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Tag: Kansas City

  • Verizon 5G Roll Out Marches On, Hits 34 Cities

    Verizon 5G Roll Out Marches On, Hits 34 Cities

    Verizon has now hit 34 cities with its 5G roll out, adding Cincinnati, Little Rock and Kansas City, according to a company press release.

    Verizon made headlines at the end of last year for meeting, and surpassing, its goal of rolling out 5G in 30 cities by year end. By the end of 2019, it had reached 31 cities. In the first month of 2020, the company has now hit 34.

    Because Verizon is focusing on high-band, mmWave 5G, the new service does not cover all areas of the cities. While mmWave is the fastest flavor of 5G, with speeds measured in gigabits, it has very limited range and building penetration. As a result, only parts of the new cities have coverage.

    Cincinnati’s coverage is “concentrated in parts of Downtown, Mt. Adams, West End, Evanston, Walnut Hills, Corryville, Clifton, Price Hill, Over-The-Rhine, Mt Auburn, Avondale, Newport (KY), Dayton (KY), Bellevue (KY) near landmarks such as: Great American Ballpark, Duke Energy Convention Center, Serpentine Wall, City Hall, Xavier University, Cincinnati Zoo, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati Christian University and Newport Waterfront (KY).”

    In Kansas City, service is based “in parts of Downtown, Midtown-Westport, Plaza Midtown, Olathe and near landmarks such as: The Garment District, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Rockhurst University as well as inside and around the professional football stadium.”

    In Little Rock, service is “concentrated in parts of Midtown, University District, Birchwood, Otter Creek and near landmarks such as: UAMS College of Medicine, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Rock Creek Square Plaza Shopping Center, and Outlets of Little Rock.”

    Once customers move outside of 5G range, their devices will automatically transition back to 4G LTE. Even with the geographically-limited rollout, however, Verizon’s 5G will bring a welcome performance boost to customers, as well as help ease the strain on their 4G network in heavily populated areas.

  • Google Fiber For Small Business Gets Early Access Program

    Google announced the launch of an Early Access program for Google Fiber for Small Business in central Kansas City. It’s available immediately in a “handful of fiberhoods” in both Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO.

    Businesses in the area can sign up for a gigabit connection. These will be the very first businesses to get Google Fiber.

    “A super-fast Internet connection can have a big impact on unlocking new possibilities for small businesses,” says Carlos Casas, Kansas City Field Team Manager for Google Fiber. “From the start, small business owners have told us that they want Google Fiber to help them move faster, work better together, reach new parts of the world without boarding a plane, and save time for the important things—like growing their business.”

    “Earlier this year, we started a pilot in Kansas City to learn more about what business owners need,” says adds Casas. “We heard from documentary filmmakers, flower shops, web development agencies, and more. All of these small businesses have a lot of ideas on how a faster Internet connection could speed up their entire business — we can’t wait to see what they do with Google Fiber.”

    Eligible small businesses can check out the website for more details and to register for updates.

    Google recently announced that its launching Fiber in Austin in December. The small business program will expand later on.

    Image via Google

  • Kansas City Royals Leading World Series 2-1: Why This Might Spell Doom For The San Francisco Giants

    The Kansas City Royals are now in the driver’s seat after beating the San Francisco Giants 3-2.

    This victory puts the World Series at 2-1 and gives Kansas City home field advantage going into the next game.

    It is the second straight win for a fired-up Kansas City team, one that hasn’t claimed a World Series win since 1985.

    Things have gone far more swimmingly for the Giants, who are hoping to win their third title in five seasons.

    Understandably, the Kansas City Royals were something of an underdog coming into these seven games.

    In a surprising turn of events, it is the Royals that have the upper hand.

    And if things follow a familiar pattern, it could mean great news for Kansas City Royals fans.

    It turns out that teams that take the 2-1 lead following a 1-1 go on to win the entire World Series most of the time.

    If that weren’t bad enough for fans of the San Franciso Giants, there’s another troubling fact to contend with.

    The Giants apparently aren’t that great at playing catch up, often going on to lose the World Series games in this type of scenario.

    As Scarlet O’Hara said, “Tomorrow is another day.”

    It’s possible that the a determined San Francisco Giants team could march onto the field at Kansas City and proceed play the Royals off the field of their own stadium!

    All that we know is that the odds are not in their favor.

    One exciting and bizarre takeaway from the 2014 World Series is that we may get a shiny new superstition courtesy of the Kansas City Royals. Or more specifically “Royals” by Lorde.

    It seems that San Francisco Giants fans went to great lengths to get the song banned from the airwaves until after the Series is over.

