I don't often link or comment on national politics as there's no shortage of such words online. Steve Inskeep talks with Senator Feingold on Bush's recent speech. Defense and the National Interest has two useful articles on this subject:
There's a consensus emerging among my friends Brough Turner, Bill St. Arnaud and Martin Geddes, that Network Neutrality by regulation is not practical. Each has their own reasons, but the conclusions converge inescapably with mine -- given current industry structure, the incentives are all wrong. Vint Cerf's fervent wish (hey, mine too, were it possible!) for a "lightweight, enforceable Network Neutrality rule" is a pipe dream. Any such rule I could think up would put today's carriers in an untenable, self-competitive situation.
Fara Warner is author of "the Power of the Purse." She says companies have learned that there's more to marketing to women than just adding pink.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore. Consider the following:
Jason Joyce takes a humorous look at Mayor Dave's weekly schedule.
AP:
One in six U.S. Internet users have sold goods and services online and 2 percent do so on a given day, a new study found.Sales are typically done through such online classifed ads sites as Craigslist or through an auction like eBay, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said Sunday.
Those who use the Internet more frequently, have high-speed broadband connections or have been online longer are more likely to be an online seller, the study found.
Online selling is also higher among men, the more affluent and the better educated.
Local incumbent telco SBC (now known as AT&T after the acquisition) is evidently not going to bring fiber to the home. Rather, they are planning to use the long since paid for by us copper to the home infrastructure to send TV to subscribers.... competing with the cable companies (Verizon is installing fiber to the home). This all seems to me to be ill-advised. Why not help all of their customers grow their own media. That's where the market is going... Lorne Manly and Ken Belson have more:
"It's awfully difficult to see how a late entrant operating at a dramatic cost disadvantage and employing a strategy of charging less for more has any shot at earning acceptable returns," said Craig E. Moffett, a cable and satellite analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.
Verizon's decision to run fiber-optic cable all the way to customers' homes is a calculated - and expensive - risk, and a counterpoint to AT&T's television strategy. Verizon will spend an estimated $22 billion through 2010 burying high-capacity cables, according to Sanford C. Bernstein research. But that substantial investment gives Verizon the flexibility to add data-hungry high-definition programs, faster broadband speeds and other features that customers like Mr. Rodges are already enjoying. Though costly, these fiber connections are seen by Verizon as the only way to reliably leapfrog the competition. By the end of 2006, the company expects to make these fiber-based services available to six million homes in its territory, including Fairfax, Va., and Huntington Beach, Calif.By contrast, AT&T is installing fiber cables only to within 3,000 feet of homes and using compression technology to make sure that television, phone and broadband signals can travel the rest of the way over older and narrower wire already in the ground. That will save billions of dollars in construction costs and help AT&T start selling television faster. Sanford C. Bernstein estimates that AT&T will spend more than $7 billion through 2010; the company has said that it will spend about $4 billion through 2008.
Any vegetable oil can become fuel, but not until its fatty acids are converted to chemical compounds known as esters. Currently the acids used to convert the fatty acids are prohibitively expensive.Slashdot discussion.
Michikazu Hara, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Yokohama, Japan, and his colleagues have used common, inexpensive sugars to form a recyclable solid acid that does the job on the cheap. Their research is reported in last week's issue of the journal Nature.
"We estimate the cost of the catalyst to be one-tenth to one-fiftieth that of conventional catalysts," Hara said.
The breakthrough could provide cost savings on a massive scale, he said, because the technique could fairly easily make the transition from the lab to the refinery—if interest warrants.
hen you watch your favourite program in the not-too-distant future, your TV could be watching back.
Cable companies are preparing to install software on digital set-top boxes that will keep track of everything you watch. Coupling that information with your address, the software would estimate your age, gender, interests and income.
The result? Advertisers could send different commercials to different viewers.
A longtime food favorite in the southern United States, the delicious deep-fried turkey has quickly grown in popularity thanks to celebrity chefs such as Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse. While some people rave about this tasty creation, Underwriters Laboratories Inc.'s (UL) safety experts are concerned that backyard chefs may be sacrificing safety for good taste.
"We're worried by the increasing reports of fires related with turkey fryer use," says John Drengenberg, UL consumer affairs manager. "Based on our test findings, the fryers used to produce those great-tasting birds are not worth the risks. And, as a result of these tests, UL has decided not to certify any turkey fryers with our trusted UL Mark."
e were a group of seven, including two vegetarians and a 15 or 16-pound turkey. The veggies brought their first Tofurky, with some of the trimmings. Their report: Overall not bad, but it gets cold quickly, which makes it less palatable. They were hoping to get their hands on a Celebration Roast, but they were nowhere to be found.
I was home by eight, just in time for “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” The wind was howling that not even a blanket or a few glasses of red wine could warm me up.
There are no guarantees that GM will succeed with its turnaround plant. That means there are no long-term guarantees for the Janesville plant.
But in today's rapidly changing economy, there are few guarantees for anyone.
The lesson for Wisconsin is that knowledge is vital. The knowledge-based economy is transforming all industries, from auto makers to software developers to genetic engineers. The state should invest in its knowledge assets its schools, colleges and universities. They will not only produce the educated work force we will depend upon but also the research that will generate many new businesses.
Families should also invest in knowledge the education and re-education that will be required to prepare for the changing job market.
Sacramento, Calif., claims more trees per capita than any other city in the world. It's now embarking on a 40-year plan to double the city's tree canopy. The potential benefits of urban forests include lower temperatures, improved air quality and -- perhaps surprisingly-- a calming effect on drivers.
