NC Media Watch

Another e-mail box surprise

Russ Steele

UPDATE:  This site went down, maybe too much traffic. I hope it comes back!

You never know what is buried in your daily spam. I found this one more than useful, what do you think?

Happy Fourth of July

New site in town

Russ Steele

Anna has an interesting new site up, which she launched on Wednesday called The Nevada County Voice, a consolidation site that collects local content on to one single page. This could become a every popular opening page, for a quick scan of all the local news.  She also has a companion blog for comments. This approach has a lot of potential for developing a community dialog. Let's hope it meets her expectations.

Comment policy change

Russ Steele

To encourage more comments on posts I have turned OFF the typepad authentication feature,  Now anyone with an e-mail address can comment.  And I encourage readers to share your ideas and thoughts.  However, I did turn on the moderation feature, which may delay your comments for a few hours, to keep out the junk. Please do not post anonymous comments, as I do not read these comments, nor do I want them wasting a readers time.

Happy New Year!

. . . . to all my readers.

May 2007 be a happy and prosperous year for you and your family!

  The Steele Family wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!
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Quoted in the Union Business Section

Russ Steele

Last week I had an opportunity to help the Union’s Business reporter gain some insight to WiFi in the community, region and on the road. And, I learned something in the process, WiFi has a dash, as in Wi-Fi.  This according to the latest style manual, at least in the IEEE Style Manual for technical writing. My Chicago Times and Wired Style Manual were too old to even include the term.

Laura Brown writes, Keeping in touch using Wi-Fi, December 12, 2006

Wi-Fi hotspots are public areas like a cafe, restaurant or hotel where a wireless Internet router has been installed, allowing a person to connect a laptop computer to the Internet without a wire. The name derives from the old term for high-fidelity stereo, HI-Fi.

A bit of information I should have shared with Laura is that Wi-Fi does not “stand for anything,” and is not a derivative of HiFi. I hope she did not get that impression from our discussion. This from Wi-Fi Net News

Phil Belanger offered up his insight as one of the folks responsible for the term and an early chairman of The Wi-Fi Alliance, then known as WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance). Phil’s name is on the 802.11b spec, as well. He allowed Cory and I to republish his response on this:

“Wi-Fi doesn’t stand for anything. It is not an acronym. There is no meaning.

“Wi-Fi and the ying yang style logo were invented by Interbrand. We (the founding members of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, now called the Wi-Fi Alliance) hired Interbrand to come up with the name and logo that we could use for our interoperability seal and marketing efforts. We needed something that was a little catchier than ‘IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence.’ Interbrand created Prozac, Compaq, oneworld, Imation and many other brand names that you have heard of.

A closing quote from Laura’s article:

"It's important for communities. If one coffee shop puts it in for free, pretty much all of them have to," said Russ Steele, freelance writer and chairman of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council's Telecommunications Resource Committee. The group promotes broadband coverage in Nevada County as a way to increase employment opportunities.

He says he's a Wi-Fi "junkie" and prefers businesses - including campgrounds - that offer Wi-Fi over those that don't when traveling.

"I'm a blogger. I need my e-mail. I need to surf the Internet," Steele said.

You can log on to the ERC web page for list of local businesses with WiFi access, hosted by Spiral Studio, here. You can also follow Wi-Fi and broadband developments at the Broadband of Brothers.

Preparing for a cold winter and the Christmas season

Russ Steele

Ellen and I put up our Christmas lights this morning. It was more of a chore this year,  as we painted the house trim this fall and had taken down the cup hooks we use to string icicle lights along the eves.

The next chore was to blow the oak leaves off the garage roof, the drive way and the walks. There sure seems to be more leaves this year than last, but that could just be some bad memory cells at work.  It would be nice if they all fell the same week and not in batches spanning several months. The oaks and maples are so dense around our house you cannot see it on Goggle Earth. Great summer shade, but a real mess in the fall.  With the leaves gone, the sun shines in our large south facing windows, warming the house in the winter. 

Speaking of winter, we finished up the day by re-warping all the outside faucets. They were wrapped the first time 18 years ago, after a real cold snap. Yes, after a cold snap.  We had several frozen faucets, one I had to replace.  Now we try to check the wrappings before the winter freeze.  It was important to re-wrap the faucets this year, as the short temperature term trend is for a colder winter than those over the last ten years. The average Sierra temperatures have been declining since 2003, and the weather maps indicate major outbreaks of arctic air in December. We should have another cold spell around the 10th.  If you have not wrapped your outdoor faucets, now would be a good time.   

Traveling

Russ Steele

We are traveling Thursday through Saturday, so posting will depend on the our WiFi access. I have some more thoughts on  the failure of Measure T and California's rejection of the oil tax initiative that I will share later.

ERC board meeting this morning

Russ Steele

The ERC Board meets the first Thursday of every month, except July. These meeting are always an interesting slice of local business issues and news. Also, I have a report to give as the Chair of the Telcom Committee.  Will report on the highlights later today.