View Full Version : OKC needs community wi-fi NOW!



shunt
01-17-2008, 12:09 PM
First let me say, please everyone spare us from the "Al Gore invented..." jokes.

Ok.

The internet was created on the tax payers dime. Everyone knows this. Now big business is trying to take control of it, much like they have with tv, radio, and newspapers.....

Time Warner is now announcing that they want more more more....

This is JUST the beginning.....

It wouldn't be overly expensive for OKC to do community wi-fi, it would benefit everyone and save people from these dummies who will stop at nothing to have their way....





Time Warner Links Web Prices With Usage: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080117/time_warner_cable_internet.html?.v=2)

AP
Time Warner Links Web Prices With Usage
Thursday January 17, 1:53 pm ET
Time Warner Cable Will Do Trial on Setting High-Speed Internet Charges Based on Usage

NEW YORK (AP) -- Time Warner Cable will experiment with a new pricing structure for high-speed Internet access later this year, charging customers based on how much data they download, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

The company, the second-largest cable provider in the United States, will start a trial in Beaumont, Texas, in which it will sell new Internet customers tiered levels of service based on how much data they download per month, rather than the usual fixed-price packages with unlimited downloads.

Company spokesman Alex Dudley said the trial was aimed at improving the network performance by making it more costly for heavy users of large downloads. Dudley said that a small group of super-heavy users of downloads, around 5 percent of the customer base, can account for up to 50 percent of network capacity.

Dudley said he did not know what the pricing tiers would be nor the download limits. He said the heavy users were likely using the network to download large amounts of video, most likely in high definition.

It was not clear when exactly the trial would begin, but Dudley said it would likely be around the second quarter. The tiered pricing would only affect new customers in Beaumont, not existing ones.

Time Warner Cable is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company.



http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2006/news/060522/britney_spears_300x400.jpg

jbrown84
01-17-2008, 12:34 PM
What's with the random Britney & K-Fed picture?

hipsterdoofus
01-17-2008, 01:29 PM
By the way, you can get free wifi at all the libraries...

MadMonk
01-17-2008, 01:40 PM
How would community Wi-Fi affect the traffic on the major backbone networks? Whatever your local access method, the traffic's gotta get there through somebody's long-lines eventually.

venture
01-17-2008, 02:00 PM
If you dont think a community or metro wide wi-fi solution would be expensive, you know nothing of what goes into it. Toledo OH has a bid out right now to cover that city's 80-some square miles in a mesh network for a city wide wireless offering. The city was willing to foot the bill for a lot of it, but the costs with deployment are just too great.

Yes there are cheaper methods to go about doing it. In my experience with my regional ISP I use to run in the Great Lakes and with one of the leading wi-fi backoffice solution providers, if you want a quality network - be prepared to pay a ton.

El Gato Pollo Loco!!!
01-17-2008, 02:06 PM
By the way, you can get free wifi at all the libraries...
Also at places like Panera Bread and City Bites.

El Gato Pollo Loco!!!
01-17-2008, 02:07 PM
What's with the random Britney & K-Fed picture?
Yeah, seriously. What is up with that?

bretthexum
01-17-2008, 03:51 PM
If they do free wifi, it's prob going to be unsecured so anyone with the technical background can steal your passwords. I think the free community wifi fad has come and gone. There's been a few cities that have tried it and already ditched it.

BailJumper
01-18-2008, 06:47 AM
Why use city tax dollars to pay for wi-fi when so many corporations will do it at their expense? I'm fine with the library giving the homeless population of OKC the ability to play solitare and look at semi gay porn all day, but why spend millions of tax dollars to cover the city when so many coffee shops and restaurants already offer it.

I'm okay with a tier price structure if the 'all you want" price doesn't go higher but for casual users the price is lower. Like some phone companies already do for phone service.

solitude
01-18-2008, 06:56 AM
I'm fine with the library giving the homeless population of OKC the ability to play solitare and look at semi gay porn all day...

You never fail to stun with your insensitivity. I can tell you that the libraries I most frequent are always full of students and people working on resumes, email, etc. For you to single out the homeless is just so.....so.....typical bailjumper. You have got to be so miserable with all the anger you have for anybody that's not Mr. & Mrs. Greenlawn in perfect suburbia driving the nicest cars with perfect college-bound children. You are one of the few here that disgust me. Is there an "ignore" feature here that we could just not have to read certain posts? If so, I would use it in a second with bailjumper and his neo-fascist claptrap.

jbrown84
01-18-2008, 07:57 AM
yikes

CuatrodeMayo
01-18-2008, 08:53 AM
Whoa...there is a bit of truth to way BJ says, tho. By brother works at the downtown library and tells me stories of just that.

