<![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, fon]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, fon]]> http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/fon http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/fon <![CDATA[Who's going to TechTalk Menorca, the Balearic boondoggle?]]> Martin Varsavsky, the founder of Wi-Fi startup Fon, has concocted another excuse for Web 2.0's jet set to rack up frequent-flier miles and buy carbon offsets: It's called Menorca TechTalk, held on Varsavsky's ranch on the Mediterranean island this weekend. The website is password-protected, but Valleywag got a list of who's going. It's a curious mix of professional conference attendees, like Rapleaf's Auren Hoffman, Loïc Le Meur of Seesmic, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, and David Sifry of Technorati, mixed in with a few people who have day jobs. There are even Googlers on the list — and when have you known those lot to leave the protective bubble of Mountain View? Oddly, Jimmy Wales did not seem to make the cut, though his New York patroness, Louise Blouin MacBain, is listed. In the comments, sort the TechTalkers into your preferred categories.

  • Alan Levy (BlogTalkRadio)
  • Alec Oxenford (OLX, DineroMail)
  • Alejandro Estrada (DineroMail)
  • Alexis Bonte (Erepublik.com)
  • Andrew McLaughlin (Google)
  • Anil de Mello (Mobuzz)
  • Arturo J. Paniagua (Hipertextual)
  • Auren Hoffman (Rapleaf)
  • Axel Schmiegelow (Sevenload, Denkwerk Group)
  • Benjamí Villoslada (Menèame)
  • Brent Hoberman (Mydeco)
  • Carlos Martìn (IG Expansiòn)
  • Cedric Maloux
  • Christophe F. Maire (Nokia gate5, investor)
  • Claudia Gisiger-Gonzalez (UNHCR)
  • Dan Dubno (Blowing Things Up)
  • David Sifry (Technorati)
  • Demian M. Bellumio (Cyloop)
  • Eduardo Arcos (Hipertextual)
  • Efe Cakarel (The Auteurs)
  • Ehssan Dariani (studiVZ)
  • Esteban Sosnik
  • Esther Dyson (EDventure)
  • Felix Petersen (Plazes)
  • Hans Peter Brøndmo (Plum)
  • Ibrahim Evsan (Sevenload)
  • Ivan Communod (Vpod.tv)
  • Jacob Hsu (Symbio)
  • James Gutierrez (Progress Financial)
  • Jennifer L. Schenker (BusinessWeek)
  • John Markoff (The New York Times)
  • Joichi Ito (Creative Commons, Six Apart Japan, investor)
  • Jon Berrojalbiz (Trading Motion)
  • Jonas Birgersson (Labs2)
  • Jörg Rohleder (Vanity Fair)
  • José María Figueres (Grupo Felipe IV)
  • Jose Marin (IG Expansion)
  • Julio Alonso (Weblogs SL)
  • Lars Hinrichs (XING)
  • Loïc Le Meur (Seesmic)
  • Louise T Blouin MacBain (Louise Blouin Media)
  • Lukasz Gadowski (Spreadshirt.com, investor)
  • Lukasz Wejchert (Onet.pl)
  • Marc Samwer (European Founders Fund)
  • Marcelo Claure (Brightstar Corp.)
  • Marko Ahtisaari (Blyk, Dopplr, FON)
  • Mathias Entenmann (Betfair)
  • Matt Biddulph (Dopplr)
  • Megan Smith (Google)
  • Michael Arrington (Techcrunch)
  • Michael Jackson (Mangrove Capital Partners)
  • Michael Wolf (Farallon Point)
  • Nikesh Arora (Google)
  • Ola Ahlvarsson (Result, FON)
  • Om Malik (Giga Omni Media)
  • R.J. Friedlander (Grupo Planeta)
  • Ricardo Galli (Menéame)
  • Rodrigo Sepúlveda Schulz (Vpod.tv)
  • Rupert Schäfer (DLD, Hubert Burda Media)
  • Scott Rafer (Lookery, Mashery, Winksite)
  • Tariq Krim (Netvibes)
  • Thomas Crampton (Next Media)
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=389017&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[In the Castro, Fon Chers and Chers alike]]> "The headline for tonight is 'Package!'" declared our photog, Randal Alan Smith. From the pic above, I have to agree. Last night, Fon held a party at Castro dive bar Moby Dick to promote Share the Castro, an effort to unwire the gayborhood. Gender disillusionist Cher-ish strutted across the room in heels that placed everyone's eyes at fake-boob level, and smacked Fon stickers on the crowd. Matador Joselito showed off the goods (Fon's and his own) by talking free wireless routers to the bar crowd.

Fon's goal was to distribute enough Fon routers to create a local network of Wi-Fi hotspots. But Fon's plan for critical mass was upstaged by Joselito's critical ass. Cher-ish finished off the night with a bar-stopping performance and outfit she stitched herself. I thought about asking her to make me one, but I don't have the package to pull it off. Check out the rest of the photos.

Photos by Randal Alan Smith

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=356099&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Steve Jobs "very interested" in Wi-Fi sharing]]> Martin Varsavsky, founder of the Spanish Wi-Fi sharing company Fon, has made a video of his impressions of meeting with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. But who cares? You've heard it all before. The Apple campus is at One Infinite Loop. The decor is monochromatic. Jobs asks lots of questions, is "not the nicest guy," and wants you to know how wonderful Apple products are. What is interesting, however, is how this hapless wantrepreneur even got a meeting with Jobs in the first place.

Varsavsky's Apple tour suggests that the iPhone maker is interested in hooking up with Fon's network of users who share their home Wi-Fi networks. While some ISPs, mostly in Europe, have embraced Fon's business model — after all, you need a broadband connection in the first place in order to then share it with others — many still forbid the service. Among them, of course, is AT&T, Apple's cell-phone partner in the U.S. Could Jobs be preparing to bypass Ma Bell using the iPhone's built-in Wi-Fi and a partnership with Fon? Who knows. But I'll be keeping an eye on Varsavsky and Fon from now on — especially any trips back to Cupertino.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=315682&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[BT and Fon have partnered to create what...]]> BT and Fon have partnered to create what they claim is the largest Wi-Fi "community" in the world. "Community," in this case, meaning that participating BT broadband customers will share their home wireless networks with other members and in return will get unlimited access to Fon's almost 200,000 hotspots. Could this be the solution to municipal Wi-Fi? [Connected Internet]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=307369&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Sonic.net tries mob rule for municipal Wi-Fi]]> Meraki Mini wireless routerWith San Francisco's municipal Wi-Fi program stuck in purgatory thanks to EarthLink's budget concerns, Internet service provider Sonic.net aims to be the city's wireless savior. Not that legions of dirty hippy leechers deserve free Wi-Fi. Nonetheless, Sonic says customers can obtain a subsidized wireless mesh router and hook it up to a DSL line. Why? To create a network of wireless access points. Web surfers browsing from the wireless network will be served Google ads to subsidize their surfing. Sonic will implement a profit-sharing plan that will credit their customers' accounts. Sounds like both a cheap attempt to turn EarthLink's woes into free PR, and a blatant ripoff of Fon's business model. More power to Sonic. A plan so crass can't help but work.

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