None dare call it cyberbullying.

Methinks the thugs the big movie studios have hired to threaten suspected online pirates into forking over settlement money without a fight have grown a bit big for their britches, given this story from Des Plaines, Illinois. Either that or the robots they use to spam out their extortion messages can't discern the difference between a person and a library.

Well, at least the library had the backbone to come back at them with "Look, here's proof we paid for all the copies of your crappy film that we own, and if that isn't enough for you we'll see you in court." A better response than the one we saw from the panicked politicos of Coshocton County, Ohio a year and a half ago, don't you think?

That said, the library is probably taking a good step by strengthening its acceptable use policy's provisions against copyright infringement-even if it's still very unlikely they'd ever catch an illegal downloader in the act. A better one would be to ban peer-to-peer file sharing-at least in its present form-altogether.

Save your brains and fingers, torrent fans. Don't give me that blather about how legitimate software vendors are using P2P for distribution and support; any software worth buying-and any freeware worth using-is still going to be available from traditional safe sources that don't put customers at risk.

P2P is simply going to have to legitimize itself before gaining acceptance. That means it's going to have to attract investors willing to follow Napster's lead-by kicking out the pirates, pornographers and cybercrooks, making sensible deals with content providers (and if Big Entertainment's thinking is still too twentieth-century to catch the rising tide, maybe going with Little Entertainment for starters will eventually force the big guys into the same corner iTunes maneuvered the Beatles into), and working with operating-system and security software vendors to remedy P2P's current status as a malware conduit. As long as anyone runs the risk of either getting a letter like the library received, or winding up serving time for distributing kiddie porn because their P2P client software passed it through their computer, the torrent community will remain a disreputable corner of the Internet, sorely in need of a Times Square-like makeover.

And frankly, I hope it gets one. Even though public hotspots are getting faster all the time-take a gander at how good users at Chandler, Arizona's downtown public library have it, will you?-the P2P infrastructure might still offer advantages. Those advantages, however, simply don't justify having to wade through the cesspool that currently lies before them.

No Irish need apply?

OK, it's St. Patrick's Day...so sue me.

Anyway,  I decided to roam around Westport a bit after work-more for old times' sake than anything else; my nights of March madness around there are long gone, along with most of the venues in which they took place-and, of course, keep a sharp eye out for potential new unwired locations.  I might as well not have bothered, what with the only viable candidate being a new tobacco shop (ugh!) which at least was honest enough not to tout its WPA-encumbered offering as "free."  (Memo to the proprietor(s):  I didn't see anyone in your establishment chomping down on one of your exquisitely priced offerings while pecking away at a keyboard between puffs.  So...how's locking down that network working out for you?)

And speaking of-well, you see, there was this big tan tent out in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue not far from the aforemetioned business, with a zipped-down entrance and a uniformed guard in front-and a sign clearly stating "VALID U. S. ID REQUIRED."  I resisted the temptation as long as I could, finally giving in and asking a young lady just outside who was obviously an associate of whatever enterprise was being conducted within exactly what was going on in there that wasn't fit for foreigners.  Her response was not one question but two:  "Are you 21?" and "Do you smoke cigarettes?"

Now, I suppose I could have effected my best brogue and implored whether on this day of all days, they would truly deny one fresh off the Old Sod, just for want of an American-issued...naaah!

And to conclude this on-topic, I dropped in again at the Westport branch of the KCMO Public Library to post this, and while I'm happy to report that the two-hours-per-day seating limit signs I saw here around five years ago are gone, so, unfortunately, are the power outlets I found then as well.  Only two pairs of them are readily apparent now-one on each side of a post between a couple of tables in front of the checkout desk.  Better news than that, though, is that even if you have to go battery only, you'll have the speed to get plenty done before recharge time, what with just over 7 megabits per second down and 3 up.

You say you want a revolution...

I've asked before, and I'll ask again:  Where are all these iPads and now competing tablets that are supposed to be sweeping us stodgy old laptoppers into the past alongside keypunch cards and 5 1/4-inch floppy drives?  I've been at the Plaza Library since having gotten off work, and I'm currently one of a half-dozen Wi-Fi users here-all using laptops.  Frankly, I've never run across a tablet user at a hotspot yet.  I did notice someone with a netbook here earlier this afternoon, but that's the lightest artillery I've seen deployed during this operation.

Clearly, tablets are in demand-Apple just launched the second iteration of the iPad today to great fanfare-but you've got to wonder what that tidal wave of buyers is using them for afterward.  They don't appear to be frequenting Kansas City area hotspots with them, that's for sure.

By the way, I ran a speed test here earlier and hit 12-count 'em, 12!-megabits down and nearly 3 up.  Fastest I've ever seen here.  Has fiber finally made its way to Midtown?

Meanwhile, back to the east...

McDonald's
812 Minnesota Avenue, KCK

802.11g
SSID: Wayport_Access or attwifi

After the somewhat depressing results of my West Wyandotte expedition, and the even sadder news, delivered by the Kansas City Star earlier this week, that the YWCA has closed its coffeehouse a few blocks away from here which was reviewed in October by ath64, it's somewhat heartening to find that at least here in the most underserved part of the metro, Mickey D's is really coming through like we thought they would everywhere else upon joining the free world a year ago.