BailJumper
01-18-2008, 10:05 AM
I don't speak from a lack of first hand knowledge. I shared my thoughts before. As a matter of fact I am in the downtown library at least 3x a week. Even the security staff jokingly calls it a homeless shelter (one being a uniformed OCPD officer).

Sorry if the truth is too hard for you to handle - get over it.

Kerry
01-18-2008, 11:17 AM
How exactly does "free" work SHUNT. Are you telling me that nobody pays for it. I think what you mean is that it is "free" to the user. Aren't you the same guy that says people like Bennett should pay for their own arena and then here you are saying that corporate America should provide "free" wi-fi. Dude you a delusional. Hey, how are those communist learn-at-home CDs working out for you?

Also -

Is there an "ignore" feature here that we could just not have to read certain posts? - Solitude

You were forced to read Bailjumpers post? BTW - I used to work a for city government and I frequently saw men, with and without homes, looking at gay porn. In fact, I can't remember a single occasion of a man looking at women in pornographic acts. What is up with that? Why can't gay men look at porn inside their home like other people. Of course, homeless gay men have an excuse for using the library but what about then men in business suits?

shunt
01-18-2008, 11:47 AM
Tone it down Kerry...save the ad hominem for you ann coulter fan club. Or come down to uncommon grounds and say it to my face, Ill be here till about 2pm.


Anyway, this is a bigger battle then just high prices from big companies...



Comcast Violates Net Neutrality. We Can Stop Them.

http://www.savetheinternet.com/graphics/comcastic.gif

......

You did it. Net Neutrality supporters just won a new round in the fight to keep the Internet open and free of corporate gatekeepers. And it's because you took action.

Over the last three months, more than 23,000 Free Press activists demanded the Federal Communications Commission stop Comcast from blocking Web traffic. Yesterday, the FCC responded, announcing that it would investigate the cable company's Net Neutrality violation.

The FCC is seeking public comment before it decides to punish Comcast. By speaking out now, you can force the FCC to stop all the would-be gatekeepers from tampering with the free-flowing Internet:

Tell the FCC: Protect the Open Internet

Late last year, the Associated Press caught Comcast secretly blocking users ability to use peer-to-peer software to share information with one another. Comcast was using Web filtering technologies similar to those used in China to censor the Internet. AP called the violation "the most drastic example yet of data discrimination."

Free Press and other Internet rights groups filed a petition with the FCC calling for urgent action to stop Comcast's Internet blocking. Tens of thousands of activists sent letters to the agency in support of our petition. Public pressure is now forcing the FCC to act.

Comcast blocking of online content is the canary in the coal mine for corporate efforts to gate-keep the Internet. The FCC must send a stern message to stop other phone and cable companies that want to follow Comcast's lead and control our Internet experience.

Tell the FCC: Don't Let Comcast Off the Hook

Blocking our access to the Internet should never be tolerated. The longer the FCC waits to punish Comcast, the more companies will continue to invest in technologies to censor and manipulate what we can do online.

Thousands of you spoke out against Comcast, and the FCC launched an investigation. Now we need to keep the heat on the FCC to make sure all gatekeepers are punished.


P.S. For more on Comcast's Internet blocking, visit SavetheInternet.com's blog:

....Comcast Continues to Block and Dodge..


..Net Neutrality Advocates Hit Back at Comcast..

(http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2007/11/29/comcast-continues-to-block-and-dodge/)
..Discrimination Isn't Comcastic....

Kerry
01-18-2008, 12:00 PM
Tone it down Kerry...save the ad hominem for you ann coulter fan club. Or come down to uncommon grounds and say it to my face, Ill be here till about 2pm.


You want me to tone it down? You are the one in the newspaper calling yourself the "activist" and speaking out at city council meetings telling the rest of us that you are a one man army that is going to stop the sales tax. Maybe you are the one that should tone it down. And I see I hit pretty close to home since you retaliated with the Ann Coutler comment. I was just taking a shot in the dark about your whole opposition being politically motivated but I see my instincts were correct.

