The Hermes Project: JFDI - Just Farmers Doing It

The Hermes Project: JFDI - Just Farmers Doing It

B4RN - Broadband for the Rural North

B4RN - Broadband for the Rural North is a site worth visiting if you live in the Lune Valley or Trough of Bowland. Its a community cooperative laying fibre to every single property in 8 parishes, providing futurproof internet access to people in an area with very little connectivity.

The law of unforeseen circumstances...

The following link is to a really good blog post by Barry Forde. Barry built the Cleo network and has done a plan to bring broadband access to everyone in rural areas. This post has attracted many comments, which Barry has answered. It is well worth a read if you are interested in getting a decent connection for your community.
click here

Milo. Project Natal

This is a must read post from Computer Weekly. This is the future, it is happening as predicted, and is the reason we need an internet connection that is fit for purpose. Click Here

Digitalrevolutions film shown on National news.

This short clip of the digitalrevolutions film entered in the Sheffield Docfest was shown on national news on the 27th October 2010. Raising awareness of the benefits of digital technology especially in rural areas. One of the benefits is obviously campaigning for better internet access.

jfdi fiwipie

Link to the video showing how we are proposing to bring a faster wifi signal into the network to enable us to get more people online http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH_3KXTP4LI&
and more photos
here

The Gauguin show: what do you think? | Tate Blog

latest AVG free 2011

click here to download

click here for install instructions

Phoar!

Fantastic-huge potential steps forward are in the offing. Are we really almost getting there!

well worth a look if you use Gmail.

10 really easy Gmail tips and tricks.
click here

The rural fibre dig

Rural broadband connecting?

Lots of heady news in the ether at the moment. Rory Stewart dead keen to get Penrith constituency up to speed with broadband via fibre. If anyone can, with his important people connections, he can.

Huge conference coming up in September up there in Penrith. Be there!

The new plug!

Plugged my laptop into the eithernet link up with a plug that actually works. Amazing. Speed up tenfold. Girls, one has to ask why the In-house-man-in-charge-of-stuff-like-that didn't do it before.
Still on the Old Wennington wi-fi signal and now I'm rather fond of it.

Wennet CIC meeting

Well attended on 10/07/10. Such lovely views from the top of Wennington. Wennet CIC decided to purchase fibre resources to make headway in one of highlighted projects.

Latest AVG free.

http://www.filehippo.com/download_avg_antivirus/

still the best antivirus software, and still free...

slower-broadband-speeds-could-hinder-uk-house-sales

Read the article here, and then check out how you can do something about it on this excellent blog here

Avg Free version 9

Avg free version 9

Community Windfarm

· Tuesday 21st July, 2pm – 8pm, Claughton Village Hall
· Wednesday 22nd July, 4pm – 8pm, Caton Community Primary School
· Thursday 23rd July between 4pm – 8pm, Hornby Village Institute

We would like to use this opportunity to inform the local residents about the progress that has been made concerning the proposed windfarm, learn about our community benefits and to ask any questions they may have about the proposal.

Everyone is welcome and free refreshments will be available.
Louise Richardson
Projects Assistant

Community Windpower Limited
Godscroft Lane - Frodsham
Cheshire - WA6 6XU
t: 01928 734544
f: 01928 734790
Please visit our website: www.communitywindpower.co.uk

hub relocation valentines day

Relocation relocation...
We took the hub from John's to Boris's today, this resulted in an outage until all the boxes came back and started talking to each other. The university checked the radio and all the mesh came back to life. We have further tweaks to do over the next few days to make it all happy, but we are letting it settle down to see what needs doing.

Many thanks to John and Sue for hosting the hub since the network started, and thanks to Carl for all his hard work in the attic putting the hub in Boris's. Thanks to Deb and Ian for all their help too, and Tommy for putting the new radio on the roof.

Patience for a day or two now and then we shall have a balanced mesh again. Ian is running tests to see where tweaks are needed.
chris

New antenna

The short outage on the south side of the network this morning was due to the installation of a new antenna at Hilltop. The new antenna will help reduce latency and increase the speed with which the two meshboxes talk to each other. Once we move the hub next week a major bottleneck will be removed and all boxes will be able to cope with the increase in network traffic.

planned outage 5th Feb 2009

There will be a small outage between 9.30 and 10.30 on Thursday morning 5th Feb to test a new radio antenna on Hilltop. Sorry about this but it is the only way to make sure it is working properly.
chris
update:
New radio working fine, hub to transfer shortly which means another outage but hopefully not for long!

