Gratitude Journals & Lowenstein's Challenge:
How many times have
You heard someone say
If I had his money
I could do things my way
But little they know
That it's so hard to find
One rich man in ten
With a satisfied mind
...
Money can't buy back
Your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely
Or a love that's grown cold
The wealthiest person
Is a pauper at times
Compared to the man
With a satisfied mind
Fascinating reading at Marginal Revolution....
The Chicago Sun-Times cut its single-copy circulation numbers by 23%, more than a month after disclosing that it had inflated figures according to this AP article. Times are changing. Advertisers should completely understand what they are getting for their money.
Grand Haven, Mich., makes a splash with full-city Wi-Fi coverage: This seems like yet another city announcement, but it might be the first city with this scale of access that 100-percent live and commercially available
Tony Palmeri, a Green Party candidate for the 54th Assembly District writes about a recent State Elections Board meeting...
A recent Economist article on Wisconsin mentions one of the many challenges facing our state:
Without a smart urban centre of its own to attract young professionals, Wisconsin has seen an exodus of college graduates in the past two decades. It ranks 43rd among the 50 states in the share of college graduates in its workforce, says Terry Ludeman, a jobs expert.Unfortunately, our entrenched politicians evidently cannot see the opportunities at hand. South Korea, recognizing the need for change after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, fully embraced the need for change and pushed true broadband (not the slow stuff we have) adoption to the extreme as John Borland and Michael Kanellos explain.
John Robb makes an excellent point:
The US is negotiating to launch a coastal security program for Nigeria. Wants access to bases for training and rapid deployment in case of a crisis. More "free" protection for oil companies. We need to find a way to allocate these costs so that they are incorporated into the price of oil. Currently, we spend $4-5 in naval protection for every barrel that is shipped from the Persian Gulf. Nobody pays for it but the American tax payer.We're also subsidizing the Europeans and all other net oil importers.
Aurora Healthcare, the state's largest private employer with 25,000 employees is attempting to build a new hospital in the Town of Summit. The Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital is minutes away from Aurora's proposed site. Over 1,000 people attended a public hearing on the required land use changes before the Town's Plan Commission. The proposed hospital would be built on 53 acres at the southwest corner of Interstate 94 and Hwy 67 in Waukesha County.
I remember someone saying (I wish I could recall the name) that when Madison approves new developments it's "planned growth" while when nearby towns approve them it's "urban sprawl".
Meanwhile, Detroit automakers are fighting the proposed construction of two new hospitals in suburban Detroit, according to an article by Lee Hawkins, Jr.:
The auto makers worry that the hospitals would add unneeded costs and lead to overcapacity in Detroit's Oakland County suburbs. Many hospitals see increasing their presence in fast-growing, upper-income suburban areas as a way to subsidize care to uninsured and indigent patients' in urban and rural areas.The concept of the Big Three urging hospitals to resist overcapacity is ironic, since U.S. auto makers for years have been unable to conquer chronic overcapacity in their own industry.
The auto makers complain that in their business, overcapacity drives prices down. But they argue that in the hospital business, overcapacity drives medical costs up, because it encourages doctors to put more patients -- particularly those with rich health plans who pay little out of pocket -- into empty hospital beds.
Lots of interesting points in these articles. Clearly, today's medical technology provides an increasing amount of out-patient services. As an employer facing annual double digit health care cost increases, I do believe that the costs of these new facilities will indeed be paid.
Interesting counterpoint here.
Nigel Ballard of Personal Telco reports that Portland International Airport will have free Wi-Fi: Ballard told an audience at a meeting of the community wireless group this evening that the Port of Portland will turn on 25 access points by Oct. 1 to offer free service at gates and check-in areas. They're committed to covering the cost of operation for the first year, and then re-evaluating whether fees would be added. Ballard is part of the Portland Telecommunications Steering Committee, and an active community networker and commercial infrastructure builder....
