Status: An Illusion of Grandeur

Still around and occasionally in the neighborhood to visit friends. Thanks for the support.

Cable Shable: Mesh Tech is NOW!

The above image is from SkyPilot, one of several companies selling hardware for the system discussed here.

Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS) is the radio broadcast between individual nodes, which, as seen above, can be of many types. Emergency services (fire, rescue, police) and governmental inter-office communications (eg. Reno Direct) are two public service types this is designed to service via wireless technology. With the political will to do so, this area can implement such a system in a matter of weeks. It is also low-cost; when, for example, compared to cost involved in recent radio communications systems linking Reno and Sparks emergency services. As a residual benefit of going to this type of system, citizens in both the immediate (city) and surrounding (rural) areas can receive low-or-no-cost High Speed Internet (HSI).

Cities like Philadelphia, London, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Portland, and many others worldwide are installing and maintaining this type system. It benefits from low cost installation and maintenence (cost of ownership). Security of the network is assured through industry standard encryption and log-on protocols.

Cameras placed on light fixtures are remotely powered (solar/battery) connected via wireless (WiFi) into a surveillance and montoring mesh, creating a more safe and secure environment. In London, the grid has added two-way switched voice audio capacity to warn, instruct citizens of possible hazards, and to correct misbehavior. High crime areas can be monitored on a permanent or temporary basis.

Cost of individual nodes are within the reach of most American homeowners. Every user node installs an antenna on their roof; that connects to a (wired or wireless) modem, which connects to their home PC or Mac desktop, notebook, or PDA/phone. Antennas are omni-directional, so no technical orientation is needed. A person with just rudimentary knowledge can install a home unit in about an hour. Total hardware cost is around $250 if done DIY. (A local company currently charges $399 for Basic service installation, with $50 per month charge for HSI alone). Not every home needs to have a node; as the range of each can be up to 10 miles, depending on several variant elements (like weather, power, interference, etc).

Will it take public initiative to move local, county, state and federal governments to build in this type of system? Or will the expensive and incompetent disconnect continue? If you want to know more, email me or make a comment here.

Something to Think About: Part 943d

Are you tired of Sierra Pacific not being able to do their job for what they are paid? It is time for this to actually be. On every home in Northern Nevada.

Not My Last Post

Some time has passed since I have either posted here or had a Neighborhood Watch meeting. I have plausible excuses for both. I have moved. However, I continue to occasionally use the park to run my dog, so still feel some attachment to your neighborhood.

Here and now I am asking for someone else to take the helm. The Watch has been effective in cutting incidents of vandalism, graffiti, and property crime. It continues with the posting of Watch signs at strategic locations. Actual patrol of the entire Northtown area has become a police priority, although cruisers are still seldom seen in the Neighborhood without there have been an incident calling them.

I will continue to use the park, visit friends in the neighborhood, and keep an eye on this blog. It is such a small thing. However, I am now such a distance away, it will be inconvenient to continue to lead...the Watch Captain really ought to be a resident. So, if you are that person, contact me and I will gladly introduce you to the insides and out of this enterprise. If nobody comes forward, it will be such a shameful thing; it may lead to return to past behaviors.

Daylight Savings

Remember to check and change your batteries in smoke detectors and CO2 detectors this weekend.

Goose Poop Taking Over Melody Lane Park!

Anyone taking a walk in Melody Lane Park, even on the sidewalks , best watch carefully least they step in goose poop. Anyone with children is warned to have their children be very carefull and avoid contact with the dire droppings.
Though there are, to my knowledge, no reported incidents where the goose waste have been attributed to a health risk, the sheer volumn left from these large and noisy birds is reason enough, to this writer, to set dogs on them. This may be a radical solution, but the dogs will enjoy the chase and the birds most likly will escape unharmed.
Another alternative is to call the Parks and Rec people and complain. Running one of those motorized vacuum carts (you see used in parking lots) will eridacate the problem post haste. One wonders if this expense has been added into this years budget.
It seems to me that the cretters know that they are protected against hunting while they are within city limits. They tend to flock in ever-increasing numbers; the cause of there being a hunting season in the first place. It is time that Fish and Game calrify the in-city hunting situation and allow hunters to cull the flock and put a damper on the out-of-hand poop situation. Perhaps slingshots?
What can a person do?

City of Reno Emergency Information

The City of Reno has created an Emergency Information web page where all pertinent information relating to weather, fire, flood or other disaster information will be found. In case of an ongoing emergency, information will be on the City of Reno home page. You may want to Bookmark both.