Doc Searls has a useful post on brandjacking.
I no longer keep, much less answer, email from my bank (which, to keep from making things worse, I won't name). Nor from any other bank. Nor from eBay or PayPal.Except for their Web sites, all those companies have had their brands hijacked on the Net by Phishers and Pharmers.
Retailers and health care may seem like an unusual pairing, but an increasing number of stores -- especially big-box discounters -- have been getting into the business of offering health coverage or care. With health care costs on the rise, these retailers want to offer their customers a value on a needed service and increase their profile as a store that offers everything under one roof.
"It makes sense to offer health care in places where people already have to go -- whether to buy food or other household goods," said Linda Sherry, spokeswoman for Consumers Union, a watchdog group.
It is interesting to note that groups of technologists within AT&T were accurately forecasting the future. A few groups formed to deal with new developments and even attempted to influence the decision makers. Probably the most interesting was ODD *- I wasn't directly associated with it, but know most of its former members.Interesting Reading... Via Lessig
A friend who happens to be one of the ODDsters, Amy Muller, co-authored a brief history on the group and AT&T's strategic failure. (pdf) read it
There have been quite a few dustups recently in the ongoing discussion of blogs.
Locally, Madison School Board Member Juan Jose Lopez recently said of the group education blog: www.schoolinfosystem.org: "I think this kind of forum is destructive"
School Blogger Ed Blume blogs a proper response to Juan's comments.
We'd all be well served by reading a few of Jefferson's quotes on education & democracy. www.schoolinfosystem.org has much to contribute.
Setting a great example for all other public radio stations, Santa Monica College's KCRW will launch Podcasts of their programs (mp3 files easily passed around, linked to and played back by the millions of mp3/iPod type players in use today). KCRW is an excellent source for interesting music and programs, via mp3 internet streams.
I've seen no change in Wisconsin Public Radio's audio content. They would be much better off, as would the listeners and contributors if they provided all local content in easy to use mp3 files (they currently have real audio streams which require the listener to be connected to the internet while listening).
Rebecca Ryan is speaking Tuesday night (3/1) at the Overture Center on whether Madison has what it takes to play in the New Economy (Two bad signs: no public radio podcasts and no wi-fi at the airport, actually, there's a 3rd, we continue to let Kenton Peters inflict his metal buildings on us....). While these two issues require attention, the larger problem we have is a low business risk culture. Sort of strange, given that the Wisconsin economy was grown by many, many entrepreneurs who built agricultural and manufacturing businesses 50, 70 and 100 years ago.
What are podcasts? Click here to find out.
Ryan, who will help write the legislation as a member of the Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security and is a longtime proponent of changing the popular government retirement program, is pushing the White House idea to farmers and factory workers throughout his district in the southeastern corner of the dairy state, with 35 "listening sessions" in 12 days.
We Europeans always want to have the world from yesterday, whereas the Americans strive for the world of tomorrow.Via instapundit.
But just as the market value of an MBA is reviving, its academic credibility is being attacked. In a forthcoming article to be published posthumously in Academy of Management Learning & Education, Sumantra Ghoshal argues that many of the “worst excesses of recent management practices have their roots in a set of ideas that have emerged from business-school academics over the last 30 years.”
Interesting look at the politics and lobbying behind efforts to stop the spread of municipally owned broadband networks. Glenn Fleishman.
Darren Johnson shares a rather interesting chat with Warren Buffett.
Two huge consumer brands have been busy cloning themselves.
Procter & Gamble Co. rolled out a cold-water version of its blockbuster Tide laundry detergent earlier this month. Coca-Cola Co., meanwhile, unveiled plans to start selling a seventh version of Diet Coke, this time sweetened with Splenda instead of aspartame
The culprit is a once-obscure federal tax provision known as the alternative minimum tax, which was created in 1969 to ensure that a relatively small number of wealthy people did not use loopholes to avoid paying taxes.The non-indexing of the Alternative Minimum Tax will cause more problems over the next few years for Wisconsin residents.
But it is increasingly being applied to families with incomes of $75,000 to $250,000 a year who claim relatively high deductions - like the ones for property taxes, state and local income taxes - and the exemption for children. When it does apply, it cancels some of those deductions..
The impact is about to mushroom. Barring a change in the law, almost 19 million taxpayers will be subject next year to the alternative minimum tax, or A.M.T., up from roughly 3.4 million this year and 1.3 million in 2000, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research group whose calculations on this issue are widely accepted.