More than two years ago, Massachusetts embarked on an "open standards, open source" policy, ostensibly working to guide its executive agencies toward a more citizen-accessible, cost-effective management of state IT assets. The state finally settled on the mandated use of OASIS' OpenDocument Format, plus Adobe's PDF schema, for its executive agencies' office suites by January 2007. This policy has pitted those in favor of government mandates to meet "larger considerations" against others in the industry who favor a more market-oriented approach.One editorial labeled Massachusetts' OpenDocument Format plan as the "domino" that will cause other governments and private parties to follow suit, fostering more choice. Others believe that it represents a mandate for a single type of software model, one purposely imposed to limit competition, not strengthen it.
Pulsar Advanced Technologies will next week launch its lead product, the Vulcanus MK4, a water heater USING microwave technology to heat water on demand.
Powered by electricity and unaffected by the volatile gas markets, the Vulcanus MK4 can heat water from 35 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds and can source multiple applications at once: showers, dishwasher, sink usages and more. The Vulcanus MK4 is the size of a stereo speaker with a sleek modern look, making it ideal for condos and apartments, while powerful enough to serve the needs of any size family. via Zawodny
Via Paul Caron:
Citizens for Tax Justice has published several tax position papers:
- Two New 2006 Tax Cuts Benefit Only Wealthiest Few (11/21)
- Extending Capital Gains and Dividends Loopholes Would Mostly Benefit the Wealthiest 1% (11/18)
- Child Credit Phase-In Rules Hit Hurricane Victims Hardest (11/8)
For further analysis, see Stuart Levine's Tax Law & Business Commentary
Sudoku (数独) is the number placing game taking the world by storm - see Wikipedia.The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.
Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.
While much is still being investigated nearly three months after Katrina lashed through the Gulf Coast, government officials and experts on preparedness and national security say they've already learned some lessons from the catastrophe. They say it's a wake-up call for other disasters ahead. Will we be ready?Commenting here are: Warren Rudman, co-chair, National Security Commission; Tom Ridge, secretary, Department of Homeland Security (2002-2005); Michael Brown, FEMA director (2003-2005); Richard Clarke, National Security Council (1992-2003); Richard Falkenrath, Homeland Security adviser (2001-2005); and Leo Bosner, FEMA National Response and Coordination Center.
I took this photo from a recent Canadair CL-65 Chicago - Madison flight. Doc Searls posted a high altitude view from a BOS - SFO 757 flight.
A looming accounting change is forcing state and local governments to fess up to something that's been lurking on their books for years: Many have made costly retirement health-care promises without planning how to pay for them.
Under a new accounting rule, governments soon must start recognizing their long-term obligations to pay for retirees' health benefits -- and, for the first time, publicly disclose what it would cost each year to fund that liability.
For many governments, the promised amount is likely to be sizeable enough to prompt big changes such as cutting retiree benefits, borrowing money and diverting tax dollars from other spending priorities -- or risk a credit-rating downgrade that could significantly boost borrowing costs. Estimates of obligations for some states range from $500 million to as much as $40 billion.
Ford Motor Co. Chairman William C. Ford Jr. urged the government yesterday to help struggling U.S. automakers by expanding subsidies for companies that make components for hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles, as U.S. automakers race to close a widening technology gap with the Japanese.Fascinating. Ford, along with GM and to a lesser extent, the others, gorged on highly profitable SUV sales for years. That strategy does not have legs any longer...In a speech at the National Press Club, Ford asked for more incentives, such as tax credits, to prod consumers to buy hybrids and other vehicles with fuel-saving technology. He also asked Congress for money to retrain workers, and to consider tax incentives to help manufacturers outfit old plants with new equipment. In the speech, Ford said a national strategy is needed to respond to the pressures of globalization, which he called the "economic challenge of our time."
"working on a PVR that will recognise one of several individual users, and respond to their personal preferences." The patent application describes the invention as "a multimedia mobile personalization system provides a remote control that detects a user's electronic tag, e.g. an RFID tag." It also promises personalized viewing at a variety of locations, detailing how TiVo might forward stored shows from home to a TV in a hotel room, for example. It remains to be seen whether hotels will be eager to help TiVo undermine their pay-per-view video revenue."
Some anthropologists now believe that more human beings lived in Southwest New Mexico 1,000 years ago than live there today.How do they know? Because the region is covered with thousands of archaeological sites. Some areas are positively littered with rock art and artifacts from long-gone ancient cultures.
General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world's biggest automaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses so far this yearMark Tapscott has more.
Samuel John Klein’s Brief History of Rand McNally is up on Designorati today. Interesting to see that William Rand and Andrew McNally started with railroads (road travel was some decades away); their first map, in 1872, was the Railway Guide.
Christina Aguilera required the 150 guests at her wedding to sign a three-page confidentiality agreement before they were allowed into the event. "Banned subjects included the cake, the rings, entertainment, speeches, food, the venue and other guests."
I wonder if her pre-nup has a non-compete?
A U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill that would outlaw the practice of remotely installing software that collects a computer users' personal information without consent. In addition to prohibiting spyware, the Spyblock (Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge) Act would also outlaw the installation of adware programs without a computer user's permission. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved the bill Thursday. Spyblock, sponsored by Senator Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican, would prohibit hackers from remotely taking over a computer and prohibit programs that hijack Web browsers. The bill would protect antispyware software vendors from being sued by companies whose software they block.
Fascinating, Tyler Cowen:
Just in time for the apparent top of the housing market, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is introducing futures and options on housing prices in 10 cities for the second quarter of 2006. (Here's an overview of the products, and CME's White Paper on the topic.)
Here is the Slate article.
Addendum: Here is further analysis, from a new blog on risk markets.