The Dane County Regional Airport, unfortunately, plans to (finally!) add WiFi. However, it will be rather unfriendly - users will have to pay via credit card to use the service (Editors note: I wonder if the cost to administer the paid service will be covered by the small amount of revenue that DCRA WiFi will generate. The airport is just not that big and frankly, flight delays are likely the only time most people will sign up). Send a note to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk if you'd like to see another approach. Albuquerque's Sunport also takes an enlightened position: WiFi is free to all. The DCRA position makes no sense.
Tim Post on the growing number of backyard prairie gardeners:
Jack Kerouac wrote: "Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life."His words are the creed of the RV set also known as Tin Can Tourists, Gypsies and Escapees. These ramblers whittle their lives down to the bare necessities, have a yard sale, sell the house, grab the kids, stuff themselves into a thirty foot home on wheels and hit the road.
Some move on every three days, some stay a month or more and work, some home-school the kids parked beside the Grand Canyon. Once they've tasted life like this, they don't want it any other way
Tribune owned Newsday is evidently offering reduced ad rates and a guaranteed circulation minimum ("rate base"). Any business/organization that is not evaluating/changing ad spending is operating at a competitive disadvantage.
Kevin Delaney writes that new media is increasingly challenging "old media" for effective ad dollars:
When executives at DaimlerChrysler AG's Jeep division wanted to promote an extra-rugged version of their Wrangler brand last year, they commissioned a videogame that allowed players to drive a Wrangler Rubicon up steep inclines and across rivers. The game -- "Jeep 4x4: Trail Of Life" -- was relatively inexpensive to produce and the company gave it away online.Another bit of evidence that things are indeed changing. I've subscribed to the New York Times fishwrap version since my days at the UW in the early 1980's. This week, I cancelled my print subscription (I no longer subscribe to any print newspapers). I've found that the internet is far more useful and interesting from an international, national and increasingly local perspective.Within six months, 250,000 consumers had downloaded it and handed over their names and e-mail addresses to Jeep. Nearly 40% of them said they were considering buying one of its vehicles.
Bryan Caplan on the contradictions of US citizens: we're for spending restraint, but won't identify any specific cuts. 64% believe spend too much on welfare, but only 26% are willing to actually enforce a 2-year limit if welfare recipients would have to take a "low wage that would make it difficult to support a family." Fascinating reading.
Micah Sifry and Nancy Watzman in the L.A. Times (op-ed page): After All, it's a Multiparty System. A sample:
In a pay-to-play political system, Americans' votes don't matter nearly as much as cold, hard cash. That's why we need comprehensive campaign finance reform, including full public financing, to actually change the rules of the game. Under such "clean elections" systems, which are already the law in Arizona and Maine, candidates who collect a large number of small contributions and agree to abide by spending limits receive a public grant to run their campaigns. In that way, public officials are freed from their direct dependence on private donors.via doc searls The need for reform is clear, after reading articles like this.If somebody is going to own the politicians, it might as well be us.
Stephanie Tuel writes:
The 18th stage was an excellent example of game theory at work. Lance Armstrong and the peloton were a few minutes back of a breakaway group of 6 riders (none of whom were a threat to the top of the overall standings since all were over 1 hour behind). Reading the various news reports and between the lines it appears that Armstrong's team, US Postal, was doing all the work at the front of the peloton and the team of the closest competitors, T-Mobile, were loafing. (The crucial strategic variable in bicycling appears to be the effect of wind resistance, especially on the flat and on downhills--whoever is at the front has to work harder, and whoever is following can choose to conserve energy or share the effort.)
It was a couple of years ago, at least, that we first heard about bandages being developed out of chitosan and now it seems they've been put into service in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chitosan, derived from shrimp shells, carries a positive charge and bonds with a wound's red blood cells (which are negatively charged) to form a clot in as short as 30 seconds. Made exclusively by HemCon, the bandages use shrimp shells from Iceland, are processed and freeze-dried in New Hampshire, assembled and packaged in Oregon, and sterilized in California. No word on when shrimp bandages will be available to consumers.Via Gizmodo.
