Just because you’re reading this it doesn't mean that, like me, you love the internet with a fierce passion usually reserved for the kissing of soldiers returning from epic wars, but you still might find it interesting. The City of Eau Claire is applying for a grant to get us some kickass internet. From chief V1 technology consultant karaoke enthusiast Kinzy Janssen:

• Because Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls are already connected via underground tubes of fiber optic cables, the Chippewa Valley has become one of only five communities invited to apply for a grant that would enable even more connectivity. Upon approving the application (expected by September 30), the area would receive $11.6 million from federal stimulus funds for the construction of an extensive fiber optic and Wimax network. WiMax is licensed and protected “air infrastructure” that would provide wireless internet to centers of education, public safety, medicine, government, and public computing – and thus would not be available for random citizen mooching. “We have to provide critical services,” says John LeBrun, the city’s Information Services Manager. ”With WiFi, any bit of popcorn that gets in the way can shut down a system.” The benefits? The project would provide services to organizations serving vulnerable populations – places like Free Clinics and Boys and Girls Clubs who have been skipped on “the grid.”  Read more in next week’s Volume One.

So it doesn’t look like Jane and John Q. Public would benefit from the juiced up network in their own home (a company like Charter can’t use the infrastructure), but it’s good news for public services and organizations. And if I’m correctly parsing the data, you should be able surf the internet at the public library like a Tyrannosaurs Rex riding a raging tsunami wave – using a freight train for a surf board. And that freight train will be loaded with INFORMATION.