We can't change where people choose to live, but we can begin using some type of proportional representation system. For example, California could use a system like that in Peoria, Ill., for municipal elections. Instead of electing 40 state senators from 40 districts, voters in 10 districts could elect four senators each. Any candidate who won at least a quarter of the vote would earn a seat. These districts would be far more likely to be bipartisan, even electing some urban Republicans and rural Democrats.
Ellen Ullman, author of the excellent, the Bug on the Evils of Multitasking:
Not that Microsoft is the only culprit; distraction is built into the fabric of today's electronic world. Icons on the PC toolbar flash; ads on Web pages shimmer and dazzle; software companies send e-mail messages to say your software is out of date; word processors interrupt to correct your spelling; Web pages refuse to show themselves until you update a plug-in; lights on laptops blink at you every time the hard drive whirs into motion (which, I'm here to tell you, happens a lot more often than you would ever care to know). The screens of TV cable news programs make three-ring circuses seem calm. You can't even enjoy the 10th rerun of your favorite "Law and Order" episode without a glittering promo fluttering at the corner of the screen.
Seeking steady, secure investments to round out their portfolios, big-city investors are increasingly buying Midwest farmland, spending $100,000 to $500,000 per field.
Many hire professional farm managers to maximize their profits. The managers, in turn, hire farmers like Wyant — sometimes offering them a stake in the crop but often paying them by the hour (or the acre), like a hired hand.
Earlier this week, ChoicePoint officials said the records of about 35,000 people in California may have been disclosed. But yesterday, the company said the scope of the scheme is probably much wider than it originally reported. Company officials said they were sending out more letters to 110,000 addresses throughout the country that may be connected to the reports delivered to the fraudsters.I ran into Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenshlager at the Winter Farmer's Market and mentioned that only California apparently has a law requiring notification of identity theft.... It's long past time for Wisconsin to act.
"We have reason to believe your personal information may have been obtained by unauthorized third parties, and we deeply regret any inconvenience this event may cause you," the letters say.
Authorities said the number of records involved may go higher as the investigation continues. "This is way far more reaching," said Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Lt. Robert Costa, commander of an identity theft unit. "I believe that when we're done it will be more than a half million nationally. It's huge."
Frank A. Blethen, publisher of the Seattle Times, said his industry has some breathing room left. But not much.
"The baby boomers are going to continue to drive print [sales] for some time," he said. "The problem we have are the . . . 18- to 35-year-olds. They're not replacing the baby boomers."
Others are more blunt, if hyperbolic.
"Print is dead," Sports Illustrated President John Squires told a room full of newspaper and magazine circulation executives at a conference in Toronto in November. His advice? "Get over it," meaning publishers should stop trying to save their ink-on-paper product and focus on electronic delivery of their journalism.
Elizabeth Gentile has posted some lovely VR scenes from Central Park, site of Christo & Jean-Claude's The Gates. Scene 1, 2, 3, 4. Well worth checking out.
Kate adds:
In Central Park, there is a great work of art, called The Gates. There are many gates that have beautiful flags hanging from them. They are made by Christo & Jean-Claude. The works of art will be on display for two weeks.
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart on the growing number of bloggers. Quicktime video
The game consists of one golfer, one shooter and a field judge. The purpose of the game is to shoot your opponent's high-flying golf ball out of the air with a finely-tuned 12-gauge shotgun, thus preventing him (your opponent) from lofting a 9-iron approach shot onto a distant "green" and making a "hole in one." Points are scored by blasting your opponent's shiny new Titleist out of the air and causing his shot to fail miserably. That earns you two points.
Though he foresaw many ways in which Big Brother might watch us, even George Orwell never imagined that the authorities would keep a keen eye on your bin.I wonder if Madison's forthcoming trash bins include this "feature"?
Residents of Croydon, south London, have been told that the microchips being inserted into their new wheely bins may well be adapted so that the council can judge whether they are producing too much rubbish.
If the technology suggests that they are, errant residents may be visited by officials bearing advice on how they might "manage their rubbish more effectively".
Criminals posing as legitimate businesses have accessed critical personal data stored by ChoicePoint Inc., a firm that maintains databases of background information on virtually every U.S. citizen, MSNBC.com has learned.California is the only state that requires these personal data mining firms to notify people who have had their information compromised. I wonder where our political leaders stand on this?The incident involves a wide swath of consumer data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit reports and other information. ChoicePoint aggregates and sells such personal information to government agencies and private companies.
