Remember the Arlington County/Earthlink wifi project I wrote about back in April? Well, Earthlink did secure a contract with the County, but now that’s been put on hold as a result of Earthlink’s financial problems (as has Alexandria’s network, which has been partially built).  The good news is that no one’s relying on either of these networks at this point, but it does highlight the importance of building contingencies for situations like these into municipal wifi contracts. It will be a shame if that equipment in Alexandria simply sits on the poles while Earthlink sorts itself out (Om Malik is reporting that Earthlink is considering selling its municipal network division).
Category: Tech Page 9 of 10
Like Rui Carmo over at Tao of Mac, I’m one of those amateur photographers who has long chaffed against the confines of the basic consumer photo management offerings (e.g., iPhoto), but hasn’t quite sorted out whether pro-level tools such as Aperture or Lightroom will be worth the effort and expense of adoption. If you’ve found yourself in a similar place, I highly recommend this review/comparison of iPhoto with Adobe Lightroom.  It didn’t persuade me that Lightroom is the answer (tho’ we both agree that iPhoto is not the answer), but I’m glad to find someone with the same concerns as I have (library management, ease of access to/integration with editing, etc.) who is also willing to spend some time taking a critical look at these programs.
Courtesy of this reminder by Brian at Outdoor Type, I just watched the International Space Station and Space Shuttle streak across the sky. Awe inspiring. Depending on where you live, you may still have another couple of chances to see it. If you live in or around DC, see this link. If you live elsewhere, drop your city into the “Sighting Opportunities” query engine at NASA and cross your fingers. So very very cool.
There weren’t many good things about my childhood move from Hawaii to New Jersey (really, what kind of horrible thing is that to do to a kid?). But one undeniably good thing was that the new local television station carried Mr. Wizard. I *loved* that show. Science was never cooler.
Don Herbert – Mr. Wizard – died today, aged 89. Thank you, Mr. Herbert, for everything.
Via Slashdot, I see that Verio recently sent Cryptome.org a notice informing the owner that Verio will no longer provide hosting services as of this Friday. What is Cryptome, and why should you care? Cryptome is perhaps the most impressive individual effort at plugging the “memory hole” that has ever existed.* In Cryptome’s own words:
Cryptome welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance — open, secret and classified documents — but not limited to those.
As you might imagine, this has annoyed not just the US government, but governments around the world. I’m near-fanatical when it comes to the idea that transparency is essential to good government, and I think James Young (who runs Cryptome) has done important work in advancing that idea. So getting this notice of shut down from Verio – with no explanation beyond a claim that Cryptome is violating its Acceptable Use Policy – is troubling. Verio, which has otherwise been an excellent host for Cryptome, appears to be unwilling to explain the reasons behind terminating this relationship. Mr. Young speculates:
It may be wondered if Verio was threatened by an undisclosable means, say by an National Security Letter or by a confidential legal document or by a novel attack not yet aired.
I should hope not. But that appears to be the most likely explanation. I’d quite like to see more on what happened.
*I’m not absolutely certain, but I think Cryptome may be the first online effort I’ve ever donated to.
And I’m stealing this Tim Grieve post, pretty much wholesale:
The problem with [the White House’s claim that preservation of staff email is a “grey area”]: The Presidential Records Act specifically acknowledges the existence of communications that are part official and part political — and it requires that they be preserved.
From 44 U.S.C. Section 2201: “The term ‘presidential records’ means documentary materials … created or received by the president, his immediate staff, or a unit or individual of the Executive Office of the President whose function is to advise and assist the president, in the course of conducting activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the president. Such term … includes any documentary materials relating to the political activities of the president or members of his staff, but only if such activities relate to or have a direct effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the president.”
And from 44 U.S.C. Section 2202: “The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of presidential records; and such records shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.”
The not-so-hard-to-understand import of it all: Even if an e-mail message involves “the political activities of the president or members of his staff,” it belongs to the United States — and therefore must be preserved — so long as it relates to the official duties of the president.
As I’ve noted elsewhere, the White House’s actions not only violate the law, but they make a mockery of the the efforts that thousands and thousands of civil servants and members of the military go through – every day – to make sure the their communications comply with the law.
(And I see that Sen. Leahy must have read my post the other day – he calls a liar a liar.)