Two interesting perspectives on Wednesday night's Madison City Council Budget votes:
Coming from another perspective, Brandon urges a no vote against this budget since it has a 4.35% increase, stating that no cuts were made "This isn't the mayor's budget. The mayor set a clear challenge to us, 4.1," Brandon states. "We are playing into the state government's perception, what they portray about us, is that we are big spenders," he continues. "All we are doing is inviting more levy limits, and at worst, TABOR."Knutsen also live-blogged the meetings (which is fabulous)Konkel says "we could have done this if we really wanted to," referring to the failure of the hotel room tax hike, which she states would have brought the levy down to 4.03, also lamenting the failure of several amendments to provide services to the indigent. "I know how I'm going to vote," Webber says, while Bruer commends the council for the tenor of this year's budget process. "This administration unlike others in the past did more truth in budgeting," he says of the mayors role, continuing by pointing out cost-cutting measures undertaken by city departments in his defense of the budget and its process. "To go through all those hours and all that energy," Bruer says, "I have no problem going out to my constituency and defending this increase" due to its "balance" of attention.
The tax hike, Cieslewicz said, is the third lowest in the past two decades.It's now time for the state to back away from tax caps, let cities make budget decisions based on their own values, and for the state to try to fix how it funds municipalities, the mayor said.
Ald. Zach Brandon, 7th District, who led the group that made the 4.1 percent tax cap pledge, offered the lone harsh words about the budget.
"Do you know what this is saying to the rest of the state?" he said, adding that Madison will become a "poster child" for its inability to contain spending and taxes."
Federal Election Commission (PDF):
We are responding to your advisory opinion request on behalf of Fired Up! LLC (“Fired Up”), concerning the application of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the “Act”), and Commission regulations to certain Internet websites owned and operated by Fired Up.Background.
The Commission concludes that the costs Fired Up incurs in covering or carrying news stories, commentary, or editorials on its websites are encompassed by the press exception, and therefore do not constitute “expenditures” or “contributions” under the Act and Commission regulations.
Verizon: FiOS On Schedule To Pass 3 Million Homes By Year End From a client note by UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff: Verizon CFO Doreen Toben told attendees at the UBS Global Communications Conference Thursday that the Keller, TX launch of FiOS was on track for double-digit penetration by the end of the year, ahead of expectations. Verizon still expects to cover 3 million-plus homes passed by the end of the year with launches coming in New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida and California, and 6 million or 20 percent of the footprint by the end of '06.
Presentation (pdf) | Webcast
The outcry was so great that on Nov. 11, Sony announced it was temporarily
halting production of that copy-protection scheme. That still wasn't enough -- on Nov. 14 the company announced it was pulling copy-protected CDs from store shelves and offered to replace customers' infected CDs for free.
The subjects covered here are no less enormous than the Net and its future. Even optimists agree that the Net's future as a free and open environment for business and culture is facing many threats. We can't begin to cover them all or cover all the ways we can fight them. I believe, however, that there is one sure way to fight all of these threats at once, and without doing it the bad guys will win. That's what this essay is about.More here.
Here's a brief outline of the article. If you want to go straight to the solution, skip to the third section:
- Scenario I: The Carriers Win
- Scenario II: The Public Workaround
- Scenario III: Fight with Words and Not Just Deeds
The reports contain information about the rates and burdens of major taxes in the District of Columbia compared with states and other large cities in the United States. This publication contains two reports: (I) Tax burdens in Washington, D.C., Compared with Those in the Largest City in Each State, 2004 and (II) A Comparison of Selected Tax Rates in the District of Columbia with Those in the 50 States: A Compendium of Tables. This information is requested annually by committees of the U.S. Congress and the District of Columbia Council and is provided pursuant to Public Law 93-407.
Drucker had an amazing ability to predict what was coming next, and distilled management into actionable terms for entrepreneurs, eschewing fads of the day. As George Gendron, Inc.'s founding editor-in-chief, once said in a 1996 article, "Both the man and his work have been my intellectual compass for the past two decades." Gendron wasn't alone, and Drucker's works are sure to continue to guide businesses for years to come.Drucker's four entrepreneurial pitfalls:
“FORGET space aliens and race cars—here's a game that gives kids skills they can use for the rest of their lives.” So says the blurb for Hot Shot Business, an online game (www.hotshotbusiness.com) played each year by millions of “budding entrepreneurs” who get the chance to open their own pet spa, skateboard factory, landscape-gardening business or comic shop in Opportunity City. Players start marketing campaigns; change products, services and prices; and respond to demanding customers and big news events. And, “as a self-funded entrepreneur, you'll keep all the profits. But if anything goes wrong, well, you're on your own.”
Peter Drucker:
WSJ: You also said the scarcity axiom was becoming obsolete. Do you mean the idea that things have value only insofar as they're limited in supply?via DocDr. Drucker: What I mean is that the scarcity axiom does not pertain to information. Let me give you two examples, one where they understand this and one where they don't. I will not give company names.
There is the company that gave you the map and driving direction you used to get from the Los Angeles airport to my home; you go to the Internet, and they don't charge a penny. They make their money from advertising, which you have to look at to get these directions. They understand that the scarcity axiom does not apply to information because they can keep giving away information and receive more revenue in another way.
On the other hand, there is a major newspaper, one I am very fond of, which believes in selling subscriptions to the online edition of the paper, which is a total misunderstanding. It should be given away to create a larger subscription base.
This first company understands information, the second one has yet to learn.
