Forward with resolve

Just as hearing the first sketchy reports of the events which spawned them did ten years ago this morning, watching today's commemoration ceremonies compels me to ask, "What, if anything can I do?"

Then, upon reflection, I realize that the question is already answered-I am already doing it.

The question was answered in the days and weeks immediately following the attacks, by our leaders who encouraged us to live our lives as normal-go back to work, keep shopping to sustain the economy, don't be afraid to travel by air again.  In other words, show our new enemies that they had failed.

And they have failed, as the existence of this blog and the technology it chronicles, at least in some small measure, attests.  It was five years ago today that I briefly recounted here having bought my first piece of Wi-Fi hardware the day before the disaster.  Within slightly more than two years of that purchase I was using it regularly at Union Station, one of the metro's first free and open public hotspots and the first one this blog reviewed.  Kansas City and the nation have only moved on from there, expanding free wireless Internet to the vast majority of our public libraries, many of our airports, and untold numbers of restaurants, cafes, retail stores and other locations.  In short, we have reasserted that we are a free people committed to free expression-and to continuing our development and expansion of the means by which we will express ourselves.

A small victory?  Considering the thousands of innocents slaughtered on that day, and the many thousands more serving under arms who have fallen since, perhaps.   But it is a victory nonetheless.

We are not and never will be exactly the same as we were before September 11, 2001.  But in the ways that truly count-the ways which those who visited evil upon us that day meant to erase-we did not and we will not change.  Our core beliefs are the foundation of our progress as a society and as a people.  We will not be intimidated into abandoning either those beliefs or that progress.

We are Americans, and the only way we ever move is forward.  And if that is not yet understood by those who despise us for it, the ultimate grief and the ultimate failure that will inevitably result shall be theirs alone.

And still the question is asked-why?

Apple Store
4529 West 119th Street Suite 283, Leawood

802.11g
SSID:  Apple Store

Long, long ago, when this blog first rose from the primordial ooze, yours truly took up temporary residence outside the Apple Store on the Plaza and confirmed it offered free Wi-Fi.  Well, nigh on six years later, here I am outside Apple's other location (it's to the southeast of the intersection of 119th and Roe, behind Crate and Barrel and between Destination Maternity and Glacé Artisan Ice Cream) and I can again attest, for what it's worth, that if you sit on the bench outside the front door with a charged battery you can help yourself to all the free access you want for as long as your battery lasts.

I wouldn't think they'd take kindly to you bringing your rig into the store, however, unless it's one of theirs and you're there for repair or tech support.  That and providing access for their demonstration machines-there's another SSID present that's suggestively named "Apple Demo"-are the only reasons I can think of for these places being unwired.

Don't mess with Texas.

In particular, you should avoid bothering anyone with a laptop sitting outside a public library in Kingsville while using the Wi-Fi there. Especially if you're already on parole for a robbery you committed in another state.

You just might end up getting 20 years to think it over afterward.

Well, wouldn't you know it?

No sooner does the local public library with the worst network finally whip itself into shape then we get this truly disheartening report from Michigan of an outright scumbag allegedly having gone to great lengths to avail himself of what apparently was an open Wi-Fi connection offered by a nearby library branch to do his dirt.

Let's hope this doesn't spark a reversal of the trend evidenced by JCL's recent moves toward holding patrons responsible for their own actions on wireless devices which they-not the library-own. And before the shrill calls to amend the Children's Internet Protection Act to extend it to cover those devices arise, let's everyone take a deep breath and remember that the authorities still easily managed to catch this guy the way things are now.

And while I hesitate to come off sounding like a candidate drumming up votes in today's just-concluded Iowa straw poll, bear in mind that even a stopped clock (one that still has hands and a dial opposed to a digital display, at least) is right twice a day. More laws, more regulation, or more government intervention isn't always the best answer to a problem.

Introducing the latest free and open hotspots you can REALLY USE FOR SOMETHING!

(Dramatic crescendoing drum roll finished by a rimshot and cymbal crash, please.)

The Johnson County Library!

