A View on View :: Google Wi-Fi in NYC

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Google Wi-Fi in NYC

by Mark Evans on Tue 27 Sep 2005 12:01 PM EDT | Permanent Link

Google's semi-secret WiFi network has established a foothold in New York City. Someone who recently visited saw a plaque (left) and took a photograph. As most people know, Google dipped a toe in the WiFi market in April by sponsoring a free hotspot in San Francisco's Union Square. So how long is it going to take before Google unveils its WiFi plans? I mean, you can't have Om Malik and IP Media Monitor do all of Google's PR work, right? For some good insight into Google's Secure Access service, check out AugustJackson. Robert Scoble thinks Google's WiFi plans may be focused on building a better search engine. The idea is that Google will have another way track Web traffic.

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Re: Google Wi-Fi in NYC

by carton on Wed 28 Sep 2005 07:14 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

The last time I checked, the Bryant Park free wireless was run by nycwireless.net, a non-profit that put the public's interest first. They:

gave real public IP address, not rfc1918 address for NAT
truly anonymous access. You read the access policy, which states clearly that they intend to offer anonymous access because they think this serves a civic need. You click agree. That's it. No email registration or tracking or anything (unlike comments on this blog site). Network abuse is dealt with using a Reverse IDS firewall rather than surveillance and identification.
run by an organization with open, transparent governance in the public's interest

The coverage was good, and the network reliable. They are the right people to be in control of the network in a public park, and they were doing a good job. If Google has replaced them, I'll be very disappointed.

However, it looks like this has not happened. AFAICT, the network is the same one that was always there, the one that nycwireless built in 2001.

http://www.technolosophy.com/projects/bryantpark.html

Google is just ``sponsoring'' it. Hopefully their sponsorship won't include altering the design principles that made Bryant Park a national model for successful free-as-in-freedom Internet access. If so, I appreciate that they chose this network to sponsor. It suggests they ``get it,'' because Bryant Park is a very unique and ambitious public wireless.

If Google's sponsorship has somehow given them any kind of power over the network, then I'd much rather the NYC city taxes that I pay support this network and keep it free and anonymous, than have Google's Central Committee roll out their shady data mining activities and notoriously non-transparent governance. The City needs Bryant Park wireless as-is to prove irrefutably again and again what is possible. Pundits and planners continually assert that anonymous Internet access is impossible, but so far we can point to Bryant Park which has been running quite well since 2001 to show that yes, free anonymous speech on the Internet is sustainable. I, for one, value it greatly and consider it an important part of what our city stands for.

Re: Google Wi-Fi in NYC

by __ on Fri 30 Sep 2005 04:40 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

This isn't new, and I'm not sure why it's being treated as new; a source at the Bryant Park Restoration Corp. points out that Google has sponsored (as in, provided funds for, not directly controlled) the wireless network in the park since June of 2004.

Re: Google Wi-Fi in NYC

by . on Fri 03 Feb 2006 11:08 AM EST | Profile | Permanent Link

Free Mac Wi-Fi in NYC

by Skip Easterday on Wed 16 Aug 2006 01:07 PM EDT | Permanent Link

Very new to wi-fi and just bought a Mac. What a lovely time I had last night outside Apple's Fifth Avenue store, surfing in a patio chair under the lights of the City during the beautiful weather with my new toy.

Now I'm looking for more free wi-fi spots in NYC. I found a list at AnchorFree.com, but was disappointed when the first location I tried, in my office building no less, was not compatible with Macs.

None of the other lists I've found specify whether the locations support Mac, and I'm not of a mind to hop from location to location hoping they will. However, I am happy to call each of them and start compiling a list.

Meanwhile, does anyone have a good resource for identifying free, Mac-friendly wi-fi? If so, please post these at http://freemacwifinyc.blogspot.com.

Thanks, everyone.

