In a few days Sidmouth folk week will start in analog mode.

Kathryn Tickell Band form another time and place.



There may be some techie links soon or maybe later.

I have found a photo site - panoramio - that links to Google maps.

My account, one photo so far, statue near cathedral.

This could be a use for wifi etc. Not sure how this would look on a phone as a screen but the photos would be ok.

When I cannot get back to sleep at night I often find the World Service is a good solution. Nothing against their programs, they are quite interesting, but in a regular carefully constructed way that after a while is reassuring enough to merge into dreams. So I have no clear memory of their item sometime yesterday on a new city near Incheon Airport. However, thanks to OhmyNews I did visit Incheon briefly a few years ago and it all sounds the sort of thing the Koreans might do.

So far I ahve found this link for Songdo Ubiquitous City and more will follow. Here in 'wifi Exeter' we need all the benchmarking inspiration that can be found.

The scope of this blog varies over time. If you think about wifi as normal then the content and use becomes the most interesting aspect. Another blog concentrates on Animation, so this blog will cover other forms of media sometimes.

Couple of things happening. Exeter TV has not reached a new level where resources are available ahead of Respect weekend and Sidmouth Folk Week, the two events when copyright and permission forms issues create the minimum restrictions. Something may still happen but it seems to me that there is no difference to last year even though much evidence exists of what is possible. Maybe the way ahead is just to link to what turns up, mostly done without much planning or asking for permission. This is ok but production standards are unlikely to improve.

The other thing shows me what a difference broadband can make to culture and politics. I have written stories about the UK for OhmyNews International (OMNI)and a couple of years agao they invited to visit Seoul for a conference on citizen journalism. The Korean language OhmyNews is accepted as a significant part of Korean media. They have had broadband for ages, light years at Web speed. The next conference is today or tomorrow. I am confused as they put times as if I was in the USA. Stream (Thursday 26th 6:00 P.M. PST 9:00P.M. EST)

The theme is around the candle light protests at the government agreements on beef imports with the USA. The claim seems to be that the events show a new level of democracy through Web media. I do not understand the full background but this could be true.

Some of the issues are described in a blog by Danny Kim.

The scale of what is happening also comes over through Tom Walsh in the Detroit Free Press -

Web hysteria a danger to Korean deal

More than 100,000 people, many of them teenagers in school uniforms, clogged the streets of Seoul in massive candlelight protests against U.S. beef imports last week -- and 1.2 million viewers tuned in to a live Webcast of the scene on OhmyTV. It was a different reality unfolding that threatens to roil not only U.S.-Korean trade relations but the world of global diplomacy as we know it.

....................

OhmyTV, the Web casting crew of OhmyNews, a pioneering South Korean online newspaper, began filming and airing the candlelight rallies in Seoul, which began after Lee lifted the beef ban. As the size of nightly rallies grew, so did the audience for Webcasts.

The result: a little-used OhmyTV media server logged a record 1.2 million unique visitors in one spurt on June 1, according to OhmyNews. That drove the network cost of the media server to $80,000 a week, more than 27 times normal, said OhmyNews finance director Bang Ki-kwan.

OhmyNews, which provides the service for free, revealed its plight to its readers, 34,000 of whom made donations -- via mobile phones, credit cards or bank transfers -- totaling $130,000 in a 10-day period.

The implications of this are mind-boggling. South Korean high school and college kids, passionately spouting gibberish yet covered live by citizen media that's funded on the fly by viewer donations, have hijacked U.S.-Korea trade diplomacy and rendered Korea's president nearly impotent.

Apologies to Tom Walsh for copying so much of his material and then I am going to take issue as well. Describing the "college kids" as "spouting gibbersih" is not really going to help the spread of understanding. It is rather like the Western Morning News editorial claiming that in the USA, local TV is "trash".

But anyway I am going off my main topic. Can you imagine £70,000 being donated in the UK over ten days to cover server costs for a free online TV service? Not easy at the moment. Video technology is available fairly cheap, but there is no business model.

My guess is that there are further shocks to come in the world of TV. What to do about it? Well, summer is here so I expect some of us will visit Sidmouth, sample the real ales and continue the discussion.

Somehow this week seems to mark a change in what is possible. As if the time spent looking at wifi in Exeter has reached a new stage. Not because much has happened in Exeter but just because things change around us anyway. Let us face it, Exeter City Council still has a policy not to host anything Flash on the official website or allow staff to access Flash on screens at work. So the possible connection of wifi and media during festivals is still a bit obscure.

But in the UK, mobile phone companies now support web access and this is becoming better known. Today, Victor Keegan writes about his own experience and he seems happy enough to pay a monthly fee and avoid the crazy charges of all the cafes and hotels who have failed to regard web access as a free offer, like a newspaper. By the way, on a visit to a part of Exeter University thought to have wifi, I noticed that the only person checking email was using a Vodaphone connection. So my impression is that the experiments around Alt-C a few years ago have not made a lot of difference to Exeter but something has happened in the UK.