I've sent an email off to Senator Kohl's office requesting a statement on the absurd Leahy/Hatch RIAA backed Induce Act. (Senator Kohl is a member of the Judiciary committee). LawMeme has a very useful summary of the proposed legislation.
How does this affect us on Main Street? We plan to use P2P (person to person) tools to share videos from next week's All City Swim meet.
Christine Cozzens on visiting Lake Manitowish.
Saw a pristine Porsche 912 today as I walked into a grocery store. I later talked with the owner who told me that it only had 65,000 miles on it! Regular maintenance is critical to a car's longevity and reliability as Dennis Budd relates in this 6.5MB video clip (Budd's Auto Repair on Monroe Street).
The Capital Times rightly takes Democratic Governor Jim Doyle to task for raising money at a faster rate than former Governor Tommy Thompson (himself a record cash machine).
During his first 18 months in office, Doyle raised $2.4 million. That means that Doyle is collecting checks at a more rapid rate than did former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who until now had been recognized as the state's most aggressive campaign fund-raiser.Wisconsin needs real economic and political leadership. Taking money from the entrenched interests does nothing to help our economic future. In fact, it often gets in the way."When you're significantly out-raising Tommy Thompson, that's saying something," argues Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
What it says, however, is not encouraging for campaign finance reform or good government in Wisconsin. Just like Thompson, Doyle has been raising large sums of money from individuals he has appointed to key positions in state government and from individuals and groups seeking favorable treatment from the state.
Jason Gertzen on Wisconsin's fledgling Biotech industry, including the growing demand for community college grads.
Jason Stein's article on Brazil's growing soybean export business (and the financial implications for Wisconsin Soybean farmers; Brazil's costs are lower and they are clearing forests to grow beans) follows a number of articles in other publications on Brazil's agricultural prowess, including The Star Tribune and the NY Times. Stein's article is certainly useful and informative (I'm glad they are covering these issues!), however, the article includes a disclaimer that:
Reporting in Brazil was made possible through a grant from the Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Department at UW-Madison.
I find this amazing. Capital Newspapers is a $112M+ (2003 revenues) very profitable business. I can't think of one good reason why University funds (direct or indirect) should subsidize this private enterprise. A trip to Brazil, including lodging, food and transportation planned somewhat in advance should cost no more than $3 to $5K. I'd rather see them fund some students, we'd likely get a more for our money.
The Democratic Party has invited a number of bloggers to their Boston Convention. Video blog post | Photo Blog Post.
Points to the Democrats for inviting bloggers to the party.
Captain Courageous, or Outrageous, depending on your POV, Ted Turner takes some shots at media consolidation in this Washington Monthly article:
Today, media companies are more concentrated than at any time over the past 40 years, thanks to a continual loosening of ownership rules by Washington. The media giants now own not only broadcast networks and local stations; they also own the cable companies that pipe in the signals of their competitors and the studios that produce most of the programming. To get a flavor of how consolidated the industry has become, consider this: In 1990, the major broadcast networks--ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox--fully or partially owned just 12.5 percent of the new series they aired. By 2000, it was 56.3 percent. Just two years later, it had surged to 77.5 percent.Ironically, on the day I read this, Gannett announced that they purchased a rival Green Bay, WI newspaper, the News-Chronicle (along with a number of regional and weekly publications). Frank Wood owned the News Chronicle, which in 1989 published a long series of articles critical of Gannett and its business practices. Richard McCord, the writer of these articles went on to publish a book - the Chain Gang.
Jon Lauck references this book in his disection of the newspaper monopoly situation in South Dakota.
Ellen Florian wrote an interesting article on the history of ATM's: The Money Machines:
The line was long and slow, and he became increasingly irritated as his lunch hour dribbled away. All at once, he had a flash of inspiration. 'Golly, all the teller does is cash checks, take deposits, answer questions like "What's my balance?" and transfer money between accounts,' recalls Wetzel, now 75 and still living in Dallas with his wife. 'Wow, I think we could build a machine that could do that!' And with a $4 million go-ahead from Docutel's parent company, that's exactly what he and his engineers did. Read more about the story of the ATM."Via Slashdot.
