Internet Access

The issue of broadband internet coverage for Lincoln County heated up last Friday in fiscal court when Magistrate Terry Wilcher told WiMAX Express owner Steve Hosner to "come on down here up front because there are some things that I want to say that you need to hear. " Wilcher wanted to question Hosner as to why he had singled out Judge Gilbert and himself for criticism in a letter to WiMAX customers over action the court had unanimously taken. Some WiMAX customers received an unsigned letter dated June 18, 2009, telling them that their service was being terminated because "R. W. 'Buckwheat' Gilbert and Terry Wilcher voted against helping WiMAX Express with Planning and Zoning feesâ?

Cell phones have carved themselves a nice, comfy spot in the Internet world. While cell phones remain a critical means of mobile communication, they are fast becoming a key vehicle for accessing the Internet. The latter is possible thanks to companies such as Opera Software. Opera Software recently has announced the release of its Opera Mini Java 2 Mobile (J2ME) Web browser. The Opera Mini browser was designed to work on virtually all mobile phones. Its arrival marks the opportunity for less expensive Java-capable cell phones to access the Web. This could prove to be a great tool that will bring Internet access to the masses.

Choosing which type of Internet access to get can be a tough decision for some computer users. The decision comes down to three choices: regular dialup, accelerated dialup or broadband access. To help you better understand the three choices, I will break down what each of them entails. 1. Regular dialup is just a modem-to-phone-line connection to your Internet Service Provider. The speed of your connection depends on factors such as the speed of your modem. Modems these days can be purchased fairly cheaply and are usually 56K speed.

Dear Editor, Boyle County Judge-Executive Tony Wilder announced a plan Nov. 27 to build infrastructure to enable wireless Internet access throughout the county. He estimated the price at $60,000. This money would come from a loan to provide access for a population of 3,300 in 1,500 households, but the true usage is going to be far lower than the total population. This is simply another money-making scheme riding on the backs of taxpayers by subsidizing infrastructure that would be better provided by the Internet companies.

The Jessamine County Public Library (JCPL) announced its Internet2 partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), and Windstream Communications. These organizations worked together to implement Internet2 access at the library. Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium providing both leading-edge network capabilities and unique partnership opportunities that facilitate the development, deployment and use of revolutionary Internet technologies.

Frequent travelers may tend to feel a bit disconnected from their home or work environments. Usually, they are out of touch while on airplane flights in transit to conduct business abroad. Until recently, travelers had to make any phone calls or take care of any Internet-related business before or after their flights. However, new services are being added to airlines to help eliminate some of those obstacles. Several airlines have started to offer in-flight broadband Internet access to travelers.

LANCASTER — Wireless broadband Internet access soon may be coming to Lancaster. WiMax Express approached the city in April with a proposal to provide wireless Internet. In June, Lancaster-based Kudu Systems also proposed a wireless contract. In response, Councilman Leonard Smith and several other city council members have undertaken the task of advertising for formal proposals and negotiating a potential contract that could lead to cell phones and laptops connecting wirelessly on the Public Square and other places around town.

Boyle County Fiscal Court took another step Tuesday toward securing broadband Internet access for the southwestern part of the county, accepting the lone bid for construction of three towers. Magistrates voted unanimously to accept the bid from Vertical Structures of Richmond for $109,336 to build the towers that will bring broadband access to the Forkland area. County Public Works Director Duane Campbell said towers will go on Catholic Knob, Tar Lick and the west side of Medlock Road.

Bill Lewis knows computers. He's been working on them for about 15 years, is a certified electronics technician and is Microsoft A+ certified. "I basically can do anything (with computers)," said Lewis, who recently opened his own computer repair store, Mr. Bill's Computers, at 725 S. Second St. in Danville. Originally from Minnesota, Lewis found his way to Danville after meeting his wife, Janie, originally of Michigan, on a camping trip they took to Cummins Ferry in Salvisa.

