Yes, another article from DailyWireless. Sam Churchill always comes through. This one has information about Proxim gear, used in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to provide service to 4,500 students in eight apartment complexes.
DailyWireless - Proxim Net Manager
On my trip to Flores, Guatemala, 3 weeks ago I finally met Roan McNab, who is working to protect the jungles of the Peten and the wildlife there. He sent Chris Shaw a dispatch on the current threats to the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the area of the El Peru archaeological site. As he writes, it is a triple threat: scarlet macaw poachers (Guaceros), invaders with guns, and fire.
(full text below - click MORE)
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Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2003 7:45 AM
Subject: The battle of El Peru
The story of how biologists held the front line against the advancing barbarians at
the Archaeological site of Wa'ka.
The saga continues.
Jeremy, Rony emerged yesterday. Fires stalled just outside macaw nesting areas. Success there. But they rage still near the Biological station, and near Paso Caballos, many areas are burning hot.
Yesterday a SEPRONA agent was shot, may lose arm, medivaced to Guatemala for operation. That event yielded the capture of two of the amred men in that group, and they carried macaw chicks. Rumor is three. Up to seven armed guys in one group seen shortly before that. Three in another group.
All WCS field personel remain in the site on a voluntary basis. Fighting fires, and guiding all police in the area who do no know the trails. Soon there will be sweeps through the zone, hopefully today.
Calls all day yesterday to get embassy on board. Main reason was to squeeze Gua military to act. Now seem to be. Also, anti-narc police now go in, with Gua military. Many areas just 3-4 km NW of El Peru are cleared but not yet burned.
Triple threat: Guaceros, invaders with guns, and fire.
Our hope is to hold the line at the Rio San Pedro. Lighthawk has been key flying
over this all, spotting invaders camps, trails, fires, narc plane in the vicinity, crashed.
I to El Peru now with conap and the mil. Maybe back tomorrow.
How will presence be maintained? Either that, or we write off El Peru and LdT entirely....for the barbarians.
RBM
Here's a good overview of plans for dams and opposition to them in a number of Latin American countries.
Latinamerica Press: Rivers threatened by development
The Girls Club wants to cut its phone bills in the new building (and the new temporary offices). Voice over IP is one possibility, and there are new WiFi enabled phones that let you make (free) calls using your wireless internet system.
Wireless News: New Wi-Fi Phones in the Spotlight
Tim Weiner had a travel story on Palenque, Panchan, and other spots nearby, in this past Sunday's Times. Registration required, free to read this week, $ if pulled from the archives.
Human rights groups: Mexican soldiers established base near Zapatista community
Okay, so I'm back from the jungle. Great trips on the Usumacinta and the Rio Pasion. Inspiring visits with the archaeologists (particularly David Stuart, George Stuart, Alfonso Morales and Ed Barnhart). A last-day trip to the Lagunas de Catazaja, water-bird paradise, with the whole Panchan family.
Then a relaxing drive up the east coast (of the U.S.) with my wife Lyn. Best spot - Beaufort, N.C.
But now it's time to hit the metropolitan area network project. And this update from Sam Churchill on 802.16a is just what I was looking for.
DailyWireless - Towerstream Aperto
Business Week has an article that describes the Towerstream service which just rolled out in Manhattan, as well as other news.
BW Online | April 23, 2003 | Wi-Fi Stretches Its Wings
Here's Towerstream's pricing structure:
Now that my son Mick is off to graduate school at Stanford, I have an excuse to go check out wireless developments on the West Coast.
DailyWireless - Bay Area Wireless Metro Network
After a long but free registration page, you can view this story on The Scientist website, on using microbes in a bioreactor to create hydrogen:
Biologically Derived Hydrogen--Future Fuel?, Apr. 21, 2003
From the Houston Chronicle, a special report on the Selva Lacandona and the causes of forest destruction.
HoustonChronicle.com - The Fated Forest
One member of the Aztlan list wrote a critical response to the article. I am passing along David Hixson's response, in full, below. (Click MORE)
Don't get excited, UFO fans - it's a brand name.
Wireless network file server. For the new offices of the Lower Eastside Girls Club. And the Cafe. Yum.
Apple AirPort Weblog: Martian File Servers
I'm in the last days of a great season in Chiapas. Back in New York next week, I'll be reviewing all the community wireless notes I've set aside for later. Here's another signpost for local wireless systems, from Daily Wireless, of course.
DailyWireless - Sputnik Community LAN Gateway
So we get cheap, wireless connectivity. Low-cost portable wi-fi computers. Then what?
MIT is working on the possibilities. (Thanks to Daily Wireless for the info.)
DailyWireless - MIT's Social Media Projects
The evolving standards in wireless internet systems for cities and towns. 802.16 and beyond.
We just increased the range of the wi-fi bubble here in Panchan by moving the access point out of the cafe and into a tree 100' closer to the rest of the place. Now I am posting from a comfortable spot under the palapa of the restaurant. We did a quick and dirty install, pulling a long extension cord for power. It made me appreciate this elegant solution to the power-over-ethernet problem, available now for the older Airport hubs (soon for the new Extreme line):
Boston Globe Online / Health | Science / Microbes latest members of the mile-high club
For the last month or so, travelers to Palenque who stay at Panchan have been able to check email without going into town, thanks to Chato's new cybercafe. Air-conditioned, overlooking the jungle on one side and a meadow on the other, open from 8am to 11pm every day.
I finally took the time to set up a wireless access point, the Linksys WAP11, and today for the first time I am surfing and posting wirelessly. Without an external antenna, the range is limited, especially with all the foliage in the way. The WAP11 can act as a bridge, so with the addition of more APs, we can extend the range.
But I am able to sit in the restaurant (Don Mucho's) and do my work, 200 feet or so from the AP. Until I can do that in my room at the far end of the compound, the cool cybercafe is still the preferred place, at least in the mid-day heat.
Today a bubble in the jungle, tomorrow a cloud in the city.
This idea has whipped through the weblog world this week - that the only superpower now able to counter the U.S. government is world public opinion.
Jim Moore's paper this week called for a net-based movement:
The Second Superpower
Andrew Orlowski dissected the devolution of the idea:
Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed... in 42 days
Our recent trip on the Usumacinta River, a "microflotilla" in preparation for next year's larger event, was part of an International Day of Action coordinated by the International Rivers Network.
IRN:International Day of Action Against Dams & for River, Water & Lffe
The Natural Resources Defense Council has named the Usumacinta River one of its "Biogems," and has made protecting it a high priority. Thanks to Ari Hershowitz for his help in this effort.