The Economist continues its series on swing states for this fall's presidential elections. This week, they visit Wisconsin.
An interesting place that John Kerry is desperate to cling on to, but where independents tend to prefer George BushThen there's this shot of reality (college grad retention and a generally ageing population):IT IS a quiet-looking state, a land of rolling hills, family farms and a few medium-sized cities in the middle of the northern stretch of the country. But, when it comes to politics, Wisconsin is more dramatic than it looks.
Unfortunately for Mr Kerry, young liberals moving to Wisconsin are the exception rather than the rule in a fast ageing state. Without a smart urban centre of its own to attract young professionals, Wisconsin has seen an exodus of college graduates in the past two decades. It ranks 43rd among the 50 states in the share of college graduates in its workforce, says Terry Ludeman, a jobs expert. Meanwhile births are plummeting in its largely white population, down to about 65,000 a year from 93,000 at the height of the baby boom. As Wisconsin gets greyer, it is probably getting a little more conservative.Fitting commentary, given my post yesterday on our state politicians poor priority choices.....
Swing states: Wisconsin
It's still the economy
Jul 22nd 2004 | MADISON
From The Economist print edition
An interesting place that John Kerry is desperate to cling on to, but where independents tend to prefer George Bush
IT IS a quiet-looking state, a land of rolling hills, family farms and a few medium-sized cities in the middle of the northern stretch of the country. But, when it comes to politics, Wisconsin is more dramatic than it looks.
A century ago it held the nation's first mandatory presidential primary, in an attempt to curb the power of party bosses who had controlled political king-making until then. Its Progressive movement, led by Teddy Roosevelt's rival Robert LaFollette, stood up for the little guy and continues to influence American politics as far away as California. It has sent more than its share of mavericks and firebrands to the Senate, from Joe McCarthy to Russ Feingold, the only senator who opposed the Patriot Act after September 11th 2001.
This year, Wisconsin looks like having one of the most closely fought battles in the presidential campaign. Al Gore won here by fewer than 6,000 votes in 2000. The latest polls show George Bush and John Kerry in a virtual dead-heat.
At first glance, the wind appears to be blowing the Democrats' way. Wisconsin has not backed a Republican for president since Ronald Reagan won in 1984. The current governor, Jim Doyle, is a Democrat (albeit the first one since 1986). So are both of Wisconsin's senators. Mr Feingold, who opposed the Iraq war and sponsored campaign-finance reform, probably faces another close race for re-election, but most people think he will win.
Some things, though, favour the Republicans. They control both houses of the state legislature. And they may be doing better with independents, who account for one in three voters. A recent survey from the University of Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey Institute shows that nearly half of Wisconsin's independents prefer Mr Bush to Mr Kerry, with fewer than a third leaning the other way; Mr Kerry failed to get much of a bounce here despite picking John Edwards, a supposed favourite of independents, as his vice-presidential running-mate. But it is not quite that simple: once you throw in third-party candidates, including Ralph Nader (see article), they tend to lure more independents away from Mr Bush.
Geographically, the Republicans have most of the countryside; but that tends to be balanced by the Democrats' hold on the two main cities, Milwaukee and Madison, and a cluster of progressive towns on the Minnesota border. The swingiest part is the relatively prosperous but also relatively urban third congressional district, which encompasses La Crosse and Eau Claire in the Mississippi valley.
What are the voters likely to be thinking about most on election day? “People in the middle of the country aren't so security-conscious,” says Jeff Mayers, an analyst with WisPolitics, noting that worries about terrorism and Iraq are not the main issues in this election year. “They don't view themselves as primary targets. So it's about the economy.”
Yet the economic picture is extremely uneven. “John Edwards talks about the two Americas. We would talk about the two Wisconsins,” says Mordecai Lee, a politics professor at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. And one of them is doing a lot better than the other.
