Amidst the spate of the-sky-is-falling news stories out there announcing the demise of municipal wi-fi (liberally decorated with gleeful I-told-you-so quotes from "telecom industry experts" bought and paid for by the broadband duopoly*), there have been two recent exceptions that have caught my eye. One is that Christian Science Monitor article I referenced below. Another is this piece: Citywide Wi-Fi isn't dead yet By Marguerite Reardon, ZDNet.
I particularly liked this ending quote from Craig Settles, author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless.

"At the end of the day, a lot of the success of these projects comes down to marketing," he said. "You really have to go out there with a clear message and articulate how the network will impact people for it to be successful. And then you have to explain how you can pay for it. And that's not easy to do."

It's clear to me that the muni wi-fi issues we've been hearing about are all about either a.) Earthlink, b.) mismanaged expectations, or c.) both. Indeed, a key ingredient to good marketing is managing people's expectations. If you say your bleach makes clothes blinding white, but they come out of the wash just kinda sorta whitish... Expectations are missed and customer dissatisfaction may follow. Well, municipal wi-fi isn't going to make your coffee for you or get your whites any whiter, but it can spur economic development, attract business-class tourism, and serve as a warm, moist environment in which new wi-fi-based products, services, and companies can grow.

*Did you know if one household in any given Zip code has access to broadband, that entire Zip code is counted as "served" by broadband access? See this Chicago Tribune article. Or this excellent C|Net post by Josh Wolf. Or this piece from last year by Mark Lloyd at the Center for American Progress.

And the hits just keep on coming! Over the past few days, our little wi-fi success story has appeared in:

Today's Foster's Daily Democrat: "$10g grant gives boost to Ports. Wi-Fi"

Sunday's Manchester Union Leader: "Portsmouth expands WiFi downtown" by Faith Swymer.

And Friday's Portsmouth Herald: "Wi-Fi connection growing downtown, beyond" by Adam Leech.

And yes, that 2nd photo with the Herald article is my MacBook's keyboard. Randomly. Makes me nostalgic for my old clamshell iBook Graphite SE, which was representin' with its "Got Wi-Fi?" sticker in media such as NH Magazine, WMUR-TV, NECN, and The Boston Globe. Here's one of my favorite shots of me and little buddy. Note the pony tail. I kinda miss him, too.

Photo Credit: Melanie Burger

Thanks to everyone for coming out for the eCoast Wi-Fi Project press conference today! It was great to reconnect with the old group, and to meet the folks from Cisco and UNH-IOL who will be expanding our network throughout the city.

BTW, in preparing for the conference, I was reviewing the user statistics (users answer a few demographic questions to obtain the network password) and I found that we had already nearly doubled our usership from last year. Nearly 2500 different people have filled out the survey this year! Over the past three months, we have averaged 500 new users per month! These numbers are, in a word, awesome.

A few things for you on this fine fall day. (If you don't LOVE fall, you probably don't belong in New England. But that's a rant for another day.)

1. Tomorrow morning, the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce will be formally presented with a check for $10,000 from DRED as matching funds for our wi-fi project. Mike Vlacich from DRED will be at the Kiosk in Market Square at 9AM. Media is welcome.

Background: NH's Division of Economic Development's Telecommunications Advisory Board unveiled a $100,000 matching grant initiative back in March to "stimulate and support public/private wireless broadband projects throughout the state." Visit http://www.nheconomy.com/newsroom.aspx for more info.

Of course, the kiosk isn't technically the wi-fi hotspot anymore, but it serves as a handy spot to mark where it all began back in the summer of '03.

This outstanding article from David Brooks at the Nashua Telegraph tells more of the story.

2. I've been subscribing to the City of Portsmouth's newsletter for, I don't know, a long time. Since they started doing it, maybe? And I have to say, here, for the record, that it is an outstanding service. I actually look forward to it; how many e-mail newsletters can you say THAT about? It's plain text, and it's not written with any literary flair, but man, it has got everything you might need or want to know! I recommend all residents of Portsmouth, people who work in Portsmouth, or if you're just interested in what's going on, go ahead and sign up! Old issues are archived there as well. City Manager John Bohenko deserves serious kudos for providing this service.

3. In today's newsletter, this item in particular caught my eye and I felt it deserved more attention:

MORE RECYCLING
Portsmouth residents may now recycle hardcover and soft cover books, videos, compact discs, DVDs, records/LPs, computer software and games, sports cards and comic books in a designated bin at the city’s Recycling Center under a one-year pilot project. Put the items, no matter what their condition, in the six-foot “Got Books” bin at the Recycling Center located behind the Public Works building at 680 Peverly Hill Road. Recycling Center hours.

