Gizmodo: portland

Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go

Dan Nosowitz — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EDT

Remember when Clearwire promised they'd bring WiMax to 80 cities within 18 months? Well, they've started with Las Vegas, Portland and Atlanta (the latter being right in AT&T's backyard), and Sprint is set to take advantage.

Sprint, which owns a 51% stake in Clearwire, says it will offer 10Mbps download and 3-6Mbps upload speeds in those three cities, which is a pretty sweet deal for Sprint customers. Now come on, Clearwire: make good on your promise and blanket the country with sweet 4G action. [mocoNews]

Portland 3G Data Test: AT&T, Sprint and Verizon

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST

My in-laws live in Portland's sorta twin city, Vancouver, WA. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to check out the 3G situation.

PGE Park (Saturday, 12 noon)
Home of the Triple-A Beavers, among other minor league sports teams, it's a centrally located venue for fun stuff in Portland. Surprisingly, there was a Starbucks conveniently located right nearby.

Portland State University (Saturday, 1pm)
Surprisingly, the park bench near the university where I tested was not very far from PGE Park, just a few miles, but the reception was quite different, proving that you need diversity of locations to do a proper 3G test.

Vancouver, WA (Saturday, 10am)
Up across the Columbia River from Portland, the "other" Vancouver is a low-key city whose residents score a sweet double-whammy: No income tax (in WA) and no sales tax (if they shop down in OR).

Results
Sprint had a strong showing, with some blistering download speeds at Portland State University. Reception wasn't hot for anyone at PGE, though in Vancouver, Sprint again was the winner. AT&T, as expected, managed high upload speeds in Portland, though the fire wasn't there in Vancouver.

Back to main Coast-to-Coast 3G Data Test story

Guy Who Uses Stun Gun on Son to Toughen Him Up Jailed, Unsurprisingly

Kit Eaton — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:40:50 EST

The father of an 18-month-old child is off to jail for four years after being found guilty of using a stun gun on the boy. His reason for using the 100,000-volt Dragonfire, which resulted in muscle damage to the kid's heart, was because he wanted his son to be "the toughest cage fighter ever." Yeah, the toughest heart-damaged, cage-fighting 18-month-old ever.

According to the Deputy DA in Portland, Ryan Wittman had made comments to witnesses saying he wanted his child "to be tough." When first questioned, the dad's genius response was to say that the two of them had been "playing peekaboo." Hmm, that'll be the special version of kilovolt peekaboo we've never heard of, then.

The 100,000-volt weapon Wittman used is, apparently, more powerful than police tasers. Wittman's excuse for the incidents? Arguments with his wife. It took just 20 minutes for the court to decide that Wittman should be sent down for four years. [CNN]

Portland's Solar-Powered, 22-Story Storage Facility

AddyDugdale — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:30:16 EDT

Boasting 175,000 square feet of integrated solar panels, this storage center on the banks of the Willamette in Portland will probably lay claim to being the most energy-efficient storage facility when construction is finished.

Built on just three acres of land, (most single-story storage facilities need 10 times that amount) Portland City Storage will be the largest solar facility in the Northwest. Excess power will be sold on to Portland General Electric, and there is a rainwater collection area on the roof.

There will also be a giant mechanical arm capable of lifting 40,000 pounds in order to further conserve the waterfront, which will be rehabilitated to make it more wild-life friendly. Cycle paths, walkways and boathouses will all make it more people friendly than your average storage warehouse.
[Portland City Storage via MetaEfficient]