The struggling half is rooted in manufacturing. Although the state is called “America's dairyland”, farms matter less than factories. The manufacturing sector accounts for a bigger percentage of jobs here than in any other state except Indiana. Car parts, machine tools and Harley-Davidson motorcycles are only a few of its products. A north-south slice of eastern Wisconsin, running roughly from Green Bay to Kenosha, has been hit hard by the manufacturing downturn. Milwaukee-Racine, the state's largest metropolitan area, has done especially badly. Although things have been a bit better lately, thanks in part to Mr Doyle's business-friendly policies, the state is still suffering from a net loss of manufacturing jobs—not good news for Mr Bush.
But, as Mr Lee points out, there is also a second Wisconsin which has a much more varied economy—and is faring better. In that crucial third district, both La Crosse and Eau Claire have held up pretty well. So, for instance, is the far north, though this is a thinly populated area where hunters and fishermen predominate, and wealthy people from Illinois and Minnesota own second homes.
The Democrats also have some strongholds in New Wisconsin. Madison, with its high-tech jobs as well as those in government, the service sector and university teaching, is a particularly healthy island. Then there are the fast-growing Wisconsin suburbs which feed Democratic cities outside the state, such as Chicago in Illinois and Minneapolis-St Paul in Minnesota.
Unfortunately for Mr Kerry, young liberals moving to Wisconsin are the exception rather than the rule in a fast ageing state. Without a smart urban centre of its own to attract young professionals, Wisconsin has seen an exodus of college graduates in the past two decades. It ranks 43rd among the 50 states in the share of college graduates in its workforce, says Terry Ludeman, a jobs expert. Meanwhile births are plummeting in its largely white population, down to about 65,000 a year from 93,000 at the height of the baby boom. As Wisconsin gets greyer, it is probably getting a little more conservative.
Out of the mid-western states that Mr Gore won last time, Wisconsin looks the most promising for Mr Bush. Most of the local money is certainly still on Mr Kerry; but few people would bet their homes—or even their cows—on him.
Jon Lauck summarizes a number of recent posts on the implications of local media monopolies, particularily on our democracy.
Corporate earnings pressure is certainly one thing, but I believe there are other factors at play such as:
The State Journal editorial page takes Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager to task for joining with six other states and New York City to sue five of the country's largest power producers to force them to cut carbon dioxide emissions. This is the same organization that, under Democrat Jim Doyle signed us up for the Matrix personal data mining project - then later withdrew.
Keeping the environment clean is certainly important, but the WSJ raises some useful issues on this topic. I believe that our state leadership is ignorning (for political reasons) the most important economic issues of our time, such as the construction of true high speed networks.
High speed data networks are the rails and roads of the future. Yet, today, we are saddled with slow services supported by local telco monopoly SBC.
Verizon just announced that fiber to the premises ("fttp" or to the home) will be available in Keller, Texas, parts of Southern California and Florida. Prices will range start at $40/month for 2 to 5mbps service; with optional speeds up to 30mbps. (Currently, many state residents can choose from 384kbps to 1.5mbps DSL or cable service - 1/10th the speed, or less of the fibre based products).
These speeds make high quality personal video conferencing a reality (family & friends), new small businesses from the home possible and most importantly, will reduce the cost of true high speed access for all residents.
Nice to see our politicians are paying attention.
David Isenberg has some useful examples of "value-subtracted" telco business models. Isenberg also discusses a May, 2004 study that shows a dramatic reduction in telco operating expenses after they switch from a copper wire based network to a fibre system.
OLNTV has a very useful daily Tour de France site, with video clips here.
Kudos to Hans Nyberg. Nyberg put together a stunning Quicktime VR scene of Apollo 11's moon landing from old NASA photographs.
Glenn Reynolds, Jay Rosen and Jon Lauck discuss monopoly newspapers, reduced reporter counts and journalism quality. The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 and the general monopoly position of most papers has not done much, as far as I can see, other than insulated entrenched organizations from the market. Perhaps atrophy is starting to take its course.
I summarized my thoughts on Madison's local newspaper monopoly here (along with some of the unintended consequences). There are some parallels to Microsoft's tactics.