The political scientist James Payne argued that there is a culture of spending in Congress. Even people elected on a platform of cutting government become enured to higher spending as week after week they hear witnesses saying how much more money is needed and how many more problems could be solved if only you, the great Congressperson, would use your power to spend.
As a matter of economic principle (and I think social justice as well), Medicare should be abolished. Then the principal government medical-payment program would be Medicaid, a means-based system of social insurance that is part of the safety net for the indigent. Were Medicare abolished, the nonpoor would finance health care in their old age by buying health insurance when they were young.
Bruce Schneier on privacy in the internet era:
This is new. A dozen years ago, if someone wanted to look through your mail, they would have to break into your house.Now they can just break into your ISP. Ten years ago, your voicemail was on an answering machine in your house; now it's on a computer owned by a telephone company. Your financial data is on Websites protected only by passwords. The list of books you browse, and the books you buy, is stored in the computers of some online bookseller. Your affinity card allows your supermarket to know what food you like. Data that used to be under your direct control is now controlled by others.
Marc P. Lacher, a St. Norbert’s alumnus, was charged Jan. 14 with voting illegally in the state of Wisconsin. Lacher used an old address to vote in Green Bay, although he currently resides in Illinois. Lacher said he believed he could vote using the previous address he resided at when attending college, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The benefits of Madison's (Winter) Farmer's Market: Cross Country Orchids [map | phone] offered some gorgeous orchids Saturday Morning. Click here to download a 1024 x 768 desktop picture version for your mac or pc.
Another great option is Candinas [map | www site]
Based on web traffic, I think Candinas is having a big year. I've only seen one other firm pay as much attention to packaging and branding (wrapped around a superior product) as Markus - that would be Steve Jobs Apple Computer's iPod packaging.
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In a review of the Nov. 2 election, Milwaukee officials on Friday blamed a massive crush of absentee voters for problems in getting ballots to everyone who requested one, and for not getting all the returned absentee ballots to the polls before they closed.
The two problems, which have almost become footnotes amid more recent election questions, are both serious. In the first case, some residents who sought ballots were unable to vote. In the second, 238 ballots that did come almost missed being counted.
The partnership will work towards a unique solution that would genuinely improve the safety of the Internet for children, by enabling both adult and children's sites to restrict their content more reliably to their appropriate audience.Dave Farber has posted an extensive discussion of this topic here, here, here, here, here and here.
i-Mature has developed an innovative technology that can determine, through a simple biometric bone-scanning test, whether a user is a child or an adult -- and thereby control access to Internet sites and content. AGR technology could help prevent children from accessing adult Internet sites and prevents adults from accessing children's sites and chat rooms.
Nokia is introducing the Nokia Local Marketing Solution, a mobile solution that brings services to customers' smartphones via short-range radio technologies, such as Bluetooth. With the Nokia Local Marketing Solution, operators and service providers can easily advertise their own and partner services in relevant places, at relevant times, thereby providing added value service to their customers. The Nokia solution supports multiple languages, and it can be customized according to the service provider's brand preferences.
The solution is based on the concept of point server, which distributes information to users on a reduced area or environment.
Why are Wireless Philadelphia and other city wireless programs such a big threat? More precisely, why do the big boys keep trying to kill our Wi-Fi networks?
Tell me who among incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs)--have deployed ubiquitous, high-speed wireless networks that support roaming/mobile capabilities. No ILEC. Who provides high-speed, broadband, ubiquitous services at dial-up rates for the underserved populations? No ILEC. Who is working to get equipment and training into the homes of low-income and disadvantaged portions of our community? Again, no ILEC.
You will remember that late last year, Congress passed (and the President signed) legislation which starts us down the road to a National ID card. In the name of preventing alien terrorists from operating in this country, the so-called Intelligence Reform bill gave federal bureaucrats unprecedented new powers to force changes in state-issued driver's licenses -- including, possibly, the addition of computer chip technology that can facilitate the tracking of all U.S. citizens.
Now, the House will be debating new legislation, H.R. 418, that was recently introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). In considering this bill, the U.S. House will vote on whether to empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's license -- and under what conditions..
Hans Nyberg has put together a very nice panoramic scene (with audio) from images taken on the moon by the Apollo 17 crew.
