A subject I've been passionate about for some time is the issue of universal access to the Internet. By this I refer not just to the actual connection, but also the social infrastructure that allows for intelligent use.

Recently President-elect Barack Obama reiterated his committment to ensure that all Americans have high-speed access to the Internet, and while here in Canada our urban centres are well connected, many of our rural communities are not.

What has always frustrated me about this issue is the techno-centric approach that government policy and advocates have focused on. The idea that the Internet is just a series of tubes is something that is easy to laugh at, yet it accurately reflects the utilitarian culture we ascribe to it.

I always couple culture with technology in the same light as political economy, and what access strategies generally lack is a focus on education, literacy, and creating local capcity to maintain the infrastructure required to get communities connected.

There's a chicken and egg scenario with rural broadband access in which companies are unwilling to invest unless there is demand and yet the demand may not exist due to a lack of awareness.

Similarly I think there's a need to grow your own Internet, invest in local infrastructure, and create the demand from the inside out.

I've always loved Kids in the Hall. I used to go and be part of the audience for the tapings of their old show here in Toronto, and their skits continue to pop into my head at all sorts of weird moments.

So yesterday I was recovering from an exciting event the day before, and still thinking about the intersection of community, technology, politics, and culture, when the KitH song "These are the Daves I know" jumped into my head.

Davids are wonderful human beings. I've known and loved many Davids in my three point three decades of this life. In fact Jesses have a unique relationship with Davids as Isiah chapter 11 describes Jesse as the father of David, Jesse of course described in that chapter as root.

Here in Toronto there has recently been a conflict brewing between two Daves I know, and last night as I saw this dispute seep into tweets, the Bruce McCulloch song got me thinking about Daves in general, and some of the Daves I know.

As in addition to being wonderful, Davids also tend to be powerful. And I must say I've known some rather powerful Davids. As it stands the mayor of Toronto is David Miller. I no longer like him that much, but I did contribute to his first successful mayoral campaign, and he's been in the news lately as he wants even more executive power.

However two other powerful Davids that are making waves in Toronto right now are David Crow and Dave Forde. I like both of these Daves, unfortunately I'm not sure they feel the same about each other, which is too bad, as united these two Davids could enable quite a bit of positive change.