[Cu-wireless] status report; weekend meeting?

[Ralph Johnson]

Another option is to put a directional antenna at IMC.
I know it is going against your goal of getting coverage,
but it would be a quick hack that might get things working.

I talked to Michael Hart, who lives at 405 W. Elm in
Urbana.  He is the founder of Project Gutenberg,
a 30 year project to make free electronic copies of books that
are out of copyright.  See gutenberg.net   If you haven't
heard of this, it is a very big internet project, and I was
happy to learn that its founder was in Urbana.  

Michael is a lover of technology, but not rich.  He uses a lot
of older machines.  He uses a dial-up line to connect to the
internet.  I thought he would be an ideal member of CUWireless.

I gave him a pointer to the group, and he thought it was
interesting.  He'd love to have a better connection to the
internet without paying a lot for it.  But he didn't like
the idea of an antenna on his roof.  I am not sure whether
that was just because he didn't want to climb on his roof,
whether he didn't like how it would look, whether he rents
and his landlord doesn't like stuff on the roof, or it is
something else entirely. 

There are lots of reasons to get him into the net.
The best reason to get him into the net is that 
He knows a lot of people.  He is experienced at doing big 
things with no money.  He is doing big things that help
promote freedom and community.  He is a cool.  And he
might have a good location for the net.

I'm out of town for a week and a half.  But if you
guys talk to him and come up with a solution that makes
everybody happy, I'll pay for antennas and radios that
are needed.

-Ralph Johnson