What a tremendous idea! Here's more info from the Public Works section of the site.

OK that's it for now. Enjoy the beautiful crisp air and warm sun. And come see me tomorrow morning in Market Square.

Just a quick shout-out to Michael Goot at the Foster's Portsmouth bureau for helping spread the good word about our wi-fi project, and plugging my blog at the same time. Just a point of clarification: In the true spirit of a pilot project, we had technical difficulties and low demand for our hotspot in Prescott Park, so we discontinued that after one summer.

Dynamic Internet Hosts Webcast Supporting New Orleans Rebuilding Effort

Shameless plug for my web hosting provider here, a little data center in Nashua that continues to do big things.

Dynamic Internet Hosts Webcast Supporting New Orleans Rebuilding Effort

See, this is exactly what I was talking about below. Wi-fi in large cities can be problematic in so many ways -- not least of which is the fact that so many private businesses and entities, from Starbucks up to university campuses, are already providing wireless Internet where people want it. This can render a large-scale Google or Earthlink type plan almost redundant, especially when cash-strapped taxpayers see the bill. But in smaller cities, everything from political hurdles to technological issues to the bottom line is simply more manageable, more doable, and just plain makes more sense. Today's Christian Science Monitor (or as I like to call it, the best paper with the worst name) has a great article on the subject today. Here's a teaser:

While big-city Wi-Fi wilts, hundreds of smaller communities have fostered thriving networks. These success stories often take place in cities and counties few have ever heard of – Owensboro, Ky.; Rio Rancho, N.M.; Kutztown, Pa. Their town borders don't extend very far, their populations are relatively small, and their main streets may be unglamorous. But in many ways, that's how they pulled off what most metropolises have not.

Disappointed they didn't call us, as well, actually. Oh well, MuniWireless picked us up, and did a fabulous job boiling down our project in 100 words or less. And "WiFi Net News" picked us up too, a day earlier. More soon...

Hello again my friends. We are blogging to you live from a misty and cool sidewalk table at Breaking New Grounds in Market Square for an important announcement from the eCoast Wi-Fi Project. The Portsmouth Herald has the basics covered in this front-page article.

This, of course, is coming at a time when municipal wi-fi is under siege from seemingly every angle. Quite correctly, Esme Vos of Muniwireless.com says that despite Earthlink's step back, the reports of wi-fi's death are greatly exaggerated. This Q&A in particular is required reading. Moreover, there are several big differences here in Portsmouth that make ours an uniquely viable model.

1. With the new Cisco and UNH-IOL partnership, our wi-fi network has a built-in raison d'etre as a real-world testing facility. This inherent value eliminates that "why should we do this" haranguing, leaving us residents and tourists with the remainder -- free, simple, public-access wi-fi for us to use and enjoy.

2. Thanks to NH Gov. Lynch, George Bald, Michael Vlacich, et al, and the hard work of the Portsmouth Chamber's irreplaceable Ginny Griffith, we now have some funds in the form of DRED's $10,000 matching grant. But our network continues to be funded and equipped by corporate donations of equipment, bandwidth, and professional services. This way, the "what's the business model" money thing question is essentially off the table. What's more, although it's conceivable that it could be in the future, advertising is not part of this wi-fi project. The only advertising going on here is the free kind -- the good-will publicity generated for the group's sponsors, the city, and the state.

3. Demographically, geographically, economically, politically, and size-wise, Portsmouth is proving to be an ideal place do to muni wi-fi. We're a fairly (but not too) affluent city, with a well-educated citizenry. We're not out in the boonies, so we have a solid base of technology infrastructure and we're not starting from scratch. We've got a nice mix of both locally-based and tourist-driven business, both of which have and will continue to benefit from the open Internet access. We're left-leaning and forward-thinking politically, but with a strong dose of old Yankee sensibilities -- pride of local control and in doing things our own way. Finally, Portsmouth is not so large that our wi-fi clouds can't cover key areas, but we're not so small that it wouldn't matter if we couldn't. Really, the only downside to wi-fi in Portsmouth is all this quaint-but-non-conducive brick we've got around here!

In the meantime, stay tuned. You know the nay-sayers will come out of their holes now that our plans are a front-page story, but our plan is solid and our intentions are both noble and reasonable. I have a feeling I'll be blogging on this a lot in the coming months.

What would happen if they cancelled an eBrew but nobody heard it?

