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<FONT FACE="Verdana">Everyone,<BR>
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Here’s the latest from last night’s meeting:<BR>
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Loring Park:<BR>
We talked about the Loring Park project. MCTC is on board to provide roof space and electrical power to run a satellite to site cover the north-east end of the park. The good folks from MCTC, Neal, Andrew, Leif and and I made a visit to the roof of MCTC to pick out possible places to mount our equipment, and here are several great possibilities. Once we assemble the required gear (see below for my plea for parts), we will meet with the MCTC facilities people to decide which works best for everyone. <BR>
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Call for Parts:<BR>
We’re looking for some components to further the Loring park project: an omni antenna and an access point. If you’ve got an extra of either of these available for extended loan or to donate, or are interested in sponsoring the purchase of same, let me know! Think of it: you’ll be sitting in the park, surfing the web, knowing you are a vital part of the operation. That’s not radiation, that’s the warm feeling of a good deed done.<BR>
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Outreach:<BR>
Andrew been working on literature that could be distributed to the public that talks about wireless, TCWUG, and generally encourages people to get involved and set up hotspots. A question at the meeting was: by using netstumbler, or just turning on your wi-fi card, you/we can see networks and tell if they’re open or not. Also, it’s not to hard to narrow the location down to a small area. Here’s the problem: how can we contact the person running the hotspot, and either get them to list themselves as a public hotspot or help them secure their network, without, for lack of a better phrase, creeping them out totally? I’m going to post this to the list as a separate piece, as I think outreach is pretty important, and I’d like to get some other views.<BR>
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Future Updates:<BR>
Jeff Lehman is going to be posting updates in the future, so expect them with more regularity than I have been able to achieve. Thanks to Jeff, for taking on the task.<BR>
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General Talking:<BR>
We had some new faces at the meeting, and we spent some time in a general discussion about Wireless 101. FYI, for anyone who hasn’t checked out tcwug.org lately, there’s FAQ’s are great and cover a lot.<BR>
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Next Meeting:<BR>
The second Tuesday of September, 9/9, same time (6:00-8:00), same place (Freight House Dunn Bro’s). <BR>
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As to the location of the meetings, I’m open to having them at other places. The only requirements: free wi-fi, space for 15-20 people, and the availability of some kind of refreshments. Any suggestions, post to the list or let me know. <BR>
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Questions? Yearning to know more about another subject? Aching to be more involved? Post to the list or contact me directly.<BR>
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See everyone next month.<BR>
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Ben<BR>
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