    Meanwhile, at least one Kansas City radio station intends to play Lorde’s song every hour on the hour.

    It could be that the outcome of this World Series will lead some to view “Royals” as either a good luck charm or major jinx.

    Who do you think will win the World Series: The San Francisco Giants or the Kansas City Royals?

  • Miley Cyrus Postpones US Tour Dates Due to Illness

    Miley Cyrus officially postponed the remaining dates on the U.S. leg of her Bangerz tour on Friday.

    The announcement on Cyrus’ website read as follows:

    “All remaining U.S. dates on the Miley Cyrus Bangerz tour have been postponed. Miley is continuing to recover from the severe allergic reaction she suffered on April 15. Existing tickets will be honored on the new dates, which include previously cancelled and postponed dates.”

    The postponed shows have been rescheduled for the first two weeks in August. Cyrus also added shows in Pittsburgh (on August 4) and Chicago (on August 14.)

    According to the announcement, the European leg of the tour will proceed as planned. It kicks off May 2 in Amsterdam.

    Cyrus ended up in the hospital in Kansas City last week, forcing her to cancel her show there at the last minute.

    “Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz tour date scheduled for tonight, April 15, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City has been cancelled. Cyrus has been hospitalized for a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics and has been placed on medical rest by her doctors. She will not be able to perform as scheduled,” her website stated.

    Representatives of the controversial singer explained that Cyrus was prescribed the antibiotic Cephalexin for a sinus infection she came down with in North Carolina. Cyrus suffered an “extreme allergic reaction” to the antibiotic.

    “This type of extreme reaction can last from five to 27 days in these types of cases,” the statement said. “She will remain hospitalized and is under a doctor’s care until we see some improvement in her condition …”

    The Bangerz tour kicked off February 14 in Vancouver. The spate of health-related cancellations started with Cyrus’ April 7 Charlotte, NC show.

    Bangerz released in October 2013, debuting in the number one spot on the Billboard 200. In February the album went platinum with over 1 million copies sold.

    Image via Miley Cyrus, Twitter

  • Miley Cyrus Hospitalized After Severe Allergic Reaction

    Fans of singer Miley Cyrus are no doubt concerned following the news that she was recently hospitalized.

    The 21-year-old is reported to have suffered a nasty allergic reaction to antibiotic medications.

    If that weren’t enough of a bummer, the “We Can’t Stop” singer was in the middle of her U.S. Bangerz tour when she fell ill.

    Cyrus was forced to make a last minute cancellation of her appearance at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

    Though affected fans will be sad they weren’t able to go out and see Cyrus as scheduled, they will be able to get their money back. Refunds are available the point of ticket purchase. Those who bought tickets via phone or internet received automatic refunds.

    Though she’s still resting, Cyrus took to the internet to apologize for disappointing those who were expecting to see her on Tuesday night.

    “Kansas I promise I’m as [hearbroken] as you are,” Cyrus wrote on her official Twitter account. “I wanted so badly to be there tonight. Not being with y’all makes me feel shittier than I already do.”

    She’s been busily tweeting away about her experience. The effort is likely a combination of going stir crazy and trying to keep others from being too worried about her condition.

    Warning signs were also tweeted ahead of her hospitalization. Cyrus had complained on social media that she wasn’t feeling well. She said that she had a fever, sore throat and “was #SICK”. It seemed Cyrus didn’t realize just how sick she was at the time.

    This turn of events is only the latest in a month of unfortunate incidents and forced cancellations for Cyrus. In mid-March her tour bus caught on fire on her way to a concert in New Orleans. A couple of weeks ago the singer lost her beloved pet.

    No doubt the songstress will be glad when her run of bad luck comes to an end.

    Image via YouTube

  • Jewish Center Shooting Leaves Three Dead, Suspect in Custody

    Three people were killed in two shootings at Kansas Jewish centers police said Sunday – the day before the Passover begins.

    The three victims were shot in the Kansas City, Kan., suburb of Overland Park, in two locations – at Jewish Community Center and a Village Shalom, a Jewish assisted living facility, police said.

    Overland Park Police confirm multiple shots were fired at the center, which is located at 5801 W 115th St., and Village Shalom, located at 5500 W. 123rd.

    Both locations were put on lockdown following the shootings.

    One man was taken into custody at the Valley Park Elementary at 123rd and Nall, according to said Jason Rhodes, a spokesman for the Overland Park Fire Department.

    The man was heard yelling “heil Hitler” as he was taken into custody.

    A 14-year-old boy is in critical condition at an area hospital.