The Boyle County Board of Education approved its 2004-2005 working budget Thursday. The budget, presented by Director of Learning Support Rick Dear, provides funding for the 2 percent salary increase that became effective July 1 and an additional 1 percent raise mandated by Gov. Fletcher to offset an increase in health insurance premiums. Projected revenue includes $165,925 in property tax, assuming a 98 percent collection rate, and a tentative increase in Support Education Excellence for Kentucky (SEEK)

Never take “common knowledge” for granted. I learned that, again, the other day when one of our best and most frequent patrons, Randall Milburn, came in to ask me to order a book that he wanted to donate to the collection. After I expressed our gratitude for the donation, Randall also mentioned that he was about to get a new laptop or tablet and he wanted to know what the charge was for accessing the library's Wi-Fi (wireless) internet access. I thought everybody knew that Wi-Fi access at the library is free.

In preparation for my final column as the Clark County Extension Service agent for agriculture and natural resources, I looked back in the files and found the first column I wrote for The Winchester Sun in 1996. It is interesting how much some things have changed in 15 years, and how much some things have remained the same. In 1996, the primary mission of the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service was to bring to the people of Clark County the research-based information that has been generated at the University of Kentucky and other land grant universities, and to help our clients use that information to improve their lives and their community.

More than 2 billion people across the globe have Internet access, and there are some 5 billion mobile-phone subscriptions, according to the 2010 Human Rights Report released this month by the U.S. Department of State. As we saw in Tunisia and Egypt, connective technologies have revolutionized revolution. Millions of angry and motivated people — many of them very young — are using the virtual public square to exercise their right to follow their conscience, speak freely, publish their opinions, assemble peacefully and petition for redress of grievances.

Let’s face it folks, it’s been rough in recent years for everyone, especially with the current status of our economy. Everyone is trying to save money any way they can, so here are a few more ideas that might help you achieve that goal. Perhaps a need to cut back on your Internet access is at hand. Broadband access can be a bit expensive. If you still have a landline phone, there are still dialup access providers available. One budget dialup provider is 1access and it offers both dialup and high speed DSL services.

By the time you read this, I will have already reached the milestone of my 20th year anniversary of working for the newspaper. With that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on how much technology has changed during my two decades here at the paper. When I first arrived at the paper, I worked in the newsroom. I started here as a newsclerk and I also did sports stats. Now, I must admit, doing sports stats was quite ironic since I wasn’t a sports fan by any means.

LANCASTER — Wireless broadband Internet access soon may be coming to Lancaster. WiMax Express approached the city in April with a proposal to provide wireless Internet. In June, Lancaster-based Kudu Systems also proposed a wireless contract. In response, Councilman Leonard Smith and several other city council members have undertaken the task of advertising for formal proposals and negotiating a potential contract that could lead to cell phones and laptops connecting wirelessly on the Public Square and other places around town.

Boyle County Fiscal Court took another step Tuesday toward securing broadband Internet access for the southwestern part of the county, accepting the lone bid for construction of three towers. Magistrates voted unanimously to accept the bid from Vertical Structures of Richmond for $109,336 to build the towers that will bring broadband access to the Forkland area. County Public Works Director Duane Campbell said towers will go on Catholic Knob, Tar Lick and the west side of Medlock Road.

For the last eight weeks, I've been testing out Intelligent Mobile Hotspot MiFi 2200 from Verizon Wireless. This little device packs quite a punch considering its size. The MiFi 2200 is the shape of a credit card and about as thick as 10 credit cards stacked on top of each other. The MiFi 2200 can be used as either a WiFi router or as a modem. It comes with several security features built-in including password protection, VPN pass-through and Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) firewall.

Dear Editor, Jim Duff states that he can cover the whole county using existing towers. This is misleading. The towers are spaced too far apart to provide Internet access throughout the county. With the current technology, this is not possible. Smaller towers are needed to fill in the dead spots down in the valleys, valleys like Masons Gap for one example. In the letter to the editor in last weeks paper, Jim Duff states that we have not submitted a plan to provide coverage to all of Lincoln County.

The issue of broadband internet coverage for Lincoln County heated up last Friday in fiscal court when Magistrate Terry Wilcher told WiMAX Express owner Steve Hosner to "come on down here up front because there are some things that I want to say that you need to hear. " Wilcher wanted to question Hosner as to why he had singled out Judge Gilbert and himself for criticism in a letter to WiMAX customers over action the court had unanimously taken. Some WiMAX customers received an unsigned letter dated June 18, 2009, telling them that their service was being terminated because "R. W. 'Buckwheat' Gilbert and Terry Wilcher voted against helping WiMAX Express with Planning and Zoning feesâ?