There's a story making the rounds about a man in Alaska who was arrested, apparently for sitting in a car outside a library using their wifi after hours. You can find the story in <a href=http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20070224/151748280.shtml">the Alaska Journal</a> and commentary at <a href="http://www.librarian.net/stax/1983">librarian.net</a> and <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/25/gamer-busted-for-borrowing-library-wifi-after-hours/">engadget.com</a>. The story raises questions about appropriate use of public wifi, how that is/should be policed, and the place of libraries in providing public wifi. Got any thoughts? Please do share!
The time has come for me to move on from Grand Rapids, and this June my wife and I will be packing up and moving (back) to the UK. So I'm looking for a willing individual or two to take over the task of keeping an eye on this site, and looking out for new locations that ought to be added, or existing hotspots needing updates. There's no financial compensation available (the site doesn't cover its hosting costs), but hopefully there's some satisfaction from helping out. And it's really very little work. Interested? Drop me a line at james@grwifi.net
A former Grand Rapids resident emailed to let us know about a surprising WiFi-related story making the news in the librarian world. <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6408151.html">A library director in New Mexico</a> resigned because she feared her health was at risk from WiFi-related radiation. But fear not, Grand Rapids WiFi users. There is <a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061214-8421.html">no strong evidence</a> of any health risks from WiFi usage.
According to a number of reports, including <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1164980779194210.xml&coll=6">this one at mlive.com</a>, Clearwire LLC who will this week be recommended as a provider for the City of Grand Rapids' wireless network intend to set up their network using the emerging "<a href="http://www.wimaxforum.org/home/">WiMax</a>" (802.16) standard rather than the normal WiFi currently available in the hotspots listed on this site. Most computers that currently have wifi support will need upgrades to be compatible with the system.
The Mayor's Wireless Broadband Advisory Committee have announced today that they will be making a formal recommendation that <a href="http://www.clearwire.com/">Clearwire LLC</a> of Kirkland, Washington be granted the contract to provide citywide wireless access for Grand Rapids. No information is yet available as to how long it will take to roll out the service.
Today saw another update to the software running this site. Over the past few months there have been very regular upgrades and today's change adds some fixes to the <a href="/submit/">submission system</a> and improved maps on the per-location page which give a much closer view of the area surrounding each hotspot. You can read more about how that's done <a href="http://jystewart.net/process/archives/2006/10/auto-center-and-zoom-with-ym4r/">over here</a>.
A new piece on <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005018.html">World Changing</a> today profiles <a href="http://www.green-wifi.org/">Green WiFi</a>, a project "committed to providing solar powered access to global information and educational resources for developing nation K-12 school children striving for knowledge in a digitally divided world." The project shows another dimension of the power of wireless technologies, an interesting insight for those who are enjoying the opportunities WiFi opens up for those of us in the 'developed' world.
<a href="http://en.fon.com">FON</a> is a new service aimed at making it easier to get online anywhere by making it simpler to share a wireless connection. By providing a central database of open networks, and hardware to make it easy for people to share their connection but protect their computers and data, they're helping communities provide their own always-on connections.
We are currently experiencing a problem with old comments posted on the site not showing up or appearing in the wrong place. We are working on it and hope to have it resolved very soon.
If you have a contribution you'd like to make to the city's discussions on their wireless project, you might like to be aware that a public meeting will be held at City Hall tomorrow (Tuesday July 11th) at 7pm. Free parking will be available at the Government Centre Ramp, or there are plenty of buses that stop in the vicinity. Comments can be sent in advance to the Grand Rapids City Clerk.