Like a tree falling in a forest, I'm happy to report that it would still exist. This fact is evidenced by last night's "non-Brew," held at the Press Room despite the lack of organizers, advertising, or sponsors. Name tags? Finger food? Who needs 'em?! Our eBrew was small but free-flowing and dynamic, just like the early days. In fact, it was just like the early days before the Chamber got involved, with "e-Coast" name-coiner Mark Samber in the house! The 8 of us talked about how badly we want iPhones, the merits of bridging multiple WAPs in the home, who or what is a Ruby developer, Wisconsin (randomly), and our first computers (Scelbi, Amiga, Commodore 64, Apple II, RadioShack TRS-80). Ah, the memories of teenage geekdom! We also discussed the relative merits of way-cool web 2.0 applications like LibraryThing and Delicious Monster. (Hmm... I also recall there was some animated discussion of the legalities of having an empty pint glass outside, but let's not go there.) Anyway, equally as fun as catching up with old friends is making new ones, which I also did at our non-Brew -- a developer from Eliot named Jim, who has exceptional taste in both computers and politics. I'm already looking forward to next month's eBrew, or non-Brew as the case may be.

Hey, I like the title of this article.

And this one.

Hmmm, and this one, too!

This one is more of a seminar, I guess.

Ah, the sincerest form of flattery.

The New York Times says:

"A ‘Mini-Boston’ on a Small Slice of Coast"

Yah, we knew that. :-)

Check out the one of the best views in town, brought to you via our friend Doug's PortsmouthNH.com, a wireless web-cam, and an anonymous local businessman's downtown apartment window. Certainly, this view of the Piscataqua is nothing to wine about. I mean whine. Did I type wine? That was a typo. Anyway, if you look real closely, you can scope out the good seats on Poco's deck before you leave the office. God, how I love the Internet.

In the sweltering heat and stiffling humidity, the place to be Thursday night was on the water. Specifically, on the Thomas Laighton for the eCruise.

My personal photographer, Melanie Burger, tends to shoot scenery rather than people. One of the few people shots was this one of me and my tongue. Good thing she's cute. She's also good at those scenery shots. See for yourself here and below.

My goals for the night (besides avoiding heat stroke and, of course, any sort of maritime disaster) was to a.) catch up with old friends (check), b.) meet some new people (check), and c.) find the eCoast's first iPhone (no dice). I did, however, see...

• Lots of Hatchlings. Marc... Jeremy... Zack... They always seem to have something goin' on. Their original film short "Toll" continues to attract attention at film festivals nationwide. Oh and Jeremy, I owe you a Coke.
  
• An old colleague Mary Kay, formely of Interface Tech News, who sold my old company full-page ads back in the day. She's now with Vermillion, the pre-press printer/direct marketing company.
• My pal Katie and her new S.O. Randy, who runs a very successful systems supplier, Avian Computer.
• Old friend Scott Z, one of my favorite people and a great Red Sox fan, not to mention a pretty nifty developer.
  
• Jeff Ackley, who never misses an eBrew, god bless him.
  
• Ditto for Steve Long, Mr. Snuggleball himself.
  
• George Bald of DRED, who I finally got to meet in person, and who was kind enough to delay his disembarkment to chat briefly about the state's wi-fi plans.
• All the good folks at the Chamber, although there are decidedly fewer of them nowadays, most notably the president, with Ginny and Tom pulling double-duty.
• Hell, I even saw an old college buddy of mine who happens to work on the ship!

It was a wonderful night out. There was some grumbling/confusion about the tickets that didn't = drinks as has been the case at prior eCruises. But that was OK. And then there's those who just couldn't break away on a work night to get there for the 5:25 getaway. They wonder if next year we could push it back to 6 or so? Seems reasonable to me... Might bring a few more people out.

Oh and special thanks to Doug of SingleToken, who not only reserved my ticket while he was getting his, but also tried to buy me a beer on-board. (I was just toooo fast for him!)

eCruisin'

It's back! The can't-miss networking event of the summer of '07 is the 8th Annual eCruise. No, it's not a virtual cruise or some kind of simulation -- it's a real boat ride! In fact, it's the eCoast's monthly eBrew, only instead of meeting at the Press Room, we meet at the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. The eCruise is chock full of like-minded techies, good drinks, and tremendous views, so join me and friends both old and new aboard the "Tipsy Thomas" (M.V. Thomas Laighton) for a twooo-hour cruise, a twoooo-hour cruise!

When: Thursday, August 2. Boarding begins at 5PM. We ship out at 5:25PM.

