January 28, 2005
wireless makes local connection
DIY Community Node:
Welcome to Park Bench TV!. A physical portal in Central London, a specific bench within clear range of a wireless internet signal...come down and log on.
This is a public bench in the middle of a quiet square London near Tottenham Court Road, –- where you can access the internet and tap into a local community of people, living and working in the area - and eat your lunch.
Find out more about the project and what its about. Come and sit on the bench with your laptop, and access the internet and see programmes about the local area - or just surf and pick up email.
Chat in the on line forum and discuss local issues or comment on the project
View video programmes using the Park Bench TV Channel
Make and add your own new programmes about the area to Park Bench TV
Find out about wireless internet technology and how to use it
Get on Park Bench TV and become a local celebrity!
The aim is to allow local people to access content about their immediate location and also begin to develop a way for visitors to gain an insight into our area.
This includes interviews with local people including the gardeners in the square, local residents, and other community figures.
If you want to appear on the channel and be interviewed, access the forum and ask us! We will be happy to meet you.
The wireless internet access point has been set up and specifically installed to allow access for users outside in the street, a local community and tourist service.
Open Access
How you can contribute..
The best place to ask detailed questions is the forum.
The channel will be using the Frequency Clock - a media player that allows us to organise video clips into a channel. and which will also allow users to upload and schedule their own material.
If you want to know how to contribute programme material and details about how to access it..
All of the content on the channel is focusing on the community, facilities, people, workers, and visitors to the area; tourists, lunchtime visitors, local gardeners and sometimes pigeons are the stars.
You can access the channel directly from the bench using a laptop and a WiFi card connected to the internet.
You can watch the content from the internet anywhere in the world – and if you want you can contribute to the channel – the only rule is that the content has to be about the area local to the bench and it's immediate surroundings.
As the content is all locally specific – and some of it will not always make sense or be understood when viewed from outside the benches immediate location.
So you might want to visit the bench and watch the channel from there – and maybe make some content, recording your stay with a cam corder, which you can then upload to the channel.
The channel will play the following file types : Real Player, Windows Media, Flash and Quicktime.
Join the forum and ask about what's going on - whether your in the area or not.
Posted by michelle at January 28, 2005 11:39 AM