    At the time of the shooting, auditions for a dance competition and dance recitals were being held at the community center.

    “This was a community center full of young teens, and they were on lockdown after the shots started. Some of these kids were taken into locker rooms and told to lay on the floor as the shots rang out,” a reporter told CNN.

    A photographer for local 41 Action News who was on the scene spoke with Mark Brodky, a member at the JCC, who said another man pointed a gun at him and shot the windows out of his car.

    “I thought he was shooting an air rifle and all the sudden he shot at me,” Brodky said.

    Brodky also said he had seen the shooter before.

    “He’s a member of the club. But I don’t know his name,” said Brodky.

    All JCC classes, auditions, and events were cancelled.

    A press conference is scheduled for Sunday evening.

    The Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City posted the following message on its Facebook page Sunday:

    Post by Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City.
      Image via Facebook

  • Kansas Bill Would Stop Further Google Fiber Expansion In The State

    In 2012, Google finally rolled out its Google Fiber initiative in Kansas City. It chose the city largely because it offered the best deal and incentives that made rollout fast and affordable for Google. Time Warner Cable and other ISPs complained that they should get the same treatment, and now they’re trying prevent other cities in the state from doing the same thing.

    The Consumerist reports that the Kansas state legislature has introduced a new bill called the Municipal Communications Network and Private Telecommunications Investment Safeguard Act. In essence, the bill would prevent cities from rolling out their own networks or partnering with private enterprises to roll out networks in the name of safeguarding competition.

    Of course, as we all know, the traditional ISP business is completely devoid of competition. Google Fiber was the first real competition Time Warner Cable had ever faced and things got really petty for a while. The ISP soon realized that it needed to offer better service though and increased network speeds for Kansas City residents in response.

    To prevent itself or others from having to actually compete, the Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association introduced the above bill through president John Federico. The bill says that municipalities may not directly, or indirectly, “offer or provide to one or more subscribers, video, telecommunications, or broadband service” or “purchase, lease, construct, maintain, or operate any facility for the purpose of enabling a private business or entity to offer, provide, carry, or deliver video, telecommunications, or broadband service to one or more subscribers.”

    Now, the funny thing about this bill is that it would be an excellent bill if the ISP market was full of competition. You don’t want government getting in the way of a free market, right? Unfortunately, ISPs are doing everything they can to tighten their local monopolies and have set up agreements to not compete in regions where another ISP operates. In response, cities started to set up their own networks or cooperate with private entities to introduce competition and the incumbent ISPs don’t like that one bit.

    So, where do we go from here? According to Ars Technica, the bill has already been referred to the Kansas Senate’s Committee on Commerce where it will be discussed next week. Kansas residents can only hope that their legislators don’t fall for the ISPs’ lies of decreased competition in the face of state interference.

    Image via googlefiberofficial/YouTube

  • Man Breaks Knitting While Running Record

    For reasons unknown, humans have been undertaking the unnatural practice of running marathons since before the time of Christ, pacing themselves along the modern standard of 26 miles and 385 yards.

    The original marathon was allegedly ran by Pheidippides, a Greek messenger, in 490 BC. According to legend, Pheidippides jogged from the site of the Battle of Marathon, all the way to Athens, to announce that the Persians had been defeated by Greek forces. The messenger ran the entire distance without stopping, barged into the assembly, exclaimed nenikekamen! (we won!) and then collapsed on the floor and died.

    Below is Luc-Olivier Merson’s rendering of the event:

    (image)

    Modern marathon victims usually wear pants or shorts. And some knit while running, like University of Central Missouri graphic design professor David Babcock.

    The standing Guinness World Record for knitting whilst completing a marathon was 6 feet, 8 inches back in April, and was completed in 6 hours. Babcock trained to beat this mark, and back on October 19th, he completed the Kansas City marathon in 5 hours 48 minutes – while knitting an approximately 12-foot-long scarf, completely blowing the previous record out of the water.

    Here’s a clip of “jog-knitting,” from a first person vantage:

    Babcock had commented that combining running and knitting makes the former less painful, and both less monotonous. He uses oversized knitting needles, along with a fanny pack full of yarn, to put together scarves and things on the fly, which he drapes over his shoulders. “I have a very smooth gait,” Babcock said.

    Knitting experts Cindy Craig of Kansas City and Traci Bunkers of Lawrence, along with Jim Josten, president of an accredited instrument and gauge calibration service, will verify to Guinness the authenticity of Babcock’s achievement.

    Knitting as a trend has been enjoying a revival of late. According to the Craft Yarn Council of America, the number of female knitters in the United States aged 25–35 increased 150% between 2002 and 2004. The council estimates that there are roughly 50 million knitters across the globe.