No power outlets, so charge up in advance or type and surf faster than you eat. Speaking of speed...has anyone here checked lately? An online test reported only around 300 kilobits per second down and merely one-third that up. Is that the best Ma Bell can do?

Let's hope not, and let's also hope more businesses that are still managing to thrive in this recession wil consider unwiring, to make up for the loss of some that aren't-such as Borders Books, which (bad pun alert) has turned the first page of Chapter 11 in case you haven't heard. As the KC Business Journal reports, the closeout sale is already under way at the one local store-in the Northland-closing as a result of the filing. And I didn't even realize that their 119th and Metcalf store, the subject of another ath64 review a couple of Christmases back, is already gone.

The confines are a bit more friendly, but...

Kansas City Kansas Public Library, West Wyandotte Library
1737 North 82nd Street, KCK

802.11g
SSID: KCKPLWEST



Well, in hopes that things had gotten a bit better since KCKPL effectively opened up their network to everyone, I sauntered out this way this afternoon-but sadly must report that should you do the same, you'll have to endure the same onerous filtering and port blocking I observed back in October at KCK's main branch, albeit in surroundings much better suited to laptop use. Take a gander, for instance, at this table, replete with a pair of convenient power outlets at the base of the lamp.



There are at least a couple of these here, along with armchairs incorporating swivel trays that could accomodate a laptop or netbook, similar to the chairs that at least used to be in the Miller Nichols Library at UMKC (haven't been there in a while and their laptop connectivity has been restricted to students, faculty and staff for some years now so I don't know if they're still there). And some of those armchairs are right next to power outlets in the floor.

In short, this place could show a few things to some libraries around town. Now, if KCKPL's administration would only take a few hints from them. Usability isn't all furniture and wiring, folks.

I ought not, but I'm going to (among other things).

Yes, I really shouldn't-but five years of waiting for these nice folks down here at Crown Center to get their Wi-Fi working consistently as it's supposed to is long enough.  Perhaps, on this Friday before we celebrate the life and achievements of that most Gandhi-like of Americans, it's time for a little not-so-civil disobedience.  

So...okay. For those of you who've come down here and run into the problems I did again tonight with not being able to go anywhere after connecting and wondered about my previous allusions to being able to get around the problem myself, here's what you do:  Manually configure your TCP/IP (look in help for whatever operating system you're running for how to do this) to give yourself an IP address somewhere around 192.168.2.100.  In other words, set it to not use DHCP and input the above address instead.  If it asks for a router or gateway try putting in the router's address of 192.168.2.1.  Don't mess with the netmask if it's there; the default setting should work.  For your computer's address I'd start with 192.168.2.100 and go up to maybe 110 or even higher depending on whether there are other users around who don't appear to be having problems.  By the way, for those who don't know, change only the last three digits.  Try surfing after each address change.  If five to ten tries don't get it, you probably need to also make an entry for a DNS server.  Google now offers a pair of these for free public use at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.  You can also try Open DNS at 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220.

Oh, I almost forgot-remember to change everything back to where it was originally just before you shut down to leave.  Generally this means simply re-enabling DHCP and deleting any DNS servers you entered.  Might make connecting again at home or work a tad easier.

And should anyone with Crown Center's management take exception to the above-well, bring on the dogs and fire hoses.  Better yet, do what your conscience ought to be telling you to do about right now-go hire a kid who can fix this network and keep it fixed.

And with that, on to tonight's hisses and cheers.  Cheers for Microsoft, who now gives you the option of setting Hotmail accounts so that they can be accessed with full, Firesheep-proof HTTPS-on-every-page protection if you try to access the login page that way.  It'd be better if they'd just do this by default, but at least it's a start.  Hisses however for Lycos and NetZero, both of whom are still way behind the curve on this.  Lycos seems to think there isn't a problem, while NetZero offers only a partially encrypted login page-to which you must specifically navigate-and nothing beyond that.  I guess there are going to have to be some high-profile Firesheep shearings before some people get the message.

The opposite side of the equator-and the wrong side of history as well?

Well gosh, I'd have made mention of Wi-Fi-related news closer to home than either New Zealand or California had there been any, but these two tidbits do make something of an interesting juxtaposition.

I've come across rumblings from the New Zealand town of Nelson before about the local public library offering-horrors!-free and open Wi-Fi for everyone, which doesn't set well with at least one local businessman who's apparently still able to sell play-for-pay sessions for $4 (I assume that's in New Zealand dollars; I have no idea of the current exchange rate). Now, according to a local newspaper over there, he's steamed that operators of tour buses cruising through town make a point of advising laptop-toting backpackers of the library's access. Like they'd cram into his place to fork over for his overpriced sessions instead, rather than find another free venue run by a true competitor of his. Yeah, right.

As for why the town government should perhaps listen to him with a jaundiced ear, consider the following newspaper item from Lodi, California. While I personally would feel a bit better if a person in the protagonist's situation were a bit more inclined to use the library's access as a means toward getting out of it, it is heartening to know that free and open Wi-Fi is, at least in this one case, really helping to narrow the digital divide.

Oh, I almost forgot-Happy New Year!