Technology

A friend's mother suspects her computer has been badly infected by malware. She's tried to get it cleaned up, but believes expert assistance is required. So, she's in search of a good Windows support person. If you know anybody or any place (in Austin) that is really good at PC support, or if you yourself might be interested in the work, please post a comment on this article. I'll direct her to read the recommendations posted here.

Today, I appeared before the Austin City Council Committee for Telecommunications Infrastructure to promote wireless technology. That's a topic that's received significant attention around Austin. The Council Committee directed the Telecommunications Commission to offer a set of recommendations on what the city can do.

A number of efforts already are underway, organized by local industry and community groups. What role, if any, should the city government play in all of this?

I'm currently sitting in the Green Mesquite sipping on an ice tea. I've got three hours until my next appointment. Rather than go back home to work, I'm going to stay downtown. I can do that thanks to ubiquitous free public wireless.

I've been thinking there should be some code of etiquette for using free wireless. A lot of businesses are taking a risk by making it available. If wireless access is abused or starts becoming a burden, they will quickly pull the plug.

Here are the guidelines I tend to follow, to try to be a good wireless citizen.

• Avoid peak hours. The venue is making money on the drink I'm sipping, but they'd make even more money if they could serve somebody lunch at the table I'm occupying. Last Friday morning I was at Quack's 43rd Street Bakery, eating a coffee roll and doing some work. As lunchtime neared it started filling up. That was my cue to hit the road.
• Tip a little more. If I stay somewhere for a while I'll tip a couple of extra bucks. I feel like I ought to compensate them a bit more, particularly if there is table service. I'm concerned that free wireless users might be perceived as freeloaders. Extra tipping may dispel that.
• Limit my time. I won't stay at one place all afternoon. I'm not sure an extra cup of coffee and couple bucks tip is sufficient compenstation for monopolizing a table. Plus, since wireless is so readily available, it's easy enough to pick up stakes and move elsewhere. After about two hours, I'll move along.

I suspect many wireless users take care to use the resource courteously. Like all Internet facilities, a form of netiquette will evolve. We probably ought to make some effort to document and publicize it.

I'm currently sitting in the Council Committee for Telecommunications Infrastructure meeting. Jay Stone of Austin Parks and Recreation Department just announced that the city, in cooperation with a number of local organizations, will begin offering free wireless Internet access in a number of parks.

Auditorium Shores and Republic Square, the parks selected for initial service, are schedule to go live May 18. Brush Square and Woolridge Square are next to follow.

One thing I'm a liittle confused about is that Woolridge Square is already supposed to be lit by signal originating from the Austin History Center. I hope the parks and library folks are coordinating on this.

Up until now, it's been a frustrating afternoon here at The Hideout. I was sitting in the back trying to use my laptop to do some work online. Wireless connectivity on the laptop was drifting in and out, breaking connections on all my remote sessions. It was terribly hard to get work done.

The situation was perplexing, because I was seeing a strong Wi-Fi signal and I was connected to the network (with address and default route assignments). The problem is that I'd be working for a while, then suddenly all my packets started getting dropped. If I tried to reset the interface I'd lose those assignments and the network wouldn't let me back on (DHCP failed).

I asked the server if other people were reporting network problems. She said, "You know, people seem to have all sorts of problems at that table. It seems to work better up front."

I moved to a table up front and reset the network interface. Everything came up fine, and it's been that way since.

Once I looked at the configuration it all became obvious: the Hideout is running multiple networks. They must have one in the theater (or some other meeting area) that is closed, and another in the shop that is open to the public. When I was sitting out back my laptop would hop between the open and closed networks, depending on which signal seemed stronger at the time. When I moved to the front it stayed locked to the public network.

So, wireless visitors to The Hideout should be advised, take care that you don't lock onto the wrong network. If you sit out back, you may need to force a connection onto the open network. Here are the details I saw on the two networks:

open network: channel 6, 2.437GHz, ESSID "hideout"
closed network: channel 11, 2.462GHz, ESSID "THEATRE LOCKDOWN"

The management of The Hideout probably ought to post a sign. I'll forward this article to them.

Link: Cool Tools for Change Community Forum.

Last month, the LBJ School sponsored a Cool Tools for Change workshop. This workshop brought together people from the technology and non-profit sectors, to explore ways organizations can use some of the exciting new low-to-no cost online tools.

The workshop gave me an awareness of the gap between those who understand these technologies and those who could benefit from them. I fear that showcasing those tools, in some ways, may have been more frustrating than helpful. There already is some awareness of these tools in non-profits. What's often lacking is the resources and skills to evaluate and implement them.

That's why I'm glad to see a forum has just been set up. This could offer an opportunity to continue the discussions that were only started at the workshop. Maybe it will become the needed resource to connect up those with knowledge of these tools and those who could benefit from them.

The Austin Municipal Building has been lit up, so tonight was the first Telecommunications Commission meeting where I had wireless Internet access.

At tonight's meeting we had a number of presentations, from organizations such as the River City Youth Foundation and the Austin Community Access Center. I found that the presentations were enhanced by Internet availability, although I have some concerns about the propriety of using that access during presentations.

When, for instance, Mona Gonzalez discussed the River City program, I was able to visit Mapquest and see exactly where the center is located. When she discussed support for the Computer Learning Lab, I was able to visit their web page and see who else sponsors the program.

Similarly, when John Villarreal discussed ACAC policy, I was able to visit their web site and view their posted information.

The net allowed me to get more out of the presentations. It may have appeared, however, that I was only paying half attention. Some presenters understandably may take offense at this. If I was the one giving the presentation, I might be bothered seeing people staring at a laptop screen instead paying attention to me.

I'm not sure what to do about this. It would be wrong to stop doing online research during presentations. On-line access allows me to get even more out of the presentations.

I could say something like, "Don't mind my web surfing, I'm really paying attention to you." That seems terribly lame.

I hope that with time, this becomes less of a concern. I suspect as Internet access becomes ubiquitous, people will become used to this, so online research during meetings will become less offensive.

For the final panel of SXSW I had a choice: "Wireless and Grassroots Innovation" or "Next Generation Broadband." I choose the latter. I'm very glad I did, because it served as a great antidote to the wireless hyperbole that filled the weekend.

I sat next to a power outlet for the Next Generation Broadband panel, so I was able to record notes for the session. Here they are—without comment or proofreading:

The sickly batteries in my aged Dell Inspiron laptop won't hold much more than fourty-five minutes charge these days. I brought it with me to SXSW, thinking maybe I could do a little blogging during the breaks. I'm currently sitting in the hallway pulling a good W-Fi singal, in a location near a power outlet.

Unfortunately, one of the conference volunteers just stopped by and suggested that I may want to unplug from the wall. He said if somebody from the Austin Convention Center staff sees me, they will bill me $85 for power.

If that happens then I'm bringing a TV and microwave oven with me tomorow. If I'm going to have to pay for power I want my money's worth.