automate tasks

"How To Automate Tasks
So You Can Do More
Productive Things
With Your Time"
click on the above link to find out how to defragment your hard disk overnight and lots of other tips and tricks.
or you can try a displacement activity and make a wordle like this one: http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/588462/light_the_fibre

january power cuts

already had two this week, sorry about that but out of our control. Emergency number for united utilities is 0800 195 4141.
Dial up link on this blog if you scroll down a bit, that will get you online for your emails in an outage.
chris

free video chats with gmail

log into your gmail account and see if you are enabled for video, install the little gadget and then you can chat and see who you are talking to. great freebie from google and not a big install like skype or msn. If you haven't got a gmail address just go to www.mail.google.com and get one

repeat posting, important info

New project starting in 2008.
Participation in the university projects will greatly enhance our chances of learning and building a next generation network, so your support will benefit yourselves, your friends and your kids.
The main one is P2P tv. This is a four year project, and more info will be available shortly as plans progress. If you would like to be involved please complete the simple online survey click here
If you wish to learn more about the project, read the recent BBC News Article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7259339.stm or visit the project website www.p2p-next.org

another outage 30th nov

7.30 am
don't know what is causing this one, suspect it is power cut because only the east end of network off, the rest is powered up. I will post updates here.
8.30 am
yep, its a power cut, probably the pheasants - backup to west side of network is working where there is power. Norweb engineers fixing it at moment
11.30, power restored at the hub, old wennington back on
turned off adsl but cluster still off, problem at hilltop
turned backup back on at 12
will try to sort
3.30pm
traced cluster problem to one meshbox, probably fried with a power surge. am trying to get a replacement
10pm
still no sign of damaged box coming back, new one ready to go in morning, please limit your use of the mesh if you are on clintsfield, hilltop, byways, greenfold or higher broadwood boxes, all others operating as normal
4pm Friday
new box operational, all systems back
power to the people

small outage 28th nov

hi all, sorry for the outage today, just spoken to the engineer who is putting a new radio on melling mast for us, will be out for about an hour
chris

the big red button

Hi all
here is a message from the university who have built a programme to help with security issues. I have just downloaded and installed this programme and it is really good. Please pass it on to anyone who may not be on our mailing list on the network. If you have any security issues at all please ask the team, the email address is below or just 'reply all' to this email and it will reach them. Any information you give them will contribute to the safety of our network. It works fine on my pc, and a 'big red button' sits on your desktop ready to take a picture of the window you are bothered about. So if you see a popup when you are surfing, or open an email that worries you - then just press the button, and send the picture to the team at the university. The more people who respond the better, no problem is too small or too big, so please take this great opportunity to help build a security profile.
thanks
chris

The Big Red Button is a simple program that we hope can be used to understand the security concerns of normal computer users. Using this program you can a take picture of your screen that shows a security problem, describe it, and send it to us for advice. We're hoping this will make voicing concerns more simple, and for a while we're offering to respond personally to each submitted problem with suggestions. More information about the program and our project is available from the Big Red Button website - http://bigredbutton.lancs.ac.uk/ [http://bigredbutton.lancs.ac.uk/] We're hoping that using the information you can give us we'll learn more about your security concerns and the day to day issues you face, and from this we can improve the security on the Wray network for all users. If you have any questions you can contact the team at bigredbutton@comp.lancs.ac.uk [mailto:bigredbutton@comp.lancs.ac.uk]"

funny...

one for a wet day...

this will keep you amused until the sun comes out... click here to launch daffy duck in a parachute.

outage for electricity work advance notice

The electricity will be off 24/4/08 between 9 & 4.30 at the hub, not sure how long for, but there is an emergency dial up number below, or you can use the facilities at Wray for free.
If you take your laptop please email and I will give you a ticket.
chris

another free dial up for outages

Windows XP setup guide

1. Right-click "My Network Places"
2. Click "Properties"
3. Click "Create a new connection"
4. Click Next twice
5. Click "Setup my connection manually", then "Next"
6. Enter "UK2.NET", then "Next"
7. Click Connect using a Dial-Up modem, then "Next"
8. Enter "0845 665 3000", then "Next"
9. Enter "uk2" in user name and password, then "Next"
10. Click "Finish"
11. Click "Dial" to test connection

0800 612 1242 is the customer help line.

University projects.