"Lompoc, Calif., may have three options for broadband, accidentally: The city is at the center of this long and fair look at why municipal wireless is becoming a widespread phenomenon, and the reporter covers the warts and fair skin equally. But there's a gem in this article, because it explains how any smaller town could get its service upgraded by incumbents at no expense. First, the mayor or city manager along with the council announces a surprise plan to offer subsidized or free wireless throughout the town with a private contractor handling cost and risk. Second, they fight back attacks by the incumbents to scotch the plan in the media or through special elections. Third, the incumbents commit upgrade resources to serve the town. Fourth, the town decides not to build, and enjoys its 21st-century broadband upgrades. Now, Lompoc can't be accused of this strategy, but the incumbents should have egg on their face when they describe the expensive upgrades to cable and DSL installed in the city--only after the city's plan to put in wireless first and fiber later was well underway. The head of the town's wireless project said Comcast promised service upgrades for 10 years--probably from analog to digital cable for starters--and that the work to upgrade the network (which was finished this year) was done only in response to Lompoc's plans. Likewise, Verizon admitted in this article that Lompoc was low on its list for improving DSL service and performance. This is interesting when you contrast it with the complaint of incumbents that those who 'regulate' them will compete against them. Regulation is a funny animal. Most telecom regulation is at a national level; franchise regulation is local. The 'regulation' they're talking about is not whether a company has the right to provide service, but rather the rules and fees by which a company can use city facilities, such as light poles, conduits, and so forth. This form of regulation is really another aspect of a city's right to self-determination. It can be used as a blunt instrument. In fact, Philadelphia reportedly prevented the entrance of a competitive cable company for years, restricting customer choice and favoring an incumbent franchise holder. But should the converse be true--should towns and cities be required to offer free or regulated (that word again) access on a non-discriminatory basis to everyone? We've seen that: that's the trenching regulation. If you lived in, say, Palo Alto, Calif., during the dotcom boom, you have already seen trucks open up your street, put in cable, close it up, and then another set of trucks come in the next week. It may be that local bodies 'regulate' the incumbent cable and telecom providers, but they apparently have no leverage over them, otherwise Lompoc would have no reason (and no citizen support) for their fiber and wireless buildout...
There's Dad's Tomato Garden Journal, Dogwalk Musings, and, of course, the Oldest Living Blogger.
"It's too easy to sit in your own cave and let the world go by, eh?" said Ray Sutton, the 73-year-old Oldest Living Blogger and a retired electrician who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. "It keeps the old head working a little bit so you're not just sitting there gawking at TV."
My visit to Google? Despite the whimsical furniture and other toys, I felt I was entering a 14th-century cathedral — not in the 14th century but in the 12th century, while it was being built. Everyone was busy carving one stone here and another stone there, with some invisible architect getting everything to fit. The mood was playful, yet there was a palpable reverence in the air. "We are not scanning all those books to be read by people," explained one of my hosts after my talk. "We are scanning them to be read by an AI."
When I returned to highway 101, I found myself recollecting the words of Alan Turing, in his seminal paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, a founding document in the quest for true AI. "In attempting to construct such machines we should not be irreverently usurping His power of creating souls, any more than we are in the procreation of children," Turing had advised. "Rather we are, in either case, instruments of His will providing mansions for the souls that He creates."
Google is Turing's cathedral, awaiting its soul. We hope. In the words of an unusually perceptive friend: "When I was there, just before the IPO, I thought the coziness to be almost overwhelming. Happy Golden Retrievers running in slow motion through water sprinklers on the lawn. People waving and smiling, toys everywhere. I immediately suspected that unimaginable evil was happening somewhere in the dark corners. If the devil would come to earth, what place would be better to hide?"
Now compare that baseline with the world according to the Sony-BMG EULA, which applies to any digital copies you make of the music on the CD:Amazing... Bruce Schneier has more.
- If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home. That's because the EULA says that your rights to any copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD.
- You can't keep your music on any computers at work. The EULA only gives you the right to put copies on a "personal home computer system owned by you."
- If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music. The EULA specifically forbids "export" outside the country where you reside.
- You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates
- Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.
- The EULA says Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00. That's right, no matter what happens, you can't even get back what you paid for the CD.
- If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all the music on your computer. Seriously.
- You have no right to transfer the music on your computer, even along with the original CD.
- Forget about using the music as a soundtrack for your latest family photo slideshow, or mash-ups, or sampling. The EULA forbids changing, altering, or make derivative works from the music on your computer.
The emergence of the practitioner-blogger has the highest potential significance for arts journalism. Many, perhaps most, of the greatest critics in history — George Bernard Shaw, Virgil Thomson, Edwin Denby and Fairfield Porter come immediately to mind — were also practicing artists. But with the growing tendency of mainstream-media journalists to think of themselves as members of an academically credentialed profession, the practitioner-critic has lately become a comparative rarity in the American print media. Not so on the Web, which is one of the reasons why readers in search of stimulating commentary on the arts are going online to find it.
Bill and Barbara Marten of Madison, Wisc., buy medications from Canada and New Zealand to save money. Bill, 68, and Barbara, 69, are skeptical a Medicare drug plan can beat what they're paying now for their prescription drugs.
Bill Marten has marked his calendar. This Saturday, he plans to take another stab at the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder.
Kristian Knutsen usefully follows up with Tammy Baldwin's press secretary, Jerilyn Goodman on HR 1606 and now HR 4194:
Though this might appear to be a niche issue, the ongoing war of words of FEC regulation of online communications, particularly with respect to blogs, forums, wikis, and other interactive formats, is a matter of general import. As the internet grows in importance as a communications and organizing medium, the application of federal regulations to the ether will have tremendous economic and political implications. On Nov. 2, Rep. Tammy Baldwin voted against H.R. 1606, titled the "Online Freedom of Speech Act." Exempting all internet communications from the FEC regulatory sphere, the bill was promoted by online political pundits across the ideological spectrum, but particularly by the highest profile partisan bloggers, namely Democratic Party activist Markos Moulitsas and Republican Party activist Mike Krempasky (who is also a new Wal-Mart online PR hire).I cannot imagine anything positive arising from regulation on this matter.
As we noted earlier, Google wants to deploy free WiFi in its home town of Mountain View, and it'll go before the city council next week to discuss its plans. Below is a link to a copy of the staff report that's going to the city council (the city staff is endorsing the proposal), along with an attached letter from Google. Note the unusual candor with which Google explains its motives.Proposal (PDF)"In our self-interest, we believe that giving more people the ability to access the Internet will drive more traffic to Google and hence more revenue to Google and its partner websites.''
