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Meeting Notes - 11/18

November 18 meeting at Scoops

Attending were Steve Finegold, Desiree Schmitt, Marianne Ludwig, Walter Wright, Doug Copeland, and new attendees Steve Goldberg (active in Jewel Heart), and John Cooper of GSI Systems (security systems for residential and business) who demonstrated a basic wireless camera for security applications.

Desiree updated us on the Tech Soup program for wireless hardware to non-profit organizations. This program is relatively new and is not yet well documented. The $200 per access point includes one year of tech support but requires an additional year be purchased and the service contract be cancelled to prevent automatic renewal for subsequent years.
We decided to add $112 (15% of retail value of hardware) to our Tech Soup package to cover the second year. Therefore, we will budget $312 for each package ordered.
We also decided to find additional qualified organizations we can use to order packages due to the limit of 3 per year for any one organization. Besides TWDC, we will approach Jewel Heart and Interfaith Hospitality Network (opening a new day center for families at Pilgrim Church) to verify their 501c3 status and willingness to participate in this program.
Desiree will get formal written spec's from Tech Soup for documenting our orders and specifics for third party nonprofits. Doug will contact IHN regarding their willingness to order packages for themselves and Pilgrim.

Cleveland Public Library has installed wi-fi at Jefferson and is putting in a wireless kiosk style terminal at Merrick House; it will access via a dsl line and provide lookup through the CPL catalog. CPL may offer wi-fi within normal range of the branch by setting up a sub-network but this hasn't been done yet.

Static cling-on or vinyl decals are needed for all Twifi sites. Many suppliers have a minimum quantity of 250 but Marianne got her Scoops sign online with no quantity requirement. Steve will explore best source/cost and report at next meeting. Our signs should include the international symbol for wireless access.

John Cooper demonstrated a wireless camera set up in Scoops and transmitted to the Twifi website. We saw ourselves live with reasonable quality/resolution via a camera that costs about $300. GSI Systems sells this camera with software, installation and training for $495. This technology will work on any Pentium 400MHz or better with at least 32 megs of RAM. It can be turned on with a motion detector and has many security and marketing applications. There could be a role for Twifi in coordinating with residents, landlords, and businesses for shared use and increased security by offering camera views to the police.

Also mentioned was a Twifi article by Shasta Clark on Crain's Cleveland Business website ( Nov. 20 edition).
Hours for the Dec. 14 waffle breakfast will be 9am - 2pm. Tickets will be $5 but a donation jar will be offered for those wanting to further support Twifi. We will list the sales sites for our raffle tickets on the Hours for the Dec. 14 waffle breakfast will be 9am - 2pm. Tickets will be $5 but a donation jar will be offered for those wanting to further support Twifi. We will list the sales sites for our raffle tickets on the website. Drawing will be during website. Drawing will be during December artwalk, (12/12) 9pm at Scoops; winners need not be present. Marianne will contact Chuck at Plain Press to generate an article about Twifi and promote the raffle and breakfast.
Next meeting will be December 2, 3pm at Scoops.

Submitted by Doug Copeland