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Desktop Computer and 19" Monitor for $145

VOLO BROADAND OFFERS DIGITAL EQUALITY COMPUTER WITH 19” MONITORS FOR $145

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Submitted by ray on Fri, 2011-12-16 17:43
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The Digital Divide and UC2B

A group of University students, including Volo's own Laura Allured, made this video in December 2010 for their Writing Across Media class. They explored possible solutions to the digital divide through the scope of UC2B. The video is a result of several interviews done with people involved in the project as well as research about the digital divide.

UC2B

UC2B Bids Come In Over Budget

At the pre-bid meeting for UC2B's three construction projects, there weren’t enough chairs for all the contractors in attendance.  But when the bids came in, only three bidders submitted bids.  Two of those contractors, Western Utility and John Burns Construction, bid on all three portions.  Western Utility was the lowest bidder on the U of I’s and the City of Champaign’s portion, and John Burns Construction was the lowest bidder for the City of Urbana’s portion.

UC2B Urbana bid released

With an email around 10:20am this morning, Mike Smeltzer broke the news to the electronic world that the first of three "Advertisements for bids" for UC2B backbone construction has been released. The Advertisement, signed by Urbana Public Works director Bill Gray, indicates that bids are due on June 21st, by 2pm, at the UIUC Facilities and Services building, 1501 S Oak St, Champaign, IL.

The announcement also appeared in Monday's News-Gazette Classifieds (section 599), but has not yet appeared on the Urbana website urbanaillinois.us.

One thing this announcement makes clear is that, UIUC Prequalification procedures will apply.  This differs from information that has been on the UC2B.net site for months, which states under Vendors: "Bidders on University construction projects are required to prequalify with the Illinois Capital Construction Board."  Another source of confusion is that the bid documents, which should be available for viewing at 706 S Glover Ave in Urbana, will apparently only be received at that location some time Wednesday.

Official announcement below.  Stay tuned for more UC2B news!

Marketing Subcommittee Meeting Summary 5/12/11

The Marketing Subcommittee met on Wednesday May 12th, 2011 at the Douglass Branch Library Meeting Room. The discussion surrounded the “UC2B Marketing and Outreach Update” document sent out by John Kersh. You will find this document attached at the bottom of this post, along with the other materials that were provided at the meeting.

UC2B Update 5/10/11

(Note: Two documents mentioned below will be attached as soon as they are made available: The IRU Subcommittee's recommendation and the full text of the Community Benefit Agreement)

The UC2B Technical Committee and Policy Committee both met during the first week of May.  A summary of the two meetings can be found below.  There is only one UC2B meeting this week (May 9th - 13th).  

UC2B Marketing Subcommittee

eBlack CU Community Technology Workshop/Meeting Location Change

Due to a scheduling error, the Community Technology in C-U Meeting/Workshop Scheduled for this Saturday, May 7, 2011, at the Champaign Public Library WILL NOW TAKE PLACE at :

Salem Baptist Church, 500 East Park Street Champaign IL.

If you have shared this announcement with others please update them on this location change.

Broadband News

AT&Tmobile: The Next Ma Bell in the Telecommunications Industry?

In what Arstechnica is calling “Mega-Merger Mania”, the wireless industry has been a hot topic in the news for the past week.  AT&T announced on March 20th their agreement with Deutsche Telekom to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.  Though the acquisition still faces the hurdle of the government’s anti-trust review, which could take a year to complete, there has been much debate about the possible consequences of the plan going through, and many have taken a stand against it, including (not surprisingly) Sprint, who said it “will fight this attempt by AT&T to undo the progress of the past 25 years and create a new Ma Bell duopoly.”

Obama's Plan to "Win the Future" with Wireless

At the 2011 state of the union, Obama began to hint at his plan to “win the future”, which is being called the Wireless Innovations Infrastructure Initiative.  Revealing his plan in more detail at Northern Michigan University on February 10th, the president’s aim is to build out the nation’s high-speed wireless network.

What is it? The plan has three main goals:

  • Expand “4G” wireless coverage to 98% of Americans within the next 5 years
  • Reduce the US deficit* by nearly $10 billion over the next decade through the sale of 500MHz of federal wireless spectrum, doubling the amount of spectrum available for mobile broadband
  • Invest in the nationwide public safety network for increased efficiency and security

*The White House press release says it will reduce the deficit by $10 billion, but the math does not add up.  The government is projecting that the spectrum auction will generate $28 billion of revenue over an unspecified period of time.  Of that amount, $3 billion will be spent on the Wireless Innovation Fund, $5 billion will be spent on the Universal Service Fund, and $10 billion will be spent on a public safety network, totaling $18 billion.  That leaves $10 billion of revenue, which the press release indicates will reduce the deficit by $10 billion.  This can be read two ways, either the deficit will be reduced by $10 billion each year for the next ten years, or the deficit will be reduced by $10 billion by the end of the next ten years, which implies a steady, consistent decline in the deficit each year.  This seems to be grossly overstating the effect on the national debt, which will actually only decrease by $10 billion.