Now let's say I came down to your watering hole at 2PM and said it to your face. What could I expect to have happen to me seeing as you are from the peace and love crowd?

shunt
01-18-2008, 12:22 PM
jeeez....

not talking about punchin' you in the nose or whatever dude, just having a discussion and letting you know that im not some drum circle give cliches' a chance hippie.

and trust me, Im NO democrat. I have no respect for most of what they do.....

venture
01-18-2008, 01:29 PM
I love how this thread has totally gone away from Wi-Fi.

Aw far as men looking at gay porn at the libraries...its probably to avoid their wives that are at home.

Anyway...free wi-fi is vanishing pretty quick. If I really need to get online, that is what my Cingular/AT&T data card is for, and I can use it anywhere I want - have it for storm chasing across the region. As speeds increase on the cell networks, people will turn to Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon to get data access anywhere they are.

solitude
01-18-2008, 02:33 PM
My problem with BailJumper's stereotyping is that the Metropolitan Library System has seventeen branches. He goes in to ONE (downtown) and decides the library is, "...giving the homeless population of OKC the ability to play solitare and look at semi gay porn all day." Some of you work downtown and go in that library and see the same. The stereotype that BailJumper perpetuates is not true across the system. But, of course, when we've got some far-right, neo-fascist posters here, that's all they grab on to. This passes for acceptable "conservative" talk in Oklahoma, but in most other parts of the country the kind of insensitivity shown in that post (and others like it) would be considered backwards redneck talk "typical" from Oklahoma. Those of you who believe the NBA will change our image better realize it's this kind of stuff that says more about our city/state than any lack of professional sports.

Midtowner
01-18-2008, 03:00 PM
I'm quite happy Shunt is posting here. He's a well-tolerated poster on many local forums. I'm glad to have him aboard as he brings a very different viewpoint to the table -- and his viewpoints are always well supported by either original art or catchy slogans.

As for wifi? I could live without it. I think private providers are doing a bangup job of providing internet access. I have no complaints whatsoever. I don't think it's a great idea for the taxpayers to create something which will duplicate the effort of local industry.

As for public libraries? They're public. So long as everyone in there obeys the law, what do I care what they look at on the internet?

MadMonk
01-18-2008, 03:08 PM
Wow, Neo-facists, home-study communists and militant library system advocates. We have 'em all here. :D

Oh GAWD the Smell!
01-19-2008, 12:51 AM
As for wifi? I could live without it. I think private providers are doing a bangup job of providing internet access. I have no complaints whatsoever. I don't think it's a great idea for the taxpayers to create something which will duplicate the effort of local industry.

Yeah, sort of...I just want to know where airports get off charging $10 a day AND UP for internet access. That's pathetic.


Wow, Neo-facists, home-study communists and militant library system advocates. We have 'em all here. :D

My communist home study kit came with a bunch of John Birch Society propaganda and instructions on how to play it backwards. What a ripoff.

Jon27
01-19-2008, 09:48 AM
First let me say, please everyone spare us from the "Al Gore invented..." jokes.

First off, I don't want him to sue us for copyright infringement. Second off, do all these Wi-Fi waves floatin' around contribute to global warming? :bow:

venture
01-19-2008, 11:52 PM
Yeah, sort of...I just want to know where airports get off charging $10 a day AND UP for internet access. That's pathetic.



A lot of airports are transitioning to a free service. They instead have the system sponsored by a company. In Denver, you go to their login screen, watch a 30 second video clip from the advertising company, and then you are on.

Oh GAWD the Smell!
01-20-2008, 09:40 AM
A lot of airports are transitioning to a free service. They instead have the system sponsored by a company. In Denver, you go to their login screen, watch a 30 second video clip from the advertising company, and then you are on.

I'd be fine with that.

The only airport I've ever been in with free wifi was Austin.

AmyOKC
01-20-2008, 11:28 AM
Why wi-fi though? I had it for a while and I never knew if it would work or not. Sometimes I had to hold my computer over my head and angle just right to get a signal.

Is it possible that if it existed all over town, this wouldn't be a problem?

By the way, I have been trying to find a place to post and say Hello - this is my first post. But I have lived in OKC all my life and really love it here!

AmyOKC
01-20-2008, 11:30 AM
First off, I don't want him to sue us for copyright infringement. Second off, do all these Wi-Fi waves floatin' around contribute to global warming? :bow:

Global warming?

You are kidding, right?

hipsterdoofus
01-20-2008, 01:05 PM
Why use city tax dollars to pay for wi-fi when so many corporations will do it at their expense? I'm fine with the library giving the homeless population of OKC the ability to play solitare and look at semi gay porn all day, but why spend millions of tax dollars to cover the city when so many coffee shops and restaurants already offer it.


