Whisher and OpenDNS on your La Fonera - UPDATED

UPDATE: Whisher has changed a few things around. I'll make a new post with a new video at a later date.
http://blog.whisher.com/2008/02/20/the-new-whisher-has-arrived-now-with-wifi-out/

With Whisher you can turn your Fon spot into a Whisher hotspot. You have three options when setting it up. 1) make it a public access point so that anyone can access it, 2) make it so that only people you choose can have access to your hot spot, 3) make it private. Option 2 makes it very convenient to replace the "friends and Family" function offered by Fon. The good thing about whisher is that it does not require you to do anything to your wireless router, that's right absolutely nothing! You just need to install a piece of software on your computer. LINK



OpenDNS is great if you are worried about unwanted activity happening on your internet connection (i.e inappropriate websites). The only thing that when you choose what categories to block in the "adult site blocking" section, don't check "Block adult-themed sites." I found out that when this section is checked off, websites that I normally visited were being blocked. My best suggestion is to turn some on and some off and try different websites to make sure that "clean" sites are not being blocked. You can also choose to block ("domain blocking") or allow ("whitelist") specific sites. LINK

Free router in San Francisco and $10 off coupon

We’d like to turn forward time, and bring wireless internet access to San Francisco’s world-famous Castro neighborhood! Castro residents will receive a free Fonera wireless router and together we’ll turn the entire Castro into a place where you can always get connected – whether it’s surfing the web, checking email, using your iPhone or other WiFi device. Starbucks will just be a place to go for coffee and a date once again!

How are we doing it? We’ll turn the Castro into a free WiFi zone by having individual neighbors share a small portion of their internet connection. Everyone who shares gets free access to all the hotspots created by the community. ‘Give to Receive’ - literally! Learn more>>

Starting Jan. 2008, qualifying Castro residents will receive a free Fonera wireless router, as well as free installation of your router. How easy is that? All you have to do in return is share some WiFi. So ‘Don’t have a Heart of Stone,’ start sharing today and make the Castro the first WiFi’d neighborhood in the City!

Not in that area, enter this code to get $10 off a La Fonera +

A801939721353896

CONDITIONS:

Special Offer for La Fonera Plus for a $10 discount (Sales tax and shipping not included)

This Special Offer is valid until June 30, 2008 and limited to 10000 La Fonera Plus Wifi Routers and to users/customers/members of FON that have received their Promotional Code and that also register or are already registered as Foneros. This Offer is limited to one router per user and shipping address. You will not be eligible for this Offer if you have previously purchased a subsidised La Fonera Plus at www.fon.com.

Once FON has confirmation that you have registered as a member of our Community, we will send you the La Fonera Plus for a $10 discount (Sales tax and shipping not included). Once you have received your La Fonera Plus, your will be required to install the La Fonera Plus and maintain it activated within the FON Community. If for any reason you are not able to do so, we ask that you kindly pass the La Fonera Plus onto a friend who wants to share WiFi as a Fonero.

FON will publish your location on the FON maps that highlight the FON Community’s Access Points. Your personal data will be handled in accordance with the FON Privacy and Data Protection Policy that you will accept or have accepted when registering with FON. The FON Privacy and Data Protection Policy complies with the Spanish Organic Act 15/1999 entitled the Personal Data Protection Law and the UK Protection Act 1998, their corresponding regulations and other relevant legislation.

On our website www.fon.com you can find all of the necessary information for installation and registration of your La Fonera.

http://www.sharethecastro.com/

The End of the Fontrepreneur program

I originally posted this information on Dec. 19, 2007, but it caused a major problem over at FON [I had information before they (FON) did, don't ask and so I removed my original post] So here are the numbers:

* We originally invited 860 people from 5 countries: USA, Canada, Belgium, Holland and Germany.
* Of those, 39 people replied and showed interest.
* Of those, 13 people agreed to go through the legal loop holes that the laywers required of us.
* Of those, 5 used the promo code
* Of those, 2 immediately put the La Foneras for sale on eBay

I don't quite know what to think of this, but I was basically 1 out of 3 people who wanted to participate in the program. The other two (out of the 5 that purchased the kit) people that sold the routers on ebay were in this just to make a few bucks. Obviously the program failed for a few reasons: (1) lack of interest, (2) lack of participation, (3) lack of management, and (4) lack of communication [I was often left in the dark for weeks at a time with no clue of what was going on].