CIVITAS will host 10 monthly luncheon forums focused on local finance, public education services and finances, and an analysis of local government services. (See Forum Calender for schedule of topics). Each luncheon will include presentations by past and current local officials, academic experts and representatives from community, business, professional and civic organizations. Presentations will be followed by questions from a panel of civitas members who have studied the monthly topic and audience questions.Civitas is a joint undertaking of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and Wood Communications, according to a letter sent to chamber members by chairman Gary Wolter.
All presentations will be recorded and posted on a civitas web site and media coverage of the information presented in the forums will be encouraged.
Civitas graduates will receive a certificate of attendance and a complete set of the presentations. Appointing authorities will receive an annual list of civitas graduates and will be encouraged to consider these individuals for appointments to boards, commissions and committees.
In addition, any civitas graduate who decides to become a candidate for local public office will be eligible to attend an annual civitas Candidate Training Program and an annual civitas Seminar on the Public Agenda which will examine the results of a county-wide public opinion survey of local issues.
Two years ago, Princeton, Ill., a town of about 7,500 people two hours west of Chicago, was staring at a potentially grim future. One of the town’s largest employers had just moved its manufacturing facilities to Chattanooga, Tenn. LCN, a division of Ingersoll Rand, had just hired a new plant manager for its Princeton factory He had a wake-up call for the town’s industrial board.
“He said that if Ingersoll Rand was looking to relocate a new facility, Princeton would not be on the list,” recalled Jason Bird, superintendent of the town’s electric and telecommunications utility. The town simply did not have the communications capacity that modern companies need.
That conversation was enough to scare the town council and the mayor into action. Last October, the town started construction of a $400,000, 12-mile fiber-optic network. On Dec. 15, it announced it would take the fiber to any customer wanting it.
Since then, Ingersoll Rand has made a $6.5 million investment in its Princeton facility, according to Bird. The fiber network was definitely a factor in that decision, he said. The town has also received a $675,000 economic development grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for development of its technology park, which is based partially on the town’s deployment of the fiber network.
Eighty percent of companies believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8 percent of their customers agree, says Bain & Company. Here's how to repair the disconnect.
Bill Lueders on the Falk / Lautenschlager race:
I only asked because no one else did. When Kathleen Falk announced her candidacy for attorney general against fellow Democrat Peg Lautenschlager at the City-County Building on Monday, I thought it would be one of first things that came up. But while several reporters quizzed Falk about Lautenschlager's 2004 arrest for drunk driving (Falk deftly evaded the question, saying voters would have to reach their own conclusions), none asked her directly about her own record in this area. And so I raised my hand, waited until Falk called on me, and popped the question.
California has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony and a second one may be filed today in New York. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 1 in Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles by Vernon, CA. It asks the court to prevent Sony from selling additional CDs protected by the anti-piracy software, and seeks monetary damages for California consumers who purchased them. The suit alleges that Sony's software violates at least three California statutes, including the "Consumer Legal Remedies Act," which governs unfair and/or deceptive trade acts; and the "Consumer Protection against Computer Spyware Act," which prohibits -- among other things -- software that takes control over the user's computer or misrepresents the user's ability or right to uninstall the program. The suit also alleges that Sony's actions violate the California Unfair Competition law, which allows public prosecutors and private citizens to file lawsuits to protect businesses and consumers from unfair business practices. EFF has released a list of rootkit affected CD's and Slashdot user xtracto also has a list."
Embracing failure as a teacher in the school of hard knocks was the theme of last week’s “Ideas to Profits” conference at UW-Whitewater, where the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center marked its 25th year of helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Three successful Wisconsin entrepreneurs told their stories to conference participants during a panel discussion that illustrated how most – if not all – innovators have overcome obstacles along the road to growing profitable businesses. About 200 people attended the two-day conference organized by Dr. Deb Malewicki, UW-Whitewater’s director of business outreach services.
It's been two years since the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) started suing music fans who share songs online. Thousands of Americans have been hit by lawsuits, but both peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and the litigation continue unabated.
In a report released Thursday, "RIAA v. The People: Two Years Later," the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argues that the lawsuits are singling out only a select few fans for retribution, and many of them can't afford either to settle the case or defend themselves. EFF's report cites the case of a single mother in Minnesota who faces $500,000 in penalties for her daughter's alleged downloading, as well as the case of a disabled veteran who was targeted for downloading songs she already owned.
More than half of female workers have already left or are seriously considering escaping conventional nine-to-five working in a bid to invent their own working patterns, according to a new report.
The survey by recruitment and HR consultancy Hudson of more than 1,000 UK employees and 500 employers has found the majority (84 per cent) of professional women believe the nine-to-five routine is being spurned by their gender.
They are instead preferring to follow a career path offering flexibility and professional autonomy rather than fit in with the demands of the corporate world
Heroic truth-tellers in the Watergate saga, the established media are now in disrepute, scandalized by unreliable "news" and over-intimate attachments to powerful court insiders. The major media stood too close to the throne, deferred too eagerly to the king's twisted version of reality and his lust for war. The institutions of "news" failed democracy on monumental matters. In fact, the contemporary system looks a lot more like the ancien régime than its practitioners realize. Control is top-down and centralized. Information is shaped (and tainted) by the proximity of leading news-gatherers to the royal court and by their great distance from people and ordinary experience.This is largely why I emailed Tammy Baldwin regarding her vote against free speech. Via Dan
First point: Sysinternals discovered that the DRM unisntaller requires you to put in all your specs and then gives you a "unique ID" to download the uninstaller. Then the uninstaller doesn't run unless you shut down the DRM and you can't shut down the DRM until you run the uninstaller. Ay! Lucy!
