Dennis Deery

The Rural Stories Project is coming online at http://www.ruralstories.com. We’re going to be coming out of the chute fairly slow with this, as real, paying work calls (a lot) these days. Keep an eye on it though, content will be trickling out.

Our good friend Herby Radmann of Bullfrog Fish Farm has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education 2004 Patrick Madden Award contest. The Madden award recognizes agricultural enterprises that are not only profitable but value the environment and their communities. Herby and the gang at the farm are the perfect embodiment of those principles. Congratulations!

The federal government has suspended E-rate payments to schools across the country while they rule on how the money is allocated. The E-rate program provides $2.5 billion to schools to provide high-speed internet service. Read more at CNet.

Are you using CD-Rs for your archiving solution? They’re great for short-term use, but may have some problems over the long term. Check out this article for more information.

Google is now offering some interesting advertising options that are affordable for small businesses. Check out their site, or email me for more information.

The U.S. House has passed an appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture that includes $678 million for rural telemedicine infrastructure. Telemedicine allows patients in rural areas to “meet” with doctors over high-speed internet connections with video and audio, and is an important component of bringing good healthcare to rural America.

Here’s a stark reminder to be sure to renew your domain registrations: two Chicago suburbs forgot to renew their domain registrations, and their domain names were purchased by pornography providers. Make sure you keep your domain registrations up to date - it’s only $10 a year.

Best Buy and CompUSA stores have apparently struck deals with Microsoft and AOL to automatically sign up customers for online accounts when they make store purchases. If you’ve made a computer-related purchase at Best Buy or CompUSA lately, make sure you don’t start getting billed a monthly internet service charge.

USDA has awarded $20 million through their Community Connect Grant Program to provide broadband network development in 40 rural communities across the country. Grants like these will be very necessary for the future of rural areas due to the difficulty of recouping infrastructure costs in areas with a low population density. I think an effort similar to the REA will be required to ensure that rural America is not left behind in this newest digital divide.

Midwest Wireless is offering a new wireless internet service called ClearWave in the Menomonie area. If you’re unable to get Charter high-speed internet or 24⁄7 Telcom DSL, this solution might work for you. You must be located within an 8-mile radius of the Midwest Wireless antenna, located on the tower just north of Menomonie. Rates are comparable to the other options.

The Wisconsin Innovation Network will be hosting a conference to discuss the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grant programs in Madison on June 19. The SBIR/STTR programs are great opportunities to obtain funding for research and development projects. You can see details about the conference at the Wisconsin Innovation Network web site, and learn more about the SBIR/STTR programs at the Wisconsin SBIR/STTR Outreach Office.