Monthly Archives: December 2010

Next Task Minnesota Force Meeting

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The Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force will be meeting tomorrow (December 15, 2010) at the TIES Facility (1667 Snelling Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55108) from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.

I will be there to take notes. I don’t have a good feel if there will be a lot of discussion or a lot of heads down wordsmith work.

Here’s the agenda:

1. Welcome

2. Introduction of guests and those on video or teleconference

3. Public remarks

4. Approval of Minutes of November 17, 2010 meeting

5. Finalize report

LUNCH

6. Finalize report (continued)

7. Next meeting: date, location, agenda topics

8. Adjournment

2010: A Momentous Year For Broadband in America: Dec 22

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I think this will be an interesting webcast, especially given it falls on the day after the FFC meeting…

2010: A Momentous Year For Broadband in America
December 22 @ 1:00-2:30 Eastern

Join hosts Jim Baller and Marty Stern and their guests — Cecilia Kang, Gigi Sohn, Jeff Silva, and Scott Cleland — for a lively review of the key developments in broadband in the US in 2010, including the FCC’s decision on Net Neutrality, to be released on December 21, and for some bold
predictions for 2011

Broadband by any other name?

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Thanks to Becky LaPlant for the heads up on the recent FCC report on Internet Access Services: Status of December 1, 2009. Here are some of the results…

At year-end 2009, 58% of reportable connections (or 76,594,000 connections) were slower than 3 mbps in the downstream direction, 12% (or 16,172,000 connections) were at least 3 mbps in the downstream direction but slower than 6 mbps, and 30% (or 40,382,000 connections) were at least 6 mbps in the downstream direction. [see chart at right]

Housed in the research is an intersting dicussion on broadband definition – highlighted by a recent post in Engadget. Here’s a quick look at what the report purports to use…

At present, the Form 477 program categorizes reportable connections into 72 speed tiers defined by eight ranges of downstream speed and nine ranges of upstream speed. In this overview discussion, we organize the extensive information collected for December 2009 into three groups of downstream speeds and three groups of upstream speeds. For the breakpoints between these groups, we use the Form 477-defined breakpoints that the Commission discussed as potential proxies for the broadband availability benchmark adopted in the Sixth Broadband Deployment Report.5 These Form 477-defined breakpoints are 3 mbps and 6 mbps for downstream speeds and 768 kbps and 1.5 mbps for upstream speeds.

This is the second time we’ve seen the FCC allude to a new definition of broadband in a report. The first time was last summer and their 706 Report. Here’s what they said about the change then…

As an alternative benchmark for this year’s report, and given that this year’s inquiry was conducted in conjunction with the National Broadband Plan proceeding, we find it appropriate and reasonable to adopt instead the minimum speed threshold of the national broadband availability target proposed in the National Broadband Plan. The National Broadband Plan recommends as a national broadband availability target that every household in America have access to affordable broadband service offering actual download (i.e., to the customer) speeds of at least 4 Mbps and actual upload (i.e., from the customer) speeds of at least 1 Mbps.[1] This target was derived from analysis of user behavior, demands this usage places on the network, and recent experience in network evolution.[2] It is the minimum speed required to stream a high-quality —even if not high-definition—video while leaving sufficient bandwidth for basic web browsing and e-mail, a common mode of broadband usage today that comports directly with section 706’s definition of advanced telecommunications capability.

So we’ve got 3 Mpbs and 4 Mbpbs.

The FCC has some Consumer Fact Sheets that offer an even broader definition…

What Is Broadband?

Broadband or high-speed Internet access allows users to access the Internet and Internet-related services at significantly higher speeds than those available through “dial-up” Internet access services. Broadband speeds vary significantly depending on the particular type and level of service ordered and may range from as low as 200 kilobits per second (kbps), or 200,000 bits per second, to six megabits per second (Mbps), or 6,000,000 bits per second. Some recent offerings even include 50 to 100 Mbps. Broadband services for residential consumers typically provide faster downstream speeds (from the Internet to your computer) than upstream speeds (from your computer to the Internet

Sometimes it feels like splitting hairs except that as we’ve seen that funding (especially federal funding) may focus on unserved and underserved areas – so the defintion of broadband becomes important.