Where: 315 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Who: All your compatriots from the eCoast, plus reps from the NH High Tech Council, NH BioTech Council, NH Software Association, and Mass High Tech.

How Much: 20 little ol' American dollars gets you on-board.

Why: Because you'll regret it for a whole 'nother year if you don't!

This year's iteration of Concert for a Cure, written up here in today's Portsmouth Herald Spotlight, looks to be the best yet.

On the subject of the cause, I find this group's attitude toward breast cancer particularly refreshing -- they speak openly and honestly about it and aren't afraid to even joke about it. All too often, I've found myself in the situation of finding out about someone's diagnosis and being totally flummoxed and not knowing what, if anything, to say, ask, offer, or do. These proud, brave women tell it like it is, which opens everyone up to a more open, honest, and educational discussion on the scourge of cancer.

On the subject of the music, Bill Morrissey and Ben Baldwin are well enough known, but I highly recommend not missing Joyce Andersen's set at 3:05. She's awesome. And how Slaid Cleaves, with his talent and looks, hasn't blown up by now is beyond me.

Get your tix here and be there at Red Hook Brewery Saturday for all the fun.

Well, the powers that be at Lions Gate finally allowed us here in the NH Seacoast the opportunity to screen Michael Moore's documentary on the US health care debacle. Check out my link in my previous post (below). And check out the Lions Gate's web site -- I find it interesting that it's promoting some insipid teen movie instead of Sicko. I also find it interesting that despite the last-minute limiting of its release, Sicko is pulling in big bucks, out-pacing Oceans Thirteen, Nancy Drew, Shrek, and Surfs Up in far fewer theaters.

I saw it on Friday night, opening night at Regal Stadium 12 in Newington. The room was packed; I wisely bought tix ahead of time on Fandango just to make sure we got in.

Some have classified Sicko as a docu-comedy, because you will laugh out loud. (Moore has a deliciously acerbic wit.) But I call it a docu-horror movie. As in, it's horrifying. I was horrified by the way we treat our sick, poor, and elderly in this country. I was horrified to see how much better it is in countries from Canada to Cuba. I mean, I knew there was a problem with our for-profit health care system -- if not from the research and facts, but also intuitively and anecdotally. And Moore confirmed my worst fears. This is a movie that, like An Inconvenient Truth, everyone should see, regardless of your politics. The issues Moore raises are universal. They affect us all. Check it out for yourself and LMK what you think!

iPhone, uPhone, y'allPhone

These guys at Apple, Inc.? They know what they're doing. Is there any better case study fodder than Apple when it comes to rolling out new products? Forbes is impressed with their "Think Secret" way of launching the iPhone, where they created a vague impression of a shortage by simply not announcing a shipment number; in fact, they built plenty to go around, much to the chagrin of the overnight campers and cybersquatters looking to turn a profit on eBay. Turns out the launch of iPhone is more like launch of the Harry Potter book (July 21) and less like the Nintendo Wii (last Christmas). For the die-hard fans, Harry Potter will be an event -- a midnight party complete with balloons and a countdown. For everyone else, it's a book (they'll make more).

Oh and BTW, when your product is the subject of not one but two comic strips (Opus and FoxTrot) in the Sunday Globe, you've reached critical mindshare mass. Here's Opus getting his:


And yes, I want one. A lot. Especially since my iPod was stolen out of my car last month. When you consider the iPhone is the best iPod Apple's made to date, the phone part is a bonus and it's not a bad deal at $500.

Tis the season of heat, humidity, and escaping the aforementioned in the air-conditioned comfort and splendor of your local movie theater. Even better, in the Seacoast we've gotten sort of a Movie Theater 2.0 with the new Regal here in Newington, complete with stadium seating -- which from a branding perspective, maybe shouldn't really be called stadium-style, lest someone think of cold aluminum bench-style bleachers. (In fact, the seats themselves are more like captains chairs with their rocking recline, high backs, and individual cupholders.) Anyway, I was stunned to see the marquee in Newington the other day... There's all kinds of movies I'd actually want to see playing right now, from Shrek to Spider-man (well, maybe not Spider-man per-se, but Kirstin Dunst, oh yes) to Pirates to Ratatouile (Brad Bird does it again!) to Evan Almighty. Heck I'd even watch Ocean's 13 or Transformers or Nancy Drew under the right circumstances. Check out the plethora of options!