    Varied knitter intrigue via Twitter:

    Image via YouTube.

  • Local Ruckus Makes Some Ruckus With Google Fiber And KCSV

    It’s no secret that Google Fiber is inspiring other ISPs to lessen the broadband gap in this country. Or, according to DSLReports.com, the goal is to “…light a fire under the pampered behinds of incumbent broadband operators.”

    But, the real story is how Google Fiber has inspired users in Kansas City. Google Fiber rolled out in Kansas City (mostly the Kansas side but a little in Missouri, too) last year.

    And, it didn’t take long for entrepreneurial minds in KC to realize that Google Inc.’s super-powerful Internet, which offers speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, would be attractive to startups. According to Huffingtonpost.com, “A fast Internet pipe makes it easier to handle large files and eliminates buffering problems that plague online video, live conferencing and other network-intensive tasks.”

    So, Ben Barreth, a web developer in KC, started “Homes for Hackers.” The “home” is a small bungalow that gives serious startup companies a place to live rent-free for 3 months and free access to Google Fiber Internet. Shortly after came “Kansas City Startup Village” in that same area. So many startups have taken up residency in this “fiberhood” within Kansas City that it is now called “Silicon Prairie.”

    The list of startups at KCSV keeps growing, and the startups themselves are gaining headway with the help of Google Fiber Internet.

    But, startups in the Home for Hackers and in the KCSV know that, even with Google Fiber, they’ll need more than a good idea to be successful.

    Huffington Post quotes Andy Kallenbach of FormZapper.com saying, “The hardest thing about a startup is execution, OK? A lot of people can go out and raise money and get money for an idea or for some product or they can come up with some awesome presentation. But it doesn’t matter if you can’t build something that people will use.”

    And that’s exactly what KCSV startup Local Ruckus did with Hoopla.io.

    Local Ruckus co-founders Matthew Marcus and Adam Arredondo have a mission, according to Kcstartupvillage.org, “to bring awesome local events to the people….” That’s the basis of their B2C brand and website, Local Ruckus.

    But, says Marcus, people already find things to do on sites like Facebook, Yelp, Pitch, or with an old-fashioned Google search. He and the rest of the Local Ruckus team knew they needed to shift their focus with a new strategy.

    And that’s when they came up with Hoopla.io. Hoopla.io isn’t a list of events users can browse to find something to do tonight. It’s “Event Marketing Made Easy.”

    Targeting businesses and publishers, Hoopla.io creates a way for businesses to promote events on their website, on social media sites and throughout Hoopla.io’s “network of media distribution partners.” All with a single click.

    Businesses that use Hoopla.io

    Hoopla.io allows a business to input event details and then Hoopla.io takes care of the rest. With Hoopla.io, businesses can have their events promoted in a variety of outlets, online and in print.

    Think “Event directories, Facebook, Twitter, Conventions and tourism websites, Print Media, [and] Online Event Calendars.”  Hoopla.io has access to them all, giving businesses an easy way to access different marketing channels. Built-in analytics even let businesses view the results of their marketing efforts.

    Publishers that use Hoopla.io

    Hoopla.io is also “Event Curation Made Easy” for publishers who want to exhibit local events in their publications. Publishers can use Hoopla.io to fill up their calendar with local events and even what Hoopla.io calls “hyperlocal” events. These events could include “neighborhood bars and restaurants, community galleries” and more, according to the website.

    And Hoopla.io makes it easy for publishers to pick and choose what events will interest their readers. Any publishers can be sure that events will be accurate, since they come directly from their source.

    They’ve attracted some serious attention

    Their big idea has paid off; Sprint has expressed interest in forming a relationship with Hoopla.io. According to Kcstartupvillage.org, the startup “entered into a content licensing relationship with the telecom giant in July. Sprint will use Hoopla.io’s content to populate their mobile apps within their Pinsight Media division.”

    Pinsight Media is a team within Sprint that focuses on mobile advertising, and it’s pretty young itself. The partnership will start out by delivering local event content to Kansas City Spring customers. After that, the team hopes to expand to a national level.

    It will be interesting to see, in the coming months and years, if other fiber-optic networks will inspire similar innovation. Both AT&T and Verizon have already rolled out high-performing, fiber-optic Internet in certain areas around the country.

  • $10,000 Found In Kansas City Hotel, Returned By Boy & Parent

    According to the Kansas City Star, Tyler Schaefer isn’t just a ten year old kid, but a treasure hunter. He enjoys exploring, digging into nooks and crannies, searching for change in coin slots. This sense of curiosity led to what has the potential to net him and his father $10,000.