Caroline Mayer and Griff Witte cover a growing problem with checking account fraud (helped, in part by the growth of automated payments):
When Shereen Greene recently scanned her bank statement, she found a $139 charge from a company she had never heard of -- Pharmacycards.com.The Atlanta paralegal dug out her canceled check and easily saw it was fake. The name on it was her maiden name, which she had not used in seven years. The address was five years old and her signature was missing. In its place, was a brief message: "Authorized by your customer. No signature required."
Still, the numbers at the bottom of the check belonged to Greene's bank account, and in the increasingly automated world of check processing, that was all that mattered.
Reed Abelson and Milt Freudenheim take a look at GE's latest moves in the health care business. Their new services include
Travel can often be interesting. This evening, I sat next to a retired executive returning home from two weeks panning for gold in Nome, AK. He mentioned that he had 25lbs of king crab in the cargo hold ($4.99/lb) just off the boat....
Dave Winer is in Santa Fe. The excellent India Palace restaurant features delicious East Indian cuisine. The Fodors says:
Even seasoned veterans of East Indian cuisine have been known to rate this deep-pink, art-filled restaurant among the best in the United States. The kitchen prepares fairly traditional recipes -- tandoori chicken, lamb vindaloo, saag paneer (spinach with farmer's cheese), shrimp biryani (tossed with cashews, raisins, almonds, and saffron rice) -- but the presentation is always flawless and the ingredients fresh. Meals are cooked as hot or mild as requested. Try the Indian buffet at lunch. AE, D, MC, V.
-Fodors
Doug Moe's Saturday column: "Hope and Doom on I-26" reminded me of the well known Jesus Parable: The Good Samaritan. I wonder how many of us would do what Chuck Stiles and his son did last Sunday in South Carolina?
Jason Kiley of wishoops.net reported Friday that Madison Memorial basketball player Wesley Matthews will attend Marquette. This is interesting in several ways:
Writer Debra Dickerson chimes in on Bill Cosby in "America's Granddad gets ornery".
Incumbent Senate Candidate Russ Feingold has a 4 to 1 fund raising lead over his Republican challengers, according to Graema Zielinski.
Paul Saffo forwards comments from a senior carrier pilot on the airport security morass:
In consideration of the change in flight crew procedural response, armed pilots, air marshalls, and especially the reinforced flight deck door, there is no reason to screen passengers for anything other than explosives, and we do not have the effective means to do that. Screening for nail clippers, scissors, and any other portable implements including guns is meaninglessWe in Madison are generally fortunate that the security lines at MSN are nothing like those at SFO, LAX, CVG, LGA (Friday night!) or other major airports.
Johnny Winston emailed:
Please feel free to share this information with all interested persons or
parties -100 Black Men of Madison, Inc. Golf Outing
On Monday July 26, 2004 The 100 Black Men of Madison, Inc., cordially
invites the public to participate in their 4th Annual Golf Outing at
Cherokee Country Club located at 5000 North Sherman Avenue.Registration begins at 11:00 a.m. with a shotgun scramble at 12 noon. The
$125 fee includes 18 holes of golf, motorized cart, dinner, prizes and a lot
of fun!The 100 Black Men of Madison is a non-profit, tax exempt organization.
Participation in this event helps the 100 Black Men of Madison to fund the
organization’s charitable activities in the Dane County area for
underprivileged youth. A free youth golf clinic will be presented to all
registered youth from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.Walk ups are welcome the day of the event. For more information and to sign
up, please contact Derrick Smith at 608-831-0525.
Check out the www.schoolinfosystem.org site for many great post on:
"Rafael Macedo de la Concha, Mexico's Attorney-General, now has a non-removable microchip in his arm, to track his movements and to give him access to a new crime database, according to Bloomberg. The article says that eventually around 160 Mexican officials will have a chip implanted."
Today's WSJ editorial correctly identiifes the major problem we, as a democratic society have with limited, or no ballot choices. I believe one of the reasons for this problem is the increasingly cozy ties between a concentrated media (which growing numbers of citizens are turning off) and politicians.
