[Rooftops] Re: [msgs] City of Boston WI-FI "summit" Thurs @ Museum of Science (9am - 1pm) (fwd)

[Stephen Ronan]

Without gainsaying your basic point, Dana, there was more of that 
covered than you may realize from the clips up there now.

> What disappoints me most, frankly, is that no-one from the Media Lab was 
> there to talk about all of the things we know.

All three panelists on the second panel were MIT grads and one, 
Richard O'Bryant got his doctorate at the Media Lab.

> Where was someone to talk about all of the Outreach research 
> projects that we do, like the Computer Clubhouse, Silver 
> Stringers, and the Creating Community Connections projects?

O'Bryant was co-lead investigator on the Creating Community 
Connections project: http://llk.media.mit.edu/projects/summaries/c3.shtml

I had thought he might talk more about that project. He alluded 
to it but perhaps assumed it was fairly well known by now in the 
community and didn't go into detail. He did raise the central 
point that for many people being exposed to the Internet via a 
free setup excites sufficient interest to fuel a subsequent 
willingness to pay. Nyvia Colon of Madison Park covered some of 
the territory you're referring to re: community perspective on 
the first panel. But that didn't get included among the currently 
available set of clips. Check out her contribution on the first 
panel when the Museum of Science puts the whole event on their 
Web site at mos.org this weekend. As you may know the 
event took place at the Museum maybe a hundred feet or so from 
the flagship Computer Clubhouse,
http://www.computerclubhouse.org/
the whole program being based at the Museum. But the several 
speakers from the Museum had their limited time filled with our 
things to say.

> Where were the people to talk about smart radios, and how they 
> will do away with many of the interference issues we are 
> experiencing now?

You'll find that Jock Gill spoke to that when you see his full 
contributions.

> Where was someone to talk about Nicholas' $100 computer, which 
> can do as much good in Boston as it can in India and Africa?

For a while there it looked like we might have a panel with some 
folk like Neil Gershenfeld of the Center for Bits and Atoms who 
might have talked about using fab labs
http://fab.cba.mit.edu/
to create $25 VNC clients and Sanjit Biswas to talk about MIT 
Roofnet: http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/roofnet/
but the available time and timing of the event turned out not to 
be ideal for that. Perhaps for a next event... I'd hope so.

> This is the stuff WE, as a community, know better than anyone else in Boston. 
> And WE, as a community of socially conscious researchers, MUST have a voice.
>
> I'm willing to help (though I'm in NYC), since this is one of the 
> perspectives I bring to New York through NYCwireless.

Would love to have you come visit with us and provide input into 
both some specific WiFi community network projects as well as the 
overall direction.

And by the way there's lots of need for volunteers to help local 
community wifi projects move further forward. If anyone has time 
to offer, please let me know. Anyone feel confident with chimney 
mounts? There's a Roxbury church with an omni in the steeple that 
isn't giving enough coverage... would be better to have it out 
next to the chimney. And I know of 7 families in Lower 
Roxbury/South End hoping for help getting WiFi installed 
tomorrow.

   - Steve