| |
|
Broad Bands of Support |
The bits shall make you free |
Everybody who heard about the Spirit
of America TV
station project seems to have supported it. They sent in a zillion dollars
so seven Iraqi TV stations could be equipped by the 1st Marine Division and
turned over to Iraqi operation. The interest hasn't died down. The Army has
made a similar request, so the SoA logistics machine is adding that to the project.
The next stage will be to equip the stations with satellite modems for high-speed
connectivity. This creates two ways to connect Americans with Iraqis. And that's
where the amazing Dave Pentecost comes
in.
I met Dave and his wife when Doc Searls
was staying with us just over a year ago. Doc was doing a Linux
Journal article on wireless
in New York City and he was told he had to meet Dave, patron saint of East
Village wireless. Dave had concluded that the best way for the less-prosperous
kind of New Yorkers to match wits with the overpaid kind is to give them broadband
connectivity. His method was to license a T-1 line and feed WiFi signals to
a low-income housing project between the East Village and the East River. This
is in addition to a freelancing career and maintaining the Daily
Glyph superblog about the Mayan culture, low-impact development and helping
the Mayan Indians of Mexico and Guatemala protect their habitat by opposing
dam construction on the Usumacinta River. Of course, it gives Dave an excuse
to lead trips down the river to demonstrate what's at stake.
If you think all that's amazing, wait 'til you meet Dave's wife Lyn, who's
also doing way more than her share. As Executive Director, she has energized
the Lower Eastside Girls Club into an entrepreneurial
hotbed, helping to fund the construction of the club's own building.
Naturally, the Girls Club building will be a host to the WiFi initiative for
the housing project across Avenue D:
Information Technology
We intend to equip the new facility with sufficient bandwidth to provide
high-speed internet access to the building's tenants and to residents of the
surrounding neighborhood. Within the building, all spaces will be wired for
gigabit Ethernet connections. Multiple computers in areas such as school computer
labs, offices, library and screening/media production areas will connect to
the Ethernet system through wireless local area networks based on Apple Airports
or other similar wireless hubs. In addition, broadband wireless internet access
will be extended to the community, especially the Jacob Riis Houses and Lillian
Wald houses across Avenue D, through antennas installed on the roof of the
Girls Club facility. All residents will be offered an internet connection
at speeds similar to cable modem services, but at no cost.
Building a 40,000 square foot commercial building anywhere is a challenge,
but doing it with grass roots energy and money in Manhattan is a miracle. Part
of the way they're doing it is by bake sales. Yep, bake
sales, but big time bake sales. The Sweet Things project is a commercial
bakery serving the East Village, teaching responsibility and entrepreneurship
and saving money for their new facility. Order your cookies here.
Naturally, there's a raft of other
projects.
I can't imagine where people like Lyn and Dave Pentecost get the energy. I
get tired just reading about all the stuff they're doing.
See 3 Video
Regarding Dave's full time freelancing career. He's a professional video editor,
editing digital video for TV shows in the vibrant NYC production hotbed. So
the first Iraq connection is how Dave and his fellow video editors can help
those Iraqi TV stations offer world-class production values. Imagine editors
in America receiving video footage shot in Iraq, transmitted over those satellite
modems, editing them as a Spirit of America service, and sending the finished
video back, all done during the Iraqi nighttime. I like that.
The other connection is using Dave's Lower East Side WiFi project as a model
for the areas surrounding each of the Internet-linked Iraqi TV stations. By
establishing high speed WiFi with an expanding mesh network, you get connected
neighbors and, probably, Neighborhood Watch on steroids.
There's also a need for professional editing of promotional footage for spreading
the Spirit of America message. Jim Hake has a lot of footage shot during his
trip to Iraq earlier this month, and there might be a need to dress it up fast
if we have a broadcast opportunity. When I called Dave with that question today,
he stepped out of a meeting he was in, agreed immediately to help on nights
and weekends.
So that's how Dave stays so busy. He doesn't know how to say no. He also said
he admires the stuff I'm doing, which is appreciated but it's just another sign
of a huge spirit. Questionable judgment, though.
Could You Use a Macinta?
Who knows? When we get the Spirit of America Request-Response web interface
crafted right, maybe some of that SoA righteousness could be aimed in the direction
of the Mayans of the Usumacinta River valley.
12:01:10 AM 
|
