Austin

It's the Day After Austin Blogswap Day! We celebrate by posting the guest blog entry that should have appeared yesterday--but we never got around to because we were too busy... uhhhh...reading all the penis enlargement spam in our mailbox. Yeah ... that's the ticket! So, without further ado (or delay), please welcome Josh Babetski, our guest blogger.

So here's my completely unquantified thoughts on making wireless Internet access more widely available. First, let me preface that I am clearly not as well versed on the technological, legal, and logistical hurdles of providing wi-fi access. What I AM good with is collaborating with a bunch of non-experts who have a knack for coming up with the foundations of some good ideas and solutions. With luck, more knowledgeable people can then build on them, or at the very least cannibalize any nuggets in the mud.

This week, the City of Austin deployed its first public access wireless Internet hotspot. The hotspot covers the John Henry Faulk main library, the Austin History center to its north, and the Wooldridge Square park to the north of that. This is part of the City's Public Library Week celebration.

Also, at this week's Telecommunications Commission meeting, City staff informed us that the current plan is to provide public Internet access--wired and wireless--in the new city hall now under construction.

This is all encouraging stuff.

As previously threatened, I did attend tonight's public hearing on the proposed No-Smoking Ordinance for Austin. It was a surprisingly difficult experience. Further, I encountered an incident so bizarre and surreal, I'm still reeling four hours later.

We continue the discussion of wireless networking initiatives at tonight's meeting of the City of Austin Telecommunications Commission. I'll be noting some articles of interest: some discussing recent issues, others covering the City of Long Beach free wireless project.

A friend emails me asking if I'd like to go to Ego's on Thursday to listen to The Nortons. I write back, declining. I find myself listening to less and less music these days. One reason is that I'm getting sick and tired of coming home smelling like an ashtray. Another is that I'm getting sick and tired of getting sick.

So, instead, on Thursday, I'm going to visit the City Council, where there will be a public hearing on a proposed new no-smoking ordinance. It's scheduled for 6 p.m., but these things usually run late, sometimes considerably late.

I've talked to so many people who have dropped out from or cut back on the music scene due to the annoyance of cigarette smoke. It would be great to see a bunch of them out there testifying they are ready to return when the clubs go smoke-free, to counter the doom-and-gloom forecasts the smokers are sure to give.

Last night, I followed David's brave example and dropped in on the Austin Journal Writers' happy hour. It appears I have emerged unscathed, with minimal damage. Hopefully the same can be said for the journal writers I met.

Link: Wi-Fi is Right for Austin.

I got a few minutes at last night's City of Austin Telecommunications Commission meeting to advocate for Wi-Fi wireless networks deployment. I feel like we are so behind the curve on this important technology.

SXSW Interactive is nearly over. Officially it's done, but it really doesn't end until the fat lady is singing on Bruce Sterling's front doorstep. Before I crawl into the corner to collapse and vegetate, I want to list some of my very favorite moments of the conference.

We interrupt this weblog for a very important public service announcement:

Do not, under any circumstances, order the BBQ Sandwich at the convention center concession stand.

Thank you, we now return you to our regular programming.

EFF-Austin is sponsoring a party on March 10, during SXSW week. This news certainly would be of interest to Austin geeks, so it seemed natural to post it to the Geek Austin web site.

Unfortunately, the editor of that web site is sponsoring another party at the same time, so he killed our announcement (without explanation or notice) and published his own announcement.

Geek Austin is a private web site and the editor certainly has the right to run it in whatever fashion he wants. People should be aware, however, it is a censored forum, which raises significant concerns of credibility and fairness.