The standards are intended to weed out impostors applying for licenses, in part by requiring state employees to check on the validity of birth certificates and other supporting documents. After states adopt the necessary changes, anyone applying for or renewing a license will get one reflecting the new standards.Additional Background. Let Senators Kohl & Feingold know your views on this latest personal information grab.But once the law takes full effect three years from now, it will also give many more bureaucrats access to personal information on people nationwide. And it will add more data to each file — including digital copies of documents with birth and address information.
To some industry experts and activists concerned about the fast- growing crime of identity theft, putting so much data before more eyes guarantees abuse at a time when people are increasingly concerned about who sees their personal information and how it gets used.
"It's a gigantic treasure trove for those who are bent on obtaining data for the purpose of creating fake identities," said Beth Givens of the nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Armed with a stranger's name, Social Security number and date of birth, it's not hard for fraudsters to take out bogus loans that can wreck a victim's credit record.
Wait a minute... Let me see if I have this right. You installed Dell Support on my computer and then tell me that if I don't want the upgrade, I'm going to have to pay you help me get off what you put on?Similar to Microsoft charging for anti-virus software...After some discussion, it is absolutely clear that is the case with "no exceptions". Any software support I need, no matter what the nature of that support, I am going to have to pay for.
Haven't we seen this rerun before? A particular version of file-sharing software becomes popular. The entertainment industry starts paying attention. Lawsuits begin to fly. A few people get their fingers burned, and then we do it all over again. Napster, Kazaa, Grokster and now BitTorrent -- the names change but the story doesn't. The software will get better and the busts will get bigger. Same as it ever was.The latest news in the file-sharing wars was delivered via a press release from the Department of Justice with all the solemn portentousness of an announcement that a major terrorist had been captured. "This morning, agents of the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed 10 search warrants across the United States against leading members of a technologically sophisticated P2P network known as Elite Torrents."
USPS:
Four American Scientists-Thermodynamicist Josiah Willard Gibbs, geneticist Barbara McClintock, mathematician John von Neumann and physicist Richard P. Feynman-were honored with postage stamps dedicated in a special ceremony today at Henry R. Luce Hall, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
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Intel is baking Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) into its latest chipsets, according to the Register. Slashdot has a discussion as well. Bad news for wintel pc users as these tools mean that someone can shut down activities on your computer....
UPDATE: More
The AMT, as it is widely known, was created to catch up with the clever rich. Now, though, it has little impact on those folks and instead is whacking millions of fairly ordinary Americans. In fact, according to the Treasury Department, next year a typical family with two children will have to pay the AMT if its income exceeds $67,890. And by 2015, as many as 50 million taxpayers will have to pay it.Meanwhile, our Senators Kohl & Feingold recently voted for a massive big business tax giveaway on overseas earnings.The AMT has, however, been very, very good to the Treasury. It is pulling in $18 billion in tax revenue this year, and by 2015 the AMT could be pouring $210 billion annually into the government's coffers. Washington insiders for some time now have been laughing that it would be cheaper for the government to repeal the regular income tax and keep the AMT.
This may be funny, but it's not a joke. The crossover point, when the AMT begins to produce more revenue than the regular tax, is now projected to be 2013.
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security today announced that they have shut down one of the world’s largest BitTorrent websites, Elite Torrents. Carrying out what is known as Operation D-Elite, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed search warrants against prominent members in Elite Torrents’ membership. Elite Torrents was one of the first peer to peer networks to post an illegal copy of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith before the movie officially opened in theaters last Thursday.I'm not making this up..... Visit Elite Torrents and check out the home page, which now features US DOJ and DHS logos....
Gray was asked to study the publishing strategy of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa. This research institution had a traditional strategy of publishing lots of research books, and selling them. Gray convinced them to change their strategy -- to give away all their research books for free online, and offer a high quality print-on-demand service for anyone who wants the paper version. The result: "the sales turnover of the publishing department has risen by 300%." As she concluded her presentation, "giving away books and lead to an increase in our book sales." There's much much more in her interesting analysis.Download the pdf.
