Manhattan

Want. NYC to bring fast public WiFi

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Finally, a use for those strange kiosks with payphones in. They’re going to be converted to be wifi stations – and not just any old slow wifi, but gigabit wifi. For gigabit read fast and for fast read when will it be done here too?

New York City today unveiled an ambitious plan to roll out a free city-wide municipal Wi-Fi network that officials say will be the fastest and most wide-reaching network of its kind in the world.

At a press conference at City Hall, the city unveiled LinkNYC, which will rely on thousands of kiosks that will be deployed at locations currently occupied by pay phones. The kiosks will be installed in as many as 10,000 locations throughout the five boroughs and will offer Wi-Fi service of one gigabit per second within a radius of 150 feet. They’ll also offer free domestic voice calls to all 50 states. The first of the kiosks is expected to begin service in late 2015.

New York City to Offer Free Gigabit Wi-Fi in 2015 – Arik Hesseldahl, Re/code (17 November 2014)

Read the full piece.

The city that never sleeps but does stop working early

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When I step out onto Manhattan’s streets, I am taller. Can’t explain that, can’t justify it and I’ve long given up trying to understand it myself. But it is true. I love New York. But apparently it’s not as energetic there as I thought:

People in the Big Apple are pretty productive in their mornings but social media distractions solidly take hold by lunchtime – and the rest of the day is really a wash after that.

That, at least, is one observation from a new Twitter heat-map that aims to take the pulse of the bustling metropolis by analyzing New Yorkers’ Twitter activity over a 5-month timeframe. Researchers behind the map say it demonstrates that Twitter could be a valuable resource to understand human behavior in urban environments.

The Exact Moment When New York Office Workers Start Slacking Off – Carl Engelking, Discover (4 November 2014)

Frightening, much? Read the full piece.

Mesmerising New York City app

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If I haven’t mentioned this before, I am an NYC fan. There, I’ve said it. I will doubtlessly say it again. For whatever reason, I promise I am taller when I’m in Manhattan. As ever when you’re into something, you are attuned to every mention and so that’s how I heard of an app that has mesmerised me today.

Tunnel Vision.

If you’re in New York City and waiting for a train on the MTA, find a map, point this app at it and you will apparently unlock gorgeously fascinating information. I’m in the UK and I’ve tried pointing it at a Google-found image of the MTA transit maps and not got anything.

But there is a button marked “Or use without a map”. And, grief, you have to see it. You get Manhattan covered in different coloured blobs that pulsate at you so fast.  It’s showing, in real time, how many people are entering New York underground stations. Now.

It’s a gorgeous example of what can be done when a city allows access to its databases but, still, I do not need this information.

But, still, I love it.

Get Tunnel Vision for free on the iPhone App Store.