Second point: In an NPR interview:Thomas Hesse, President of Sony's Global Digital Business, literally says: "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"So malicious intent and active contempt. Way to keep the faith.
Twenty-five investment groups, representing about $21 billion in assets in the United States, Europe and Australia, are signatories to a "joint investor statement on freedom of expression and the internet," an initiative spearheaded by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
The statement comes after several instances in which technology companies have been criticized for cooperating with governments, notably China, in order to secure strong market positions.
"As shareholders, we need to feel confident that our companies are not complicit in human rights abuses, directly or indirectly, and that they're not collaborating to effectively quell internet traffic, to harm their own good reputations and to reduce their long-term growth opportunities," said Dawn Wolfe, social research and advocacy analyst for Boston Common Asset Management, one of the participating investment funds.
Although China and other countries have come under fire for limiting what their citizens can see or post on the web, China also is a particularly sought-after market, for the potential its vast population offers.
Microsoft and Google have been accused of helping the government there censor news sites and blogs. And in a recent case, Reporters Without Borders criticized Yahoo for allegedly helping the Chinese government trace the private e-mail account of a Chinese journalist who was later imprisoned for providing state secrets to foreigners. Yahoo has defended its move, saying it is obliged to comply with Chinese regulations.
According to some technologists, including Dennis M. Kennedy, a lawyer and consultant based in St. Louis, (denniskennedy.com), metadata might include other bits of information like notes and questions rendered as "comments" within a document ("need to be more specific here," for example, or in the case of my editors, "eh??"), or the deletions and insertions logged by such features as "track changes" in Microsoft Word."If you take the time to educate yourself a little and know the issues," Mr. Kennedy said, "you can avoid problems pretty easily."
With the Alito memo - which was distributed on a not-for-attribution basis, with no authors named - the D.N.C. was a little sloppy.
The citizens of other nations where Microsoft sells its products are less fortunate. Round Island One provides a structure for Microsoft to radically reduce its corporate taxes in much of Europe, and similarly shields billions of dollars from U.S. taxation.Microosft is not unique. Many firms route their IP through tax havens such as Ireland, Puerto Rico, Cyprus and others.
Giant U.S. companies whose products are heavily based on their innovations, such as technology and pharmaceutical firms, increasingly are setting up units in Ireland that route intellectual property and its financial fruits to the low-tax haven -- at the expense of the U.S. Treasury.
Much of Round Island's income is licensing fees from copyrighted software code that originates in the U.S. Some of the rights to these lucrative assets end up in Ireland via complex accounting rules on intellectual property that the Treasury is now seeking to overhaul. The Internal Revenue Service said it is also looking closely at how companies account for such transactions.
In a statement, Microsoft said its European units "report and pay significant amounts of taxes" and that Microsoft "is fully compliant with the tax laws of the United States and all other countries."
Through a key holding, dubbed Flat Island Co., Round Island licenses rights to Microsoft software throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Thus, Microsoft routes the license sales through Ireland and Round Island pays a total of just under $17 million in taxes to about 20 other governments that represent more than 300 million people.
It's not just your bed, it's an ecosystem. New research has found that your pillow is home to millions of fungal spores from the bathroom, kitchen and other places where you might not want to rest your head.It's well known that few people actually sleep alone: Most beds are home to thousands of microscopic dust mites, which produce so much excrement they can add a pound or two of weight to your mattress every year, by some estimates.
General Motors is working on a system to equip cars with a combination of GPS and wireless networking tools, according to Engadget.
Gary posts an interesting summary of how frequent flyer programs have propped up several bankrupt airlines.
Jeff Jarvis, a blogger and newspaper consultant posted some recent newspaper circulation statistics, in addition to several comments on those numbers:
Half the American population no longer reads newspapers: plainly, they are the clever half. — Gore VidalI've been asked a number of times whether I like newspapers, or not. The answer for me, at last comes down to quality and utility.People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news. — A.J. Liebling
It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper. — Jerry Seinfeld
I've always been a news junkie, often winning 7th grade Milwaukee Journal classroom news contests (my parents have always been avid readers). Like my parents, however, I read mostly online these days, often via my RSS newsreader. Once you get into this groove, purchasing, flipping through and disposing of the paper (and all of the stuff packaged with it) truly is yesterday's news. Like many, I've also become used to obtaining information when and where I want it - not waiting for the print news cycle to deliver the hard copy to me.
The print products I read include The Economist, The New York Times (not for long, perhaps still Sundays...) and locally, the Isthmus. I've always enjoyed the Economist and the NYT for their national and international coverage. However, I think the Washington Post is now doing a much better job on those fronts than the Times. The Post has the confidence to interact with emerging media that most others seem to lack. Jay Rosen has more on that issue. Blogs have also added an interesting element to the discussion, from local issues to global matters. One blogger (I don't recall who), captured what's happening rather nicely: She correctly recalled the perception that Big Steel had of the emerging mini-mills during the 1970's and 80's. The mini-mills were perceived as bottom feeders, living of the scraps of the big mills. The mini-mills had much lower costs, superior processes and in many cases, have convincingly taken over their markets.
I think we'll see a growing amount of original work from emerging media (a Silicon Valley blog broke the rather amazing story of Google's founders purchasing a used 767 for their personal travels). This work will, by its very nature take advantage of the latest technologies.
Getting back to the question of whether I like newspapers or not. The answer, it seems to me is clear. I like those that use their tremendous (TREMENDOUS!!) resources (cash flow) effectively. I don't have time or interest in those that don't. The numbers Jarvis posted and Vidal refers to demonstrate that my views on this matter are not unique.
