More Cameras = More Famous People!

posted by Jandos Rothstein

Cities contemplating increasing the number of surveillance cameras may want to consider London’s recent experience as a cautionary tale — the city's huge camera system was used as cinematographer for a new music video.

The Get Out Clause performed their new song "Paper" in front of various security cameras around the city, and then followed the British equivalent of FOIA requests to obtain the tape. The result, which strings together footage from about a dozen cameras, is now playing on YouTube.

Untangling Philadelphia's Wireless Mess

posted by Mark Stencel

Philadelphia got plenty of attention when former Mayor John F. Street launched his city's ambitious efforts to provide low-cost wireless Internet access to its citizens. Governing even recognized Philadelphia's former chief information officer, Dianah L. Neff, for her leadership in the area as one of our Public Officials of the Year in 2006.

By the following year, however, the city's ambitious Wi-Fi plans were looking pretty iffy -- as were similar efforts in communities across the country. Philadelphia's corporate partner, Earthlink, decided to abandon the municipal wireless business last fall. And on Tuesday the Atlanta-based company announced that it would begin shutting down Philadelphia's network on June 12.

Earthlink said it had been in unsuccessful talks with Philadelphia officials and an unnamed non-profit for months to arrange a free handoff of its $17 million network, which already blankets more than 75 percent of the city. The non-profit in question is presumably Earthlink's current partner, Wireless Philadelphia, whose chief executive, Greg Goldman, said that his organization was working with the city "to identify alternatives for preserving this network and applying it to numerous civic, commercial and social purposes."

"The transfer of the EarthLink network is by definition a complex, time-intensive, multi-party transaction," Goldman said. "...We remain optimistic for an orderly resolution of this matter."

Meanwhile, Earthlink is already heading to federal court to try to cap its liability and guarantee its right to start taking down its equipment.

Last month, Earthlink announced it was pulling the plug on its Wi-Fi partnership with New Orleans.

In retrospect, Glenn Fleishman of Wi-Fi Net News says the big wireless networks envisioned by leaders in Philadelphia and many other cities faced daunting challenges from the start, including higher-than-anticipated operating costs, decreasing rates for competing commercial broadband services, and technical difficulties delivering Wi-Fi through walls.

Lending More Than Books

posted by Ellen Perlman

War and Peace.

Horton Hears a Who.

And a fishing rod.

You can borrow them all from the public libraries in Coventry, Lincoln and Scituate, Rhode Island. Unless, of course, they're all checked out. But how many libraries do you know of where you can slide your card to the checkout person and walk out with rods, reels and tackle boxes?

According to a Providence Journal story, the equipment is checked out by parents who don't want to invest in it until they're sure their kids will like fishing. The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association provides the equipment.

But many community libraries weren't interested in the program. They were worried the tackle boxes would come back full of worms or smelling fishy.