Interesting summary by Tom Schultz on the link between Watertown's Davies Award, the UW and controversial VP Dick Cheney.
Is Amazon.com becoming the Napster of the book business?The analogy may not be far off, say some observers of the used-book industry. Publishers, particularly textbook publishers, have long countered used-book sales by churning out new editions every couple of years. But the Web, particularly sites like Amazon and eBay, have given millions of consumers an easy way to find cheap books - often for under $1 - without paying royalty fees to publishers or authors.
Mass-market publishers are not certain the used-book phenomenon is a problem worth addressing, but others in the industry have already made up their minds.
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http://www.publicradiofan.com/ provides a very useful schedule of public radio streams around the country (and schedules). Some are in friendly mp3 format, while others lock up the audio streams in proprietary formats such as real and windows media (not very public). Via Doc Searls.
Maytag recently introduced a "personal beverage vendor"! Thinking ahead, they have a business blog devoted to the product. (the product is not for me, and has been slammed as a "product for people who can't get off their ______ and get a cold drink in the kitchen".
This is another example of the changing advertising and customer relationship game.
Barry Ritholtz nicely summarizes the monopolist's modus operandi:
Microsoft has a monopoly on the desktop -- and because of that, there are certain behaviors they are legally restricted from engaging in (at least, in legal theory). Microsoft should not be able to disadvantage competitors by leveraging that monopoly in a way that restricts competition.Clearly, in the case of newspapers, protected by the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, it's rather simple to create additional print publications, that for others would be expensive. Similarily, they can use this monopoly postion to give away advertising products & content, if necessary, to kill competition (just like Microsoft gave away Internet Explorer, to "cut off Netscape's air supply").Search is a perfect example: By setting the default to MSN search, and making it extremely awkward to change it, they automatically become one of the top 3 players in that space. What would take any other company billions of dollars to do, they get for, oh, about nothing.
Gilles Vidal sends notice of a beautiful set of VR scenes from the Pyrenees: Pic du Midi.
Mike Ditka for Senate? Why not? :) via instapundit.
"The Institute for War and Peace Reporting details on the exploits of Ghulam Sediq Wardak, a 62 year old semi-literate Afghan with 341 clever inventions to his credit. His first was a radio powered by the low voltage produced by the human body. His most recent is a 1980 Volkswagen rigged to run on solar power. A handful of others are mentioned. Like many a Slashdotter, his parents were once very worried and he eschews patents. 'The main purpose of my inventing is not to earn money,' he says. 'I want to render a service to my countrymen and to all people in the world.'" From Slashdot.
Local print media monopoly, Capital Newspapers (prints and generates advertising for the Wisconsin State Journal and the Capital Times) has announced a new weekly publication that targets long time, successful weekly Isthmus. Capital Newspapers, protected by a federally sanctioned joint operating agreement (Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970: the JOA allows two newspapers to "share" advertising, overhead and printing costs) is using those monopoly derived funds to compete with a traditional, non protected business - Isthmus publishing.
This is similar to a tactic that Microsoft used, illegally, to squish Netscape. See Lee Enterprise's (owns 50% of Capital Newspaper) 2003 10-K (286K PDF) for a look at the Capital Newspapers (formerly known as Madison Newspapers Inc) local revenues (112M!) and net income of $16M (14%!).
Perhaps this is simply a negotiating/acquisition tactic? Capital Newspapers would likely enjoy acquiring Isthmus Publishing and thereby solidify control of the local print advertising business. This tactic has been used before, with a local business weekly and a children's (Dane County Kids) publication.
What to do? Vince and Linda and the Isthmus have done a superb job for the community. Send a note to our representatives (Representative Tammy Baldwin | Senator Russ Feingold | Senator Herb Kohl) telling them that the time is long past to repeal the Joint Operating Agreement Statute. And cancel your subscription (if you have one) to the State Journal or Cap Times.
UPDATE - the act is certainly not helping quality, as Glenn Reynolds points out.