I’ve had a chance to read through the proposed Arlington County/Earthlink agreement (PDF), and am throwing my summary up here in the hope that it might be useful to other Arlington residents interested in the matter. If you’re not an Arlington resident, you may still be interested, as a lot of cities are considering similar agreements. My summary is not legal advice, a comprehensive analysis, or a substitute for reading the agreement yourself. So, with that said, here are the quick and dirty basics of the proposed agreement:
- In return for getting access to County owned light poles in public rights-of-way (e.g., medians and sidewalks) for the next 20 years, Earthlink will build out a wireless network in Arlington County.
- Earthlink will pay Arlington County $40,000 a year.
- The service will be available to home and business users for a yet-to-be determined fee.
- Earthlink will provide free access in certain county parks.
- Earthlink will provide, free of charge, access accounts to certain county recreation centers, and as-yet-unidentified Arlington non-profits. It will also make accounts available to selected county employees at a very low ($10) rate.
- Earthlink will “establish, construct, own, operate, upgrade, and maintain” the network – so it won’t be Arlington County you’re buying service from. For the most part, unless you’re in a park or community center, it doesn’t appear that you’ll have any indication that the county was involved with this.
- There are no apparent coverage requirements/benchmarks. Wherever the service is available, however, Earthlink will make sure than anyone can access, free of charge, certain county websites (i.e., “Walled Garden Service”).
- The network is scheduled to be operational 6 to 8 months after the effective date of the agreement.
All in all, pretty standard stuff. They’re doing the right thing on a number of points, while I’m not so thrilled with a few others.
Last week, I mentioned that Arlington had tentatively selected Earthlink as its contractor to build out a county-wide WiFi network. I also noted that Arlington would be holding a public hearing on the proposed agreement today (7:30p, Room 311, 2100 Clarendon Blvd.). Having both professional familiarity with municipal network projects, and a personal interest as an Arlington resident, I asked the County, in writing, for a copy of the proposed agreement. And waited. And then waited some more.
Yesterday, I received a note from a consultant (that I presume has been hired by the county to run the RFP) that a copy of the agreement would be available on the county website this morning. And, well, here it is. I don’t know what time it was posted, but I can’t help but being a little annoyed that the document was only released the day of the public hearing ON the document. I wrote and asked the consultant whether, in light of that, they planned to hold any additional public hearings on the matter between now and when the county board will (presumably) adopt the agreement without much discussion at the next board meeting. Nope, says the consultant.
Not exactly the Arlington Way, is it?
(Please note that this post has nothing to do with the merits of the proposed agreement. I’ll share my thoughts on that once I read it . . .)
Update:Â Analysis here.
It seems that Arlington County has provisionally tapped Earthlink to build, operate, and own a county-wide WiFi network. Arlington already provides free WiFi (near the Courthhouse complex, in the Quincy Park library, and probably most other libraries), but that still leaves most of this small county uncovered. Details are sketchy, but based upon other Earthink municipal network deal, it will probably look something like this:
The network, once fully installed, will cover 26 square miles and provide wireless broadband for residents and visitors, as well as connections for on-the-move county employees. Yet-to-be-determined nonprofit partners of the county would likely get free access, and free hotspot service will be provided in parks, libraries and community centers.
I’ve seen no coverage of this before today, so I’m reserving judgment until I get more details. I’m quite familiar with the pro and con arguments for municipal networks, and I hope this will turn out to be a good deal for Arlington residents. That’s not a safe assumption, though, so it’s worth some closer scrutiny. The deal is going to the County Board on April 28th for approval. I’ll see what I can find before then, and share it here.
Update: Arlington’s Cable Television and Information Technology Advisory Commission describes it thusly:
The terms of the agreement provide significant public benefit to the County to include free wireless access in designated community centers, county parks, recreation centers, and public school facilities. Earthlink will offer competitive monthly and short-term subscription rates to residents, businesses, and visitors for the broadband wireless service.
Also, there will be a public hearing on the proposed agreement (of which I’ve yet to find a copy) on April 10, 2007, in room 311 of the Courthouse Plaza Government Center at 2100 Clarendon Blvd, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
A very lucky reader was able to catch the A380 at Dulles yesterday, and is generous enough to share her pictures: