Smart Valley Inc., a Northern California nonprofit that's building a San Francisco Bay area information infrastructure, is intent on providing free Net access to anyone willing to visit one of its real-world sites. In mid-June, the group set up four Net sites around the Bay area, launching the Public Access Network project. The network's spokeswoman, Kathie Blankenship, says the goal is to "bridge the gap between those who have access to technology and those who don't."
The company home page, dubbed the PAN Islands (www.svi.org/pan.html), loads each time a user logs on. With a Web browser, users can take a virtual cruise by clicking on any of the nine islands and following an island-hopping gecko on a tour of the Web.
E-mail: teresah@svi.org.
SCANS
The Public Access Network