Two weeks ago, a small, single-engine plane inadvertently strayed into the closed air space above Washington. The result was panic. Both the White House and the Capitol were evacuated, with police shouting “Run! Run!” at fleeing staffers and visitors. Senators and Congressmen abandoned in haste the floors of their respective Houses. Various RIPs (Really Important People) were escorted to their Fuehrerbunkers. F-16s came close to shooting the Cessna down.
Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion appeared at the Overture Center this past Saturday. Tune in to the whole show here.
Supporters of touch-screen voting claim it is a highly reliable voting technology, while a growing number of critics argue that paperless electronic voting systems are vulnerable to fraud. In this paper we use county-level data on voting technologies in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections to test whether voting technology affects electoral outcomes. We first show that there is a positive correlation between use of touch-screen voting and the level of electoral support for George Bush. This is true in models that compare the 2000-2004 changes in vote shares between adopting and non-adopting counties within a state, after controlling for income, demographic composition, and other factors. Although small, the effect could have been large enough to influence the final results in some closely contested states.
We have Big Media to thank for saving Americans from themselves. Just as the notion of affordable broadband for all was beginning to take hold in towns and cities across the country, the patriots at Verizon, Qwest, Comcast, Bell South and SBC Communications have created legislation that will stop the creeping socialism of broadband community Internet before it invades our homes.
5 Mbps down /2 Mbps up = $39 15 Mbps down /2 Mbps up = $49 30 Mbps down /5 Mbps up = $199
Brian Clark takes a look at the opportunities for small businesses in the Department of Homeland Security's massive $40B budget. I hope some Wisconsin firms are feeding at the trough.
Robert Collier visits Alberta's vast oil sands:
Alberta's oil sands are destined to be the main supply of foreign oil to the United States for at least the next century. The sands hold proven reserves of 175 billion barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia's 262 billion, and far more than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's estimated 10 billion.If Americans want to keep filling their gasoline tanks at a reasonable cost, they will need the oil sands industry to push ahead on its expected path of doubling, tripling and even quadrupling production in coming years.
Nowhere else is the conflict between energy use and ecological cost so stark.
"The oil sands are a big challenge," Canada's environment minister, Stephane Dion, who has fought publicly with other Cabinet officials for a tougher line on global warming, said in an interview. "They are sending out a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.
After an xapparent setback in litigation, Hormel Foods is again pursuing actions against entities and organizations over the 'spam' trademark. According to the web site of DSPAM, an open-source statistical anti-spam filter, "Anti-spam software manufacturers may be in for a rude awakening."
The bill, which California lawmakers believe is the first of its kind in the nation, would prohibit the use of radio-frequency identification, or RFID, chips in state identity documents such as student badges, driver's licenses, medical cards and state employee cards. The bill allows forI assume, unfortunately, based on our political leaders initial embrace of the Matrix personal data mining scheme, that we will not be as wise in Wisconsin...
some exceptions.RFID, also known as contactless integrated circuits, transmits information wirelessly, allowing scanners to read cards from a distance, typically a few feet. The technology is widely used in building security and inventory-tracking systems, and is being considered for numerous other applications.
The bill, which passed out of the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday with a vote of 6 to 1, also would outlaw skimming -- which occurs when an unauthorized person with an electronic reading device surreptitiously reads the electronic information on an RFID chip without the knowledge of the person carrying or wearing the chip.
 | The company that Don Kendall built and Roger Enrico grew has an interesting PR problem. |
| Pepsico President Indra Nooyi delivered a controversial commencement speech at Columbia Business School. Pepsi has been backtracking ever since on their corporate website. I wonder what would have happened to a local truck driver who might have given a similar speech to a High School's graduating class, or perhaps a mid level manager speaking at a regional business conference? Somehow, I think they would be looking for something else to do. Background on her speech via google. BusinessWeek posted Nooyi's remarks. Diane Brady refers to Nooyi's inept analogy. Sugar Water.... | |
The Madison Commons Project looks promising as a media literacy venture, but there are several questions are raised by its structure. These are asked below the fold.Rarely do new initiatives result from a top down process. Knutson muses on generating "free content" for the newspaper world.