About 50 percent of health care spending is eaten up by waste, excessive prices and fraud, according to a report set for release today by Boston University researchers.
Major sources of unnecessary spending include administrative costs and profit in the insurance industry, high prices of prescription drugs and health services and, to a smaller extent, theft and fraud, according to the study.
But the two proposals are difficult to compare because the approaches are so different, Berry said.
"From the perspective of local government, they would probably prefer Doyle; from the perspective of a fiscally strapped property owner, the Republican plan would probably be preferable," Berry said.
Hollywood takes away more fair use rights. Cory Doctorow:
Every year, EFF president Brad Templeton throws a special Superbowl party: they tivo the whole Superbowl, ignore the football, and watch the ads. This might be the last year that they get to do this, though: when the Broadcast Flag kicks in this summer, this kind of shenanigan will require hardware that's illegal to make and sell:
If Milwaukee election records are correct, someone named Marquis F. Murff registered at the polls Nov. 2 and voted from an address on E. Knapp St.
Trouble is, the address is home to St. Catherine Residence, which has allowed only women to live there for 110 years.
Indeed, city records show that someone with an identical name and middle initial also registered at the polls that day and voted from 1503 N. Franklin Place. That address does not exist.
The new findings could eventually help halt the progression of such diseases by averting the deterioration of the neurons involved in such diseases. UW professor of pharmacology Jeff Johnson, the lead researcher of the group, has been recognized across the nation for his recent findings concerning Alzheimer’s disease and the natural defense mechanisms involved in similar neurodegenerative diseases.
One of my coworkers predicts a Packer Super Bowl victory this year, while today's Doonesbury features a quote from current President, Bob Harlan:
"Just another typical diehard cheesehead. I hear from them all the time." -- Green Bay Packers president Bob Harlan, on 8-year-old David Witthoft, who's worn his Brett Favre jersey for over 400 days straight
There is a problem when the turnover in the United States House of Representatives is lower than it was in the Soviet Politburo."California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is leading the movement.
Hot Flash - January 31, 2005
Misinformation. Bad Conclusions. Outright
Errors & Idiotic Opinions.
More Reasons To Home-School Kids
Beyond The 12th Grade
Anybody catch the missive put out on the airline industry last week from the Wharton School of Business?
It got great press circulation, which is quite unfortunate for Wharton. If the date was April 1st, we might have an explanation as to why the document was issued. But short of that, all we can say is that higher education in America apparently isn't what it used to be.
The Article, "Why Most Airlines Are Caught In A Tailspin" should have been titled, "Why Are People Paying To Get An Education From This Place?" (If you have the stomach, a link to the article is provided below.)
For those into wild conspiracy theories, it could be a terrorist plot. There's evidence that dozens of university professors have been abducted and forced to live trapped inside the hallowed walls of universities for so long that they've plumb lost all contact with the outside world, not to mention reality. The sinister result is that thousands of American students may be graduating each year without enough real-world skills to properly boil an egg, let alone enter the business environment.
Whatever the reason, it appears that in the rarified intellectual atmosphere of these supposed towers of higher learning, some professors are denied any real counter-input to some of the crackpot ideas they come up with. In their world, they have no competition - they print and say what they will, and if a student disagrees, it's F-city for the kid. This system has produced a whole genre of academics that are so far from reality that they'll need a visa to get back. And, referring to the terrorist plot concept, a lot of what they're teaching our young what can only be described as intellectual el toro doo-doo.
But, because of the
"prestige" of the university, much of this sheer nonsense gets printed as fact.
Not just funny opinions, but information that is so inaccurate as to cast doubt on whether
some of these institutions aren't really just joking. This past week we were regaled by
just such an article.
Again, this is from the Wharton Business School, no less. Not East Upchuck Community College. It's from the school that's just sooo highly rated in cranking out MBA grads in full metal jacket mode to save American business.
Rule One: Get The Grade. Don't Argue With The Prof. In the article, three learned Wharton faculty opined on what's wrong with airlines today, and what must be done to fix them. What they missed is that before one can promulgate solutions, it's always nice to get a grasp of the problem first. One can only hope that their students don't buy into this stuff.
All We Need Is Three. The professors have determined that since there are only three automakers left in America, well, then that's about the right number of airlines we should have, too. "This industry, like others, is an oligopoly," one professor noted. "How many domestic automakers do we have? Three. The airline industry should be like that."
