Tag Archives: Research

NYCwireless, Policy, Uncategorized

Share Your Network–Join New Open Wireless Movement

1 Comment

New Project Promotes Shared Open Wi-Fi with Tips and How-Tos

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of nine other groups launched the Open Wireless Movement today–a new project to promote a landscape of shared, wireless Internet.

The Open Wireless Movement site at openwireless.org gives users of all kinds technological and legal information around opening up a wireless network, including how-to guides and responses to common myths. The site includes specialized information for households, small businesses, developers, and Internet Service Providers. The Open Wireless Movement coalition is also working to develop router technology making it easier for people to open their networks without losing quality of Internet access or compromising security.

“We envision a world where sharing one’s Internet connection is the norm,” said EFF Activist Adi Kamdar. “A world of open wireless would encourage privacy, promote innovation, and largely benefit the public good. And everyone–users, businesses, developers, and Internet service providers–can get involved.”

The Open Wireless Coalition consists of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press, Internet Archive, NYCwireless, the Open Garden Foundation, OpenITP, the Open Spectrum Alliance, the Open Technology Institute, and the Personal Telco Project.

Events, News

CITI's 25th Anniversary Celebration Invite and Discount Code for NYCwireless Members

Eli Noam, the Director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) emailed me an invite to CITI’s 25th Anniversary Celebration and Conference. All NYCwireless members can attend this great celebration at a discount! We’ll be there, and hope you can be also.

See below for the invitation and discount code.

We would be pleased if the members of NYCwireless could attend a 25th anniversary celebration of Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI). CITI is a research center at Columbia Business School that has published over 70 books, written more than thousand articles, and hosted over 200 conferences, bringing together illustrious speakers and accomplished alumni to explore the wonderfully dynamic fields of Telecom and Electronic Mass Media.

Our 25th anniversary celebration will begin with a Gala Dinner on Thursday, October 30th. Speakers include Vint Cerf of Google, the man who is credited as being the “father” of the Internet. Also, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who used to be on our board, and Washington’s foremost communications lawyer, Richard Wiley. The following day, Friday, October 31st, CITI will host a full day conference, The Next Generation of Communication: The Dawning of the Ultra-Broadband Era. This conference will explore the next generation of broadband– personal ultra-broadband (connections above 1Gbps, hundreds of times faster than most of today’s broadband) — and the vast changes in mass media, consumer electronics, and ICT that this technology will drive. (For more information on these events go to http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/citi/events/summit2008)

As a token of our appreciation for your assistance in circulating this announcement, we would like to offer your members of a 10% discount off the regular admission price to the gala and conference. Please feel free to send the attached PDF as an email announcement to your associates and provide them with discount code NYCWLS10 so that they can get the discount when registering. Please use the following link to register eRSVP.

With Kind Regards,

Eli M. Noam
Professor of Finance and Economics
Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information

CITI 25th Anniversary Celebration and Conference Details (pdf)

News

Participate in a Community Wireless Networks Study

Cédric Calvignac, a French PhD student, is conducting a study of Community Wireless Networks around the world. If you’d like to participate, please read below.

I’m a French PhD student in sociology. My research focuses on “innovations made by and for users”. I have decided to particularly focus on “Wireless Community Networks” which are illustrative of a new type of approach more autonomous, alternative and civic. For the last two years, I have been interviewing French members of “Wifi Community Networks”; I talked with them about their commitment and about the life of their project. Now, I carry on with my research and I propose you to answer to my questionnaire. This questionnaire will enable me to gather data on a wider population: members of European and North American “Wireless Communities”.

I invite you to follow this link: http://www.sharing-data.com/client/calvignac-c-dric/en/etudereseauwifi.html

Answer the questionnaire should not take you more than a few minutes. Personal informations will be kept anonymous. Survey results will be communicated and freely accessible.

I would be very grateful to you if you could circulate my questionnaire among your contacts (in your own wifi community). Thanks for your answer and for message diffusion.

I am at your disposal for any questions or commentary.

Best regards.

Cédric Calvignac
PhD Student – Sociology
CERTOP – Toulouse University II

P.S.: If possible, can you please indicate at the end of the questionnaire where do you come from (city) and the name of your wifi network.

News

Follow Up from NY:MIEG Event — Wireless, Wimax & Mobile 2008 and Beyond: The Future of Communications

Laura and I had a lot of fun talking on the panel at the NY:MIEG event Wireless, Wimax & Mobile 2008 and Beyond: The Future of Communications. We talked about Wi-Fi, WiMax, and Cell networks, as well as devices and content. Laura talked about her research about how people use hotspots. Needless to say, lots of people are interested in wireless technologies, and especially handhelds and Wi-Fi hotspots.

For those of you that missed the panel, it was recorded and will be posted online.

A few people live-blogged the panel, and there was lively discussion for quite some time after the panel was over:

News

NYCwireless Partners with Urban Research TV

NYCwireless is working with Urban Research TV, an urban research think tank, to explore topics relating to the intersection between wireless telecommunications infrastructure, urban space and architecture.

Urban Research TV includes an open discussion forum on Public Space/Urban Design, Art/Culture, Housing/Real Estate, Post-Industrial Society, and Architecture.