Two months after community controversy first surfaced over the ethics of Wisconsin State Journal-published Capital Region Business Journal and the advertiser membership of its accompanying advisory board, Madison's largest newspaper is working to maintain its credibility.
Therese BerceauPDF:
The bill would place a graduated 1% to 2% gross receipts tax on any store that exceeds $20 million in a
taxable year, and that allocates less than 10% of its payroll to health insurance for its employees. The
bill applies only if the retailer fails to pay full-time, entry-level employees at least $22,000 a year; or if more than 25% of the retailer’s workforce is part-time. The revenue would go into the state’s Medical Assistance trust fund.
“Wisconsin taxpayers are picking up the health care tab for the largest and one of the most profitable
corporations in the world, Wal-Mart,” said Rep. Berceau. “While Wal-Mart is banking about $7 billion a
year in pure profit, Wisconsin taxpayers are paying $4.75 million a year (through state and federal
taxes) to care for 1,175 Wal-Mart employees and relatives in state BadgerCare, and 1,952 in Medicaid,” she added.
"I championed legislation to spur more venture capital investment, as it is essential to the state's economic growth," Governor Doyle said. "By encouraging investors through tax credits to make these crucial investments - we are helping to turn these great ideas into viable, job-creating businesses."The Angel Investor and Venture Fund Tax Credit Programs offer Wisconsin income tax credits to angel investors and investors in seed-stage venture capital funds. These programs are designed to increase the supply of both qualified angel investors and investors in qualified venture capital funds. The tax credits are available only for investments made in technology businesses qualified by Commerce. As Commerce qualifies businesses for investment, it will list them on the Commerce website.
Posted by James Zellmer at 12:01 AM
In order to clarify what I said to the reporter in the May 18 story entitled Mayor Urges Yes Vote for Schools, I sent the following letter to the CapTimes:
Dear Editors,
I was quoted as saying the "world wouldn't come to a screeching halt" if the referenda did not pass. Actually, what I said was there was plenty of time for the school board to prepare new referenda questions for a November election, when we would otherwise be voting. Thus, for those of us concerned that these items are not based on solid data, a 'no' vote now would not bring the district to its knees.
Why the rush, then? Because the outcome might change. For instance, by next fall, we might learn that the demographics in the district and Leopold neighborhood argue against a school there, perhaps that building there would mean certain school closures in the Isthmus area. Those following school issues know that another far West side elementary school is surely going to get built in addition to whatever happens at Leopold. Something's got to give.
And as to the operating and maintenance questions, we need a closer look at the teachers' contract and also the "untouchable" administrative staff arrangements. Actually, we need an overall transparent budget process. If the numbers are solid, let's see the justifications and assumptions. I am happy to support these requests when I can trust the numbers. Right now, I don't.
Joan M. Knoebel
I'd like to clarify that this post is not meant as a criticism of the reporting. This reporter does a terrific job of covering school issues, and doing so fairly. But I felt it was important to correct the misapprehension some had after reading the story that I believe the referenda are not important or that I don't care what happens to our schools. My point is that we have time to do this better, i.e., a "no" vote now won't shut down our schools. The board can bring these questions back to the public in November, hopefully after a more transparent look at all the numbers.
Richard Harris on the USGS's new earthquake forecast site.
That said, we can’t help but notice that the Daily Union staffers have been receiving more than their fair share of “thank-yous” of late, and particularly since May 3. That was the day we reported that the Jefferson Common Council decided 5-3 to ignore high circulation figures and drop the Daily Union after nearly two decades as the city’s official newspaper. Apparently a lot of our Jefferson readers now want us to know that they, at least, appreciate our efforts. Their pats on the back have felt nice. Conversely, the stabs from five aldermen who perceive our coverage of municipal meetings as biased and erroneous have not. They’ve pointed, in particular, to one discussion on Wal-Mart in which proponents claim we slanted our front-page story against a SuperCenter being built in Jefferson. We’ve also misinterpreted quotes recorded on tape, they say.
