[wirelesstoronto-discuss] Fwd: [isf-vol] One island, one giant wireless dream - The Gazette, 14 septembre 2008

Sun Sep 21 17:34:25 EDT 2008

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Christian Bernier <drakkarcommunications at hotmail.com>
Date: 2008/9/14
Subject: [isf-vol] One island, one giant wireless dream - The Gazette, 14
septembre 2008
To: Volontaires Ile sans Fil <volontaires at listes.ilesansfil.org>

One island, one giant wireless dream
Non-Profit group of computer nerds is seeking city hall's help to make
Montreal completely Wi-Fi friendly
    *MICHELLE LALONDE* The Gazette
Sunday, September 14, 2008

 A small group of self-described computer nerds has been quietly beavering
away to make wireless Internet access freely available across Montreal
Island, and city hall seems poised to help them achieve that goal.

Calling themselves Île sans Fil (which translates roughly to "wireless
island") and charging not a penny for their services, the group has so far
equipped 150 "hotspots" in central Montreal neighbourhoods with wireless
capability. The idea is that anyone who wanders into any of these hotspots
with a laptop or handheld computer (a BlackBerry, for example) can get free
Internet access as long as they have a Wi-Fi card.
Île sans Fil is what's known as a community wireless networking group. Its
members are students and professionals of varying ages who are interested in
Wi-Fi's potential "to empower individuals and to foster a sense of
community," according to the group's website.

"At the core of this group are just some pretty nerdy people, early adopters
of technology I guess we are called," said Daniel Drouet, president of Île
sans Fil.

"We all had Wi-Fi cards a long time ago, but we saw that people running the
cafés and places we wanted to go hadn't heard of Wi-Fi and had no idea how
to install it. A lot of business owners seemed to want to offer it, but they
were in the business of selling coffee, or whatever, and didn't know where
to start."

So the group began approaching business owners and offering to set them up.
Some of these business owners had already tried charging customers for
Internet access, and learned the hard way that few would pay. But offering
wireless access for free was a good way to attract customers, they wagered.

The group has set up Wi-Fi access at dozens of cafés and restaurants, some
sports facilities, a couple of parks (Jarry Park, for example), a few
doctors' waiting rooms and at least one laundromat.

The group is impatiently awaiting the city of Montreal's approval of their
proposal to create about 250 more wireless hotspots, including many outdoor
areas, such as city parks and public gathering spots like the Place des
Arts.

City hall's interest in wireless movement has been growing, especially as it
watches other other large North American cities - such as Philadelphia, New
York, San Francisco and even Toronto - take steps toward establishing
city-wide wireless networks.
In the fall of 2007, officials from the mayor's office contacted Drouet and
asked the group to come up with a proposal on how the city could help them
accelerate their efforts to expand the wireless network.

That proposal was submitted to city officials last fall. A standing
committee of the agglomeration council also held a public meeting on the
issue late last year and the committee subsequently recommended the project
go ahead.

The partnership, as proposed by Île sans Fil, would see the city
contributing $200,000 a year for five years to the group to support the
installation of 150 more wireless service points in outdoor locations, and
at least another 100 points in local businesses.

Drouet said he was told the contract would be approved at a spring executive
committee meeting, but is still waiting. He has been informed there is no
money left in the 2008 budget, but the project may be included in the 2009
budget.

Alan DeSousa, executive committee member responsible for economic
development, said he is working to get the project approved as quickly as
possible. As mayor of the St. Laurent borough, DeSousa has approved Île sans
Fil's installation of Wi-Fi hotspots in several borough locations, such as
the borough hall and Marcel Laurin Park.

"I think this is an exciting and important project," DeSousa said Friday.

"I will do what I can to see it is stickhandled as quickly as possible to
make sure it sees the light of day either in 2008 or 2009, but the sooner
the better."

For more information on Île sans Fil, go to www.ilesansfil.org
mlalonde at thegazette.canwest.com

The Gazette, 14 septembre 2008
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=9cff2e44-846d-4c38-afd5-a795b3e9802b&p=2

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:21:50 -0400
From: schallenberg.jeff at gmail.com
To: volontaires at listes.ilesansfil.org
Subject: [isf-vol] Gazette articles on ÎSF and the health effects of
radiation

So, Michelle Lalonde's article about Île Sans Fil eventually got published
on Page 3 of the Sunday edition. Nice, balanced reporting, especially since
she interviewed both our president Daniel and the City rep Alan de Sousa.
And the photo of Michael and Alexis surfing on the Main is priceless!

Unfortunately, Michelle paired that article with a misinformed one on the
health effects of radiation, where she confused microwave radiation (high
frequency, low power levels, such as WiFi and cell phones), with Extremely
Low Frequency radiation (<1MHz, moderate to high power levels, such as Hydro
lines).

Without taking an official position on the WiFi vs. health debate, I wonder
if ÎSF could help users understand the issues by explaining the parameters
in layman's terms - a page on our web site, or a public meeting. This might
also make an interesting topic at the next Community Wireless Summit
meeting.

Some reading:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/radiation/83ehd-dhm98/effects-biolog-effets-eng.php
http://fantastiquephoenix.online.fr/portable.htm?gclid=CNuaie-m25UCFQzBGgod4jK8Yg
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060222-6235.html
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6408151.html
http://www.energyfields.org/
http://bioinitiative.org/
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs322/en/

-- 
- Jeff

------------------------------
Utilisez Windows Live Messenger pour envoyer des messages sur les
cellulaires de vos amis Plus de détails sur notre site
PC at cellulaire<http://www.pc2mobile.ca/fr>

_______________________________________________
Volontaires mailing list
Volontaires at listes.ilesansfil.org
http://listes.ilesansfil.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volontaires
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.wirelesstoronto.ca/pipermail/wirelesstoronto-discuss/attachments/20080921/d9331f81/attachment-0001.htm 