Just three airlines is all we need. And, according to the profs, Southwest is the model. No discussion of the fundamental economic and structural differences between airline systems. No investigation of the reasons that Southwest was profitable last quarter. No, the sages have spoken - just three airlines is all we need. Just like the automobile industry. Come to think of it, when the conclusions from these guys are fully considered, maybe that rule should be applied to B-schools, too.
Don't Argue The Theory: Airline Bankruptcies Definitely Cause Other Bankruptcies. Forget readin' writin' & 'rithmatic, these guys are buried in the wonderful world of theory, often insulated from any taint of reality. In that regard, the Wharton Brain Trust concluded that if one airline goes bankrupt, it will "cut prices" thereby causing non-bankrupt carriers to do so, with the result being that all carriers will be tossed into the murky depths of bankruptcy, too.
Wow, what a revelation. What great theory. What great textbook babble.
And in the real world, as proven over the past two years, it's a giant 55-gallon drum of hogwash.
Gee, it seems that these professors missed the story about United being in bankruptcy for over two years, and somehow their grand domino theory hasn't played out. To start with, they've missed the fact that United has not had any real control over industry pricing. That's because airline pricing involves a whole lot more than just costs at one airline, bankrupt or not. Too bad they don't know this. But the statement, "The government allows a carrier to dramatically cut costs in bankruptcy and then push others into the financial abyss" has a nice, front-of-the-classroom ring to it. Even if it is total garbage.
Go ahead, students, be sure to remember this idiotic ooze during finals. Get the grade. Tell the prof what he or she wants to hear. Then after you graduate, ignore it, because it's nonsense.
Mired over their heads in academic quicksand, these professors are oblivious to the fact that bankruptcy isn't the only way that airline costs can be pared, union work rules changed, and operational systems made more effective. Too much involved in trying to prove theories instead of learning about the industry, they failed to note that while United wallowed in bankruptcy, other carriers, such as American, Continental, and Northwest, proceeded to get commensurate cost savings without filing Chapter 11. They latter two did so before going to their unions for concessions. If fuel had not jumped 40% in 2004, they likely would not have done so at all.
There goes the sacred textbook theory. It's a shame these guys haven't noticed what's gone on in the last three years. But, they're on a roll...
Chapter 11 As A Blood Sport. Then the Wharton trio danced into glittering generalities. "It's ludicrous to allow a company to go bankrupt repeatedly," one of these academic luminaries declared, implying that the number one O&D market for legacy carriers is to the local bankruptcy court. Here's a fact that their students likely know, but won't say for fear of getting an "F" in the course. Of major airlines, there have been very few "repeated bankruptcies" - Continental being the most obvious before the recent double-header at US Airways - and that was ten years ago.
Somebody Call AA's CEO - Quick. He's Been In Chapter 11 - And Didn't Know It. But having a working knowledge of the airline industry may not be a prerequisite for professorship at Wharton. One noted, "Continental and American, both of which restructured in bankruptcy, should be able to keep flying." Hello, Ivory Tower. Continental came out of bankruptcy a decade ago, which makes the challenges it faces now a non sequitur regarding how it restructured back then.
And American has never "restructured in bankruptcy" as these professors so confidently declared. Real world to the Wharton Brain Trust: You don't know that? Y'all should be pretty embarrassed spouting out stuff that proves you don't know what's going on in the industry. Do you really teach students this inaccurate drivel?
More Trendy Panaceas. The professors in the article worship Southwest, which is okay. But they kept implying that every airline should be like Southwest. "For instance, Southwest pioneered the concept of standardizing its fleet - using only Boeing 737s and thus saving on training and maintenance costs..." It would be nice if they had any idea what a "737" is. Or more correctly, what 737s are.The fact is that Southwest, until it retired its last 737-200 last week, actually had three types of aircraft. The -200s, the -300/500s, and the 737-700s. They look a lot alike, but there are fundamental differences in these three types.
What these guys - who, shockingly, are actually teaching our children - don't understand is that a "standardized" fleet has mission limitations. The 737 low-cost model can't deliver system passengers and revenue from Bangor or Beijing. If all airlines were like Southwest, or just two out of the three these clowns think are all that's necessary, over half of all US communities that now have scheduled air service would find themselves singing the blues.
News Flash, Professors. There's Something Called Alliances. These professors just kept on coming with statements that proved beyond doubt that maybe MBA degrees aren't all they're cracked up to be. Get this gem of wisdom: "I'm sure a foreign carrier would buy US Airways because it would like access to the US Airways network," one stated.
