If I have a contract for broadband internet service, I'd like to be able to transmit data of whatever sort I choose. (I'd also like to have comparable up/down badndwidth, but thats a constraint of the current regime.)
Now, is there room for regulation of companies providing a data or network service? Certainly. That is Vonage, as a provider charging for a service, even if riding as data on a network established by others, ought to be regulated to the extent that they are charging fees for service, as should cellular phone providers. That is, there should be consumer protections in place.
However, some VoIP networks do not operate with a fee. (or at some basic level - such as no ability to call out to the POTN, with ability to call out incurring a cost)
It's our ability to utilize the Internet in this manner that I'd like to advocate and defend. (When we already pay for Internet access/bandwidth.)
Some that I've conversed with believe that access to the Internet has the potential of moving to a metered usage model (like water or electricity) versus thee current model, where you are renting the pipe and not paying for the data packets. I dont know if the former is a likely scenario or not, or just paranoia. I dont see it as something the public would want (and it's probably not in the public interest).
The clarity of the principle that data is data is data is a basis for not charging different data uses of the network under different regulatory schema or at different price points.
I'd like to hear argument to the contrary. (That is, I'm open to compelling arguments.) Is there a compelling public interest to do this differently?
Regards,
MM
This discussion is prompted by conversations on the Get Illinois Online [GIO] listserv and the formation of a VoIP SIG.
]]>We anticipate many more such community gatherings on the rewrite issue in around the State.
]]>We anticipate many more such community gatherings on the rewrite issue in around the State.
I'm not speaking for the group now, but expressing my take on some of the important issues from a consumer, civic and CTC perspective (not exhaustive):
Some things are worth fighting for:
Preserve and extend the consumer/civic protections established at the last rewrite.
* Why not extend them? Cable, Wireless Phones. E.g. adequate disclosure of coverage, service quality, contract terms; reasonable rights to cancel contracts.
* Put the teeth back in oversight agencies, ICC
Preserve the options for communities to address their communications needs and to pursue their economic interests
* Preserve or affirm the rights of Muni's, whether or not we think a Muni should venture into establishing infrastructure, leave them the option
* Muni's and others should not require ILEC permission. Claim of "unfair, subsidized competition" is red herring.
Establish an E-Champion that addresses human dimension of ICT
* development of human capacity, demand side factors
* facilitate future of eGov by preparing citizens of all ages
* integrate ICT issues and development across state agencies
* Establish regional/local eChampions, perhaps in coordination with regional planning councils
Establish Community Representation and Participation as Official State ICT Policy
* Regional Representation as well as Rep. from Community Serving entities, Rural perspective
* State should consult community technology body before puchasing or implemeting technology ventures
Establish State mechanisms to collect important data on Quality of Service and Penetration of Service
* We have a blank map, and therefore have no data by which to hold the incumbents accountable for service gaps
* Such information is essential for accountability, but also for planning
* We need data on availability: price, capacity, quality
* Establish mechanism for community forums on ICT isssues: telephony and other services... Quality, access, price, capacity.
Raise the bar on Essential Services
* Maintain telephony as basic, with need for universal access
* In a future of increased convergence of media technologies, with eGov extended to more, Internet
Access-and requisite digital literacy- should be universally available at a reasonable cost for relatively high capacity
* The threshold for broadband is laughably low, per FCC definition
Call Them on the issue of Competition.
* The Senator asked (the ILECs) do you want them (Cable) to be more like you, or do you want to be more like them, in terms of regulation... We need to point out that there really isnt much by way of competition.
* Although we can't do much to regulate cable from the State level, but we can extend consumer watchdog efforts and consumer protections in the Cable, Wireless Cell Phone and Package deals marketed to consumers. Expand CUB's mandate to reflect this.
* Doesn
Thoughts on blogging
When one blogs, one always blogs somewhere...
So (bear with me as I continue to restate the obvious, and correct me when I mis-state it) one generally blogs within a community of bloggers at some blog site...
Now blogging tools have spread so that practically any site can incorporate them...
Some sites are all about the blogging activity, but others want the blogging to be the generation of a portion of content, lets say in a puposive member community (Such as AFCN,or RTC)...
If one is a member of several communities one often wants to share one's words and thoughts in each of the several...
]]>Thoughts on blogging
When one blogs, one always blogs somewhere...