    I say “potentially” because the money technically isn’t theirs yet. Cody Schaefer, Tyler’s father and him were staying at a Kansas City airport hotel, when Tyler did his regular routine of checking his area and exploring. His father laughed, asking his son what he was doing. His son simply responded that you never know what you’re going to find. Tyler’s search of the hotel room led to him opening a drawer that contained $10,000.

    When his son first came across the money, Cody thought he had just found a few dollars. When he went to check the drawer himself, he saw stacks of money, which he would count out to be $10,000. After checking to see if the money was real, Schaefer and his son had a decision to make. Along with deciding what to do with the money, Schaefer tried to run scenarios through his head that could have caused $10,000 to be left in a hotel room drawer. Drug deal, or someone who had left it after a business transaction?

    Upon further contemplation, Schaefer decided to turn the money into a couple of off-duty police officers who were working security at the hotel. According to the police, the most money they had seen turned in, in the area, was around $1,000. Even they couldn’t devise a scenario that could have led to that much money being left in a hotel room.

    As of yet, no one has come forward to claim the money and the hotel hasn’t received any calls asking about it. According to Missouri state law, the money will be given to the Schaefers if no one comes forward to claim it in seven months.

    It just goes to show that having a curious mind and exploratory nature can really pay off. You never know what you could find by just looking.

    [Credit: Kansas City Star]

  • Three Bodies Found On Farm Spark Homicide Investigation

    Three bodies found on a farm have sparked a massive homicide investigation in Kansas. Now police are trying to match the bodies to a missing persons report from last week.

    The bodies – two adult men and one woman – were found on a farm west of Ottawa. Two people – Kortni McGill and Corey Schlotzhauer – originally checked out the property after they had lost contact with a friend. They found a foul odor emanating from the property at the time, and called the police to investigate. An initial sweep of the area found nothing, but McGill found one of the bodies under a tarp the next day.

    Besides the three bodies, investigators also found a burn barrel with baby items and clothing. Some think that the discovery may indicate that the woman found was a Kansas City mother that went missing with her 18-month-old baby last week. Tests are still ongoing, but it could explain the existence of the baby items if the tests come back positive.

    The investigation has now pulled in over 40 detectives from across the state as they attempt to find answers to a very bizarre murder case.

    [h/t: AP]

  • Google Fiber Expands To Grandview, Missouri

    Google Fiber may be coming to more cities around the country, but the company is still solely focused on building out its current Fiber network in Kansas City. It probably won’t be done there for a while either as more neighboring cities are welcoming Google Fiber with open arms.

    Google announced this week that the town of Grandview, Missouri has recently voted in favor of bringing Google Fiber to the city. Grandview is directly South of Kansas City and borders the current Google Fiber buildout plans. It ensures that Google will be able to just keep building down into Grandview from Kansas City.

    Just like every other bordering town, however, Grandview will have to wait its turn. Google is still building out Fiber in Kansas City proper, and the company notes that it must plan and engineer the network in Grandview first before bringing Fiber over.

    Regardless, it’s an encouraging sign to see more and more cities signing up for Fiber, even if those cities directly border Kansas City. It shows that interest in gigabit Internet is high despite claims to the contrary from incumbent ISPs.

    Aside from the buildout around Kansas City, Google Fiber will also be coming to Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah in the future. The latter already has an established Fiber network that Google just bought from the city so it may come there sooner than the planned rollout in Austin.

    In an encouraging sign, Google Fiber and other Fiber initiatives around the country have seemingly inspired smaller ISPs to start offering gigabit Internet to their customers. The most recent being a small rural ISP in Vermont offering gigabit speeds to customers for only $35 a month.

  • Olathe, Kansas Is The Next City To Get Google Fiber

    Earlier this year, Google CEO Larry Page hinted that Google Fiber would be coming to more cities in the future. The hint renewed cities’ efforts to attract Google Fiber to their communities, but only one city has emerged victorious in its attempt to lure Google to their community.

    Google announced today that Olathe, Kansas is to be the next recipient of Google Fiber. The company says that the Olathe City Council approved Google Fiber this week, and that Google will now work on bringing the gigabit Internet service to their community.

    So why did Olathe get Google Fiber? A major reason seems to be its ability to attract new businesses.

    Olathe has become one of the fastest-growing cities in Kansas and has attracted an influx of new businesses and residents. They’ve all noticed what a great community Olathe is, and so have we. We think that Fiber and widespread Internet access will help to create jobs, grow local businesses, and make Olathe even stronger as it grows.