Two new projects starting in 2008.
The main one is P2P tv. This is a four year project, and more info will be available shortly as plans progress. If you would like to be involved please complete the simple online survey click here
If you wish to learn more about the project, read the recent BBC News Article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7259339.stm or visit the project website www.p2p-next.org

Another shorter project is the one focusing on security issues. The first group meeting will take place next week, please register your interest online at the doodle page, just click here if you wish to attend, all welcome.

Free photo/video editor

• A set of creative commons web slideshow templates and the corresponding online/off-line slideshow generator
• An endeavor to mix creative commons photos, sounds and music on the web
• It supports background mp3 playing, lyric, annotation text, transition effects and some artistic photo effects.

Click here to visit the website and find out more

BTW

The photo albums and slideshow pages generated with SlidePlay could be uploaded to any web sites that can serve static html pages (no server-side scripts are required).

Free landline calls

Free landline calls

If you set up a facebook profile (use a made up name if you don't want to use your real one) then you can add a free truphone number and people can ring you for nothing! If you are already on facebook then just click this link and add a call button. http://www.truphone.com/
Truphone also supports various nokia phones, and calls are also free on those.

What is Truphone?

Truphone routes your mobile calls via the internet. That means free mobile calls to other Truphone users & very cheap calls to anyone else.

Three reasons to get Truphone

1. Amazing launch offer - extended! Now you can get FREE mobile calls to 40 countries (and US cellphones) until Feb 29th 2008.
2. Great for travelling - Truphone works across the globe and wherever you have access to Wi-Fi.
3. No monthly charges - And free to download.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to everyone on the Wray and Wennington community networks, and thanks to everyone who has helped us in 2007. May 2008 bring health and happiness to our valley and even fibre, one can live in hope?
keep rockin
http://tinyurl.com/2hanan click to view Christmas card and then make your own

Camtasia video editing software FREE

Click here to go to instant download, save the file to your pc.
this software is version 3, which is adequate to make videos from your screen, don't be conned into buying v5 unless you need the added features. Once you have downloaded the software go to this link to register it for free.
Camtasia Studio gives you the power to easily record your screen, PowerPoint presentations, voice and webcam video to create compelling video tutorials, presentations and rich sales demonstrations for web and CD-Rom delivery.

Motorway jamcams

click here to view map and webjamcams for Lancashire motorways, plan your journey and avoid queues

Lins in the Lombard

Click here to listen to the interview
Lindsey Annison, one of the team from CBN who helped us get a broadband network going in the area is in the Lombard rally raising money for the air ambulance. This interview with her was on radio Lancashire.

AVG free virus protection

Link to the new site where you can download it for free, click here

Easy free dial up link

If the network is down it makes sense to have a dial up number for emergencies, this link will take you to one that is really easy to set up, and you will only be charged a local call rate for the time you spend online. Click here

Friday 12th October power cut

Temporary outage on Friday morning when electrical work is being done around the hub. As a few people will not have electricity this may not be noticed, but for those whose power is not disconnected they will find they have no internet until the electric supply is back on.
Sorry for any inconvenience, please use the free dial up connection (you just pay for call charges) for urgent emails. It should only be for a short period.

Network at risk

Dear user,
>
> During the network at risk period on the 9th October 2007, the
> Lancaster University Network Services and CLEO Networks may
experience
> some loss of connectivity to the Internet whilst a hardware
> replacement takes place. Outages should last for less than five
> minutes and are planned to occur between 0700 hrs and 0800 hrs.
>
> Regards
>
> A. Parker
Free dialup number click here

Resize images with a couple of clicks

If you download and install this power toy from microsoft you can easily resize images from your folders. It gives you a new option on a right click to 'resize'. This makes blogging, emailing and making webpages of your photos much easier. Click here to go to the microsoft site, and on the right side scroll down until you see the photo resizer link. Download it to your desktop and install it.

Network outage 28th July

Hi all, 2pm
Network down due to circumstances beyond our control. Fault has been reported. Will put a notice here when we find out what it was.
Please use emergency dial up number (details further down blog)
8pm, networks fixed, many thanks to Lancaster University Network services
normal service resumed
chris
Update from LUNS: Monday 30th

 The outage was due to United Utilities taking down one of the upstream
masts for power work without notice.  As far as we are aware it was
emergency work.

BIG UPGRADE at Wray Institute!

Online centre at Wray Institute open to the public Mon, Wed, Fri 10am -10pm and other times in between depending on other bookings. Simon who looks after the computers has asked if you could leave comments here if you have any, thanks, chris.

