Hello All!
This is my first post, but I have been monitoring for a little while now...
This past semester for my Political Science class we had to do a project
on some type of community project, volunteering, etc. Well, I decided that I
wanted to give mine a technological bent, and you guessed it... Community
Wireless Network. I had read about seattlewireless.net, nycwireless.net,
BAWUG, et. al. I thought that the Twin Cities, with its relatively upscale
citizenry, would be a prime candidate for something similar. Searching on
the subject locally, I only found the TCWUG. At the time it was only a
mailing list, and I saw the need for a more accesible front for any
potential Twin Cities network. So, I got to work on a website to meet the
need that I saw. It isn't much, but I had simply laid out the groundwork of
what I thought need to be addressed to start. Recently there have been
changes to the TCWUG website that are heading in the same direction, I
should have tried to contribute sooner! ;-) More on that below...
<opinion> In order to really build out a community network, it must appeal
to ALL users in order to build the numbers of APs necessary to tighten the
grid. While those of us with knowledge of Linux know all about LUGs and thus
the newer, WUGs, the man on the street would just say, "Wah?" </opinion>
I really don't want to step on any toes, you all can just give me a
collective shout of "shove off!", but a name like TCWireless might be
better. It is the name I used to base my site on, and if you guys took it
over, it would not only stroke my ego, but perhaps have wider appeal (and
recognition). Just my $0.02
Anyways, I am willing to contribute the little I've got so far, lots of
future work, as well as the tcwireless.org (or .net) domain. I know, its not
registered yet! But I'll get it and donate, if you people are interested.
Here is the little bit I have done: http://www.neodreams.com/tcwireless/
Please Note: [There is a little grandstanding for my Prof. on the page. Such
as saying I have already started working with you all. I had planned to all
along, but I really just didn't have the time to interface before.
(Work/School/New Girlfriend, you get the idea!) Also Free Networks has never
heard of tcwireless.org (yet)! Whoops!]
I envisioned a centrally (democratically) controlled main section of the
site, with Wiki stuff to fill out the user defined items such as AP
locations, etc. In even wilder dreams, I envisioned tcwireless.org as a coop
that only required helping out (APs anyone?) to join, while tcwireless.net
could be the business front for anyone, or business, to buy-in instead.
Well, I just wanted to through this out there for you all to chew on,
since the topic of interest in an actual community wireless network came up.
This way it can be talked about at the meeting if necessary. By the way, I
don't even have any wireless equipment presently, so I am almost neutral!
;-)
Travis Anderson
travis at neodreams.com