With personal safety an issue on the Internet, and spam always an email problem, finding a way to protect your business email address, and stilll keep it available for folks who need to contact you can be a tricky endeavor. Earlier this month, Lifehacker offered somes solutions from a reader. Click the logo and it will take you to Lifehacker–then click on through to get the hacks.
Here’s to keeping email safe and spam free!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Large cities such as Philadelphia and San Francisco see wireless broadband technology as a low-cost solution to providing broadband access to low-income residents.
They also believe that these Wi-Fi networks can help them save millions of dollars in operational costs by providing broadband connectivity for public-safety and other agencies within city government. Many believe the networks will help boost economic development by drawing more people to the city.
Philadelphia, which plans to have its citywide Wi-Fi network up and running by summer 2006, is the poster child of the municipal wireless movement.
By DAVE CARPENTER
AP Business Writer, BusinessWeek
Chicago has hundreds of Wi-Fi hotspots in places like coffee shops, bookstores and libraries, where anyone can walk in, sit down and connect to the Web. Hoping to extend that wireless blanket to all 228 square miles, the city plans to ask technology companies this spring to submit proposals for the project.
While it’s too soon to say how the system would operate, the goal is to make Internet access “broad and affordable” for residents and heighten Chicago’s appeal for businesses and tourists alike, according to Chris O’Brien, the city’s chief information officer. . . .
“We think it’s important for residents of the city and tourists and businesses to have lots of different ways to connect,” O’Brien said. “For a city as big as Chicago, with the vibrant business community and diverse citizen base that we have, you want to make sure all kinds of technology are available to them as they work and enjoy entertainment options.”
If all goes smoothly, the system could be running as soon as 2007 . . .
Other cities with or planning Wi-Fi networks include: Anaheim, CA, Arlington, VA, Brookline, MA, Denver, Co, Miami, FL, Minneapolis, MN, Grand Rapids, MI, New York, NY, Pittsburgh, PA.
While you and I may or may not be going Wi-Fi, the world around us is. Cities large and small are planning for Wi-Fi and putting networks up. Even Google has a hand in Wi-Fi with something called Secure Access which is secret. Find out more about it at Secure Access FAQ. (Thank you, Wired News.)
The goal, of course, is national-wide access. With that come the large, long-term legal, moral, ethical, practical, business questions:
However, there is one immediate, compelling elephant in the room.
Any business that isn’t online needs a plan to get there now.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Click the screenshot to read the BusinessWeek article.
Cities Unleash Free Wi-Fi by Wired News
Google Moves Into Wi-Fi Arena
The citywide Wi-Fi reality check
CNet Cities Brace for Broadband War
Duncan has announced at the Blog Herald that the Google Page Rank is underway.
Page rank is Google’s system for ranking pages for its search tool. Page rank determines how relevant your blog is by using linking as a vote system. Google has developed an algorithm that weighs links between blogs A to B to C to A, and also looking also at the importance of the blogs making the links. Quality blogs that are well connected to other quality blogs are considered highly relevant to Google users. Relevant, quality, important blogs receive higher page ranks. Higher page ranks can mean higher advertising payments for blogs that monetize.
Darren offers more on page rank at Problogger.
The checker given by Duncan and Darren is considered the standard and is really all you need. However, there are others. These have varying degrees of accuracy. Here is one page rank checker.
PageRank: Search Engine Optimization
These are page rank predictors not checkers.
Medpan Page Rank Predictor
IWebTool
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Today SOB Businessman, Martin Neumann, is closing
Click the logo to stop by and leave a BonVoyage comment on the blog.
He’ll be tell us all about his new businees in a few days . . . new beginnings.
I read this today at Tom Peters blog.
The one thing you need to know about sustained individual success:
Discover what you don’t like doing and stop doing it.Marcus Buckingham, from the book The One Thing You Need to Know
I’m glad I read that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
And now for something completely different . . . and a lot more FUN!
Looking for an expert on anything?
Yahoo Search is powering a people search engine called “WhosWhoo?!” that’s currently under development by Daily Caffeine. It’s a cool concept. You can search by person or by category and get results in documents, news, talk, and images.
Be kind though, if you try it. It’s still in BETA testing. One search and you’ll start to realize how hard this must be to get right. It’s not quite there yet, but that could be part of it’s appeal. It’s fun to poke around in, just to see what comes up.
Daily Caffeine has a form asking for input, and you can suggest categories all day.
I did a search for Jeremy Wright.
Now I have to ask, “Will the real Jeremy please stand up?” For all of the email that Jeremy gets, he probably wishes there were that many of him–except for the guy who was in jail. . . .
Click the logo to play with WhosWhoo?! beta.
At this stage WhosWhoo?! beta is like mixing an ego search with a Quentin Tarantino Movie, possibly more fun than the real thing. Try it. You’ll probably be using it for real research one day.
–ME “Liz” Strauss