MN Broadband Stories of Success: E-Democracy email lists

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According to their web site, E-Democracy uses online tools to support participation in public life, strengthen communities and build democracy. One of the tools they offer is community-based email lists. (They’re available on the web too.) They have done this for more than 15 years. Sometimes conversation on the lists gets heated around policy, sometimes it’s banal – but that’s life with your neighbors. I like best when conversation online makes a difference in the real world.

Recently Steve Clift, E-Democracy’s Executive Director, pulled together a list of examples where lists have made a mark in the real world. With his permission I am sharing his list as a Minnesota Broadband Story of Success. I know you don’t need broadband for email – but you do need a computer and a connection and many surveys have shown that for many households the computer is the barrier. Maybe engagement tools like these will help make a computer more appealing. It’s also worth noting that while these examples are taken from the Twin Cities, there are lists in rural Minnesota (and around the world) as well…

In Minneapolis’ Powderhorn Park, our Neighbors Issues Forum, led by volunteer Sara Bergen, connects about 15% of households everyday (500 forum members in an area with 3,400 household, 9,000 residents with a big urban park in the middle). The recent drive-by shooting of a teen girl and now the recent sexual assault in the park (two incidents, three victims by juvenile attackers) have been major topics of exchange. The Minneapolis Star Tribune picked up on a post from the sexual assault victim and it is now their most viewed news story. The powerful post from the “the ‘mother’ in the news” on the forum.

Her first person report is markedly different than the local media reporting rapes. There was also a on the planning for vigil on Dec 1 in the park. We didn’t create our forums narrowly in response to crime, but promoting safety is one huge benefit of well-functioning neighborhood forums.

Three other examples from just the last couple weeks:

  1. In Nokomis East, a burglar is scared off by someone who cites the forum as alerting her to their methods:
    Post 3 – http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/3KlTBueeAzkN6NZ3f3c3tT
    Maps shared – http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/5Hwu9DnKPZbinm7t8AUkHA
  2. In Standish Ericsson, someone tells of being a victim of burglary:
    http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/post/7BS0kpGZA211p9lVLwD2wc
    (Click arrow to see full post on web site)
  3. In Seward, neighbors react to poor television news reporting on the safety of their community after a shooting:
    http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4c6hfO7orXJvCWkMiVvva6

For those not familiar with the “Neighbors Online” movement, some 12+ million Americans adults participate in neighborhood e-mail lists/forums/social networks on top of those who visit place blogs. See Pew Internet numbers and my analysis:
http://blog.e-democracy.org/posts/858

Our model is somewhat unique in that our forums are be designed “public” so as to attract as many people as possible via Google searches, we require real names (like Facebook but unlike most blog and online news commenters), and we have a city-wide forum where more political issues can rise to a larger more political audience. So, with the mother’s post, it is open and accessible for all to see including the local media. The Powderhorn forum has attracted nearly 50 new members to reach 500 in the last few days due to our intentional openness.

Project Volunteer Coordinator need for Lake County fiber program

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OK this is loosely related to broadband – but it obviously tied into ARRA broadband programs – and I thought maybe someone on this list would either be interested or know someone who is interested in the position.

The Lake County folks have an RFP for a Project Volunteer Coordinator for the Lake County fiber project. They are looking for a person or firm to help develop local grassroots support and public awareness of the Network.

The submission deadline is December 22, 2010 at 3:00 pm.

Twin Cities tech projects get ADC funding

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I have some bittersweet news today. ADC Foundation is making its final round of technology grants. ADC has long been a supporter of technology projects in the Twin Cities. Earlier this year they were purchased by Tyco Electronics. So I’m delighted to report the funding and sad to add that it’s the last round.