    A more obvious reason is that Olathe is in the Kanas City metro area. In other words, it wouldn’t take much effort on the part of Google to expand Fiber to these areas. In fact, the announcement says that Google is hoping to bring Fiber to more cities around Kansas City.

    Olathe, Kansas Is The Next City To Get Google Fiber

    Those who are still waiting for Google Fiber in the Kansas Cities won’t have to worry about this announcement changing anything. Google says that construction and installation is still on schedule. As for Olathe, Google says that it will announce more details regarding pre-registration and construction timing when it’s done with the preliminary “planning and engineering work.”

    As for everybody else, you’ll just have to keep praying to the Internet gods for Google Fiber to deliver you from the oppressive ISPs in your community.

  • Time Warner Cable Increases Speeds Near Kansas City, Could Be In Response To Google Fiber

    Back when Google Fiber first launched, Time Warner Cable, the incumbent ISP in the area, went into panic mode. The ISP even began offering cash rewards to anybody who had information on Google Fiber’s activities. It was all a little seedy, and made it look like TWC was more concerned with crushing Google Fiber in any other way besides directly competing.

    Well, it seems that TWC has finally realized that the only way to beat them is to compete with them, and is now reportedly offering faster speeds at lower prices to its subscribers in and near Kansas City. The Consumerist is reporting that one such subscriber recently received news from TWC that his monthly bill was being cut while getting a 50 percent speed increase. Here’s a portion of the letter:

    I’m a Time Warner cable internet subscriber in the KC area, and I got two(!) good pieces of news from them recently.

    No. 1. A few weeks ago, they emailed me to tell me that my “Basic Rate” internet service was being upgraded by 50% from 10Mbps to 15Mbps, effective at the next restart of my cable modem. I haven’t tested this — that only occurred to me in retrospect — but it sounds great.

    No. 2. My latest cable bill was ~30% lower than the previous month. $29.99 vs. $44.94, for a savings — by their calculation — “of $23.96 this month.” My calculation is slightly different, I get a savings of $14.95, but lower is better. The line item has the note: “Enjoy your savings of $23.96 by subscribing to this package. (Offer expires 11/29/2014)” It doesn’t say anything about me having to do anything to get this rate, and the “package” they mention is the one I assumed I was using already. But the bill says $29.99, so that’s what I’m putting on the check.

    Of course, it should be noted that this particular subscriber doesn’t live in one of the fiberhoods getting Google Fiber as he lives across the state line. He states, however, that he can see one of the fiberhoods in Kansas City from his kitchen window. His close proximity to Google Fiber may have spurred the change. As for other theories, he says that he has also recently received an advertisement for wireless 4G home service that would only cost $34.99 a month.

    Regardless of which scenario is correct, it illustrates the point that I’ve been making all along. Introduce competition into an area with an incumbent ISP and you’ll start to see them bending over backwards to retain subscribers.

    We’ll start to see more stories like this pop up as faster and cheaper Internet begins to spread across the nation. The FCC has already challenged states to have at least one gigabit network each by 2015, and private companies are beginning to build out fiber networks in mid-to-large size cities like Seattle. It won’t be long before we start to see ISPs either competing for the first time in their existence or being left behind because they refused to innovate and compete with new technologies.

  • Google Fiber Comes To 5 More Neighborhoods Early Next Year

    Google Fiber has been moving slowly throughout Kansas City as installations have only come to two neighborhoods. Google is going to speed things up next year though, and five more neighborhoods can expect to see Fiber in their homes by the first half of the year.

    Google announced that it should be finished installing fiber in Dub’s Dread by the beginning of 2013. After that, the company will be moving to the following neighborhoods: Piper Schools, Delaware Ridge, Painted Hills, Open Door, and Arrowhead. Those who signed up for Google Fiber in those neighborhoods have anywhere between January 31 and March 7 to sign up for a plan.

    In an unexpected but entirely welcome move, Google has expanded a few of the “fiberhoods” for next year. That means those living on the boundaries of the above five neighborhoods may be included in the next rollout of fiber installations. Here’s what the new boundary drawings look like:


    View Next Five Google Fiber Fiberhoods in a larger map

    Those who are getting fiber have the choice of either a basic Internet package for $70/month or Internet and Fiber TV for $120/month. The latter is seemingly the much better deal as it comes with an impressive DVR and a Nexus 7 tablet. The list of channels available is still growing as well so you’re favorite channel should appear on Google Fiber TV shortly if it’s not already there.

