paris-wi-fi.gifFrance. Last Saturday saw the official inauguration of the Paris Wi-Fi project. Free wireless internet connection is available to anyone in the vicinity of one of the 350 antennae covering 225 public places, parks, libraries and museums in and around Paris. The full 400 antennae for 260 sites will be up by the end of the month but the operational 8 Mbits/s announced by the Mayor is said to be closer to 6 Mbits/s says the Telcom SFR, responsible for the network. There’s also a 2 hour connect-time limit and the hotspots around municipal buildings will be up during open hours only. The site that lists the Wi-Fi ‘bornes‘ is in serious need of a simple Google maps mashup like this one: Museums with Free Admission in Paris (any takers?), or maybe they could mash Géoportail if Google gives the civil servants a rash? (possible).

source > Ecrans

bt-fon-logos.PNGBritain. Fon teams up with British Telecom. No new Wi-Fi routers (La Foneros) will be needed, for over 3 million BT Total Broadband subscribers, who can now join the Fon community for free using their in-house router, it was announced yesterday.

The Fon blog is touting for a future ‘Wi-Fi everywhere in the U.K.’ A quick search forwifi-hotspots-england.PNG hotspots on the BT FON Google maps mash looks bare at first glance, but a location search for my home town for example, tells a different tale. This is before any BT users have decided to activate their Fon membership.

source< BoingBoing

Germany. Well it wouldn’t be a Parade without a little rain. Last month the German government warned against ‘electrosmog’ and advised people to avoid using Wi-Fi wherever possible because of the risks it may pose to health.

The Environment Ministry recommended that people should keep their exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi “as low as possible” by choosing “conventional wired connections”. It added that it is “actively informing people about possibilities for reducing personal exposure”…

“…the most damning (decision) made by any government on the fast-growing technology “.

FUD or food for thought?…

source > Belfast Telegraph

Could be of interest to some, a post from Lifehacker last Wednesday: Top 10 Wi-Fi Boosts, Tweaks and Apps