So (bear with me as I continue to restate the obvious, and correct me when I mis-state it) one generally blogs within a community of bloggers at some blog site...
Now blogging tools have spread so that practically any site can incorporate them...
Some sites are all about the blogging activity, but others want the blogging to be the generation of a portion of content, lets say in a puposive member community (Such as AFCN,or RTC)...
If one is a member of several communities one often wants to share one's words and thoughts in each of the several...
So, whats the strategy? Do we repeat ourselves across several blogging sites? This is the equivalent of posting one's thoughts across several email lists. Something I do when I think my content is relevant to the several audiences. Email has the virtue of the push.
One can post one's content for several communities and I suppose it is made easier with certain tools-where you can blog offline.
Another way to be a member of more than one community site would be to utilize rss to disseminate content.
Here the question shifts to how fine grained a level of control on ehas with the site, as site owner/dsigner, and likewise fro the blogger. This depends on the design of the content management system,and the ability of the content manager to utilize it. I guess I need to get more up to speed on the different options especially for rss.
Back to the beginning: when one blogs, one is blogging somewhere. You are sharing. But at the same time, is this really content you also want saved? Do bloggers retain their text in another format? Are they able to keep or download some form of their work? Do they make use of this option if available, or do they trust the medium will remain?
Again: when one blogs, one blogs somewhere, and not somewhere else, unless one repeats oneself. Why do the bloggers choose to blog where they do? "And why dont they blog on my site?"
Location, Location, Location... Audience, Audience, Audience....
And perhaps habit, habit, habit... its a question perhaps of where one starts their blogging.
Anyway, this is just a ramble, I'm gonna copy it into my tropology blog on the AFCN site. And I welcome you to all blog there too. Even if you have blogged it elsewhere.
At least until we become more refined with rss and can pull it all out of each other's brains...
]]>I keep an eye on developments elsewhere... as a lot passes through my in box. I've been following ICT coordination efforts in California and Ohio for some time as Illinois has been following suit in organizing statewide ICT interests. Here in Illinois we've begun to think more about Policy and Vision, and whether we are "asking for enough" or "doing enough" ourselves. We've also begun to think a little more regionally, first in terms of the different sectors of the state, then of the several states around us.
It occurs to me that we should be able to arrive at models for professional development and professionalization of our work (speaking more from my CTC side) that will have some degree of standardization.
]]>I keep an eye on developments elsewhere... as a lot passes through my in box. I've been following ICT coordination efforts in California and Ohio for some time as Illinois has been following suit in organizing statewide ICT interests. Here in Illinois we've begun to think more about Policy and Vision, and whether we are "asking for enough" or "doing enough" ourselves. We've also begun to think a little more regionally, first in terms of the different sectors of the state, then of the several states around us.
It occurs to me that we should be able to arrive at models for professional development and professionalization of our work (speaking more from my CTC side) that will have some degree of standardization.
My community networking and building and organizing hats tell me to be mindful of the differences that we should not stifle. I don't want to professionalize and standardize to the point where we can't be creative (or let others be creative), and where communities or individuals can't direct their learning and growth.
What will it take? I think we need a vision of learning communities, and that going to take a different attitude. We need to promote a vision in order to shape attitudes. I think the attitude we want to cultivate is that of support.
Here is a brief vision statement for Cleveland in 2008, passed on to me by a colleague:
______________________________________________________________________
CLEVELAND DIGITAL VISION: 2008
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
In 2008, Cleveland is one of the most computer-literate and networked cities in the U.S. As a result, our residents are becoming better educated; more people are engaged in civic life from their blocks to City Hall and beyond; and thousands of formerly low-income Clevelanders are making good livings in a growing regional technology sector, in IT-enhanced jobs in traditional industries, and in their own small businesses.
A typical home in every neighborhood of the city has at least one modern computer with a high-speed connection to the Internet and other local networks. Everyone in the house knows how to use it.
Computer literacy and network access has become a part of every neighborhood
]]>Concerns for protecting one's identity (and personal privacy) are likely to grow, so there will be an increasing demand for services or technologies that offer some degree/promise of protection.
]]>Concerns for protecting one's identity (and personal privacy) are likely to grow, so there will be an increasing demand for services or technologies that offer some degree/promise of protection.
I'm sure many of us have been using work-arounds, or even some of the services that have emerged recently.
