network neutrality. Cool!

This Cnet article has the details.
Technorati Tags: network neutrality aarp

I added a new category to HumGuide just to cover the Balloon Track Controversy. Lots of foks are lining up on one side or another.

There are also more candidate sites listed in HumGuide, too. Yesterday, Worth Dikeman, running for Distrcit Attorney, had a big ad in the Times-Standard. It was really hard to read. It also listed his web site, which, as of this writing, was still under construction (ie. there is nothing there). This does not show very good planning or campaign mamagement. Why put the URL in an ad when the site isn’t ready?

Apparenlty Shaw, a Canadian cable firm has already implemented a two-tiered system by charging an extra $10 per month to assure quality VOIP service. They’re calling it a Quality Service Enhancement. Of course, you don’t have to pay this fee if you are using Shaw’s own ‘digital phone service’.

This flies in the face of the concept of Network Neutrality which I wrote about earlier. If Shaw gets away with it, will others like Cox/Cebridge or at&t (our two choices here ) be far behind?
Technorati Tags: network neutrality voip

Last night I told my wife I needed to finish writing a presentation I am giving next week. I told her I needed to sit down and get it in to the computer because I have been writing it in my head. She said too bad there wasn’t a device that allowed my thoughts to go directly in to a computer. “Yeah”, I said. “That would be cool.” Well, guess what:

The New Scientist has an article about a new device that translates thoughts into cursor commands thus allowing you type just by thinking! It’s almost like we thought this device in to being! Of course, this is a prototype, but once they make some improvements such when they “…develop a cap that does not have to be attached directly to the scalp. This should make the device easier to use and cause less skin irritation for the wearer.”

Once they get this worked out, I can imagine this tool to be just the ticket for bloggers! No longer would you need to go through the effort of ‘composing’ a blog post. Just put on the cap, log in to your blog site and think away. After all, you can’t expect a blogger to get a rash just for sharing random thoughts with the world.

Technorati Tags: gizmos

A couple weeks ago San Diego based DG Energy Solutions made a pitch for developing a renewable energy plant to be located at Fairhaven on the Samoa Penninsula. According to the article in the Eureka Reporter the company proposes to a ‘Trirenewable’ energy project. The three sources of energy would be wind from windmills, waves using a wave pump technology, and biomass which relies on burning vegetable matter such as wood chips to generate electricity.

I wonder if the company might considering adding a fourth source. Accorcing to this article a company in Dallas will be opening a plant to convert cow manure into energy. The plant will be located in, get this, Hereford, Texas which the company president calls the “Saudi Arabia of manure”. Given the number of dairy farms and political rhetoric around here, maybe Humboldt County could be considred the Turkmenistan of manure. Using manure to create electricty is a great way of solving two problems with one solution. I know farmers and ranchers who have a lot of animals have a problem getting rid of the byproduct. Shipping extra cow poop to Hereford is probably not feasible, but carting over to Fairhaven would be.

Technorati Tags: alternative energy

The Contra Costa Times is reporting that Concord will soon be offering free wireless access for 1 square mile of its downtown area. This is not startling news as every week some town or city or county announces its own wireless project. However, there are several interesting pieces of information regarding how this is being funded, why it’s important, and why this doesn’t pose a real threat to incumbent ISPs offering cable and DSL wired connections.
This is being built by a company called MetroFi which is paying for it by selling advertising on the browser that window that appears when you access the service. Given that the cost of setting up such a wireless mesh is not that high, they should be able to recoup their investment pay for maintenance and eventually make a profit. What great model that could be for any community wireless project.

‘In five years, I think most major cities, suburbs and even more rural communities will have WiFi networks,’ said Chuck Haas, MetroFi’s chief executive officer.

‘There’s a benefit to local businesses because they can reach their customers through advertising and there’s a benefit to residents because they get Internet for free.’

The article goes on to explain why this is becoming such a necessity for communities who want to have a workforce attuned to the future, and why wireless will not supplant the higher speed services of wired ISPs:

‘It’s becoming necessary for people in the mobile work force,’ said Subhankar Dhar, a WiFi expert who teaches at San Jose State. ‘You may not get as fast as connectivity as when you’re at home (with wired Internet), but you can still easily send e-mail and get your news.’

MetroFi’s download speed is 1 megabyte per second, which is typically slower than a wired network, but 20 times faster than a dial-up modem.

The expansion of WiFi won’t mean the death of wired networks because consumers still like high-speed connections, Dhar said.

Comcast and other wired Internet providers aren’t too worried about competition.