UPDATE2 - Perhaps this is the natural manifestation of the Clear Channel effect in Radio - played out in the newsprint business. Madison is fortunate to have two dailies - BUT - they should compete like anyone else, which would change things, significantly.
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A Forrester Research report asked Internet users which activities they were spending less time doing in order to spend time at their computers. 78% of the people polled said that they gave up television viewing. A study from The Georgia Institute of Technology's Graphic, Visualization and Usability Center showed a clear shift in media habits with more than one third of respondents saying that they "use the Web instead of watching TV on a daily basis."
Madison Board of Education Member Ruth Robarts posted an insightful article on periodic information delivery via packets of papers.... (via van or diesel truck).
Given a choice between increased strings and wrestling fees and driving paper around, I'd support the students first....
Lessig points to a DRM (digital restrictions management) protected version of the US Constitution (!). He also points to a non-drm ipod friendly version.
Interesting decentralized approach: the idea is to replace bulky farm equipment with swarms of precision helpers that can maintain an entire field autonomously. More here.
Judie Hughes review's TPC's Fresh˛ Odor Eliminating Light Bulbs
David Haward Bain's latest: The Old Iron Road is an enjoyable book that describes his family's vacation tracing the route of the first transcontinental railroad.
Enjoy the gorgeous photos.
Dallas Maverick Billionaire owner Mark Cuban maintains a blog here. Interesting reading, including recent stories on their decision not to re-sign Steve Nash and make the way for UW's Devin Harris. Cuban more or less communicates with the traditional media via his blog. This blog is certainly an example of where we're we're heading.
"Postmodernism is a change-or-be-changed world. The word is out: Reinvent yourself for the 21st century or die! Some would rather die than change." Leonard Sweet, cultural historian.
A rather colorful (watch the language) email to a local TV station ripping them apart on the poor quality of their news (and therefore why the number of viewers continues to decline).
Stanley Miller's article on SBC's Oconomowoc fiber to the home project (Paved over Pabst Farms new developments only) provides a useful look at what's possible, if the monopolistic telco's ever are motivated to provide reasonable internet speeds (Japan and Korea already have very large scale, inexpensive deployments at these speeds). We in the tech industry refer to these type of projects as demoware.
David Isenberg reviews an interesting recent study (May, 2004) by Telcordia and Sanfor Bernstein (investment houses) called Fiber: Revolutionizing the Bell's Telecom Networks. The study claims that fiber to the premises (FTTP) would reduce (by 30 to 90%!! the telco's operating expenses (in other words, pay for itself over time, vs. the high costs of maintaining their aging copper networks. Interesting reading.
This is a critical economic development issue. Unfortunately, our politicians seem to have their head in the sand on this (SBC status quo lobbying helps, no doubt). I mentioned this issue to then candidate Jim Doyle at a pre election debate: "SBC's telco stranglehold on Wisconsin is a major economic development problem" He replied (paraphrased); "you're right, but we have other economic problems to address first". I think he has this wrong. True high speed bi directional connectivity opens up enourmous new business opportunies.
Today, you can use any device you like with your television: VCR, TiVo, DVD recorder, home theater receiver, or a PC combining these functions and more. A year from now, when the FCC's broadcast flag mandate [PDF] takes effect, some of those capabilities will be forbidden. Read more about the EFF's anti broadcast flag initiative.
This DHS announcement illustrates the tremendous costs of a computing monoculture.
The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team touched off a storm this week when it recommended for security reasons using browsers other than Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer. Mozilla and Opera are two excellent browsers. Mac users can choose from those as well as Apple's excellent Safari browser. There's also Netscape.
Business Week's Stephen Wildstrom also says that IE is too risky.
Mike Ivey nicely summarizes the current state of Madison Air Service. The Northwest Airlines request for Wisconsin subsidies is humorous - They've received extensive subsidies in Minnesota. Perhaps the Gopher state will subsidize Air Wisconsin and Midwest Air...
Richard Seaman posted some beautiful photos of last week's historic spaceship one flight.