I saw some of the recipients of the funding earlier this week at the Digital Inclusion conference; they are doing great work. Congratulations to the recipients!

Here is the press release…

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bill Linder-Scholer, ADC Foundation
bill.linder-scholer@adc.com
952.917.0580

ADC Foundation Makes Final Round of Grants

Contributions Reflect Foundation’s Strategic Community Partnerships
and Intent to Achieve Deep Impact

MINNEAPOLIS, December 10, 2010 – ADC Foundation announced today that it will make a round of strategic grants totaling $3.75 million to five community partners in the Twin Cities and Juarez, Mexico. Each grant will be $750,000. The Foundation’s grants will be used to promote transformative change in engineering education programs and effective use of computing and communications technologies to better serve disadvantaged populations.

ADC Telecommunications, Inc., parent company of the ADC Foundation, was recently purchased by Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE: TEL). As part of the acquisition-related merger process, the ADC Foundation will make this final round of grants to five key organizations the ADC Foundation has partnered with in the past.

“ADC has a long and strong history of community involvement,” said Robert E. Switz, former chairman and CEO of ADC and also former chairman of the ADC Foundation. “We believe these focused contributions through the foundation will honor that legacy. By supporting our strategic community partners one more time and in a concentrated way, we hope to deepen the impact of our giving over the past several decades.”

ADC Foundation grants will go to the following organizations:

  • Community Technology Empowerment Project (St. Paul, MN) This grant will underwrite expansion of CTEP’s AmeriCorps program that places technology specialists in more than 20 Twin Cities neighborhood organizations, expand CTEP’s public outreach, and facilitate the development of community leadership for technology and communications.
  • Fondo Unido de Chihuahua (Juarez, Mexico) With Fondo Unido, a United Way affiliate acting as fiscal agent, this grant will underwrite engineering education scholarships and general operating support for several colleges and organizations in the cities of Juarez and Delicias.
  • MAP for Nonprofits (St. Paul, MN) This grant will underwrite a comprehensive community technology needs-assessment, provide multi-year funding for expansion of MAP’s current technology assistance services, and support capacity-building outreach efforts.
  • Minnesota High Tech Foundation’s Engineering Education Scholarship Program (Roseville, MN) This grant will help the organization increase the number of engineering education scholarships awarded to Minnesota undergraduates each year, support the creation of collaborative workforce development strategies and programs, and provide for public outreach efforts to increase student interest in science and engineering-related careers.
  • University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering (Minneapolis, MN) This grant will underwrite undergraduate scholarships in engineering and the sciences, provide significant support for the College’s efforts to transform the nature of its undergraduate education programs, and establish a student program fund.

In addition to these five strategic grants, the ADC Foundation will also pre-fund the undergraduate scholarship program for children of company employees currently in the program. This action will ensure that students who hold scholarships for the current academic year will be eligible for annual renewal awards up to their graduation date.

Established in 1999, the ADC Foundation has supported employee giving and volunteerism and made charitable grants in communities in the U.S. and six other countries. Grant-making by the ADC Foundation has been strategically aligned with ADC’s interests by focusing on mathematics and science education as well as information and communications technology assistance for nonprofit organizations.

Digital Inclusion conference notes

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Earlier this week I attended the Digital Inclusion conference at the University of Minnesota. The keynote speaker was David Keyes, who directs the City of Seattle’s digital inclusion programs. Mr. Keyes indicated that one of the great things that they were able to do in Seattle was to encourage legislation that addresses digital inclusion. Also he mentioned a site that I thought folks might find particularly useful: www.seattle.gov/tech/indicators.

I have caught some of his presentation here. (My real life lesson of the day: I’m much better with a Flip Video than a Droid. You may learn this too if you watch.)

You can see more online. (I suspect that SPNN may upload video from the conference as well. I’ll try to post that info when I get it.)