What we're sure of, professor, is that you need to get up to speed on what's going on in the airline industry. Hello, up there. US Airways is having trouble accessing the traffic on its own network. Oh, and by the way, have you ever heard of the Star Alliance? Well, we'll go slow so you can keep up. The Star Alliance is a system that already allows foreign carriers, like Lufthansa, to get access to the US Airways network. They don't need to buy US Airways to get access to that lucrative Elmira-Athens traffic. If you had a clue about the subject matter, you'd never have made such a moronic statement.
And, It's Those Union Rules, Too. No academic paper from the intellectual stratosphere is complete without a perfunctory attack on those nasty, bat-wielding labor unions. "For instance, legacy carriers are saddled with union rules that boosted salaries..." Heck, let's not pop their bubble. We won't suggest that these guys take the elevator down to where 2+2 really equals four. They don't need to identify those "union rules" and whether they even exist in many cases after three years of concessionary contracts at carriers like American, United and others. Or how Continental and Northwest had success in paring operational costs before the recent spike in fuel costs, and how they did it before asking for any labor concessions.
We won't suggest they take a gander at the current maintenance contracts at Southwest and at, say, American. Or, the fact that some of Southwest's contracts could be a real challenge for the carrier going forward. No, we won't rain on their parade. Facts need to be set aside and made secondary to sacred theory. This is academia, right?
If you're interested in visiting intellectual fantasy land, click here to view the entire article.
Minnesota enacts a new law requiring that all diesel fuel sold in the state be made partly of farm-based products, a hybrid called biodiesel.audio
New Brewer CEO Mark Attanasio gets a few mentions in Jenny Anderson's article on the Drexel Diaspora:
Several other former Drexel employees are managing billions for pension funds, endowments, wealthy people and one another - often using junk bonds. Mark L. Attanasio, a senior vice president at Drexel when it collapsed, is a managing partner at Trust Company of the West, a $109.7 billion money management firm. Last month, he bought the Milwaukee Brewers for more than $220 million.Attanasio also worked at Global Crossing with another ex-Drexel player - Gary Winnick.Interviews with more than two dozen former employees showed that, far from being embarrassed by their connection to Drexel, most retain an almost cultlike devotion to the firm and much of what it stood for. Few of them were crucial players in building Drexel's core franchise, junk bonds. And few of them were especially close to Mr. Milken, who has since survived cancer, established two major foundations devoted to cancer research and become a major investor in an education initiative, Knowledge Universe Inc.
Chicago spent $270 million on its Millennium Park, placing a big public sculpture by Anish Kapoor in the middle of it, bought with public money. Woe betide any member of the public who tries to photograph this sculpture, though: it's a copyrighted sculpture and Chicago is spending even more money policing Chicagoans who try to photograph it and make a record of what their tax-dollars bought.
Though they don't get much media attention, there are, in fact, some ideas out there worth pursuing, Reschovsky says. Among the most promising, he says, is a recent proposal by his colleague Don Nichols, director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, that would freeze the rate of property taxes on all farms and homes to the rate of income growth of the average Wisconsin resident. The result, Reschovsky says, is that low-income people wouldn't be driven from their homes. (For more details, see info@lafollette.wisc.edu) Beyond that, some states have tried assessment caps, with mixed results, Reschovsky says. The best example, of course, is California's controversial Proposition 13, which was passed in 1978 and limits increases in assessed value to 2 percent a year. A house gets reassessed at full value only when it's sold.
It seems that horrible day has come when my computer will no longer truly be mine. Since about 2000 we've heard about Palladium and Trusted Computing waiting in the wings for the day that I can no longer trust my computer, and my computer demands that it can trust me. Digital Rights (restrictions) Management means that you can no longer play media which is not yours. Or, in its current implementation, you cannot use something which you have bought, in a way which you are legally entitled to play it, because the content owners do not wish it. Once Dell and others start shipping these chips, and Windows provides for it, then everything must be DRM, and non-DRM applications and hardware are rendered useless.What can you do? Support the EFF and perhaps, buy a mac while it's still open.
