Citizen Will

Tag: chapel_hill

  • Practical Technology Activism

    AudioActivism’s Brian Russell has taken the best practical step to advancing work on the “digital divide” I’ve seen in awhile. What has one of our great local technology activists done? Created Chapel Hill Wireless, a site whose goals are: …to help you find good wireless access points (aka WiFi) in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North […]

  • Tapping into our community’s aggregate wisdom

    My April 26th Daily Tar Heel guest column: During the November campaign, I spoke of tapping into Chapel Hill’s “talent, innovation and creativity,” a reflection of my belief that good governance flows from maximizing citizen involvement. How best to tap Chapel Hill’s wisdom?

  • Catch the NextBus VI – 24 Hours Later

    If I wasn’t focused on bridging our community’s digital divide, I might be tempted to ignore the ridiculously high price Chapel Hill is paying for NextBus’ proprietary system, avoid the recalcitrance of some of our staff and forgo the hassle of trying to undo a “done deal”. Yet, while alternatives exist, I can’t stand by […]

  • Catch the NextBus V – Fairly Balanced

    Near the end of my day of NextBus posting, here’s a quick overview of my and others impressions of the NextBus system.NextBus provides near realtime tracking of vehicles by analyzing their predicted movements, modeling traffic conditions, estimating location and then verifying position. In 2003, this combination of GPS, cell and computer technologies probably had a […]

  • Catch the NextBus IV – New Hope?

    Thank you town staff, Ms. Hall especially, for the assistance in assembling this information. April 24th, 2006 – two days ago – after concerns were raised about the NextBus, Inc. deal – the town signed a contract with NextBus, Inc. for their proprietary system. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you’re my only hope. The schedule of […]

  • Wifi – For a few dollars less….

    One of the issues the soon to be disbanded Technology Committee discussed in the last year was a proposal for digital signs along our bus transit routes to report bus ETAs. Just a week after voting to dissolve the group, the Town is poised to make an extremely expensive technology mistake. While other municipalities, like […]

  • Net neutrality at risk…

    The ‘net is the new Town Commons and the commons are under attack from the same feckless monopolists that charge us $200 billion in excess fees under the ’96 Telecommunications Act provisions to provide high-speed symetrical broadband but instead pilfered the bucks. The latest offense? Throttling ubiquitous access to ‘net-based services. Local audio activist and […]