Also speaking at the conference was:

Kit Hadley, St Paul Public Library
Catherine Settanni, Community Computer Access Network
Kevin Kalla, St Paul Neighborhood Network
Abdulahi Farah, Project for Pride in Living
Jennifer Vanek, St Paul Public Schools ABE (LearnerWeb)
Bill Rappel, Computers for Youth

I got a video of the last two questions about the interaction with local government and government agencies and interaction with local businesses.

Here are some other of my highlights from the conference:

Technology is just a tool – technology helps create solutions for issues at hand.

Folks in the field are finding that while people need to use technology – the truth of the matter is it’s a list of items that many people need to learn, but improving digital literacy makes learning other skills and competencies much easier. For example, for someone interested in becoming a citizen it’s easier to first learn how to use a computer and then access the websites designed for citizenships.

You forget where digital literacy starts until you are in front of a class or working with a group. As a teacher, you may think you’ll be talking about Google Maps, but you may find that you’re showing people how to use a mouse. And many students start with learning how to use a mouse because they need to fill out a job application online – as soon as possible.

Technology can help us connect – both with the rest of the world but also with our neighbors. It can be a good tool for youth to get involved.

Questions:

My 2012 mobile devices will outpace laptops and computers. How are you planning for that?

It is critical for our families to get access to mobile devices – and iPads might make more sense – especially if someone wants to write a paper or someone has vision issues. Also we need to have connectivity that’s portable. As a city we try to frame delivery of services to suit mobile ( as a apps).

PCs for People – we give away computers. We have trouble sourcing computers. How have you had success?

The City of Seattle authorized us to provide our own computers for refurbishing. We’ve been trying to build connections to folks like law firms and software companies. Recycling laws seem to lean towards large businesses.

In Computers for Youth, we used to have lots of small relationships. As we grew we got larger relationships – such as with Goldman Sachs. With BTOP will be serving 17,000 families – and we’ve outsourced this. We’ve had success with federal computers but not as much on the local or state level.

In Seward we have some large housing developments. Has anyone worked at getting a computer/broadband considered an appliance like a stove?

Great questions. We (Computers for Youth) have an affiliate with a BTOP grant in Florida who is working on that. They are putting the CPU in the wall.

How will you integrate indicators into something that’s useful in an ever-changing field?

We’ve been working with indicators for 10 years – so now we have longitudinal data. We modify where we can and we work to use indicators in policymaking.

How do we add engagement to the equation? We have online lists (e-democracy) and we find that education and higher educated folks are using the lists, not so much the less educated or New Americans.

Part of the issue us making sure that the users have the education (civic ed, writing in English…) to participate in the discussions.

MIRC Community Projects are Selected

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We’ve run into an exciting but daunting realization working with our ARRA-funded Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC). We may be the leaders in terms of broadband adoption programs in rural communities such as very small towns and remote areas as well as county seats. It’s daunting because we often feel as if we’re in unchartered waters – but it is exciting and it encourages us to share our story to help others replicate the success that we’re seeing already in our 11 Demonstration communities.

Each community is developing their own strategy based on the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) framework and using the arsenal of tools offered through MIRC partnership. For example, University of Minnesota Extension has been focused on Main Street use of broadband. PCs for People gives out computers to folks in need.

We’re hitting a milestone worth sharing this month. Through an RFP process our 11 Demonstration Communities have received terrific proposals from local organizations with ideas to increase broadband adoption in their area. The response was terrific – more ideas than communities were able to fund. So the communities worked with several of the proposers to encourage them to collaborate and refine their projects. In the end, the Demonstration communities are enthusiastic about the projects that they have been able to fund.

Communities are currently notifying award recipients of their decisions and the projects are just beginning. We are looking forward to being able to share this information as the recipients in each community are notified.

U of M students use broadband to earn bucks

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According to the University of Minnesota students newspaper, The Minnesota Daily…

Whether its Craigslist, eBay or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, where users post tasks for other uses to do for small payments, students are increasingly seeing the benefits of making money and creating their own businesses online.