And no, I am NOT KIDDING!

We have never hesitated to take this network to task for its horrible shortcomings of the past, so when the scales have apparently fallen from someone's eyes out here and needed reforms made, it's only fair that we trumpet the good news to one and all.

Frankly, though, we were skeptical when we first began receiving reports soon after this item appeared on JCL's website that the hideous overfiltering and heavy-handed port and protocol blocking were a thing of the past. That's why one of us is just now getting out to the main library location to see for ourselves.

And have we seen! No more overblocks-especially of the silly keyword type that made many news sites (the Associated Press' site in particular) often tricky to read; no more blocking of secure POP/IMAP e-mail ports (at least for incoming mail; haven't tried outgoing yet) or, for that matter, Usenet port 119 and its secure equivalent (there's probably so little questionable content on Usenet anymore, and so few old crocks like yours truly who still bother with Usenet it's not worth doing). Why, even good old port 7000-remember my calling out the KCMO Public Library for denying a patron access to a support chatroom by blocking that one a couple of years back?-comes right through.

Good show, JCL. Too bad, though, it took you six years to see the light. But that's water under the bridge; let's let bygones be bygones and move forward. For starters, why not do what I suggested they do at the public library in Des Moines my last time up there-give laptoppers using these microfilm readers some convenient plug-ins by setting out some cheap power strips among them. For that matter, a few more wired-for-power tables and carrels wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Methinks there'll be somewhat more of a demand for them as word of this gets around.

Oops-I almost forgot: The new SSID is "JoCoLibrary Public Wireless."

Happy trails, Glenn.

Sad news from someone who served as a major inspiration for the creation of this blog and had been a big help to it ever since:  Glenn Fleishman is shutting down Wi-Fi Networking News.

It was likely only a matter of time.  Wi-Fi has matured to the point where writing about it in the manner Fleishman has for the past decade-discussing the technological and often social and financial implications of new developments in depth-doesn't provide enough material to produce regular posts anymore.  Too bad, because no one did it better.

Anyway, the existing posts will stay up "forever," to quote their author.  And if you missed the birth and formative years of the 802.11 era and want to get a feel for what they were like,  I can't think of a better resource.  Might even be enough left there to spawn a thesis or two, if not a dissertation.

So long, Glenn.  Good luck with your other projects.  And-oh,yes-thanks. 

It's simple, Simon. (Really, it is.)

Dear Simon Malls:

Stopped in last night out at Independence Center for the first time in never mind how long.  I'm really not much of a mall person, but the convergence of Missouri's tax-free weekend and some new tenants you've recently acquired proved irresistible.  Anyway, after having helped one of those tenants meet its obligations to you-and after my finder having detected an open 802.11g network with an inviting SSID-I sauntered down to the food court, hoping to maybe catch up on the headlines, go through a few e-mails and knock off a blog post or two while maybe chomping down on a slice of pizza or finding out if Orange Julius was still as good as I remembered from my childhood.

Well, I didn't.  Guess why.

One would think I really wouldn't have to remind a company still so heavily involved in brick-and-mortar retailing that the customer experience is everything.  Once you get me in the door, it's incumbent upon you to make me want to come back.  Did you or anyone whose paycheck you're signing truly believe I'd ever be inclined to do so after having to battle interminably with your boneheaded clickthrough page and the programming error that kept it from delivering me to where I needed to go?

What's that?  You weren't aware of any issues with that?  Gee, that must mean you never bother with actually shopping in your properties to see for yourself what it's like for your customers.  Kind of reminiscent of the top executives of a Detroit automaker I don't need to name, who infamously intended to fly to Washington in their corporate jets to make their pitch to Congress for being bailed out by taxpayers-until someone pointed out that if they'd rather fly than drive there in their own products...well, you get the idea. 

Here's a hint:  Take a laptop down to Crown Center, find a comfy seat in the atrium, then boot up and hook into their Wi-Fi.  Try using it for a while.  Afterward, go back out to Independence Center and attempt the same thing.  Now you tell me:  Which would you rather do on a regular basis?