While it is no secret that the Daily Union thinks Wal-Mart has gotten too big for its britches and doesn’t need another SuperCenter so close to the one in Watertown, we’ve kept that opinion on the editorial page … that same page we’ve opened for all views, both pro and con. As to being able to read the minds of city officials whose words don’t always coincide with their intended meaning, we can’t. Despite what some might think, we’re not omnipotent. And regarding editing stories so they’re biased toward our own viewpoints, we don’t. We don’t have the time, the ego or, most importantly, the desire to slant the news in any direction other than down the center. No, we’re just sitting here doing our job … thanks or no thanks, official city paper or not. And rest assured, Jefferson, we’ll be doing that for many, many years to come.
It used to be that a tinkerer like Misterovich could, at best, hope to sell his idea to a big company. More likely, he’d entertain friends with his Pez-sized visions. But a number of factors are coming together to empower amateurs in a way never before possible, blurring the lines between those who make and those who take. Unlike the dot-com fortune hunters of the late 1990s, these do-it-yourselfers aren’t deluding themselves with oversized visions of what they might achieve. Instead, they’re simply finding a way—in this mass-produced, Wal-Mart world—to take power back, prove that they can make the products that they want to consume, have fun doing so, and, just maybe, make a few dollars. "What’s happened is a tremendous change in awareness," says Eric von Hippel, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of the recent Democratizing Innovation. "Conventional wisdom is so strong [in business] about find-a-need-and-fill-it: ‘We’re the manufacturers; we design products; we ask users what they need; we do it.’ That has begun to crack."
Via Glenn Fleishman:
Read the full Mother Jones article on municipal broadband (enter code MJZL6Y to read full article): The fine folks at Mother Jones sent me an access code and permission to post it so you can read the full article they published in this month’s issue about the Tri-Cities, Illinois, battle with SBC and Comcast on one side and the city’s business-backed goals of providing municipal broadband on the other.David Isenberg has more on Japan continuing to kick our butt in FTTH (fiber to the home), including some interesting numbers to single family homes.Interestingly, the Tri-Cities now have substantially greater broadband services: the two incumbents spent hundreds of thousands to defeat two ballot initiatives, and then probably tens of millions to upgrade their networks.
Peter DeLorenzo's AutoExtremist published an interesting auto industry leadership study. Take a look. DeLorenzo examines brand perceptions from a consumer, industry insider and enthusiast perspective.
Powerful photos, from Lucian Read. Via Ed Cone. More on Lucian.
Today's Wall Street Journal article provides an overview of today's Auto industry. It answers the question I've been thinking of for a long time -- "what is an American Car". Fully 1/3 of the cars built in North America are Non-Big Three. I'm sure that if they went further and looked at "investment" in new facilities over the past 20 years, it would be even further skewed.
I was surprised to get the email below which is intended, I thought, to provide updates on the mayor's activities. My objection is not that a position was taken on the referenda questions, or even that a link was provided to send contributions to those seeking yes votes. Rather, it was the characterization that those who think a no vote is the wiser choice are REPUBLICANS. That's a mighty dirty word in this town.
I'll be voting no on the expansion of Leopold. After educating myself on the issues, (thank you School Information System for providing such high quality, non-partisan, primary source information) I've concluded that building such a large school is unwise; more important, there are changes in the neighborhood demographics that argue at least for a fresh look. That means I could be persuaded in the future, but as things stand right now, I'm voting no.
As to the other two questions, I'm still trying to work out the answer. I resent being played by the administration over items like strings and I don't believe the board has done its job, the careful oversight of the budget/budget process. I don't trust the numbers and I don't like the fact that Supt Rainwater protected his staff before the budget process formally began. Administration seems like a very fat piece of the budget and, at the risk of offending, also seems like it serves as the golden parachute for long-serving prinicipals as they edge toward retirement. That said, I want our schools able to function to educate our kids. So what I have to decide is if this vote will prompt the board to reevaluate how it does its job.
Does this make me a Republican?