The most alarming aspect of what Victor Keegan writes is some possible bad news for Life Bytes and other places where web access is sold by the hour to include a device.
Just before dealing with the ridiculous charges for leaving the UK and visiting the continent, Keegan writes-

I was about to become a dongler to avoid having to go to the tourist office in France every day on our holidays to check emails etc at £3 an hour.

Well, is £3 an hour unreasonable for web access? It happens to be the rate charged at Life Bytes, on Sidwell Street opposite the Odeon. Personally I do not see how they could charge much less and continue to exist. Radical rethink may be timely on what internet access resources are about. My own experience on a visit to Koln and Brussels was that one euro for twenty minutes was enough to catch up on email and this was for a full keyboard and large screen. Gmail and Blogger both worked ok. So I did not carry any devices. Downloading photos for editing online might have taken longer and got into the hourly rate as an issue but I decided not to bother.

More on the blog about reading the Guardian.

Following an email from Norman Leto I am experimenting in the wifi Exeter scope. It may not just be Exeter but the animation will still mostly be in animX.



This gallery might as well be in Exeter or at least on local screens. When the Western Morning News is concerned that local television might be "trash" they perhaps do not consider that local video comes from many localities.

There may be more of this sort of thing. Rougemont Global Broadcasting reporter Buzz Busby has been visiting another part of the gallery. There may be a report later in the summer.

Not sure what this is but it is worth checking out again on Sunday. Free offer. No sign yet where the link is but it may be sounds.

There is a meeting going on in Manchester today and tomorrow, called Futuresonic. Discussion includes open source software and creative commons content. So I hope there will be a record somewhere of what they come up with.

Meanwhile Adobe have announced a project for Open Screens, based on Flash and AIR. The Adobe idea of what "open" is may not be the same as the people in Manchester but the idea is worth exploring. They claim that 98% of web browsers already are capable of displaying Flash.

So the 2% could be mostly screens in government such as Exeter City Council.

Joke, that was a joke, though it is based on something true. Making a link between what is happening online and what happens in Exeter depends quite a lot on being able to assume that Flash is understood, at least in theory.

OK this is from Canada but I see no reason to believe that local TV in the USA is significantly different. In any case this is an example of what local TV could be like in the UK.

The London Mozart Players will be in Exeter cathedral on 14th June. This blog will link to any video suggested. If they do some busking before the 7.30 start, maybe it could be loaded up from a camera phone.

in today's print version of the Western Morning News I cannot find any letters in response to the editorial on allegedly trashy local TV in the USA. On another visit to Life Bytes on Sidwell Street opposite the Odeon I discover that Jo Gedrych did send a letter for publication by email. He has allowed me to quote this in full for the blog. So if the spiders find the YouTube video as well there may be further comment.

I saw your piece in the opinions page yesterday following the report of the Tories belated endorsement of 'ultra-local' TV.
This policy statement is a somewhat half hearted and very late endorsement of the very real fact that in the UK the established broadcast media only half heartedly, if at all, reflect local events. Here in the South West if you disregard the news broadcasts, effectively 45 minutes a day, there is only one hour of local programming per week across 80 channels. Digital television and broadband offer an affordable opportunity to establish local tv and radio at a very local level. There are already many local tv channels in the UK - some on satellite, some on the old analog network and some on digital freeview and cable. To assume that all this is televised trash is to denigrate the efforts of local broadcasters to serve the needs of their area. Surely, given the amount of US made television we already consume, it is time to dump this outmoded idea that volume equals low quality? Your editorial demonstrates an unjustified sense of British superiority and a total lack of knowledge about what is going on in local broadcasting across the globe. I would ask you your question - have you watched any of it?

Time to wise up and look around.

Jo Gedrych
director, the Exeter Television Company.

The Western Morning News has a report about Conservative plans for local TV.

The editorial claims that local TV in the USA is "trashy" so such an option would not be welcome in the UK. I discussed this with Jo Gedrych of Exeter TV, based at Life Bytes on Sidwell Street. He has lived in the USA and studied local TV there. He wonders about the basis for the editorial view and points out that there are already several examples of local TV in the UK, an aspect not mentioned in the editorial.

I have put a very short video on YouTube as a hook for more comment and maybe some examples of local content.

I have done a new video of the route from the cathedral to Princesshay. Just before reaching the Apple store. So no unapproved use of the logo. But linking to other sources through YouTube seems ok to me. The loop now works even though the quality is variable. Second Life seems much the most polished, and there is a soundtrack.



Through the wonder of World TV, each bit can be replaced. The basis is a route round from Princesshay to the Castle, to the Phoenix, to the Cathedral then back to the Apple store. Two sites as content, two as technology. More or less. The question for dsiscussion is what changes are possible through technology and is there a business model? Interviews can be added in later. Put something on YouTube if you like, it could be added in.

