For all you Texas cappo drinkers out there, and websuckers too, here is the list of StarBucks closing in Texas. Looks like almost half in the Arlington area are going down.

Texas
south arlington 1201 w arbrook arlington tx
cooper & green oaks 5435 s cooper arlington tx
collins & green oaks 2733 n collins arlington tx
matlock & bardin 4645 matlock arlington tx
s congress and academy 1007 s congress austin tx
mopac & slaughter 5000 w slaughter austin tx
hwy 83 & boca chica 100 expressway 83 brownsville tx
us 377 & us 67 300 w commerce brownwood tx
spid & weber 3920 s padre island dr corpus christi tx
staples & doddridge 3738 staples corpus christi tx
greenville & matalee 3715 greenville ave dallas tx
preston & beltline 14891 preston rd dallas tx
lovers lane & greenville ave 5500 greenville ave dallas tx
camp wisdom rd & hwy 67 3431 camp wisdom rd dallas tx
skillman and audelia 9090 skillman st dallas tx
northpark mall ii 8687 n central exp dallas tx
lbj & montfort 5631 lbj fwy dallas tx
illinois & westmoreland 3403 w illinois ave dallas tx
coit & 635 7995 lbj dallas tx
pleasant run & hampton rd 900 n hampton rd desoto tx
cedar ridge & wheatland rd 107 s cedar ridge dr duncanville tx
montana & mcrae 9615 montana rd el paso tx
spring valley & midway 13901 midway rd farmers branch tx
camp bowie & hulen 4603 camp bowie fort worth tx
hulen mall 4800 s hulen st fort worth tx
mccart & altamesa 6221 mccart ave fort worth tx
fm 423 lebanon 5605 fm 423 frisco tx
warren & dallas pkwy 6801 warren pkwy frisco tx
firewheel town center 470 coneflower dr garland tx
shepherd & farnham 3821 shephard houston tx
i-45 & red ripple 6001 n fwy houston tx
hwy 249 & antoine 12503 tomball pkwy houston tx
main & dallas 914 dallas st houston tx
fannin & preston 1018 preston houston tx
westheimer & briargreen 14333 wheimer rd houston tx
bellaire & wilcrest 10611 bellaire blvd houston tx
fannin & macgregor 6400 fannin st houston tx
deerbrook mall 20131 hwy 59 humble tx
hwy 77 & general cavazos 1401 e general cavazos kingsville tx
zapata hwy & chestnut 2201 chestnut laredo tx
town east mall 2228 town e blvd mesquite tx
hwy 271 & white street 901 s jefferson ave mt pleasant tx
lamar & loop 286 3855 ne loop 286 paris tx
i-27 & hwy 70 1301 i-27 north plainview tx
preston & hwy 121 8600 preston plano tx
coit and hwy 190 340 coit rd plano tx
collin creek mall 811 n central exwy plano tx
hwy 75 & park blvd 1881 central exwy plano tx
i-35 & red oak 502 n i-35 red oak tx
cherry & business 35 1205 hwy 35 n rockport tx
hwy 59 & hwy 36 27943 sw fwy rosenberg tx
59 & hwy 762 24406 sw fwy rosenburg tx
san pedro/bitters 13429 san pedro ave san antonio tx
rio grande & laurent 1310 e rio grande victoria tx
valley mills & waco dr 4300 w waco dr waco tx
green oaks & hwy 183 500 b hwy 183 w white settlement tx
us 287 & maurine 2009 maurine st wichita falls tx

The full list is here, compliments of Consumerist. When you run a business that is an extravagance beyond a .50c cup of coffee at IHOP during a downturn; you expect this kind of thing.

Word of caution for you elder techies out there. Those in the tech business who have no idea what an LP record is also have no recollection of living through a recession. They don’t remember gas lines, flat pay or half the cubicles being empty. The GenX/Yer’s are going to be a little jumpy. They won’t understand the change of landscape. Be kind and give them the guidance to get them through it.

Now why would a site that covers the broadband scene care about this? Speed. Cheaper development.

The latest kernel 2.2.26 has three items going for it —

1) Improvements in the KVM module. It now supports the base line for paravirtualization.

2) The native chipset speed in a virtual environment.

3) Preliminary support for 802.11s wireless mesh networking.

That means the boys in the labs are going to start looking at multicore multidrop routers not bound by single cpu threads. It also means that some other engineers will be working on a multicore multiband mesh wireless system in linux. Enough to test the bandwidth processor capabilities.

More at InfoQ.

Noah Pepper over at Public Knowledge lays it out pretty well on the whole issue about network congestion and bandwidth caps. So without further adieu –

For example, lets assume we study two users on the network, lets call them Alice and Bob. Both are on the same service plan and network, which allow them 5mbps normally, but the network gets congested during peak hours (5pm - 11pm) allowing a user to use at most 2mbps. Alice gets online at 2 am and starts downloading large files, maxing out her internet connection until the next day at 2 pm. Bob gets home from work at 5 and hops online to watch streaming videos until he goes to sleep at 11pm, using only 1mbps. At the end of a month Alice will have downloaded a huge amount of data and doubtless be tagged as bandwidth hog, yet contributed nothing to the congestion problem. Bob will be considered a normal user at the end of the marking period - but has a far more significant impact on the lower quality of service during peak hours than Alice does.