The computers have been upgraded as follows:

Windows XP

Office XP (Access, Excel, FrontPage, PowerPoint, Word)

Publisher 2000

Photoshop Elements 4.0

Adobe Reader 8

AVG Anti-Virus

Firefox web browser

Picassa

Google Talk

Skype

Encarta

Autoroute 2001

If possible I would like feedback from people who use it, what they think, any other software they would like installed, other hardware, like printer, scanner etc??

Hope to hear from you soon

Simon

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities

Thanks to John for this link, it is a site where all the utilities you will ever need are located, just click here to visit.

Free dial up number

For times when you need web access if the broadband network is down or for when you are away from home.
Sign up for this free pay as you go service and configure your computer ready for any emergency.
Click here

Sunday 4th Feb. Network outage

Hi all,
both the Wray and Wennet networks are down, due to a fail in the feed from the mast. I am posting this for your information so if you use your emergency dial up connection you can find out what is happening. We may not get a connection back until tomorrow when the technicians return to work. Please be patient.

UPDATE
normal service resumed at 12 noon, many thanks to University Network Services

Just Ask

Please sign petition at the Country Landowners Association, they have a campaign going to encourage people to Just Ask where their food is coming from...
click here (it only takes 10 secs)
thanks

JFDI community broadband - Wennington

A book about us, click here

14th November network upgrade

Hi all, a message from the University below,
the last two upgrades had no effect on the network but it is as well to be forwarned!
chris

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to advise you of scheduled Network upgrade that will be

taking place on the 14 November 2006.

During this time, there is a small risk of a brief interruption to your
connectivity to the Internet.

The brief outage should not last more than 5 minutes and will take place

some time between 07:00 and 09:00.

Many thanks for your understanding.

Regards

Andy Ellis
Lancaster University Network Services Ltd

Free AVG update

click here for AVG free update
just follow the instructions on the page

Local action film

Click here to watch the Wennet and Wray video on YouTube

Fun page made with google page creator

Check this out, play a few games or make your own page using a really easy online web page designer. all free

Stock up on Christmas presents half price!

Della clark wrote:

> The Jewellery Room is having a jewellery
> sale on Sunday 15th October 2006 from
> 11.30am - 4.00pm at The Scarthwaite
> Hotel Crook of Lune, Caton.
>
> We are selling old stock at half price and
> there will be new stock for Christmas.
www.thejewelleryroom.co.uk

Planned outages, 10th &17th October

Dear all,

I would like to advise you of two brief service outages which will affect our equipment located in the Lancaster University Network Services Headend Rack. The outages are taking place on 10.10.06 @ 07.00 to 09.00 and also 17.19.06 and are due to a change in the internal routing of the network. This work may, therefore, disable your site/s internet connectivity for the specified periods.

Kind Regards

Andy Ellis
Lancaster University Network Services Ltd
Network Operations Desk

Fax to and from your PC

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
http://www.fax2mail.co.uk/
free fax to email!
works for 30 days
How it works
Faxes can be Sent, Received, Saved, Filed, Forwarded and Tracked in seconds directly from your existing E-mail Client or Web-Mail Account. A transparent process, which occurs outside of your PDA, Laptop, Desktop Computer, Servers and Network with Traffic being forwarded through Fax2Mails high-speed, high-volume global network, essentially a managed service.

When Receiving a fax, Fax2Mail automatically converts the fax to an Adobe PDF (Free Download of Adobe Reader available here) or TIFF file attachment and forwards it to the assigned user's e-mail address, with ‘notification’ in the subject line.

When Sending a fax, Fax2Mail supports virtually all common document types including spreadsheets and graphic images. These are then automatically converted to outbound faxes and forwarded to the number provided.

Rotary club race night

The Rotary Club of Lunesdale are having a Race Night at Hornby Institute on Thursday. It starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £7 which includes a Hot Pot supper. Should be a good night especilly if you like betting on the horses!

If anyone is interested let me know and I will get some tickets to you.

Della

googletalk updated

Even more features now added, file share and voicemail. I have tested the voicemail and it works great, you just call offline friends and leave a message, the call is then sent to them on an email and they can play it when they get home. File sharing seems to be slow, but this will probably improve with time and better connections. Definitely worth trying.

Free downloads

Click here for great free software downloads

Emergency 'dial up' link

Click here
this is a cool site use it when you are away from home and can't find a hotspot or when the broadband is down.

Full instructions are provided on this link to set it up on your computer. You just input the number, enter the user name and password, and pay a local rate to access the internet via a local phone charge. Take care not to use it in hotels though! They sometimes charge extra for a phone line. You can also subscribe to their service for free, and use dial up when you like and have free webspace. This is a very handy link for the odd times when the network is down due to electricity cuts or backhaul outages. It means you can have an emergency connection for important emails or access.

free web pages from google

free web pages from google

Create your own web pages, quickly and easily.

