Rumblings: Ill Communications
>>> Public policy group The New America Foundation has released a report called “The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer” that hangs Wireless Philadelphia out to dry for ever getting involved with Earthlink in the first place, like so:
* Wireless Philadelphia disregarded the recommendations that grew out of the public process and that supported nonprofit ownership of their wireless network. Instead, WP yielded to political pressure when it accepted EarthLink’s bid to own and operate the network.
* WP has underperformed because it de-prioritized public input and constituent interests.
* WP would have been more effective if it had assumed ownership of the network.
* In the absence of substantial public control over the decision-making process, arguments in favor of public ownership of municipal and/or nonprofit networks may be disregarded in favor of a “free lunch” corporate ownership model.
And as everybody knows, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Or, sadly in Philly, free WiFi. Owie. [NewAmerica]
>>> Hot geek sex going down at the Marriott in June: City Paper is hosting the annual Association Of Alternative Weeklies Convention this year. Is it to the chagrin of Philadelphia Weekly, who’ve traditionally outperformed when it comes to the annual AAN awards, delivered at the convention? It should be. [AAN]
>>> And finally, a quick note: If your company’s IT guy is more sputtering and weirder than usual, it may be because he’s involved in a flame war on Craigslist and stammering out posts like “As a matter of fact I do know the difference between FAT 32 and NTFS file systems (as well as OS system that support them). I do know what a portable boot drive is. And I can also install Windows 2000 on an IBM ultra-portable, either series 560 or 570, with no docking station without using Windows Me. Looks to me like you are the dumb ass here.” You go, girl! [Craigslist]