But the one movie I really want to see isn't there... Or anywhere near here, it seems. I'm talking about Sicko, the new Michael Moore vehicle. Have I ever called a movie theater wondering if and when they would be getting in a particular movie? Not until Moore's scathing documentary about the American health care crisis. That's pretty damn good advance buzz, my friends.

After poking around online for a while, and wondering if I could justify driving 45 minutes to Massachusetts to see a movie, I found this. Could it be a conspiracy to minimize the impact of his message? Normally I'm not much for conspiracy theory, but with Michael Moore, I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

What makes this even more ironic (or suspicious?) is that Moore purposefully picked NH last week to premiere the movie in the first place: "We are in New Hampshire today because we hope this film will have an impact in the coming election," Moore said during a press conference. Hmm....

In any event, I have a friend who attended the premiere and she said she "cried the whole way through." Not exactly the stuff of a prototypical summertime blockbuster, is it?

"Happy Father's Day!"

This is how a column in today's Sunday Globe begins. A good start, no doubt, seeing as it's Father's Day. But it's all downhill from here.

The article is by Jane Rosenzweig, a writing teacher at Harvard. The teaser on page A1 was promising: "Daddy Memoirs: Recent memoirs deliver a more nuanced look at the experience of modern fatherhood."

But instead of a detailed, thoughtful review of new books, we get bitterness and belittlement. In the very first graf, she implores dads on our special day of honor to "relax, secure in the knowledge that cultural expectations for you remain low." Nice. It's like waking up and having your wife tell you, "That's OK honey, I'll make the coffee, like I always do." On your birthday. Gee, uh, thanks dear.

She says, "In a culture that's deeply invested in scrutinizing mothers, it seems you still have to do something spectacular -- let your daughter videotape you drunk, perhaps, like David Hasselhoff, or call your daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig" on her voicemail like Alec Baldwin -- to be deemed a truly bad father."

Huh?

That's spectacular? I wonder what superlative she'd apply to a parent like this. I think severing your baby's arms or drowning your kids in a bathtub is on a level somewhat more spectacular than a dad getting angry with his daughter because she missed a visiting date with him.

Overall, it seems Ms. Rosenweig is disinterested in the subject matter of the day, constantly comparing fathers' situations with mothers' and a few fatherhood memoirs to several "Mommy Wars" books, with which seems much more familiar.

Throughout the article, Ms. Rosenweig seems to have a chip on her shoulder, apparently jealous of some perceived advantage that fathers enjoy with our "lower societal expectations." But for which parents is it socially acceptable to work full-time, or part-time, or not at all? Moms have all these choices, but dads are expected to work full-time (overtime, actually, if they want to get a raise or promotion and be good providers for their families), and find time to be good dads, and "help out" around the house, and take care of their traditional yard/home/car maintainance duties. It's almost like she has no idea what fathers actually do, or doesn't care. For a while I wondered if she even bothered to read the books she was assigned.

In her conclusion, Ms. Rosenzweig quotes an anecdote from Crawling: A Father's First Year. The author, a children's book writer/illustrator, was in a grocery store when his daughter began to cry. A woman at the store said: "Ohh, she must want her mommy." The author was a bit insulted by the unintentional dig, and quite rightly so. But Ms. Rosenzweig dismisses his experience and, again, turns it around to a faulty feminist perspective, interpreting it as an implicit criticism of the absent mother! Wow.

Next year, Globe editors, do us proud, self-respecting dads a favor and leave Ms. Rosenzweig's opinions out of my Father's Day. Perhaps next year, the Father's Day article could be penned, by, you know, a father?

And now, Ms. Rosenzweig, if you'll excuse me, I've got a family fun day planned.

The feel-good story of the summer, right here. It's rare these days but always good to see a community of people pull together for a friend in need. I was there on Sunday for the save-the-farm yard sale and concert, and I was struck by the notion that it was sort of real-life reenactment of "It's a Wonderful Life."

In this version, instead of George, the townsfolk cried, "Katie is in trouble?!" and rushed to her house with fists full of dollars. Katie, a long-time and well-respected citizen in Durham, has given so much time and support to non-profits, local musicians... provided gainful employment to so many (including me) through her entreprenuership... hosted so many political candidates and plain-old barn-busting parties... well, her friends just had to come a-running when she needed them most.

The evil Potter's bank in this case was Ocean National, hell-bent on taking her beloved homestead, which she rebuilt from ashes, to public auction, regardless of the circumstances or the good faith shown.

This story has a happy ending of course, but before we get too carried away, I hasten to add that as far as I know, no bells rang on their own and no angels earned wings in the process.

"Here's to Katie, the richest woman in town." ;-)