What measures do you take to protect yourself (or what services and software have you used) against the following hazards of the information age :
Identity Theft
Email/Identity Spoofing
Spam/Harvesting
Other unwanted communications/General Privacy issues
Commercialization of our Personal Info...
(Add some hazards of your own!!! My list isnt meant to be exhaustive.)
What has been your experience or satisfaction with your method?
What needs to be improved? Would changes to infrastructure or design reduce some of these problems? Are there policies we should advocate? Are there practices we could recommend to the community or to organizations?
Regards,
PS I'm interested in testing Identity Commons, where I've recently contributed to the cause as an early adopter. Not sure what good it will do me until I learn to use the service effectively-and perhaps until the service is more developed.
]]>And dont forget whistles and bells, and bells
dont forget whistles and bells :)
In the mean while, check out this link from the archives of wifinetnews.com.
]]>And dont forget whistles and bells, and bells
dont forget whistles and bells :)
In the mean while, check out this link from the archives of wifinetnews.com.
]]>With "weblink" you can submit a URL to our database, and offer commentary on its purpose and it's overall utility, among other things.
This goes a long way towards our goal of providing summative content by adding value. In the past we've tried to do this by maintaining and updating pages of URL's with some commentary. We'll probably still have to do this, and it makes sense because in that format we can offer a lot more by structuring the information and providing an overview. The problem has been the effort it takes to maintain them. New sites emerge. URL's change (or break) and sites disappear.
]]>With "weblink" you can submit a URL to our database, and offer commentary on its purpose and it's overall utility, among other things.
This goes a long way towards our goal of providing summative content by adding value. In the past we've tried to do this by maintaining and updating pages of URL's with some commentary. We'll probably still have to do this, and it makes sense because in that format we can offer a lot more by structuring the information and providing an overview. The problem has been the effort it takes to maintain them. New sites emerge. URL's change (or break) and sites disappear.
It also has required that one person process the changes.
With the new module establishing a content type "weblink" any of you can pass on that link to the community (and others who may visit our site) and provide some contextual information. You'll also be able to categorize it for future reference, using our taxonomy.
I've also ennabled the module for Book Review. Do you have a book to recommend? Share a little bit about it with us.
If you have written a book you would like reviewed, I'm sure that can also be arranged.
:)
]]>As to its utility... there isn't a straightforward answer... it depends....
What do you want from a social networking application?
What do you put into it?
Well, I can't speak as to what any particular individual may want one of these apllications, but I can imagine, based on some conversations, that you see there being potential for job-seekers and others who might be oriented to such applications in workforce development approaches. As The utility forthis purpose will likely depend to some extent on the category of work sought. I think the same will be found in tradoitional Job sites... not all types of work are to be found there in proportion to their availability in the economy, and the bias will be towards ITC and communications ennabled sectors.
]]>As to its utility... there isn't a straightforward answer... it depends....
What do you want from a social networking application?
What do you put into it?
Well, I can't speak as to what any particular individual may want one of these apllications, but I can imagine, based on some conversations, that you see there being potential for job-seekers and others who might be oriented to such applications in workforce development approaches. As The utility forthis purpose will likely depend to some extent on the category of work sought. I think the same will be found in tradoitional Job sites... not all types of work are to be found there in proportion to their availability in the economy, and the bias will be towards ITC and communications ennabled sectors.
An application like LinkedIn doesnt really provide you with much room for analysis of the social network, except at a rudimentary, even surface level. This is in contrast to the ambitions of an iknow system like Nosh Contractor's.
But the savvy user can get something out of it. I think one can learn something from the set of contacts out there, and by employing various searches on the network. One could foresee this beingused as yet another data mine, whether for non-profit purposes or identifying business leads.
Again, one does not have to use the system exactly as it is described or for what is ostensibly intended for. One might get a little background and then elect to approch the person directly, off-line, or external to the mechanism.
I've done some searches, mainly to get a grasp of what the potential is for this sort of tool, and was able to find some interesting persons in fields (Semiotics, Community Networking) that I care about who I might not have run across otherwise.
I'm mixing the points on what you want to get out of it and what you put into it. If you regard it as a tool, you have to employ the tool. Use it. If you want to get something out of it, it makes sense to put something in as well. That means time, but it also means actually uploading some of your trusted contacts and getting them to check it out.
