Tag Archives: internet access

Is OpenInternet.gov avoiding Net Neutrality?

The OpenInternet.gov site is kind of boring so far, but the here’s the intro video (the first 60 seconds of the below intro probably says all you need).

Here’s the direct link.

The speech given this morning is different (video not available yet) and has some actual content and the speech is pretty good, so be sure to read it, it’s an interesting mini-history of the Internet. They talk of their six principals of transparency but they don’t mention Net Neutrality.

openinternet.gov.pngI think some people think OpenInternet.gov opening as the governments response to support Net Neutrality. Search Google for Net Neutrality OpenInternet.gov or Net Neutrality (at least results as of this moment) and it’s practically treating the OpenInternet.gov and Net Neutrality as the same thing.

The point that I’m bringing up is that they specifically don’t say the phrase on the site. And not in the speech, if anything they seem to be avoiding the phrase “Net Neutrality”. As a matter of fact they I can only find the word “neutral” once, in the last line of this mornings speech:

Our work now is to preserve the brilliance of what they contributed to our country and the world. It’s to make sure that, in the 21st century, the garage, the basement, and the dorm room remain places where innovators can not only dream but bring their dreams to life. And no one should be neutral about that.

I even had Google search OpenInternet.gov for “neutral” and it only found the same phrase (no hits for “net neutrality”).

I’m not saying they’re not going to support Net Neutrality concepts, I just think it’s interesting they went out of their way not to say Net Neutrality or even to say that they’re support concepts of it. And that so many places are reporting the phrase Net Neutrality in the headlines in regards to the this site and speech.

I’d like to read more, but they don’t have an RSS feed to use. They mislead you with some Twitter, Facebook and RSS icons, but those are just for the FCC site.

Internet Costs for the Internet-less

So I stopped at Kinko’s to fax something, unfortunately I had to fax it twice since I forgot a page (duh!). But I was looking at their computer area and I see they want $12 an hour to use a computer. One person here just looks like they are just checking their fantasy football and that’s got to get pricey after a while; others are just surfing and one guy is working on a Word document. They could probably lease/rent a computer for less than $24 a month (that’s the going price for an iBook with Apple’s credit) and subscribe to a T-Mobile WiFi for $30 a month and could sit at the same Kinko’s and recoup their costs in less than 5 hours. Plus, you’d have a laptop for anywhere use and you can use it at free WiFi spots and most other T-Mobile spots.

You’d have to pass a credit check to get the computer but other than that it seems like the way to go to me. It’s a decent neighborhood where I am and none of these folks look homeless so I can’t think of any reasons not to go this route. Any one have any thoughts on this?

Looks like they have some new print on-line service that you can print and ship via FedEx (it’s actually called FedEx Kinko’s now) from home or remote.

Slooowww Internet

So, as I said, I’m up north. This means I’m using dial-up and it’s on an older computer. I feel like my brain is going to burst waiting for the web to load these pages for me. (No insult intended to those of you on dial-in)

Checking my mail is slow enough, but uploading the photos was almost enough to pop something in my brain…..

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Internet Problems

So I have two Internet problems today (last night):
1) The hotel I’m at has the slowest Internet connection I’ve ever seen or had. But at least it’s free.
2) My web sites are down, so I don’t know when this will actually get posted.

We Have Dial Up

So I’m in a hotel for an all day meeting. I ask at the hotel if they have a WiFi connection or a room where I can access the Internet. The reply — “We have dial-up”. Like’s it’s something they have, when in reality it’s something they don’t have. She just didn’t get it…

The problem with this is compounded by the fact that the new Mac OS X 10.3.5 update (from two days ago) broke the ability to connect my cell phone to dial out. I feel totally cut off from the world…