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At 11:52 PM 4/14/2009, Richard Wiggins wrote: >Last week I gave a couple of lectures at the University of >Michigan. I tried to connect to their wireless network, but I was >challenged for a U-M ID. I was told that all I needed to do was >plug the Ethernet cable on the tech cart into my computer. Wired >connections in classrooms at U-M get a DHCP address without challenge. > >So this is actually pretty funny: at MSU we give out free guest >access over wireless, but not if wired. At U-M it's the opposite. > >This has consequences. A few years ago at the Usability and >Accessibility conference, one speaker went to give his talk based on >live reviews of Web sites. His laptop for whatever reason wouldn't >connect via Wi-Fi. He was saved only when someone in the audience >offerred up his own laptop. > >This person was only 10 feet away from an Ethernet outlet, but he >didn't plug in because Kellogg Center employees didn't like the >hassle of having to cough up their own MSUnet ID and password. > >I think MSUnet Wireless Guest is not only a great idea -- it may be >unique at major universities. The world did not fall apart when it >was opened. So now imagine if we combine MSUnet Wireless Guest with >open access if you plug into an Ethernet jack in a classroom or >conference room. Ann Arbor didn't fall apart when I plugged my laptop in. > >/rich Speaking of funny... Over the past dozen years I've probably made use of 40-50 libraries and archives in the midwest. It's for local and regional history research, i.e. not what I get paid to do. You could say I'm looking for historical destinations for bike rides. Many of these libraries are small county libraries, but some are university libraries. In the past few years I've learned to call ahead to ask about wireless access. Facilities and policies vary greatly. Among other things, it helps to know if I'm going to have access to the MSU library's electronic resources while I'm doing my work at these sites. It can make things much more efficient and it will make a difference in how I prepare. One time I didn't call ahead was when I went to WMU's library last fall. So it was annoying to go there and learn that I didn't have wireless access without an ID. It had been a few years since I last used that library, and it was the first time I had gone there with my own wireless-equipped computer. It was funny, because back when we first dabbled in wireless at KBS some of our faculty members wanted me to install a wide-open system, "like Western's." (I didn't want to do that, but we had a few APs in our main building that had no security -- mostly because I wasn't sure at that point just how we were going to do it -- and I did learn of a couple of cases where people in cars parked on the driveway outside the building were getting some free internet. We ended up replacing it all with a MSUnet Wireless installation, and will probably be able to implement the MSUnet Guest access later this year.) But I found it ironic that some people had been pressing for a wide open system "like Western's" and now Western's is far less open than MSU's. I haven't gotten around to asking when the change took place and why. John Gorentz