Dear Friends, I hope you agree with me that there is nothing more important to the health of a city than its public school system. In Madison we're lucky to have one of the best in the nation. In fact, a recent national publication ranked MPS the third best school system anywhere in America.Good schools are obviously good for young families. But they're also good for the environment. Top notch schools keep families in the city and so they reduce the pressure for sprawl. And even if you don't have kids, quality schools add value to your home because the quality of the school system is a key ingredient in resale value. Finally, if you're just a bleeding heart liberal like me, you might support high quality public education just because it's good for the community and you have faith that well-educated kids will grow up to make a better world.
Whatever your reason, we have an opportunity on May 24th to stand up for one of the best school systems in the nation. Our schools are threatened with crumbling infrastructure, overcrowding and cuts to the kinds of programs that will help our kids compete in the 21st century economy. To correct those problems and to preserve the quality of our public schools, there are three referenda on the May 24th ballot. These referenda allow the district to pay for needed maintenance, build a much-needed new elementary school, and continue the high quality of day-to-day education in every school. I hope you will join me in voting YES on all three.
And you can do one more thing. The Dane County Republican Party has joined the fight against these much needed improvements. I expect a well-financed last minute campaign from the far-right. You can join me in fighting back by making a contribution TODAY to the leading group running a clean, grass-roots campaign in favor of the referenda.
Send your check to:
Madison Cares
...
(Yes, Fitchburg. Part of the Madison Public School District extends into the city of Fitchburg.) PLEASE SEND YOUR CHECK TODAY. THE ELECTION IS ONLY A WEEK AWAY AND WE NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT AWAY TO COUNTER THE ATTACKS FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.Thanks for your help!
Dave CieslewiczFriends of Dave Cieslewicz
P.O. Box 2164
Madison, WI 53704
office@daveformadison.com
I agree with Dave on this (NYT charging to access OP-ED and columnists). This is a bit late. I don't think the legacy media can pull off charging online any longer. There are generally too many alternatives.
Mayor Dave released a memo to Department Heads regarding the 2006 capital budget Monday. A few tidbits:
Thomas Content takes a look at Wisconsin regulated utility CEO compensation.
The BBC commemorates Las Vegas Centenary, in pictures.
"When you look at the number of tech companies that didn't make it when the bubble burst, it's truly amazing that this company was able to get it under control and survive that period," he said. "The carnage was so absolute."
If some of this smacks of boosterism, that's because it is. Aside from their personal financial interest, many of the stockholders at the meeting said they root for Sonic Foundry because they want to see a local company succeed.
"I've been up and I've been down with the company," said Hughes, who once watched his Sonic Foundry holdings fall from $100,000 to $1,000. "But it's nice to be in a Madison company, being from Madison."
Paul Gores takes an interesting look at income flows from Southeast Wisconsin - via a new Public Policy Forum report. Essentially people who leave make more than people moving in. In addition: "Every county is southeastern Wisconsin loses more income to Madison's Dane County than it gains from Dane County".
Peter Winkler has posted some great VR scenes from Vienna.
 | Odessa Piper, who recently sold her L'etoile Restaurant, has been seen on recent Saturday Mornings (Farmer's Market) at the Cafe. I told here that I thought she was moving on. She mentioned that she would be cooking more often, which, I think, is good for Madison. |
Thomas Content discusses Milwaukee auto parts supplier Tower Automotive's ongoing layoffs. Tower will have less than 200 employeees next week. Tower supplies steel car and truck frames to the domestic auto manufacturers. Content's article arrives the same week as GM's announcement that they were talking with Toyota about hybrid components. Sadly, these increasingly popular parts will likely come from Toyota's network, rather than domestic sources...
Eugene Zinovyev (A UC Berkeley undergrad):
Today, entertainment lobby groups are consciously trying to prevent technological and creative progress in the United States.Late in March, Ted Olson, the former solicitor general under the current President Bush and counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America, wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal arguing against peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, likening them to services that allow users to exploit others' property illegally with no legal repercussion. Yet, the analogy between his scenario and the sharing of music and movies is deeply flawed, because digital movies and songs are not property in the same sense that a car or a pair of shoes are.