-- Skip Easterday

Re: Google Wi-Fi in NYC

by asdasd on Sat 23 Sep 2006 07:09 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

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\n"; #File retrieval failed - exiting function pass back old values. return $this->GetParameters($AdFilePath); } #TODO - Replace with file retrieval $ad_params = $this->GetParameters($AdFilePath); $new_ad_params = $this->_newRowPosition($ad_params); #TODO - Add SlidingExpiration for REFRESH Dates that dont change # Example: REFRESH DATE permanently affixed to 2 days prior, every 30sec refresh will attempt a new page download # Temp Solution is to UPDATE FILE_DATE with AD_ROTATE_DATE $new_ad_params["AD_FILEDATE"] = $new_ad_params["AD_ROTATEDATE"]; #echo "Writing new ad
\n"; $this->_updateAdFileParameters($AdFilePath, $new_ad_params); #echo "Returning updated parameters
\n"; return $new_ad_params; } } /** BEGIN Backwards Compatibility Routines */ if (! function_exists('array_combine')) { function array_combine($keys, $values) { foreach($keys as $key) $out[$key] = array_shift($values); return $out; } } if (!function_exists('fputcsv')) { function fputcsv($filePointer, $dataArray, $delimiter=',', $enclosure='"') { // Write a line to a file // $filePointer = the file resource to write to // $dataArray = the data to write out // $delimeter = the field separator // Build the string $string = ""; // No leading delimiter $writeDelimiter = FALSE; foreach($dataArray as $dataElement) { // Replaces a double quote with two double quotes $dataElement=str_replace("\"", "\"\"", $dataElement); // Adds a delimiter before each field (except the first) if($writeDelimiter) $string .= $delimiter; // Encloses each field with $enclosure and adds it to the string $string .= $enclosure . $dataElement . $enclosure; // Delimiters are used every time except the first. $writeDelimiter = TRUE; } // end foreach($dataArray as $dataElement) // Append new line $string .= "\n"; // Write the string to the file return fwrite($filePointer,$string); } } if (!function_exists('fgetcsv')) { #TODO - Remove or ??? #Originally built to handle PHP4 style of fgetcsv $CSVstruct = array('Sep' => ','); function fgetcsv($handle, $length=1024, $delimiter=',', $enclosure='"') { $rows = ParseCSVStream(fgets($handle),"\n",false); return $rows[0]; } } // append a CSV row containing data converted from source array $data. Actual conversion is done by ExCSVRowWalker() function AppendCSVRow($data) { global $CSVstruct; array_walk($data,'ExCSVRowWalker'.($CSVstruct['OutEOL']=="\n"?'N':'')); $CSVstruct['File'] .= implode($CSVstruct['Sep'],$data).$CSVstruct['OutEOL']; } // returns an array of rows (each row being an array of columns) with parsed data. Returns false when conversion fails. Auto-detects Win/Mac/*nix newline characters, which are converted all to the sequence specified (defaults to $CSVstruct['OutEOL']) for your convenience. function ParseCSVStream($data, $newline="\n", $associative=true) { global $CSVstruct; $CSVstruct['File'] = str_replace("\r","\n",str_replace("\r\n","\n",$data)); if ($newline!="\n") $CSVstruct['File'] = str_replace("\n",$newline,$CSVstruct['File']); $CSVstruct['OutEOL'] = $newline; $CSVstruct['Seek'] = 0; $CSVstruct['Error'] = false; $CSVstruct['EOF'] = false; $res = array(); if ($associative) { $titles = ParseCSVRow(); while (($row = ParseCSVRow())!==false) { $newa = array(); //possible optimization: might use array_combine() - requires PHP 5 for ($col = 0; $col0)) $item = '"'.str_replace('"','""',str_replace($CSVstruct['OutEOL'],"\n",$item)).'"'; } function ExCSVRowWalkerN(&$item) { if (!is_numeric($item)&&(strlen($item)>0)) $item = '"'.str_replace('"','""',$item).'"'; } // read next line from buffer. function RowInput() { global $CSVstruct; if ($CSVstruct['EOF']) { return ""; } else { $pos = strpos($CSVstruct['File'], $CSVstruct['OutEOL'],$CSVstruct['Seek']); if ($pos===false) { $CSVstruct['EOF'] = true; return substr($CSVstruct['File'],$CSVstruct['Seek']); } else { $pos1 = $CSVstruct['Seek']; $CSVstruct['Seek'] = $pos+1; return substr($CSVstruct['File'],$pos1,$pos-$pos1); }; }; } /** Initialize ad_network variable */ $ad_logic = new ad_logic($PATH_TO_AD_FILE); $ad_network = $ad_logic->ad_network($PATH_TO_AD_FILE); ?>