Targeting these alleged bandwidth hogs for having large total usage by restricting network access or raising rates doesn’t get at the real problem, which is congestion during times of heavy usage. These penalties are essentially punishing consumers for gaining extra utility from the service, particularly at non-peak usage hours, at no harm to the ISP or other users.

Hogging implies taking much of some resource for one’s self and preventing others from gaining access to that resource. If a customer is able to do this, then the network is not being managed properly. If the network is so constrained such that 5% of users can cause congestion, even during off peak times, then the infrastructure is clearly due for an update or the ISP has promised much more bandwidth than it can deliver.

Throttling everyone during peak usage is the only sensible solution to this problem (besides upgrading the network). Getting online and finding speeds to be slow during peak hours is akin to trying to place a cell call during especially heavy usage and getting denied service, it is an unavoidable degradation in quality of service which should not pose a problem if it happens infrequently.

Now if throttling during peak periods solved the problem well that would be fine. But long term it won’t. Here is the reason why. Automation. I or anyone with the inclination could set up a cron job with a list of the files I want. Set the time for midnight and let it fly. It could drag file after file till exhausted. The bandwidth demand just shifted.

The only solution is that the ISP need to start investing to increased the bandwidth. Not by a little but by at least a factor of 10 from its current levels.

Linky.

Using Open Source development software and a hardware port for Freescale development of Wireless Mesh Networking may just be entering the disruption zone. In one example, the wireless controller for a toy tank was developed in less than 30min. This could be te technical opening to push mesh wireless technology into the datacenter, releiving the necessity for the mish mash of command and control cabling.

(06/24/2008 12:52 PM EDT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Designing mesh network software for embedded processors using radio-frequency wireless protocol just got easier for original equipment manufacturers, according to Synapse Inc. (Huntsville, Ala.), which said it has re-hosted its Snap Pro 802.15.4 wireless mesh networking protocol for use on any RF module based on microcontrollers from Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (Austin, Texas).

Tapping an embedded virtual machine written in the easy-to-use Python language, Synapse demonstrated that applications could be developed in minutes, instead of weeks, by creating an embedded program during its presentation at the Freescale Technology Forum (FTF), held here June 16-19.

More here.

Well many expected Google to be the anthesis of the Telcos, swoop in buy up the 700mhz block and sell bandwidth subsidized by wireless ad revenue. Well that didn’t pan out so well. Now Ars Technica is suggesting that the new Clearwire consortium might be that ‘ThirdPipe’. –

A lengthy document filed this week with the FCC asks for permission to merge the 2.5GHz spectrum assets of Sprint and Clearwire into "New Clearwire," the company backed by Sprint, Clearwire, Intel, Time Warner, Google, and Bright House. In the filing, Clearwire makes the case that it will provide true "third pipe" Internet access to home and mobile users at speeds of 6Mbps (and 3Mbps uplink).

The companies involved know how to make the right promises:

• "New Clearwire will permit consumers to use any lawful device that they want so long as it is compatible with and not harmful to the WiMAX network
• "New Clearwire also will permit consumers to download and use any software applications, content, or services they desire, subject only to reasonable network management practices and law enforcement and public safety considerations
• "New Clearwire will offer non-exclusive wholesale access to its network
• "New Clear wire will deploy an advanced mobile WiMAX broadband network that will cover up to 140 million people in the United States in 30 months"

Ars quotes that Clearwire has filed a request with the FCC that they be permitted to logically merge several bands from an operatonal perspective. Assuming this happens and the FCC relents this might be the engine that gives Verizon competition to their 700mhz acquisition.

Linky.

Oklahoma City has just turned up a Muni WiFi network that covers 555SqMi of the city. The downside? It is a closed system not open for public consumption. But even at that the project was funded out of capital infrastructure funds and capital improvement money. The network is to be shared across multiple deptartments.

Oklahoma City says it just turned on the largest city owned and operated municipal Wi-Fi mesh network in the world.

The wireless mesh network covers 555 square miles with 95% coverage in the city’s core, the city said. However, unlike dozens of other municipal Wi-Fi projects, the Oklahoma City network is only available for use by city staff such as police, fire, first responders. The city plans to eventually expand the use of the network to animal welfare, code enforcement and utilities.

The network, which took two years to build to the tune of $5 million, was paid for with public-safety capital sales tax and city capital improvement funds.

“Our state-of-the-art wireless communication system allows city government to be more efficient and provide a higher level of service to our citizens,” Mayor Mick Cornett said in a prepared statement.

Time will tell if Oklahoma City’s network will shut down as rapidly as other cities’ networks have been shuttered across the country. Indeed, Oklahoma City’s distinction may be its choice to limit the network to just city employees.

That last sentence is key. Too many cooks in the soup spoils the broth. Other cities need to look at how OC managed the politics and kept on mission. Also take note that they deployed the whole thing for less than $5m.

RCR article.

Cloudbook, one of those ‘net ‘puters that we expect will start the next wave of computer usage for the rest of the planet.