    It should be noted that Google Fiber is still only available to residents of the twin Kansas Cities. That being said, Google has recently said that it’s looking into expanding the program into other cities. Other companies are beginning to challenge the major telecoms as well by bringing affordable fiber to the masses. It hopefully won’t be long before affordable Internet catches on to the mainstream and everybody in the U.S. has access to faster Internet.

  • Kansas City Has A 22 Story Pong Display Set Up For Plaza Lights

    Every year, Kansas City hold Plaza Lights to ring in the holidays. The event draws people from all over the state to check out the lighting of the, well, lights. It’s always a sight to behold, but this year’s event got a little interactive.

    The side of the Marriot hotel in Kansas City was home to a massive Pong display that took up the entirety of the 22 story building. It’s more of an art installation, but it’s super cool nonetheless.

    It’s rare to actually see these kind of installations on such a large scale. The best we normally get is with projects like Pumpktris. That being said, there have been other large recreations of classic games on the sides of buildings.

    Some engineers at MIT recreated Tetris on the side of the campus’ Green Building earlier this year. It’s apparently harder to play than it looks due to the increased size of the playing board.

    Classic mobile game Snake also received the colossal treatment when it was displayed on the side of the building. It might be the most impressive of the bunch due to the game having to constantly keep adding lights to its sequence as the snake grows longer.

    [h/t: Invert-On]

  • Google Starts Fiber Installation In Hanover Heights Today

    The promised day has arrived – Google is ready to start installing 1 Gbps Fiber Internet in the homes of Hanover Heights, Kansas City residents. Of course, Google has a nice guide for those receiving Internet over the next few days so that they know what to expect from the works installing the Internet. The process is painless, but home owners will want to at least get the basic information.

    Here’s how the installation process is going to go down:

    There are two stages to getting you connected. First, we’ll pull your Fiber from the street to the side of your house; we’ve already done this for several houses in Hanover Heights. Then we’ll get in touch with you to schedule the second stage, your in-home installation.

    To help further explain, Google has created a short video that shows off the process:

    The installation starts with Hanover Heights today, but it will spread throughout all of Kansas City over the coming months. After that, Google may opt to bring Google Fiber to other cities. We can only hope they decide to share the love of fast Internet with the world.

  • Kansas City ISPs Want The Same Deal That Google Got

    Kansas City ISPs Want The Same Deal That Google Got

    Google began their quest to bring Fiber Internet to one American city by tasking citizens to show their interest. It was far from a popular vote, however, as various government entities also promised various perks for Google to bring the service to their city. Kansas City won out in the end by promising Google a number of discounts or free services. Now the other ISPs want a piece of the government subsidy pie.

    Before Google Fiber came to Kansas City, the citizens had two choices for Internet and TV – Time Warner Cable and AT&T. It was later revealed that at the very least Time Warner Cable was terrified of Google Fiber. The company was even trying to get people to spy on Google’s operations for them. Now that Google Fiber is there to stay, they’re trying to get the same deal that Google got.

    So what did Google get that the incumbent ISPs did not? According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has been given free office space and free electricity to power their equipment. They also get a free ride to use any of the city’s assets and infrastructure to build out Fiber. Other perks include an entourage of city employees and discounts on government utility pole leases.

    After all those perks, it’s obvious why Google chose Kansas City. It’s also obvious why Time Warner Cable and AT&T are seething with jealousy. They have been providing Internet to citizens of both Kansas Cities for quite some time now, but they never got any kick backs from the government. For once, I agree with them in that Google is being given an unfair advantage out of the gate.

    They claim that they deserve the same kind of kickbacks. The only problem is that they aren’t doing anything to advance the speed of the Internet or offer better services to the people of Kansas City. According to the Wall Street Journal, Time Warner Cable is at least trying to improve their service in Kansas City, MO in return for a deal similar to Google’s. It’s highly unlikely that they’ll be able to match Google’s promised speed of 1 Gbps without completely overhauling their infrastructure though.

    For now, both Kansas Cities are open to providing kickbacks to Time Warner Cable and AT&T. The only things standing in the way of great benefits are the ISPs themselves. They claim that customers don’t want faster Internet, and that fiber is just a waste of money. Google has already proven that customers desire faster and cheaper Internet with almost 90 percent of all neighborhoods hitting their pre-registration goal.

    If anything, other ISPs should start to realize that people want better and cheaper Internet. Google Fiber has never been about Google becoming an ISP. It’s about forcing the other ISPs to start taking the Internet seriously, and to stop screwing over customers. The only way to achieve that is to compete with them at their own game.

