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June 10, 2003

Milwaukee: Brats, Beer, Harleys and Wi-Fi Hotspots

How interesting! I just came across a little tidbit in our local Journal-Sentinel newspaper that the City of Milwaukee is planning to test out hosting two free Wi-Fi hotspots in two popular downtown parks. A great quote from the article:

"If you want to attract attention, and you want to be looked at by outsiders as a hip, happening place, then you need to put in some city-backed Wi-Fi,"

Pretty cool that the City of Milwaukee is applying technology access to help increase the many uses of the parks, especially by downtown workers who want to do a little surfing at lunchtime. However, there is some question as to leaving the networks up come the winter snows and cold. Further, this is only a test-run that lasts but a year. Finally, the speeds are limited to 128k, but still, for email or basic surfing that's pretty decent and limiting bandwidth is probably a wise move on the part of the City.

Looks like I'll have to do a little lunch run with the Powerbook one of these nice, warm summer days. :-)

If it works well, there's even a possibility that other Milwaukee County Parks will get Wi-Fi hotspots. Now that would be interesting. In case you didn't know, Milwaukee has an excellent county park system, established back in the 1940s and 50s. I'm always so grateful for forward thinking city planners who notched out many parks right in the city. Now, even though Milwaukee is a bustling city, it's still just only a few minutes from anywhere to a neighborhood park. I think that's something to be proud of as a Milwaukeean.

Note: If you've never heard of a Brat or Bratwurst, it's a sausage made with finely chopped, seasoned fresh pork. It is a mildly seasoned sausage, in which a person can taste more of a pork flavor. (courtesy of Johnsonville a popular Wisconsin Bratwurst maker).

June 10, 2003 12:33 PM | Wi-Fi | add to del.icio.us