There is now a sequence of video from central Exeter as part of a loop for Rougemont Global Broadcasting. This covers a route from Princesshay to the Castle, to the Phoenix, to the cathedral and back to the Apple shop in Princesshay. Eventually the sequence could include interviews about the use of technology in media. Unfortunately it wss not possible to get permission to video either in the Apple shop or the ice rink . However others have posted on YouTube so there can be links. I did a very short one of some Second Life at the Phoenix. There is also Second Life of another Apple shop. The future could include quite alot from SL or mash-ups with real backgrounds for SL characters. It really is very unlikely to get permission for video if requested. But it seems to be that something turns up later anyway.

Jeff Jarvis has conjured up a vision of coffee culture in the future, writing about how companies use blogs to get ideas, for example Starbucks-

"Use the power of media and wireless new media in particular to foster a sense of conversation about the arts, current events, etc," one customer proposed. An enthused commenter responded: "Great conversation will also renew the image of Starbucks as being not only a coffee community but also a global community where humanist ideas and great artists, writers, comedians etc could also attract a lot of people and turn Starbucks into a cultural, humanist hub!"

Well, there are a couple of Starbucks in Exeter but lots of other coffee sites as well. As shopping moves online the high street may turn out to be mostly about eating and drinking and meeting in real space. wifiExeter is less about Exeter also as there is quite a lot in the blog about other places.

Maybe future posts will try to cross over actual Exeter and online links to wherever. Second Life is one route to this but as the City Council do not support Flash yet the bandwidth concerns are real.

Tom has left a comment so here it is as a quote in case you missed it.

I am actually writing this comment from the libary in Exeter. A free (3meg ish) hotspot, and if you need mains power it's a quid a day.

I just find it's easier to come here than to give my notebook a shroud of grease in Macdonalds... In fact, I've never seen anyone use their computer in there...!

I might try Starbucks soon, I'm a T-Mobile customer so I think that makes it free?

The big advantage at the libary is the mains power though...

Oh, and when I'm out of all hotspots I have the HSDPA modem in my phone - the complete wireless solution!

Anyway, try the libary - just a thought..

Fair comment, good to hear it. I am a bit conflicted as I am often based at Life Bytes on Sidwell Street. Web access is the only local industry where the council competes. Apart from DVD hire I suppose. Maybe the time for internet cafes is coming to an end. Still I do hear that librarians cannot offer much support for disaster recovery in various forms and it has been known for the difficult enquiries to be sent along Sidwell Street.

Meanwhile on Queen Street



Apparently BT have arranged for a free coffee voucher if you buy some time online. This makes very little sense. Would you get some free toast with the Western Morning News? I think free wifi is the future.



Meanwhile at the university library wifi is all over the place. The journals seem to have vanished to make way for some comfortable seating and casual locations for mobile devices. The journals are still available upstairs on the shelves but they have lost their place as a feature on the way in. News now comes through Google Scholar presumably.

This post is for both animX and WifiExeter. I am still getting used to the events of last week, the outstanding Second Life events and the video on YouTube from Prados Azules. i think this means that bandwidth is ok. There are enough people in Exeter and Bristol or at least somewhere online for this sort of thing to be viable. So other forms of files such as work with hard copy should be ok. A lttle slow maybe if TIFF-IT is still required but definitely possible.

Meanwhile Google have launched a service around Sites for collaboration. seems a little too controlled for public use but the elements of Docs and video can be widely available. I have an account for Internet Express so have started a page at InXpress/landofGoogle or something like it. Actual url is too long to remember so best to bookmark this page.

In the USA things move forward. Wifi is to be free in Starbucks for some of the time anyway. This follows the big Mac decision.

Why did it take so long. You don't pay for a free newspaper while you drink coffee. Charging for wifi is nonsense. Some hotels still don't understand this but a Starbucks is never far away.

Except that plans for UK wifi are not yet announced.

Meanwhile in Exeter LifeBytes on Sidwell Street still seems fairly busy. There is still a need for professional support and large screens. Mobile devices are not yet combining portability and function.

Bristol Wireless are hosting a day on Open Source in Feb. Open Source is part of the wireless debate as it is another aspect of easy access.

There is also a graphics meeting coming up in Poland. this includes some animation but covers requirements for print - page layout, illustration, photography. Poland is a way off but the web links can be followed.

Guy Kewney has a theory about wifi as a benefit in the struggle for coffee identity.

Maybe free wifi would switch people from Starbucks to MacDonalds. No sign of this yet in Exeter but worth following.

I have done a story for MyNews India ahead of BETT about the suggestion UK parents have to sort out the broadband gap to help the children get educated. Maybe there is a point to this but it is also the result of a failure of the government to do much about the UK situation as a whole.

There is also a Talk topic at the Guardian.

It is a business problem, not just educational. There is a competitiveness minister who has some interest in this amongst many other duties. Google finds not much, but there is something on YouTube.



My own impression is that claims about UK "leadership" in broadband have not much connection with reality. OECD numbers for broadband subscribers per 100 population show the UK just outside the top ten. More disturbing is that the number for fibre subscribers is zero, so there is a limit on future forms of content.

However, the recognition for the contribution of the Web for education is welcome. Presumably this includes direct access to the Web with none of the limitations sometimes found in schools.

As far as I can tell, comments on YouTube have been disabled for this video so further comment is welcome here.