[no subject]

"We found that there was indeed the potential for wide adoption and easy
utilisation of the 11 megabits per second wireless kit for freenetworking," he
said. "That's 'free' as in speech." 

Currently Mr Stevens is working to set up five Consume nodes in Deptford that
will be available to everyone. 

The nodes will link to the net via broadband links and share that access via
antennae sited on the roofs of several buildings. 

It will serve as a pilot project to work out how best to announce the network's
existence to the 5,000 people it could serve. It's likely to get some help from
the Deptford X arts festival and the publicity surrounding that. 

Turn on 

Currently Consume nodes serve small groups or communities and all the traffic
for that group flows through their links. 

A Consume node is typically made up of a basic PC, a wireless card and some
software that helps shuffle traffic efficiently. 

Eventually the nodes will form a larger network that will manage and shuffle
traffic on behalf of everyone. 

The success of Consume has prompted the creation of similar wireless networks
up and down the country. Now there are Consume-type networks in Brighton, Luton
and Edinburgh. 

The Welsh Development Agency is even investigating using wireless networks to
help rural communities get connected. 

There are also wireless community networks in the US, Spain, Germany and
Australia, all with the same aim: reclaim the net for the majority. 

It's an idea that harks back to the net's free-wheeling early days when
everything was done with an egalitarian, inclusive ethic in mind. It was very
different to the ad-funded marketplace much of the net has become. 

But with the help of Consume and a few friends you might be able to re-discover
that sense of belonging. 
*******************
BBC
Bug sets windows shaking

This is the Soundbug, a British-designed gadget aimed at young people that
turns any hard, smooth surface into a loudspeaker.

A little smaller than a computer mouse, it is based on technology research by
Newlands Scientific at Hull University, and is marketed by a company called
Olympia. 

"It's audio, not hi-fi. We're aiming at the eight to 16 market," Olympia's
president, Richard May, told BBC News Online. 

The device goes on sale in the UK for £30 this month and is showcasing at the
CeBIT 2002 computer fair in Hanover, Germany. The product will also be
demonstrated on the BBC's Tomorrow's World programme on Wednesday. 

Rare material 

At the heart of the Soundbug is a small piece of a material called Terfenol-D,
originally developed by the US military for sonar work. 

It's 60% iron with a couple of rare earth elements in it and it's grown like a
piece of silicon," explained Mr May. 

"When you put it in a magnetic field, it moves very slightly, perhaps a micron
or so, but with an enormous force of maybe 400 pounds," he said. 

"So it turns whatever it's attached to into a sounding board," he added. 

Skull effect 

The Soundbug attaches to audio sources via a 3.5 millimetre jack plug, so it is
easy to connect to a CD player or a minidisc. 

It even turns the human skull into a loudspeaker if it is pressed on the back
of the head. 

The effect is quite strange, as the sound feels as if it is coming from inside
the head, behind the ears. 

Olympia has other devices in development, including two in-car mobile-phone
hands-free kits that use the same technology to turn a car window into a
loudspeaker. 

One even had a Bluetooth interface to work with the latest mobile phones, Mr
May said. 
*************
San Francisco Chronicle
SPECIAL SECTION: TELECOM 
Cellular, DSL lower need for land lines

After years of steady growth, telephone companies are now installing fewer
phone lines. 

Pacific Bell put in 4.7 percent fewer residential lines during the fourth
quarter of 2001 than it did a year earlier. Verizon and BellSouth have also
seen declines during the past year. 

The reversal can be chalked up to the growth of wireless phones and broadband
access, said John Britton, spokesman for Pacific Bell. Because many cell plans
offer free long distance or generous off-peak minutes, some people choose to
rely solely on cell phones and skip the land line entirely. Meanwhile, faster
broadband Internet access has eliminated the need for a second phone line for
dial-up access. 

When Kari Hopperstead, 25, moved to a new apartment a year ago, she began using
her cellular phone as her only phone instead of having a new phone line
installed or sharing her roommates' existing line. 

"It just didn't make any sense to me to change my phone number and take on a
whole new set of bills when I already had a phone number I was paying for,"
said Hopperstead, a nonprofit worker who lives in San Francisco. 

People who forgo land lines for cell phones figure they save about $20 a month
by avoiding local calling charges and monthly service fees. Those with wireless
plans that include free long distance say they save even more. 

And there are other advantages, Hopperstead said. For one, she never has to
take messages for roommates, and she always knows who has called her through
her phone's caller ID, a feature common on cell phones but an add-on for land
lines. 

"I don't have a million places I have to check messages," she said. 

Some wireless-only users do sacrifice sound quality. Ryan Mitchell, 30, didn't
bother to install a land line in his Hill Street apartment when he moved in
last year. But cell phone reception inside his home is sometimes bad. 

"I usually have to stand near the door," said Mitchell, an art director at a
graphic design firm. But he says the money saved is worth the less-reliable
connection. 

Meanwhile, installation of additional lines has slowed even more than primary
lines; Pacific Bell put in 6.4 percent fewer additional lines during the fourth
quarter of 2001.