The Connecticut case affords a rare glimpse of an exponentially growing practice of domestic surveillance under the USA Patriot Act, which marked its fourth anniversary on Oct. 26. "National security letters," created in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, originated as narrow exceptions in consumer privacy law, enabling the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. The Patriot Act, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed those letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.
Living in Madison conditions the frequent traveller to the unpleasant experience of flying in regional jets. The 30 to 70 seaters are rather cramped with minimal luggage space. Having said that, their airspeeds are in the same league as the big jets. The Boyd Group points out that Canadair recently announced the end of 50 seat CRJ production, an aircraft frequently seen at MSN. Boyd points out that the market is changing, back toward turboprops and larger 70 to 90 seat jets. Gary has more.
Kristian Knutsen posts a response from Baldwin's Press Secretary on the Daily Page to her No vote on HR 1606. Glenn rounds up comments from around the blogosphere.
This weekend's Penn State - Wisconsin game should be entertaining. Long Time Penn State coach Joe Paterno prepares with a few comments on outgoing UW Coach Barry Alvarez:
I think Barry has been a great coach. I am sorry to see him get out of coaching. He was a big, fat kid down there in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. We turned him down and he never forgot that. Every time I talk to him he reminds me of it. Barry is a great guy. He will be a great athletic director as he has been a great football coach. You hate to see guys like that get out of coaching, but everybody has their life to live and the whole bit. Barry and his wife are good friends and, obviously, he has been a good coach. He kicked our ears in most of the time. That part I won’t miss.
Paul Caron has a great roundup of comments on the Federal Tax Reform Panel's Report.
John Pugh's mural, the Drain has attracted quite a bit of attention. Painted on the side of a title company in Bishop, CA [satellite view], the Drain portrays
an agricultural Shangri La appears as a mural within a mural. This vision of the valley's past derives from old paintings and photos, book descriptions, interviews, and visits to the less effected areas of Owens Valley. Breathing sweet orchard blossoms while gazing at the lush glory of this place 100 years ago, this depiction is not meant to portray a specific vantage point yet rather allow the viewer an ambient experience of the ecology.Everyone should take a drive up or down the Eastern Sierra. It's a region of stark beauty, glorious mountains and desolate lakebeds, whose water has long since been shipped 200 miles southwest to the LA Basin via the LA Water and Power District.If your eyes are diverted to the drainpipe, this is by design. Like a black hole that allows no light to escape, the protruding drainpipe absorbs all color in its proximity. The odd shape surrounding the pipe is actually a preserved section of the under painting, but conceptually it serves as an after image, or 'ghost blotch'. It is a stain that is created by the absence of color information - or metaphorically, of life. Written words like 'water' and 'tree' or even 'green' are some of the sketch notes, but historically these are the line items that have virtually disappeared into the drain.
Chris Gulker, The Coverup is the Crime:
Unlike Cyveillance, Sony only uses this reprehensible technique on paying customers: so let's shoot the guys who are buying our stuff? Am I alone in thinking these guys are not serving shareholder interests well? Hack the paying customers and make it hard for them to hear the CD they purchased? Yikes. It's easier, and much smarter, to steal the music, than buy it, if your purchased CD makes your CD player, and possibly your whole computer, unusable.
Mark Russinovich discovered a rootkit on his system. After much analysis, he discovered that the rootkit was installed as a part of the DRM software linked with a CD he bought. The package cannot be uninstalled. Even worse, the package actively cloaks itself from process listings and the file system.Fascinating and scary look at the DRM mess
Many Internet companies attending a Web-business conference here earlier this month described venture money as "almost superfluous," says Jason Pressman, a principal at Shasta Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif. Venture capitalists generally say their money and expertise are still needed to build large-scale businesses, and they don't mind investing a little bit less in companies that have built businesses on the cheap but still want some venture money.But some entrepreneurs believe the balance of power in Silicon Valley is shifting for at least a subset of Internet-focused start-ups. "There is magic in independence," says Chris MacAskill, co-founder of online-photo site Smugmug Inc., which has no venture funding -- and, according to Mr. MacAskill, doesn't want any.
In most respects then, the car is simply a better Accord.Except for cost. At $3,290 more than a gasoline-only V6 Accord, it will take a very long time to recoup the hybrid’s price premium at the pump—and that’s not factoring in the cost of battery replacement—but owners insist it’s not always about the Benjamins.
“Yes, I paid a premium over a similar six-cylinder sedan,” one owner said. “But to my set of priorities, it is worth it to help promote something that simply makes sense.”
Dave Winer: "Let's make the Google API an open standard". I agree. Several months ago, I emailed the requisite Google email address seeking commercial use of their API. The following thread illustrates my unsuccessful petition:
## I never heard back from the Google API folks after this email:
Hi:
So, what's the point of the api's then?
Perhaps a middle road here is to require adsense on the pages that include commercial api use? I think that would be a useful requirement in this case.
Google is certainly a commercial enterprise.
Let me know and best wishes,
Jim
On Aug 4, 2005, at 5:56 PM, api-support@google.com wrote:
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, we were unable to grant
commercial use permission for your project. You can continue to use the
Web APIs as long as you use them for non-commercial projects.
Regards,
The Google Team
Original Message Follows:
------------------------
From: Jim Zellmer
Subject: Re: [#30549190] Google API Commercial Use
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 20:09:10 -0500 (CDT)
Hi:
OK - just to clarify, commercial use is OK as long as we stay below 1,000
queries per day?
Thanks much,
Jim
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, the Google Web APIs program is
a
limited beta service, and we cannot accommodate all the requests we
receive for commercial license keys. You can continue to use the service
up to 1,000 queries per day, provided that your application abides by
the
Google APIs Terms and Conditions.
Regards,
The Google Team
Original Message Follows:
------------------------
From: Jim Zellmer
Subject: Re: [#30549190] Google API Commercial Use
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 14:54:32 -0500
Hi again:
We can probably, if it is important, change our rendering scheme to
reduce the daily query volume. However, it would be nice to have the
headroom.