When people ask me what to read to find an historical parallel with America’s situation today, I usually recommend J. H. Elliott’s splendid history of Spain in the first half of the 17th century, The Count-Duke of Olivares: A Statesman in an Age of Decline. One of the features of the Spanish court in that period was its increasing disconnection with reality. At one point, Spain was trying to establish a Baltic fleet while the Dutch navy controlled the Straits of Gibraltar.
For each of the last 10 years, Wisconsin has supplied the most entrants of any college or university, roughly 130 annually, some of whom will be graduating this weekend and decamping for Ghana or Turkmenistan soon thereafter.
Hmmm. I wonder if Shawano will have WiFi before the Madison (Dane County) Airport?
 Click to view a larger version of this photo | The Capital Times held a Town meeting at Ancora Coffee on Monroe St. this evening. While the crowd was thin (total of 25 or so people, a number from the paper) this event is a useful idea. The way we all obtain information has changed so dramatically, and continues to do so, it's difficult for me to see the daily newspaper surviving, given the current economics. Weekly and Sunday publications have a better shot, I think - maybe. The trick for the Cap Times is to figure out how to migrate their local coverage into the internet era AND change the way they publish. I'm not sure that their current approach to the internet makes any sense - simply repurposing newspaper content online. |
Having said all that, there will always be a market for excellent reporting. My youngest attended the town meeting and wrote up an article, for publication here :)A Meeting at Ancora | |
The deregulation of radio was tough on good-neighbor radio because Clear Channel and other conglomerates were anxious to vacuum up every station in sight for fabulous sums of cash and turn them into robot repeaters. I dropped in to a broadcasting school last fall and saw kids being trained for radio careers as if radio were a branch of computer processing. They had no conception of the possibility of talking into a microphone to an audience that wants to hear what you have to say. I tried to suggest what a cheat this was, but the instructor was standing next to me. Clear Channel's brand of robotics is not the future of broadcasting. With a whole generation turning to iPod and another generation discovering satellite radio and Internet radio, the robotic formatted-music station looks like a very marginal operation indeed. Training kids to do that is like teaching typewriter repair.
Ex CIA agent and author Charles McCarry posted an online chat recently.
Jeffrey K. Liker and Thomas Y. Choi discuss Toyota & Honda's vaunted supplier system.
Madison is 38, while Green Bay is #4 in Inc's latest list of the best cities to do business in.
Toyota continues to build volume for it's supplier network by discussing a deal for hybrid auto technology with GM. Ford did the same with it's Escape small SUV Hybrid. Generally bad news for domestic parts suppliers.
This looks interesting: Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It by Michael N. Kennedy
Mickael Therer announced an impressive collection of Quicktime VR WWII European landmark scenes. Beautiful work.
Russ Feingold voted for this giveaway (I'd like a 5.25% tax rate, please). Alex Berenson looks at one of the windfalls: Large drug companies:
A new tax break for corporations is allowing the biggest American drug makers to return as much as $75 billion in profits from international havens to the United States while paying a fraction of the normal tax rate.The break is part of the American Jobs Creation Act, signed into law by President Bush in October, which allows companies a one-year window to return foreign profits to the United States at a 5.25 percent tax rate, compared with the standard 35 percent rate.
.......
Though the companies stand behind their accounting, financial analysts and tax lawyers say that the drug makers' claim defies reality and that their profits come mostly from sales in the United States.
She learned to scuba dive. She was active in the League of Women Voters. When I was 28, she and my stepfather moved to Ethiopia. She worked for the World Health Organization, preparing educational materials that said, in essence, "Please do not defecate in the river."
Salvador Sotello, for example, recently paid F.H. Dailey Chevrolet in San Leandro $41,000 for a new Chevy Tahoe LT (yes, with leather) SUV that had a sticker price of $58,000. The sale was an anomaly in what is otherwise a pretty dismal selling season. "It's been pretty quiet," saleswoman Crystal Gonzalez said the other day. "Been pretty slow."