Seth Lewis, a University journalism professor with a focus on digital cultures, said two factors generally drive students online to make money: a do-it-yourself culture and the technological advances making it easier to communicate.

I think it’s a glimpse into our economic future. Using the Internet to buy and sell services locally and entrepreneurs taking advantage of the low barrier to enter the market. Looking to pick up some extra bucks? The story has some good ideas for you.

Comcast Outages in MN

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My parents, who are Comcast customers gave me the heads up on this one. They were without Internet access on Sunday night. I think this will probably fly fairly under the radar because Comcast was lucky enough to experience outages outside traditional business hours.

According to PC Magazine, the Comcast outage knocked out subscribers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Minnesota for nearly 5 hours. The problem, they report, is similar to one experienced in the eastern states earlier in the week and was related to DNS (Domain Name Servers).

Comcast kept folks updated with their Twitter feed, which as PC Magazine pointed out, was a peculiar choice for folks without Internet access.

Blandin eNews December

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Here’s the news from our latest newsletter. It’s mostly a compilation of Minnesota-related stories from the blog in the last month – but sometimes it’s nice to have it compiled.

Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force
The Broadband Task Force met in November. They got a preview of Connect Minnesota’s maps and report, which Connect Minnesota will be presenting to the State. (The Blandin Broadband Strategy Board also received a demonstration; video is available online http://tinyurl.com/2b3sn8w.) The Task Force also worked on their own report, which they hope to approve at their December meeting. http://tinyurl.com/2exfjwp

Broadband Costs Rural vs Urban
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released a report that indicates that broadband costs more in rural areas, while a greater percentage of rural businesses were not satisfied with their Internet speeds. http://tinyurl.com/2b3hphw The Institute for Local Self Reliance also released a report that found that rural communities don’t always pay more. They determined that Monticello has better broadband at better prices than Minneapolis. http://tinyurl.com/2fvxpw2

Government Use of Technology in Minnesota
Representative Michelle Bachmann celebrates her use of Facebook, while Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is scrutinized for his use of Twitter. http://tinyurl.com/2bkx75u Outgoing legislative committee administrator talks about other ways governments and local officials are using technology. http://tinyurl.com/2adzr7u

2009 Broadband Adoption Rates
The NTIA recently released results of broadband adoption research. Results indicate that 36 percent of households do not have broadband and 23 percent did not have an Internet user at home. Rural residents had lower adoption rates than urban counterparts.  http://tinyurl.com/23cl8ch

Foundations and Broadband
The Intelligent Community Forum recognizes the role of foundations in smart communities that are interested in broadband and digital inclusion. http://tinyurl.com/27bnu9p

News from Around the State

Crookston
Impact 20/20 promotes local broadband goals of 20Mbps download/10Mbps upload for residents in towns of more than 500 with goals of 10Mbps download/5Mbps for all residents. http://tinyurl.com/2alc64k

Duluth
Duluth claims mayor jumped into a frozen lake last winter not only to get Google’s attention (mindful of the Google Gig grant) but also to demonstrate that Duluth has a natural edge on keeping computer and data centers cool. http://tinyurl.com/2bhylz5

Students at St Scholastica get opportunity to manage online engagement strategy for real business. http://tinyurl.com/2exqpjl

Erskine
Garden Valley Telephone receives USDA loan to expand fiber in their area. http://tinyurl.com/245rnzs

Iron Range
The Iron Range resident is concerned that broadband may be better on Mt Everest than it is in his region. http://tinyurl.com/26aocky

Lake County
Lake County reflects on the impact the ARRA-funded fiber network will have on small businesses in the area. http://tinyurl.com/256omks

Leech Lake
Recent reports show that Leech Lake is below the state average in computer ownership and connectivity. http://tinyurl.com/25hhw9p