  • Google Fiber Is Rolling Out To Its First Fiberhood In October

    Google announced earlier this week that Google Fiber would be coming to 180 fiberhoods. They weren’t sure on the final number as of yet due to some last minute registrations, but they have come back today with the definitive answer. The already impressive number is staying the same with 180, or 89 percent of both Kansas Cities, getting Google Fiber in the near future.

    Google also announced today that Hanover Heights in Kansas City, Kansas will be getting their Fiber on first in the next few weeks. The fine people of this particular fiberhood were the first to qualify for Fiber installation by signing up the required number of people within two hours of the initial announcement. The same fiberhood was able to pre-register the highest number of people out of any of the other fiberhoods.

    Kansas City, Kansas will be enjoying Fiber by the end of the year, but Kansas City, Missouri won’t start to get Fiber until next Spring. Google says that they’re just starting to lay the foundation for Fiber services in the other Kansas City and it could take even longer depending on the weather this winter. Starting next spring, however, the first fiberhood in the other Kansas City to get Fiber will be Crown Center.

    Google has set up a handy construction schedule for residents of both Kansas Cities. It shows that the first fiberhood will be received their Internet in October of this year with the last fiberhood (Memorial Park) getting their Internet in the fall of next year.

    With an expected finishing date of fall 2013, it’s hard to see Google actually announcing any more markets before then. I guess the rest of us will just have to put up with subpar service and ridiculous prices until Google can whip the ISPs of this nation into shape.

  • Final Push Brings Google Fiber To Over 80 Percent Of Kansas City

    A lot of us who want faster Internet at better prices are putting all of our chips in with Google Fiber. If the program is a success in Kansas City, they’ll bring the service to other cities around the country. Such an expansion is more likely now thanks to Kansas City exceeding all expectations.

    For a bit of background, Google was rolling out Fiber to areas of Kansas City called “Fiberhoods.” If enough people in the area signed up for Fiber, Google would bring Fiber to that block. It was looking bad for a while as 50 percent of neighborhoods weren’t signing up for Fiber. That all changed at the last minute as Google reports that 180 out of 202 fiberhoods have now qualified for the service.

    The exciting part about this number is that it’s not even the final tally. Google is still processing all of the apartment complexes and condos that signed up for the service. They’ll share the final tally on Thursday and it should be higher than the current count.

    Google Fiber is a sure thing for over 80 percent of Kansas City, but the whole process has brought up some interesting information on how the regular populace views the Internet. It was mentioned above that Google was actually having trouble signing people up for Fiber. Why did people not want faster Internet? They found that some residents of Kansas City just didn’t think the Internet was relevant to their lives. Google’s findings coincide with the findings from the FCC that found rural communities didn’t care about getting faster Internet because they didn’t feel it was important.

    To remedy that, Google partnered with local organizations to spread the word on the importance of the Internet. They also probably told them about that sweet deal where all schools and public facilities inside fiberhoods would get free Fiber Internet. People on the other side of the digital divide may not understand the importance of the Internet for themselves, but most realize that it’s a good thing for schools and hospitals. Even if they don’t get Fiber, Google will give them free Internet for a $300 construction fee.

    We’ll continue to follow the interesting tale of Google Fiber as it makes its way into homes later this year. It has the potential to change the ISP market on a grand scale if it takes off. The response in Kansas City seems to indicate that we just might start seeing Google Fiber pop up all over the place.

  • The Promised Day Of Google Fiber Is Almost Upon Us

    Google Fiber is the project that I’m most excited about this year. If it takes off, it has the chance of really putting a dent into the monopolistic tendencies of many ISPs in the U.S. By providing fast speeds at a cheaper prices, Google challenges the model of companies like Verizon and Time Warner who want to give you less speed for more cost while strapping bandwidth caps onto customers.

    Well, Time Warner better start offering bigger rewards for people to spy on Google in Kansas City. Google Fiber is about to launch and it must have ISPs quaking in their boots. To thank the residents of Kansas City for letting them launch the future of Internet technology, Google has created a little video going through the history of Kansas City leading up to the announcement that they would be the first to get Google Fiber.

    It’s great that Kansas City is getting super fast Internet, but here’s hoping Google can start spreading the love all over the U.S. They should totally install fiber in Lexington, Kentucky as their next stop. It’s not like I hate paying $60 a month for 30 Mbps, but a cheaper and faster alternative would be nice.

    Google still hasn’t announced a launch date for Google Fiber, but they tell us to keep an eye on the Google Fiber Web site come July 26. The video above says it arrives on that date, so it’s a good guess that Google will flip the switch on that day. It will be interesting, and potentially hilarious, to see everybody in Kansas City dropping their current Internet in favor of Google Fiber.