Fon was very busy at the time (Due to BT) and should have seen the they where trying to do too much at once and that there was a major lack in interest and stopped the program before it began.

***Just a side note: this information can be found on other blogs, but they got the information from me before I removed it (remember I did participate in the program)***

$15 off La Fonera

just enter the code A365391948608881

http://www.thatedeguy.com/archives/2007/12/fon-wireless-networking-coupon

http://www.fon.com/en/landing/joinfon

Special Offer for La Fonera Plus for a $15 discount to the regular price (shipping cost and sales tax not included)

This Special Offer is valid until January 30, 2008 and limited to 3000 La Fonera Plus WiFi Router and users/customers/members of FON Affiliates that have received their Promotional Code and that also register or are already registered as Foneros. This Offer is limited to one router per user and shipping address. You will not be eligible for this Offer if you have previously purchased a subsidised La Fonera at www.fon.com.

Once FON has confirmation that you have registered as a member of our Community, we will send you the La Fonera for a $15 discount to the regular price (shipping costs and sales tax are not included). Once you have received your La Fonera, your will be required to install the La Fonera and maintain it activated within the FON Community. If for any reason you are not able to do so, we ask that you kindly pass the La Fonera onto a friend who wants to share WiFi as a Fonero.

FON will publish your location on the FON maps that highlight the FON Community’s Access Points. Your personal data will be handled in accordance with the FON Privacy and Data Protection Policy that you will accept or have accepted when registering with FON. The FON Privacy and Data Protection Policy complies with the Spanish Organic Act 15/1999 entitled the Personal Data Protection Law and the UK Protection Act 1998, their corresponding regulations and other relevant legislation.

On our website www.fon.com you can find all of the necessary information for installation and registration of your La Fonera.

Free Wifi Frame from FON Contest

RULES

Meraki's $20 Million Move

Just a couple of days ago Meraki raised $20 million to set up free wifi access in San Francisco, California. After a recent failure with Earthlink, San Francisco was still looking to provide people with city wide wifi access. For those who don't know much about Meraki, it is very similar to FON, but Meraki wireless routers have meshing capabilities. There are dozens of articles on the Internet about this (if you want to search, but I'll put the best links I find at the bottom of this post) If Meraki can pull this off, FON might get left behind in the U.S., but we will have to wait to find out what happens. This could be a great success, or many problems could arise. If Fon can strike a deal in the US like they did with BT, Fon can really increase the number of hot spots in the US. I don't quite know what to think of this right now, but a couple of the links below make some good arguments and provide some good info. So go ahead and read them.

http://meraki.com/
http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/general/meraki-raises-20-million-dollars-to-build-wifi-network-in-san-francisco.html
http://fonblog.eu/2008/01/06/meraki-mashup-for-san-francisco-wifi-network/
http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6690/1/23
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/meraki-to-tackl.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/17/BUA4S6EB7.DTL&type=tech
http://www.dailywireless.org/2008/01/04/meraki-proposes-free-sf-wi-fi-network/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_hi_te/wi_fi_san_francisco_10;_ylt=AgcLo1yGAVm.IPHsXWm2nXkE1vAI

For the IM Addicts - Zipit Wi-fi messaging device

Came across this neat little device for those who are addicted to text-messaging and instant messaging. The best part is you only need a wifi hotspot to use it. The Zipit Wireless Instant Messaging Device will set you back about $150 and 3,000 text messages will cost about $5 a month.

http://www.zipitwireless.com/