Minneapolis
The University of Minnesota held a day of free sessions to promote World Usability Day on November 11. http://tinyurl.com/22r8qzq

Minnetonka
Minnesota-based company has great success promoting toy via social media networks. http://tinyurl.com/2blqnz6

Northwest Minnesota
Mary Mehsikomer talks about how schools in NW Minnesota use broadband, including online Mandarin Chinese classes in NW MN. http://tinyurl.com/2dvd78y

Polk County
Approximately 681 residents in Polk County do not have broadband access. http://tinyurl.com/25gf68n

Raymond
Brouwer Berries recognizes the success that has come due to use of broadband and social media marketing tools. http://tinyurl.com/2dozekz

Sibley County
Sibley County looks at fiber and must balance ubiquitous coverage with costs. http://tinyurl.com/2badqve Their Benefits of Broadband report should help. http://tinyurl.com/2bsr8he

Southern Minnesota
One resident speaks out on the frustration of limited broadband in her area. http://tinyurl.com/2843xqx

St Paul
Saint Paul receives $245,000 Grant from Knight Foundation for Community Fiber Network. http://tinyurl.com/278fz6j

Twin Cities
The Hmong American Partnership will be offering open computer lab times and Internet training in St Pauls’ Eastside and North Minneapolis through the University of Minnesota’s ARRA-funded project. http://tinyurl.com/23vgqaj

TECHdotMN provides laptops and 3G data plans to youth through a project called TeenConnect. http://tinyurl.com/2cgo3g2

Several IT-assisted fitness and health programs emerge in St Paul and Minneapolis. http://tinyurl.com/28dx4mq

Western Minnesota
Minnesota West Community & Technical College is offering online business classes. http://tinyurl.com/23yrgm4

Windom
Fiber means greater diversity of job prospects in Windom. http://tinyurl.com/2flptkr

Coleman’s Corner

The Blandin Broadband Conference http://tinyurl.com/2dan72h is six weeks behind us.  We were happy to see that attendees liked the conference very much. Many people voiced a need for more information directed at very small rural communities and very rural regions. I heard a similar need mentioned at the Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC) last month. http://tinyurl.com/23r4pwe

There isn’t a lot of information out there for very rural regions. In fact, while I was at the RTC, I was approached by representatives of many states that saw our MIRC partnership http://tinyurl.com/2c6mhh4 as best practice and that the Blandin Broadband Toolkit http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org/toolkit/ was a model for others to copy and/or use.  They saw Minnesota’s success with the ARRA grants – Cook, Lake and Lac qui Parle Counties, the SW MN Fiber Project, the NE Service Cooperative Middle Mile Project – and participation of our rural telecom coops in joint ventures and independently as best practice. Let’s not be afraid to celebrate our incremental successes or to look back to see how much progress we are making.

In many ways, we are in uncharted waters with lots of storms – broadband and technology, demographics and budgets – buffeting our communities.  We are in a position to be world leaders in this area. It’s an opportunity to be a model for using technology in your communities – Skype, paperless meetings, social media, mobile devices.  Be a model for problem-solving through collaboration and innovation.   Become a best practitioner!

 


 

Connect Minnesota Broadband Map Demonstration

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Last week I attended the Blandin Foundation Broadband Strategy Board meeting. There was talk about changes in the legislature – and how broadband is really going to need a champion(s) if it’s going to get any attention, especially with so many new folks taking positions. We heard from Diane Wells on the Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force. And we got a demonstration on the latest interactive maps from Connect Minnesota.

I think I have mentioned earlier that the latest maps are really a leap beyond the last iteration. They have updated information since the earlier drafts, they have added valuable layers (such as presence of community institutions such as schools and population density statistics) and they have made it work more like Google maps. It’s easier to pinpoint geographic areas; it’s easier to focus on un-/underserved areas only.