Google Page Creator is a free online tool that makes it easy for anyone to create and publish useful, attractive web pages in just minutes.

* No technical knowledge required.
Build high-quality web pages without having to learn HTML or use complex software.

* What you see is what you'll get.
Edit your pages right in your browser, seeing exactly how your finished product will look every step along the way.

* Don't worry about hosting.
Your web pages will live on your own site at http://yourgmailusername.googlepages.com
click here for test run

Videos and photos now online

Wray Scarecrow Festival blogspot

short outage on March 16th advance warning

Dear all,

I would like to advise you of a brief service outage which will affect
our equipment located in the Telewest Preston Head End Rack 5 (Lancaster
University Network Services Ltd). The outage is taking place on 16.03.06
@ 07.30 to 08.00 and is due to a change in the internal routing of the
network. This work will therefore disable your site/s internet
connectivity for the specified period. Inter-site connectivity within
the network will not be effected.

I trust this outage is acceptable.

Kind Regards

Andy Ellis
Lancaster University Network Services Ltd Network Operations Desk

Network outage Feb 28th.

The network will be unavailable Feb 28th 9am-4pm. United Utilities are doing some power work at Wennington so the Hub will be off until it is complete. Sorry about the outage but if it makes the electricity supply stronger it can only be a Good Thing.

Free personal firewall

click here to find out about Kerio
"Looking for the FREE Kerio Firewall? You have found the right page. Just like the original, the Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall will keep on working after the first 30 days, only in a more limited mode, but free! Download now, keep the bad guys out".

Notspot survey

Please fill in the notspot survey if you are unable to get a broadband connection via ADSL (BT) where you live or work. Click here
The information gathered will assist the Community Broadband network to help you.

short outage for power cable replacement

There will be a short outage on the south side of the mesh for cable work at around 2pm Tues 7th Feb. It should only be for 20mins or so. Sorry for any inconvenience.
chris

google chat

New facility being rolled out for googletalk, it enables you to automatically save your chats in your gmail site. Very handy for technical chats where you want a record. You can disable the feature for chats you don't want to save.
email wennet@gmail.com if you want an invite to join googlemail and get the benefits of free web based mail, free video storage, googletalk and free voice calls.
chris

Planned network outage 17th Feb

Dear all,

I would like to advise you of a power outage which will affect our
equipment located in the Telewest Preston Head End Rack 5 (Lancaster
University Network Services Ltd).
The outage is taking place on 17.02.06 @ 00.01 to 02.00 and is due to the current UPS unit being replaced. This work will therefore disable your site/s internet connectivity for the specified period.
Inter-site connectivity within the network will not be effected.

I trust this outage is acceptable.

Kind Regards

Andy Ellis
Lancaster University Network Services Ltd
Network Operations Desk

Maggot racing

more photos on wrayvillage website, Maggots earned £632 for the North West Air Ambulance fund. Many thanks to all who sponsored and supported this event.
The new air ambulance is called 'Lucy', give her a wave if you see her in the skies near you and wish whoever is being rescued good health...

virus alert, not a hoax

Flash Report:
SANS Internet Storm Center has found that more than 500,000 personal computers have been infected by the 'Grew' worm (it goes by a number of different names, e.g. 'Nyxem'). On February 3rd, it will delete all documents (Word, Excel and a number of others). Make sure your mom and your kids (and everyone else who may call you when they lose data) to update their AV signatures and run a full scan. "Update now or all your files may get lost." A special Storm Center website on the problem:
http://isc.sans.org/blackworm

Stone Waymarkers celebration day

The Stone Waymarkers project will come to an end on February 4th with a celebration at the Craft Barn Tea rooms in Wray at 3pm, and mulled wine and cake is the order of the day.. Photos of the waymarkers can be seen on the blogspot and the children will be there to receive their certificates for their work and designs. Photos of waymarkers

For help press F1

PC worlds price list for help, click here, or come to the computer club held every fortnight at Wray and get help for free or help others.
1st and 3rd Thursdays every month at the Institute, 7pm onwards.

Free downloads

click here for free software downloads including firefox, thunderbird, open office, ipod agent CutePDF Writer and many more

How to build a home network to share files

Click here
simple instructions on how to share files on a home network, thanks to Phil for this!
Posted on the Community Broadband forum where you can ask for help and advice.

