InformationWeek > Boston Schedules Wi-Fi Summit > Still Tethered, Boston Schedules Wi-Fi Summit > April 28, 2005

Conspicuous by its lack of a comprehensive approach to public Wi-Fi, Boston is taking a long and hard look at bringing the wireless service across the city. A Wi-Fi Summit involving cross sections of the city's residents and institutions is scheduled for May 19.

"I'm glad we didn't do it (Wi-Fi) earlier," said Boston City Councilor John Tobin, who has been spearheading the Wi-Fi drive. "We wanted to slow it down a bit, so we could do it right."

Boston WiFi Summit Information. For more information about the Boston Wi-Fi Summit,
including the RSVP form, please click here!

The Boston Globe ran a piece today on the trouble the city is having in cleaning up all the sand used on streets this past winter. Over 42,000 tons of sand were used! Have you experienced problems in your neighborhood? Does your street look like it belongs down the Cape? Let us know! Our office has been assisting residents of our district to get street sweepers out into their neighborhoods. Post a comment here or drop one of us an email and we'll work on your behalf.   more »

Let's do some sports trivia.

John's back with some sports trivia to lighten it up a little bit.




Submit your answer as a comment to this post.   more »

The following commentary by Michael Jonas appeared in yesterday's Boston Globe City Weekly section

Technology is making the global village ever smaller, with instant communication between Boston and Beijing only a few keystrokes away on the information superhighway. Which makes it all the more remarkable that the only option for Boston residents wanting to keep tabs on the doings of their own School Committee is to travel the city's pothole-rutted roadways twice a month to the committee's downtown meetings at School Department headquarters.

While everyone from residents of neighboring Cambridge to rural outposts in the Berkshire hills can view local school committee meetings on public access television, when it comes to tuning in the Boston School Committee, citizens of the state's capital city are left in the dark.

To City Councilor John Tobin, it's a troubling symptom of a system that is far too inscrutable and hard to navigate for families who are in the schools or might like to be.

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Greg Lalas writes in yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine:

Boston is on the brink of a revolution-a wireless world where people in parks and on sidewalks, on subways and in restaurants, everywhere and anywhere, are plugged in to the Internet. Are we ready for a Wi-Fi city?

Councillor Tobin is featured in the article:

If City Councilor John Tobin's vision for a Wi-Fi Boston comes true - Tobin is the point man for the upcoming wireless summit - you won't even need to search out a hotspot. The hotspot will be all around you. You could be good to go from, say, a park bench in the Public Garden.

Late last summer, Tobin, whose district includes Jamaica Plain, went to the house of his constituent George Fifield, founder and director of the Boston Cyberarts Festival, which kicked off on Friday. At one point, the two men needed to look something up. When Fifield simply opened his laptop, which was sitting on the coffee table in the living room, Tobin was stunned. Immediately, he began asking questions.

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On power outages, residents harnessing their outrage.
By Jack Encarnacao, Globe Correspondent | April 24, 2005

Peter Snoad called it ''par for the course these days" on Dunster Road in Jamaica Plain. His electricity was out again.

He knew it would happen. NStar had posted advisories around the neighborhood warning of an outage between 11 p.m. on Friday, March 18, and 1 a.m. Saturday morning, March 19. Snoad said his power, which went out as predicted at 11 p.m., wasn't restored until about 11 a.m. Saturday.   more »

Here's some video of John intoducing himself to a group of Boston area bloggers who meet at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, at the Harvard Law School, every Thursday night.

John talks about his blog and the future of video blogging.




"It is something brand new but I see it as another medium for us to get to our constituents...this is a way for us to show what we do, in addition to meetings, the community meetings and city council meetings... I know people want to see something that are not necessarily meet and greets... to talk about issues and ideas, as this formulates we are going to be able to do more. I'm excited by it.. we've got a lot of great response to it so far and the time will come where you'll see more and more candidates and public office holders doing this type of thing," John Tobin   more »

Boston Wireless Advocacy Group: Free WiFi Hotspots in Boston

Whether you live in Boston, are just passing through, or are doing research on this phenomenon called WiFi, there are hundreds of hotspots listed in the various directories available online. However, the WiFi scene in Boston changes rapidly, so one of BostonWAG's projects to keep a current, accurate list of hotspots in the Boston area.   more »

At tonight's 'Thursday Meetings at Berkman' blog meeting, John Tobin is on the agenda to talk about his political video blog, http://votejohntobin.com   more »

John Tobin addresses the Boston Broncos Baseball Club after receiving an appreciation award for his outstanding support and dedication to neighborhood youth.




"At the end of the day it's about winning the games and having championships, respect for each other, and for your coaches, and learning teamwork, addition to becoming a good baseball player, because the lessons you learn on the diamond are the ones you apply to life as well," John Tobin   more »

Take the Boston WiFi Survey.

The Museum of Science and The Boston Foundation in collaboration with Boston City Councilor John Tobin's office is supporting a study to assess the feasibility for a wireless Boston to bridge the digital connectivity divide.    more »

The Boston Wireless Advocacy Group would like to announce a Community WiFi Forum, organized by City Councilor John Tobin and BostonWAG, this coming TUESDAY, APRIL 19th at 7PM at the BPL's Copley Square Branch. More specifically, it will be in conference rooms 5/6 in the Johnson Building on Boylston Street.   more »

BostonHerald.com - Local/ Regional News: Bus-ted! City orders GPS to track dozing drivers

Boston Public Schools is moving ahead with plans to install satellite tracking devices on all its buses by the end of the summer, setting up a showdown with angry bus drivers but pleasing others.
``It's a victory for parents and for children. It's also a victory for the majority of Boston school bus drivers who do their job,'' said City Councilor John Tobin, who pressured the district to install the equipment after hearing complaints of late and speeding buses.

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The new website gets a writeup in the Political Notes section of the West Roxbury & Roslindale Transcript.

Tobin unveils new Weblog site

Boston City Councilor John M. Tobin Jr.unveiled his new Web site, www.votejohntobin.com, and is believed to be the first elected official in the United States to use regular video Weblog posts as a way to communicate with the public.   more »

Congressman Michael Capuano at a recent breakfast for Boston City Councillor John Tobin.

"We used to look at Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury as heaven where I came from... This is a guy that did it for all the right reasons, he has a natural ability to get a long with people, to understand how to get things done, and to understand what's important for the people that elected him which is to make life better," Congressman Michael Capuano.

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Eric Rice :: Exploding Politics: A Boston City Councillor's Videoblog:

It's fascinating to watch change happen in real time. From a couple thousand miles away, I'm watching a videoblogging city councillor connect with his constituency.

Thanks for the link Eric.   more »

April 14, 2005 Iannella Council Chamber 6:00 PM
Committee on Education
John Tobin, Chair

Docket #0217 Resolution urging the School Committee to include in its 2005-2006 budget the funding necessary to hire a family and community outreach manager at each school. Sponsored by Councillor Chuck Turner. Delayed cablecast on Comcast ...   more »

Monday April 11

10:00 - Boston City Council Meeting 4/6
12:00 – Joint Environment and Government Ops Hearing on BU BioSafety Lab 3/28

Tuesday April 12

10:00 -– Ways & Means Hearing to review Cambridge Street Roadwork Project 4/5
12:30 – Joint Government Ops and Institutional Relations Hearing on fake ...   more »

The Boston City Council’s Committee on Government Operations will hold a public hearing on Friday, April 22, 2005 at 11:00AM in the Christopher A. Iannella Chamber.

The subject of the hearing is:

Docket #0283 - Order approving a petition for a special law re: protective custody
subsequent to arrest or ...   more »