The maps are generated primarily from data provided by the providers – but the data is double checked by Connected Nation staff and there are plenty of ways to provide feedback to the mapmakers if you think something is askew. The speed test is still available on the Connect Minnesota site. I encourage you to check it out and test your speed if you haven’t lately.

The video below describes the process of flagging any areas on the map that you think need a second look. They’ve made it easy to circle your area of suspicion on the map and easily email it to them for further investigation through their feedback mechanism.

Check out more of the demonstration video.

Sibley County’s Benefits of Broadband Report

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I want to thank Mark Erickson for sending an update on Sibley County’s plans for broadband. It sounds like things are going well…

We had a great turn out and response at the 12 public presentations of the feasibility study the week of November 15th. I want to thank everyone who showed and listened and asked questions.

We’re talking with Doug Dawson and our legal and financial counsel regarding different options for moving forward. The plan is to have most of our questions answered by January 13, 2011 when we plan to present a road map to the city councils and county commissioner at the annual county wide meeting.

In the meantime I’ve attached a “Benefits of Broadband” document to this email. It was created by Doug Dawson of CCG on behalf of Sibley County.

I do have one item to bring up. Apparently the Arlington newspaper said in their story on the presentations that farmers would be charged an additional $1,000 to hook up to the system. That is not true. We are not planning on any additional cost to farmers.

We presented the option of charging farmers more (because of the added expense of building out the rural areas) to let everyone know our thinking as we wrestled with the challenge of financing the project. As it stands everyone will be charged the same with the exception of an additional cost to farmers if they had an extra-long driveway for the initial fiber drop. But even that question hasn’t been decided. That will be decided by the joint powers board if it is formed and also with input from the operator we hire.

And all of this presupposes the project moves forward. Personally I hope it does but there is a lot of work to get done before we get to that decision point.

IT-Assisted Weight Loss Programs – one in MN

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The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NIH is funding seven programs that are using technology – especially social media technologies – to help deliver behavioral weight management programs. The programs target young adults ages 18-35. And there is an opportunity for folks in Minnesota. Actually you can get a full list of programs online – maybe with the use of technology geography isn’t a barrier for any of the programs – but at least one is based in Minnesota. Apparently the programs will start in early 2011.

  • Choosing Healthy Options in College Environments and Settings (CHOICES) at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, will test a for-credit course that includes Web-based social networking to prevent unhealthy weight gain in 440 student participants attending two-year community colleges. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01134783. Participant contact: (612) 624-2374 or Megan Treziok (trezi003@umn.edu)

What’s funny is that I just had a little taste of combining technology and fitness and health myself. One of my clients is a Pilates instructor and she is using Facebook to promote a fitness plan for her clients – 50 push-ups and 25 triceps dips every day in December and you win a prize. Obviously it’s new – but the response has been terrific with comments on the Facebook page and blog. (And yes, I plan to win that prize!) Another client provides therapeutic release from pain and anxiety. She just started offering relaxation classes via live streaming programming on Ustream. Again it’s quite new but it’s been a hit so far.

I think the key in the local examples – and maybe they’ll find the same in the big studies – is that these tools are convenient, they are there on a just-in-time delivery basis, they allow for community support while allowing you to choose your level of privacy. It feels wrong to call these killer apps – but I think they could help encourage ubiquitous adoption.

Broadband means diverse job prospects in Windom

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Thanks to Ann Higgins for the heads up on Rural Not Just for Farmers! – the article, not the concept. Actually it’s a blog post that’s featured on Minnesota 2020.

It’s a great first person account of life in Windom – but not on a farm – and the advantages that broadband brings to the area…

Our young people can work for any company in the world right here at home via telecommuting. We get the economic advantage from their good salaries without more pollution and congestion.

Our rural areas are a wonderful place to live, work and play; it is a relaxed pace of life, surrounded by peaceful wildlife, neighbors, family, friends, and plain good living. I believe a lot of people are seeking just those things in a place to call home or to visit, so here is our chance to find and tell them “we have a place for you!”