You are quite ignorant. It is very true that there are a number of homeless people that use the downtown library, however, that is not the case in any other library. It is also true that a large amount of the customers downtown are not homeless. It is also true that the internet access is filtered, and while filtering isn't perfect, I can assure you that if customers are found looking at porn, they are kicked out.

Get your facts straight before you run your mouth.

Jon27
01-20-2008, 01:40 PM
Global warming?

You are kidding, right?

Yes, bad Al Gore joke.

MadMonk
01-20-2008, 10:17 PM
Careful Bailjumper. There seems to be some sort of librarian mafia around here. You might end up sleeping with the periodicals. Capice? :D

PUGalicious
01-21-2008, 05:21 AM
I'm fine with the library giving the homeless population of OKC the ability to play solitare and look at semi gay porn all day...

I don't speak from a lack of first hand knowledge.
Which part? Being homeless or playing solitare and looking at semi-gay porn at the library?



Careful Bailjumper. There seems to be some sort of librarian mafia around here. You might end up sleeping with the periodicals. Capice? :D
:congrats: :congrats: :congrats: Very nice!

OKCTalker
01-21-2008, 08:28 AM
Two questions:
1. What problems are solved by the government providing & indefinitely-maintaining free wi-fi at taxpayer cost?
2. What's the next "problem" that taxpayers will be asked to "solve?"

BailJumper
01-21-2008, 06:23 PM
So hipsterdoofus when you spew it is fact - when I spew it is fiction?

I see you offering no facts - just flapping your gums.

I never said any other library except the downtown was basically a homeless shelter. I've made my opinion of the DT library very clear in this and other threads. What's your point? Did I upset some pruny librarian?

The FACT is that homeless are lined up by 8:30am every morning to get into that place. FACT - they take up more seats at the computers than non-homeless. FACT - they cause a very obvious funk smell. FACT - I am hearltess and would prefer they were thrown out on the street and let back in only when they pay some of those taxes that fund all the resources they gladly absorb like a sponge.

solitude
01-21-2008, 07:38 PM
Two questions:
1. What problems are solved by the government providing & indefinitely-maintaining free wi-fi at taxpayer cost?
2. What's the next "problem" that taxpayers will be asked to "solve?"

Professional sports. Haven't you noticed?

hbb
01-21-2008, 08:29 PM
Hey guys,

I believe there is a private company working to provide city-wide wi-fi here in OKC. Unfortunately, it is not completely free. You can access the free service in certain areas of the city like the courthouse, library, and possibly parks.
The rest of the service will be based on a monthly subscription. I am not 100% sure how it all works but I have reviewed the business plan (a year ago) and this is what the company was seeking to do.
Other big metro areas working with national providers have reported a halt to citywide wi-fi projects because it became too expensive and the benefit to the community would not offset the costs. I guess the technology is not quite there to provide us the same quality service we receive in our homes/work/smaller wi-fi spaces.
It would be very cool if OKC were to be able to pull this off!

hipsterdoofus
01-28-2008, 08:04 PM
So hipsterdoofus when you spew it is fact - when I spew it is fiction?

I see you offering no facts - just flapping your gums.

I never said any other library except the downtown was basically a homeless shelter. I've made my opinion of the DT library very clear in this and other threads. What's your point? Did I upset some pruny librarian?



Bailjumper, I'm so pleased to see that the best you can do is call names...thats so effective in an argument.

I am not a fan of the homeless population that visits the library, I am, however, also aware that the library can do nothing about it. I am also aware that the homeless (or anyone else) are not looking at porn in the libraries. I know that if they are (which is difficult, as the internet access is filtered), then they are banned from the library. I also believe that in my original post, I pointed out that there is wifi at the library, which of course you had to attack, I'm assuming not even thinking about the 16 locations besides downtown that have wifi access. I also assume you never thought that people actually go to the downtown library (and others) to actually READ books.

While, as I mentioned, I'm not a fan of all the homeless hanging out at the library, everytime anyone I know visits the building for the first time, they are always impressed. Luckily for them, I don't jump up and point out negative things first. Also, I am not a librarian, and as for me being pruny, apparently you've been peeking in my bathroom after I've showered...perv...

solitude
01-28-2008, 08:20 PM
Bailjumper, I'm so pleased to see that the best you can do is call names...thats so effective in an argument.

Isn't that the truth?

Good thoughts on the library, hipsterdoofus. I agree.