January 25, 2008 (Computerworld) Everex said today that its highly anticipated ultramobile CloudBook PC won’t make it into U.S. consumers’ hands for another month or so, as the Taiwanese vendor makes last-minute changes to its Linux-based software.

CloudBook was supposed to be available from Wal-Mart Inc. stores and the Walmart.com Web site today.

But in an e-mail, Everex’s director of marketing, Paul Kim, said that “a couple of last-minute software tweaks” prevented the CloudBook, a competitor to rival Taiwanese AsusTek Computer Inc.’s successful Eee, from reaching stores just three weeks after its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The $399 computer runs gOS, a flavor of Linux based on the popular Ubuntu distribution but with a reworked user interface aimed at smaller screens like CloudBook’s 7-in. (diagonal) display.

The Everex device is not in the <$200 club but then it is laptop not a desktop. But give it time. Two things will happen. The price will go lower or more features will be added for the same price. It always goes that way.

Tomorrow at approxmaelty Noon ThinkgOS will debut its 2.0 verison of gOS @ CES. Yes the OS that powers the Everex designed WalMart debuted $199 PC. PCBurn has the skivvy –

LOS ANGELES, California-January 3, 2008-Good OS, the open source startup that introduced gOS, a Linux operating system with Google and web applications, on a $199 Wal-Mart PC last November, today announced that gOS Rocket will debut Monday, January 7 at 11:30 a.m. at the exclusive press preview, Lunch@Piero’s, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and online at www.thinkgos.com. Rocket is packed with Google Gears, new online offline synchronization technology from Google that enables offline use of web apps; gBooth, a browser-based web cam application with special effects, integration with Facebook and other web services; shortcuts to launch Google Reader, Talk, and Finance on the desktop; an online storage drive powered by Box.net; and Virtual Desktops, an intuitive feature to easily group and move applications across multiple desktop spaces.

gOS Rocket introduces gBooth, the first of many web apps to come specially customized for gOS. gBooth is powered by gOS spin-off, meebooth, a browser-based web cam application that makes it fun and easy to capture photos, add special effects, and share across Facebook, YouTube and other web services. To introduce a gOS compatible web cam, gOS and meebooth partnered with leading web cam manufacturer Ezonics to create the “gCam,” a web cam compatible with gOS and gBooth.

So what’s new? Well this time out ThinkOS is partnering with Ezonics and meeBooth to provide a web based webcam called gBooth. Webcams on Linux are not for the faint of heart for the nontechy end user. To have the capability built in and web based is a treat. The other neat trick is that gOS has GoogleGears enabled. This permits the end user to work on their online files offline.

So how does this help the ThirdPipe space? Its the ‘juice’ that demands broadband. gOS’s applications are on net. So to have a rich experience requires DSL at a minimum. That’s the demand side. The supply side is giving the end user a simple OS that is bulletproof and a on net service base they do not have to update. Total trouble free operation. Nor can the price points be beat.

Could it be better? You bet! What if ThinkOS in a new round, after CES partnered with Meraki? Loading WiFi drivers in Linux is not easy either, even for a tech head like me. You wrestle with LSPCI modules and validation routines. Not for the Ma Fricket crowd. It would be so sweet if the gOS system recognized that it was in a Meraki enabled environment — turn key.

What much of the tech industry is aware of but appears unable to address is the very fact that most users now view the PC not as a computer but a communication device. In that role a $1500 investment is a ridiculous use of capital. That role is best suited for a < $500 device. That's what the role requires. gOS/Everex/WalMart is addressing it. Meraki might be a player here as well. San Fransisco will be the test.

PCBurn article.
Ezonics website.
ThinkgOS website.

In a turnaround of sorts, San Fransisco will get a second chance at municipal WiFi. But the second chance is not coming from some first or second tier wireless provider — Meraki.

City-wide Wi-Fi might not be a pipe dream for San Francisco residents after all. After successfully rolling out mesh networks in 6 San Francisco neighborhoods, Meraki Inc. has announced its plans to blanket the entire city with coverage by the end of 2008.

Google and Earthlink hatched a similar plan for a municipal Wi-Fi project last year that ultimately fizzled. However, Meraki believes that by bypassing coverage for the public safety sector, relying on volunteers, and installing dozens of wireless gateways on rooftops it can rapidly roll out coverage.

“This groundbreaking network in San Francisco will show the world that with Meraki’s unique approach to building networks, we can quickly bring broadband Internet access to every city in the world,” said Meraki CEO, Sanjit Biswas.

Meraki is taking an approach that ThirdPipe has been suggesting for some time now, open, mesh based, end user driven capability. Their website is here — Link. We will keep you posted on this. San Fran is their largest implementation to date. If it flies, as in taking off, this could spread to other cities like Chicago where Earthlink failed.

Linky.

Well if you are in doubt of how to do something. Take it off the shelf and rework existing systems. That is what Meraki networks did. This is a system that utilizes std WiFi architecture, updates the firmware and provides the means to mesh a wireless internet connection. Options vary from free to carrier quality systems.

There is a subtle message here. If the carriers won’t provide a wireless internet connection the user base will do it on their own.

Check out the website.