 | CEO, Pinnacle Health & Fitness On starting and growing a business |
There’s a lot more readily available details about the New Millennium Research Council than I realized: The NMRC is the co-publisher of a report that says municipal broadband is anti-competitive and a waste of taxpayer dollars. eWeek broke the news yesterday that they’re a division of Issue Dynamics, Inc., a group that specializes in creating the appearance of grassroots and independent support for ideas on behalf of their clients. They don’t hide this speciality. The NMRC lists this relationship on their About page; I’m embarrassed that I missed noting this: “The NMRC is an independent project of Issue Dynamics, Inc. (IDI), a consumer and public affairs consulting firm that specializes in developing win-win solutions to complex policy issues.” (IDI lists the US Internet Industry Association as a client; the head of the USIAA wrote part of the NMRC report.) An email correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous but has had dealings with the NMRC and IDI wrote in to note, “If you need an ‘independent’ third party to provide support for your particular issue interest, IDI will find an independent expert who will write a supportive piece for you—the report will then be issued by the NMRC or another front org. There is no direct money passing from the corporation to the person writing the research, and as a technical matter, the funding for NMRC comes directly from IDI. However, people like Verizon pay IDI a pretty stiff retainer, and IDI essentially uses part of that to fund NMRC.”Glenn also takes a look at fiber to the home projects in Palo Alto, Provo, UT and Lafayette, LA. Keep in mind that the US lags many other countries in true high speed (20mpbs+), economical two way broadband.
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"I'm trying to be one of God knows how many Democrats who are going to get out there and try to help turn this thing around," said Feingold, the third-term senator from Wisconsin who has sent a variety of signals that he would like to raise his national profile. He spent three days last week making appearances in Florida.
"If at some point people say, 'Hey, we think you ought to run for president' (and) it's a serious thing, I'm going to listen. I would only run if I honestly believed that I was the guy that really could win, that I was the person who was the best candidate to run," said Feingold, who sat down Wednesday at a reporter's request to talk about the Democratic Party and the 2008 presidential contest.
Miracle-Gro, which produced the world's biggest cabbage, cantaloupe and dahlia, soon became as familiar a sight in the American backyard as the station wagon in the carport. The gardening business is now estimated to exceed $35 billion in annual sales, and Miracle-Gro's share of the home fertilizer market is estimated to be about 85 percent.Mr. Hagedorn orchestrated the growth of his product like the marketing genius he was. He hired a Norman Rockwell colleague to paint homey advertisements, and the actor James Whitmore, whose gnarled face suggested a trustworthy farmer, for television commercials. The $100,000 prize he offered for a tomato of world record size was conditional on the use of a certain plant food.
The EFF filed a FOIA request yesterday with the FBI and other offices of the US DOJ regarding expanded powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act. The EFF is making the request in an attempt to find out whether or not Section 216 is being used to monitor web browsing without a warrant. The DOJ has already stated they can collect email and IP addresses, but has not been forthcoming on the subject of URL addresses. It seems the EFF is seeking any documentation to confirm such activity is taking place. One can only hope the automated FOIA search doesn't produce any false negatives or cost the EFF $372,999."
What happens if you merge a disappointment with a disaster?I have a hard time seeing much good coming from this, other than a more concentrated lobby machine which ultimately works against the public...
You get SBC-AT&T.
In most corporate mergers, the shareholders of at least one company rejoice. But it's hard to find a clear winner in the proposed acquisition of AT&T by SBC Communications.
AT&T, the nation's once-proud phone monopoly, is a shadow of its former self. It lost $6.1 billion last year, and its sales have shrunk for five consecutive years as it has shed most of its operations except for business services. Its stock has fallen by almost 72 percent during the past five years.
The company remains privately held by its employees - shares are repurchased when anyone leaves - and maintains it has no intention of ever making a public stock offering. The share price has gone from $14 in 1996 to over $100 today, making Faulkner one of the most successful, if not wealthiest, businesswomen in the state.Software is a difficult business. Judy Faulkner and everyone at Epic deserve a great deal of credit for their success. Having said that, this next step is a big one, filled with sharks. I wish them well!
Still, Faulkner rarely grants interviews, doesn't schmooze with the local tech crowd and has no intention of changing her approach. Faulkner has said the focus should always remain on the company and its mission to serve patients.
I just finished reading Bissinger's Friday Night Lights.
The bestselling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa, Texas, explores how the town's passion for the team inspires--and sometimes shatters--the young men who wear the Panther uniform.Having lived in Texas some years ago, Bissinger presents a very accurate picture of Texas High School Football. Read David Bernhardt's thoughts on K-12 sports for another perspective.
