Commission Impossible

Let's hope the dome is actually acoustically pleasing.

I never considered they would use it for music. I had just assumed it was for spoken word poetry, political rants, and maybe a random game of handball.

Good point on the accoustics.

Looks like "half dome" to me. Guess they couldn't afford the other half due to the chess tables cutting into the budget

By the way, puns aside. There is a real opportunity now to actually get some use for those gaming tables, and to attract a better class of user to the park.

I've proposed to Lynn McEnspy (the computer CTO for City) that we should put free WiFi in the park. Alas no support yet, mostly worry about liability from other businesses that provide Internet service complaining about it.

If SFO can get Google to do it, I think we can do it too. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to sit down with your laptop at one of those tables, and check emails or even blog during lunch?

And with WiFi there, it would be a cinch to webcast any event going on in the dome.

It's inexpensive and easy to do, and also easy to setup security to prevent people from abusing it by sending spam etc.

Anthony,

Interesting coincidence. I just brought this up at an Internal Affairs Committee that was discussing Children's Playground issues (this morning).

I thought it would be a great idea to get business people out and using the park.

Now, I have to credit my good friend and local artist Gregg Payne for the original concept. He proposed a wireless network as part of a living Art Project for the Park Plaza. This would have been in place of the chess tables.

Gregg was soundly ignored by everyone. I tell you the guy is a genious. Frisbee golf, giant wind chimes, wifi parks, clean water campaigns based on mutant frogs, and the list goes on and on.

I think the downtown Park Plaza area is under consideration for wifi (Dennis Beardsley mentioned it again today). But I don't know the stage of the conversation, cost, funding, blah, blah, blah.

This idea is forward thinking and would dynamically effect the way our parks are used. It should happen.

BTW: Woodstocks Pizza has a wireless network. Eat some pizza and write/read the blogs. Good times, good times.

Maybe we can set one up from KSZR, beam it over the park, and skip the red tape? I've been talking to a member about putting in a weather station and web cam anyway...maybe the whole kit and kaboodle would be a nice addition.

FYI I had proposed this last summer, after I setup the webcasting system for the Council Chambers.

There was a dedicated DSL line put in for this that has virtually no use except for when meetings are webcasted...we could simply put a WiFi connection point w/security on that line in the Council Chambers building and put an antenna on the roof..cost would be under $500 to do this.

I'd even donate the equipment and setup if the city would go for it.

I emailed Dennis Beardsley to find out "where" the conversation related to WiFi in the downtown park was occurring.

The response was that it really isn't happening anywhere. But he's open to ideas, and very busy with the park, and maybe not open to endless questions.

So there you go. Problem solved. Sort of. I guess. Maybe not.