Firefighter Donald Herbert suddenly became lucid Saturday after living in an unresponsive state for 10 years.audio
Interesting local cybersquatting:
The progressive biweekly newspaper The Madison Observer accused its conservative counterpart The Mendota Beacon Wednesday of "cybersquatting," or anonymously buying two web domains similar to The Madison Observer's and redirecting those sites to The Mendota Beacon's website.
A high-tech Milwaukee high school, a sleek meeting center for local brewery employees, a playful aquatic center near Madison and a sculptor's studio in Switzerland all won top honors Wednesday for architects practicing in Wisconsin from Wisconsin AIA, a society of the American Institute of Architects.The awards were among 10 presented at the society's 51st annual convention, held this year at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison.
"There are moments when a perfect storm happens and you are able to put together a terrific project," the design awards jury said. "The award-winning projects have been pushed over the edge into extraordinary moments of architecture and design excellence."
Business Week disects GM's travails, and includes a "rumor" that one of their full size SUV plants will close (one of those is Janesville).
patients awaiting surgery are subjects of various questions and checklists. The queries get redundant, but the procedure is akin to the aviation industry's safety precautions.
Verlyn Klinkenborg has also been driving LA's freeways recently. He disects the psychology of the recent shootings. I posted some photos and notes from my recent drive on those same freeways.
iTunes features a 78 song playlist and Kelefa Sanneh summarizes the music at the recent Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Very useful interactive map that includes project and legislative information. Wisconsin comparatively, has very little activity, despite recent stories that we are at the "center of the wired world".
Call it Total Information Awareness, homeland-style.Your papers, please....Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff this week floated an idea to start a nonprofit group that would collect information on private citizens, flag suspicious activity, and send names of suspicious people to his department.
Scant mention of their current utility allowed for a more in-depth discussion of the future of blogs. All agreed -- including UW alum and Denver-based professional freelance writer and communications consultant Kerby Meyers -- that these blogs would only increase in importance, with the most interesting comment coming from Anderson. At one point, he succinctly summed up the current power and immense potential of blogs."In our coverage you would have a first day story and then a second story,'' Anderson said during Saturday's discussion.
Mark Belling's TV Show discussed the recent circulation lawsuit & the implications on the media conglomerate (The Journal Company owns a TV Station, Radio Station and a telocommunications firm). Via Jay
Mother Jones covers SBC & Comcast's efforts to "scare local voters" to vote against a broadband initiative. Seems counter-intuitive. Read on. Via Glenn. More on municipal efforts to promote local broadband.
Long time Wisconsin manufacturer Ariens has embraced "lean manufacturing" - made famous by the Toyota Production System. Interesting and powerful stuff. Read on.
BTW - I like their website. Straightforward, easy to read, prices upfront.
UW Grad and father of blogging Dave Winer turns 50 today. Happy Birthday from Madison :)
Dave's 2002 piece on "Monoculture, an Artifact of the 20th Century?" is well worth reading today.
The United States has abundant volcanoes, and over the past 25 years the Nation has experienced a diverse range of the destructive phenomena that volcanoes can produce. Hazardous volcanic activity will continue to occur, and – because of increasing population, increasing development, and expanding national and international air traffic over volcanic regions – the exposure of human life and enterprise to volcano hazards is increasing. Fortunately, volcanoes exhibit precursory unrest that if detected and analyzed in time allows eruptions to be anticipated and communities at risk to be forewarned with reliable information in sufficient time to implement response plans and mitigation measures.Keay Davidson takes a look at California's three most dangerous volcanoes.
Interesting and thought provoking set of articles on "Oil in troubled waters" from the Economist:
“THE time when we could count on cheap oil and even cheaper natural gas is clearly ending.” That was the gloomy forecast delivered in February by Dave O'Reilly, the chairman of Chevron Texaco, to hundreds of oilmen gathered for a conference in Houston. The following month, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gleefully echoed the sentiment: “The world should forget about cheap oil.”
They're masters of technology and innovation. They're global thinkers driven by strategic vision. They're nimbler than Martha Stewart's PR team. They're The Wired 40.