Of course one need not be this "active" to derive benefit. If one takes the step of joining and inviting others, and responding to occasional inquiries, that might be of value to you as a user, as merely another mode by which opportunities and communications may be initiated.
Another aspect of the passive utility of such a tool is arguably in the networks that are faciltiated through you. It doesn't take much work to get on there, and you might be a conduit for something.
At any rate, it's interesting to look at in contrast to dating sites and other "more social" social networking applications such as Friendster.
]]>This should simplify things for those of you that have taken the time to try and post things, and more to the point for any of you that may have been frustrated and decided not to. (Keep in mind that as far as CMS's go, Drupal isnt the easiest, but it certainly isnt the hardest-in any case the object is to make things relatively straight forward for an end user.)
Basically, you can submit posts with html style tags. This wasnt clear before, and it often required going back into the posts and fiddling with them, adding code here and there, including breaks, links, etc.
]]>This should simplify things for those of you that have taken the time to try and post things, and more to the point for any of you that may have been frustrated and decided not to. (Keep in mind that as far as CMS's go, Drupal isnt the easiest, but it certainly isnt the hardest-in any case the object is to make things relatively straight forward for an end user.)
Basically, you can submit posts with html style tags. This wasnt clear before, and it often required going back into the posts and fiddling with them, adding code here and there, including breaks, links, etc.
Also, for blogging, you can use a tool like ::w.bloggar:: to make your posting even simpler. I've left some instructions on configuring that tool for our site in my blog. (Tropology)
We'd really love postings on success stories, models, resources, events, etc.
If any of you dont have a user account on the site, or if you have trouble creating one for yourself, feel free to contact me.
If you have suggestions for RSS feeds that we should aggregate to the AFCN site, likewise, let me know.
As for some details I havent worked out... I'm not so handy with .css ... I didn't really want to change the color for the top border, and I really wish we had a new Logo.
So, if you have some advice, give it. If you have talent with graphics, again, we'd be very happy if we had a new Logo in all the right formats for publication.
There also remains a link to an old database. I apologize that thats still up there. We'll have to take it down, and determine another way to present relevant current data on CN's worldwide. Any takers?
There are some tricks with Drupal... items are organized according to a Taxonomy which the site administrators can define. If you think of any categories that would be relevant but arent included, let us know. In the meanwhile, the Site Map isnt set to work right. I have to figure how to link that with the Taxonomy now that I've upgraded us.
Regards to all,
Michael
]]>If you have a user account on the AFCN site, you can use ::w.bloggar:: to submit your blogs.
You can download ::w.bloggar:: here.
The following settings worked for me:
Blog Tool: MoveableType
Host: www.afcn.org
Page: /xmlrpc.php
If you have a user account on the AFCN site, you can use ::w.bloggar:: to submit your blogs.
You can download ::w.bloggar:: here.
The following settings worked for me:
Blog Tool: MoveableType
Host: www.afcn.org
Page: /xmlrpc.php
We're working on gathering interested ICT parties in Illinois for the formation of a statewide community technology policy organization.
We're hoping to assemble a broad community of organizations and interests, as we firmly believe that while CTC's need to project their voice for the interest of the community, its better to extend our mission beyond our centers and show how community technology can be the glue for diverse interests such as health, employment, education, community investment, civil society.
]]>We're working on gathering interested ICT parties in Illinois for the formation of a statewide community technology policy organization.
We're hoping to assemble a broad community of organizations and interests, as we firmly believe that while CTC's need to project their voice for the interest of the community, its better to extend our mission beyond our centers and show how community technology can be the glue for diverse interests such as health, employment, education, community investment, civil society.
Exciting things are afoot. California and Ohio have established organizations to pursue commuity technology interests on a statewide basis. What other regions are working towards this end?
These networks or organizations (and the work of forming the networks!) are just one genre of community networking. Still others genres of community and community networking remain to be explored and embraced by the AFCN. How shall we interact with various communities of interest that take to ICT to further their missions? What could we convey to them that would save them some headaches we've already suffered through? What can we learn as community networking evolves and finds expression in new forms?
I'm interested in getting more people in Illinois involved in the AFCN, because I think this is a great forum for sharing experiences, and I see the AFCN as a resource for the communities undertaking such initiatives.
]]>