Free anti virus protection

This is a link to AVG free, just click it, scroll to the bottom of the page that opens and choose the link to avg free, follow instructions and your computer will be protected from virus attacks as long as you keep it updated.
Click here

Emergency 'dial up' link

Click here
this is a cool site found by Deb. She uses it when she is away from home and can't find a hotspot. You just dial the number, enter the user name and password, and pay a local rate to access the internet via a local phone charge. Take care not to use it in hotels though! They sometimes charge extra for a phone line. You can also subscribe to their service for free, and use dial up when you like and have free webspace. This is a very handy link for the odd times when the network is down due to electricity cuts or backhaul outages. It means you can have an emergency connection for important emails or access.

Freddie eat your heart out

What a pair....

Stone waymarker photo blog

Next stone workshop to be held on January 7th at the Craft Barn tea rooms.
stone workshop at Wray click here to go to the blogspot with photos.

Computer Club

New Computer club starting due to popular request. First session on Thursday 5th January 2006.
Come along to Wray Institute and lets all start making the most of the broadband connection and our equipment. All popular software programmes discussed and trouble shooting can be done.
VoIP, podcasts,web conferencing, - If lessons are needed we will organise them. Help available within the community can solve many problems, working together we can all help each other to make the most of our knowledge.
Demos of voip phones and webcams available. The institute is wifi so bring your laptops if you like.

Everybody welcome,post any questions you have in the comments section of this post.

chris

unplanned short outage Dec 21st

Network went off late morning Monday Dec 21st
Network up again at 1.00pm.
Planned work at the mast preceeding Melling should have resulted in a micro outage of around 30 secs. However the job unexpectedly involved rewiring the connection which took longer.
Apologies were given by LUNS for any inconvenience,
Queried any further planned maintenance over the break. Was told none was anticipated;.
Regards to all,
Deb

google group mail

Gmail lets you organize your contacts into Groups so you can easily send messages to a number of people at once. Here's how to create Contact Groups:

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Click Contacts along the left side of any Gmail page.
3. Open the Groups tab, and click Create Group.
4. Enter your contact group's name in the Group name: field.
5. Type the contacts you'd like to include in the Group in the Add contacts: field. (Gmail's auto-complete feature will suggest addresses from your Contacts list as you type.)
6. Click Create Group.

If you'd like to choose contacts from a list when creating Contact Groups, you can do so from the Frequently Mailed and All Contacts tabs. Here's how:

1. Click Contacts along the left side of any Gmail page.
2. Open the Frequently Mailed or All Contactstab, and check the boxes next to the names of each contact you'd like to include in your new Contact Group.
3. From the Add contact to... drop-down menu, select New group....
4. Enter the name of your new Contact Group in the appropriate field, and click OK

google talk

What is Google Talk?

Google Talk is a simple and free way to talk with and send instant messages to your friends. Like Gmail, Google Talk uses Google's innovative technologies to help people communicate more effectively and efficiently. Think of it as Google's approach to communications.

Google Talk is easy and intuitive to use. All you need to make free calls is an Internet connection, a microphone, and a speaker. After you download Google Talk, sign in with your Gmail username and password. Invite your friends to download Google Talk, and once they do, you'll be able to talk or IM with them instantly. Google talk now supports video conferencing so you can see the people you are talking to.
Click here

New installation

New meshbox installed at the top of Old Moor Road to enable more users to connect in the future. This box is sited at a house that used to be able to connect to an ADSL line in the early days, but severe congestion and contention in the area has made connection unavailable, forming another 'notspot'. The wireless mesh has proved that a signal can be transmitted to these areas providing a 2 meg symmetrical feed. Contact wennet@gmail.com if you live in the area and wish to join the network.

power cut Dec 2nd

Power cut at the hub at 5am this morning meant that the whole network was down until 11am. Power cut at Broadwood meant that the south side was off as well. Will try to find out what is going on...
...if anyone hears anything please post a comment. ta.

power cut Dec 1st

Power cut at east end of network meant connection was off this afternoon but the rest of the network was ok. not got details of what caused it yet but when the power came back normal service was resumed.

power cut nov 28th

Short power cut this morning at the hub caused network outage for just over an hour. Normal service now resumed. Nothing to do with your equipment or university backhaul. Hope it didn't interfere with anyone's work too much. These things happen. Please comment if it caused you problems then we have a record. Thanks.

The Christingle Service on Sunday 4th December at 11 am.