‘We offer the widest range of content, faster speeds than DSL or WiFi, reliable service and the most secure, integrated high-speed connection to the Internet,’ Andrew Johnson, a Comcast spokesman, said in a statement.

Here are answers to many of the objections that are often raised when free community wireless access projects are proposed. Add the benefit to communities that are vying for tourist dollars and the benefits begin to pile up. Imagine if we had a wireless mesh in dowtown/Old Town Eureka during the Jazz and Blues Festivals and festival goers were sending email out to their friends about how great a time they are having. Maybe evening posting to blogs and uploading photos, right while it’s happening. Fun!

I may still be neutral (undecided not uncaring) about the Balloon Track development. But I am decidedly not neutral about Network Neutrality. I think it is crucial to the survival of the Internet as we have come to know it. What is Network Neutrality? Start with this article from the The Nation entitled The End of the Internet? by Jeff Chester which explains how the owners of major data lines are planning to offer a multi-tiered Internet, providing better service for those willing and able to pay.

The growing monopoly over the data lines that carriers our Internet traffic makes this threat quite feasible. The NY Times is reporting that AT&T (formerly SBC) is about to buy BellSouth. The Times further suggests this purchase will force Verizon to absorb Qwest. The consolidation of the telecommunications industry continues.

This news makes it clear that the network we all use and pay for in access fees will be owned by a small handful of corporations. And this makes the issue of network neutrality increasingly important. Steven Levy of Newsweek provides a good summary of the issue. Basically the owners of the big data pipes we all use to get information from place to place, are proposing to create a two-tiered Internet, charging fees for better data delivery. This means big business, which could afford to pay these fees would have a leg up on smaller business. The idea of a two-tiered Internet flies in the face of what has made the network such a powerful force for social and economic change and innovation. That is that the data delivery system is open and equally available to everyone, large or small, corporations or individuals. The level playing field allows everyone to compete equally.

This is a crucial issue for us in Humboldt County. Very few of us would be able to pay the extra fees that allow our information to be delivered at the same speed and efficiency of say ABC/Disney. Our videos and sound files suddenly have less value. Our communications over VoIP would be degraded in comparision to large corporate clients able to pay the higher tarriffs.

The carriers all claim that unpaid traffic won’t be degraded, only that premium service will be given to paid traffic. However, already there are rumours that carriers are experimenting with throttling certain kinds of traffic. The Humboldt Linux Users Group mailing list recently had a lively thread on whether Cox was throttling access to Peer to Peer (P2P) networks. According to an intrepid investigator on the list it appears they are. And there are now reports that Comcast may be degrading the service of Vonage, a voice over IP phone company. This means subscribers to Comcast’s broadband service who also use Vonage over that connection may be getting poor data transfers on purpose. Comcast would like to discourage use of VoIP because of the amount of bandwidth it takes up. They may be planning to start their own VoIP service which would be charged at a higher rate than Vonage’s. Of course, it’s difficult to confirm any of this as Comcast and Cox aren’t publicizing the practice. This article from The Register explains how all this works and is working. However, with these companies having absolute and unregulated control over the data lines, and little choice in carriers in most regions for end users, what power would we have?

This whole issue is starting to get some notice by Congress. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has introduced a bill to prevent service providers from charging higher fees for preferential treatment. But the article seems to imply this particular bill will get little traction. And while it does address the two-tiered Internet issue, it does not address the obverse issue of degrading and throttling existing services by major carriers.

The major carriers feel they have the right to control and charge whatever they want for traffic that passes over their infrastructure because they invested a lot of money to build it. They own it, so they can do whatever they want. That arguement carries some weight, especially when the alternative might be more regulation by the government. However, the carriers received a lot tax incentives to build the network and right of ways in communities to deploy services. In addition, the Internet has become as essential to commerce and communication as the highway system is to travel and commerce.

This is not a easy problem to solve. But it is a crucial one.

Technorati Tags: network neutrality voip

I love my IPod. Mostly I listen to Podcasts of news and tech shows. It’s actually a video IPod so sometimes I watch things on it as well. But that inhibits multitasking. Like right now I am listening to a podcast from Open Source Radio on the confilict in Iraq while I type. I don’t really listen to much music on it. I am thinking of getting the new FM Tuner that lets you switch between stored shows and using the IPod as an FM radio. Now, if only Apple would allow the IPod to be a recording device.

In any case, I wonder if the Pope will have as much fun and get as much use out of his new IPod as I do. It appears he, too, will be listening mostly to podcasts, though it did come preloaded with “musical compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frederic Chopin, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky.” When he received the IPod the Pope remarked, “Computer technology is the future.”. Indeed. Will the Pope log on to ITunes and download some Pink, just to check it out?