An Informed Perspective on Locally-Owned Networks

UC2B is currently in a situation where it needs to start making decisions regarding its operational structure. Because the University is currently the lead agency and makes the decisions about the construction of the network (but does not want to be involved in its operation) there is debate as to who should be making these decisions and how the network should be run upon its completion. Will UC2B have its own staff to operate the network or will they hire a third party for that function? Though the network is required to be "open access" (meaning all service providers will be allowed to operate over the UC2B network), it is unclear how that will be managed and if UC2B itself will provide service packages.

This is a key issue for the future of the network, and one of the best ways to determine an answer is to research what other communities have done in the past, and how their decisions impacted the effectiveness of their networks.

In a recent Ars Technica article called Tale of the trench: what if your subdivision laid its own fiber?, Philip Palios describes his experience using and being involved in the administrative responsibilities of a community-owned network in Issaquah, Washington, called the Highlands Fiber Network.

UC2B Weekly Update 02/14/2011

Last Week

Last week, the UC2B Technical and Policy Committees focused their discussion on a report from Eric Lampland, part of Shive-Hattery’s engineering firm team, regarding the design of the UC2B network.  Lampland’s complete design recommendation can be found attached to the bottom of this page.

The Technical Committee forwarded three primary recommendations and one of Lampland’s Strong Suggestions to the Policy Committee for approval. 

Primary Recommendations:

Facebook Fuels Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt

The role of the internet and social networking websites in the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt is extraordinary.  Despite governmental efforts to shut down communication in both countries, people were able to get the word out about their bloody struggles for democratic leadership, leading to a whole new understanding of the value of websites like Facebook.

Tips & Tricks

Desktop Computer and 19" Monitor for $145

ve19"

Volo Broadband Offers Digital Equality Computer Systems with 19” Monitors for $135 through Midnight on Black Friday.

Volo Equality Computers

CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Illinois (November 22, 2011) - Volo Broadband’s CEO, Peter Folk, announced today that Volo is offering complete computer systems with 19-inch monitors for $135 until midnight on Black Friday.  This sale is part of Volo Broadband’s Digital Equality Initiative, a program aimed to help eliminate the digital divide.

Don't Get Caught Without Your Gmail Backed Up!

Lifehacker thinks of everything! Over the weekend, Google moved Gmail storage software to a new code, and .02% of users lost access to their accounts. The issue only lasted about a day, and the data was restored (thanks to tape backups), but this is a lesson that the cloud is not foolproof. Kevin Purdy provides us with four methods of backing up your Gmail mailbox.

(Photo credit: VinothChandar)

Tips to Secure Your Online Activities

Nowadays, we use the internet for lots of sensitive functions, from online banking and shopping to personal and professional communications, so it's essential to protect ourselves from threats such as identity theft. This recent lifehacker article offers several tips to use the internet more securely through built-in mechanisms to secure your connection and tips on how to protect your passwords and accounts.

Chronicles of a Cord Cutter

Hulu, Crackle, Netflix, Xbox live, streaming sports and news have currently completely replaced my cable television package.  

House, Lie to Me, Law and Order SVU and the old chick flick “Only You”, a special request from my wife for Valentines Day, have all been easily captured online.

It was only three days before I purchased a small adaptor (Mini-display Port to HDMI) from Best Buy for $24.99 ($6 on Amazon) to connect my 13” laptop directly to my HD television.  This was absolutely necessary to be able to take advantage of all the streaming movies, news and sports available online that I was not able to access through my Xbox.

I strongly considered purchasing Apple TV and/or Google TV, but was disappointed with their limitations.  I’ve since found streaming websites that I would not have been able to access through Apple TV or Google TV due to their plug-in restrictions.  Add to that a price tag between $100 and $300, and it made much more sense for me to purchase the adaptor.

Surprisingly, I have been able to find most of the professional sports I was interested in watching without purchasing any subscriptions, or giving out my email address.  The one draw back thus far has been the video quality of live television events.  I ended up watching the Super Bowl at a friend’ s house to compensate and when there is a game of significance, I visit Buffalo Wild Wings or our local sports bar The Esquire.