Owing to problems with Wray Church heating, which will now not be resolved by then, The Christingle Service will now take place at ST. JAMES the LESS CHURCH, LOWER TATHAM, instead.
Please will you pass on this message to everyone possible. Thank you.
Sylvia Hamblin.

Cord Slurry Spreading

Click here to view a video showing how farmers can fertilise the soil with slurry and avoid run off and aerate the soil at the same time...

Google videos

Publish your videos and charge to view or use to publicise your product or business.
Click here

oldwen bonfire

Contact Della for details! I will try to post more info in Comments on this post.

Nwda film

The film was brilliant at Rheged today, link here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dQD-CjoXPA

Google Map for Wennington/Wray

Click here to see the beta version of the googlemap. If you would like one for your website to direct visitors to your business just leave a comment or email me, as soon as I figure out how to do it I will show you! A friend is doing one and each time he learns a new trick he shows me. It will be possible to put pins in it and each pin can bring up details or directions etc. You can also change the view to an aerial photo and zoom in and out, or move around the country. Please let me know if you have any problems with it. cheers, Chris.

Icons for your address bar

Personalise your URL in people's favourites and in the address bar of their browsers by making your own Icon. Click here to access FREE instant service. Check the one on Wray's webpage to see what they look like.

free puzzle for wet day displacement activity

Square-Off is a puzzle game based on the japanese “nonogram” puzzles (sometimes called Griddlers, or paint by numbers).
Free trial download link.
Your object in the game is to uncover all the black squares in the grid. To help you solve the puzzle, the number of black squares in each row and column are displayed. The game can be difficult at first, but the techniques are easy to learn. There are three skill levels - each level the board gets bigger, and the game much more hard to solve. very addictive. But it is raining today...more on the wiki

news item

Latest on voip according to Telegraph.
click this link to save you buying a copy...

Power cuts archive

Saturday Sept 24th
Power cut off at the Hub this morning 6.30am so all the network is down. Apparently this is a normal occurence at this time of year when dawn breaks. The pheasants fly out of the trees into the line and short it all out. It usually takes four hours for the Electriciy people to fix it, so by 11am power should return and the mesh will wake up.

Wednesday Sept 21st
One side of mesh taken out today with power cut whilst the United Utilities people cut down some trees. Normal service will resume this afternoon. Please post here if you find any problems when the power comes back on.

personalise the google home page

Just Launched!

Location, Location, Location
Gmail now has a spot on Google. Personalize the Google homepage and add a section for Gmail so you can easily see new messages and go to your Inbox whenever you do a Google search. Even get news headlines, weather forecasts and more.
http://www.google.com/ig

Topiary-Angels News

Brilliant! a new blog from the Wennington Stable.
Find out how to look after your topiary and overwinter it in this newsletter. Well done Delia, keep posting all the news.

Topiary-Angels News

Do your own logo

Easy as pie.
click here to do your own FREE logo in 5 minutes.

Brilliant Ignorance

Brilliant Ignorance
Link to good blog, got lots of free download links for mac users, just scroll down until you find them. There are lots of comments for further info on this posting too. Also free downloads for treo users.

On Line Marketing tips blog

On Line Marketing
visit jan's blog if you want to learn more about online marketing. Please post here if you find it helps your website to go up the rankings.

send photos to friends with hello, free download

Great programme for sharing photos, like chat but with graphics. Your friend can keep the low res version Hello sends or can download a high resolution version.
Read all about it here

Thank you Wray

Wray Com Com
click the link if you want to visit Wray's blog. Wray Community Communications have helped to build a broadband network for us. Beta tests are complete and everyone who wanted a connection is now online with 2meg symmetrical broadband via a wireless mesh network.
Thanks also to NWDA, LDDA, NRSP, LUNS, LCC, UNltd, Locust World, CBN SWBB Rural Matrix and last but not least, a special thank you to Joel et al at DALESIT. Power to the people.

view of a network

Word Blogging

This is a test of sending a post to the blog from Microsoft word. If you can read this on the blog then it works. You can start your own blog and just send postings from your word processor. Download the Word Blogger and it puts an toolbar on your Word screen, click it and post…
Chris

VOIP

Free telephone calls to everyone online, or very (very) cheap calls to land lines. This is one of the phones we are testing,click here
(supplied by a local firm in Horwich), the phone plugs directily into your pc's usb port and once you have downloaded a suitable programme (tested google talk and skype today and it works) you just plug it in and get talking. Phones cost around £25, ring round the world's PCs free or buy 10 Euros of skype credit and ring landlines for under 2p a minute.
(You can use a headset or a microphone and speakers if you prefer).
Chris

SEND mail - fixes using Gmail as SMTP server

Read the comments on this post for more fixes or click links below!
Quick link to full instructions for Outlook Express:

Outlook 2003 help from microsoft:

Outage August 13th

The network was down today from around 9am to 4:50 pm. We do not know why this happened but when we find out we will post a comment here on this thread. This highlights the need to get a Service Level Agreement sorted out for weekend cover. As we were just talking about this at the meeting today it seems a bit like kismet that the outage happened when it did! The mesh continued to work as normal, just the backhaul failed. This builds a case for keeping a dial up connection for emergencies, (and also for a backup signal such as a satellite or an adsl line subscription via Wray) to keep the system working until the main backhaul feed is back up.

Normal service has now been resumed.
Chris.

Firefox browser

Handy link here, I use firefox and prefer it to IE, it is free to download from this link,
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

chris.

"The wait is over. Firefox empowers you to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than with any other browser. Join more than 75 million others — Firefox imports your Favorites, settings and other information, so you have nothing to lose."

Why Use Firefox?
“Beware of spyware. If you can, use the Firefox browser.” - USA Today
“Better than Internet Explorer by leaps and bounds.” - FORBES
Popup Blocking
Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker.

Who Links To You?

Some words, when followed by a colon, have special meanings to Google. One such word for Google is the link: operator. The query link:yoursitesURL shows you pages that point to that URL. For example, link:www.google.com will show you pages that point to Google's home page. (You cannot combine a link: search with a regular keyword search).

Get the google toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/firefox/index.html

photo of the JEDI and the Imesh

Ian gets a packet or two from the rocking horse do-da straight into his hand.
This is the Imesh that enables two businesses to thrive in the digital age.

Power to all the people, wherever they choose to live and work.

Google Earth

Five minutes to spare?
Download Google earth and zoom in to your postcode from outer space. Amazing programme and free to use. (Will only work with Broadband connection)
http://earth.google.com/
be careful, it is very addictive!
overlay roads, find a local plumber, the world is shrinking...
...great for planning holidays and looking at where you have been or where the kids are now. In some places you can even see the houses.
chris

photo organiser and gmail

An easier way to send up to 10MB of photos
http://picasa.google.com/index.html
Gmail now works with Picasa, Google's free photo organizer. You can use Picasa to easily find, edit and preview your photos. Log in to Gmail directly from Picasa and send the photos from your Gmail account. Picasa even automatically resizes your photos so they're easier to receive and open. Your friends without such large email accounts will thank you.

Security links

Always update your windows!

http://update.microsoft.com

Anti virus protection

Broadband is an always on, high speed connection and you need virus protection. This should always be kept up to date by enabling a daily update.
View the 'comments' for more advice and help, and feel free to add your own tips and links.

Tickets for guests/visitors/students etc

Joel has generated 100 tickets for guest access to our network. We tried one out yesterday to see how it worked and it is very simple. (as in even chris can do it).
If you have a guest in your home with a wireless laptop and you would like them to use the network you can ask for tickets. The username and password will be given to you. When your guest sees the login screen they input the details and they are then connected to the mesh for a day. The ticket then expires and cannot be used again. This keeps the network secure for all the subscribers. Please email ticket@wraycomcom.org.uk if you would like some, or post a comment here. Thanks,
Chris

network outage

Dear user,

Due to a urgent core network device upgrade, your internet service
connection will be disabled between 19:00 and 21:00 on the evening of
Monday 8th August 2005.

This outage will facilitate the installation of new equipment and allow
your network connection to be re-configured for a more reliable service.

Please accept our apologies for the late notification of this outage.
Normal service will be restored as soon as possible after 19:00.

Regards

Lancaster University Network Services Ltd
A National Telecommunications Operator

JEDI

Well they said we couldn't do it so we Just Efin Did It.
Gill was installed this week and so now our primary network is complete.

A small step for man and all that.

Many thanks to Locust World and DalesIT and especially Joel for all his skill, and to Martin for the strength of his arm and his long fencing post and his field. Martin is amazed at the speed that he can download his model aeroplane photos. The luddite is a reformed character.


Power to the people.
Chris

Welcome to all new members

Hi there, and welcome to the blogspot for Old Wennington. Feel free to post comments here and ask questions. Everyone in the group can post, and working together we can document our engagement in the project to bring broadband to a small group of Rural Businesses that the world was leaving behind as the Digital Divide grows ever wider...