Thanks again -
Jim
On Jul 25, 2005, at 2:45 PM, api-support@google.com wrote:
Thank you for your note. We appreciate your interest in the Google Web
APIs. Since this is a beta service, we can't guarantee we will
respond to
every message, but we've included answers to some of our most frequent
questions below. Please scroll all the way down to see if your
question is
answered. You may also want to look for answers on our FAQ at
http://www.google.com/apis/api_faq.html
IF YOU SAW A SERVER ERROR:
Occasionally, the Google Web APIs servers are taken down
temporarily for
maintenance purposes. If you see a server error, please wait a few
hours
and try your query or your license key request again.
IF YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED YOUR LICENSE KEY:
If you didn't receive your license key, it's likely that the email
containing the key was caught by a spam or bulk mail filter in your
email
system. You may want to check your account's filter to see if the
email is
there.
If you can't find your key, you can have it re-sent. Please note
that your
browser must accept cookies for this process to work. First, visit
http://www.google.com/apis/ and click on 'Create Account.' Select
'Sign-in
Here' at the very bottom of the page. Enter your email address and
password, and Google will re-send your key.
If you still do not receive your key, a network or other filter may be
deleting it before it ever reaches your inbox. You may want to contact
your system administrator. You are also welcome to create a new Google
Account and license key using a different email address.
IF YOU'D LIKE TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL QUERIES OR COMMERCIAL USE
PERMISSION:
As you may know, we currently approve requests for additional queries
and/or permission to create products for commercial purposes on a
case-by-case basis. To submit a request, please reply to this email
with
the following information:
1. What is the purpose of your project? If your project is
commercial, who
do you expect your clients to be? The more details you can provide,
the
better.
2. How many queries do you estimate you'll need each day? NOTE: we
cannot
provide unlimited queries for any project. If you do not provide an
estimate, we will assume you do not need an increase.
3. Why are these additional queries essential for your project?
4. How long will you need this increased limit?
5. If you have a website that describes your project, please
include the
URL in your reply.
6. What is the email address associated with your license key?
NOTE: If
you haven't yet obtained a Google Web APIs key, please visit
http://www.google.com/apis/ to request one. We can't review your
project
until you have a key.
At this time, there is no fee for an increase in queries or for
commercial
use of the Google Web APIs program. We reserve the right, however, to
charge for either or both of these services in the future.
Please be aware that if your request is approved, your use is still
governed by the rest of the Terms and Conditions at
http://www.google.com/apis/api_terms.html
DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT AND OTHER QUESTIONS:
Unfortunately, we're not able to provide programming support to
developers
using the Google Web APIs. If you need development assistance, our
best
advice is to check out the examples in our developer's kit at
http://www.google.com/apis/download.html or search the web for code
examples.
If you'd like to discuss the Google Web APIs with other developers,
please
visit Google Groups at
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/google.public.web-apis
If your question wasn't answered above, please reply to this email.
We'll
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The Google Team
I appreciate the opportunity to testify today about the nation’s intelligence system and the absolute imperative for effective ongoing reform.This is a fascinating topic. One thing that strikes me is how different our national awareness of the globe must have been in 1946, given millions of Americans stationed overseas. This is much different, today, I think.
It is now four years and one month since the 9/11 attack on America.
The comparable date for World War II would have been January 19, 1946. By that point the United States was largely demobilizing its forces after a victorious global war. During the comparable length of time that we have been responding to the 9/11 attacks on America, the World War II generation of Americans had rebounded from the attack on Pearl Harbor and defeated Germany, Japan and Italy, built a worldwide military and intelligence capability, built the atomic bomb, massed and organized industrial power, and laid the foundation for the worldwide network of alliances that has stabilized the world for the last sixty years.
This difference in energy, intensity, and resolve should worry all of us.
Her return home, besides occasioning a visit to her favorite Japanese restaurant on State Street, sparked a radical thought on my part: Why doesn't Madison embrace Halloween? Turn a perceived sow's ear into a silk purse? I mean, why doesn't Madison throw a Halloween festival to end all festivals?I agree.
BoingBoing has an interesting article about a joint RIAA/MPAA move started yesterday on Capitol Hill. From the article: 'Hollywood has fielded a shockingly ambitious piece of Analog Hole legislation while everyone was out partying in costume. Under a new proposed Analog Hole bill, it will be illegal to make anything capable of digitizing video unless it either has all its outputs approved by the Hollywood studios, or is closed-source, proprietary and tamper-resistant. The idea is to make it impossible to create an MPEG from a video signal unless Hollywood approves it.
Don Dodge, former Director of Engineering at Altavista, once king of the hill in the internet search game, sheds some light on what went wrong in the 1990's:
The AltaVista experience is sad to remember. We should have been the "Google" of today. We were pure search, no frills, no consumer portal crap. DEC is guilty of neglect in its handling of AltaVista. Compaq put a bunch of PC guys in charge who relied on McKinsey consultants and copied AOL, Excite, Yahoo and Lycos into the consumer portal game. It should have been clear that being the 5th or 6th player in the consumer portal business wouldn't work. AltaVista spent hundreds of millions on acquisitions that never worked, and spent $100M on a brand advertising campaign. They spent NOTHING to improve core search. That was the undoing of AltaVista.You need to remember the context of the time. It seemed like every week AOL was announcing a $50M deal to sell traffic. Yahoo was doing it too. The game was build traffic with search, keep them on your site with content, and sell traffic and "screen real estate" to sponsors for $20-$40M a pop up front. There was no proven search business model other than annoying banner ads that were not really contextual.
Next time you sit down to pay your cable-modem or DSL bill, consider this: Most Japanese consumers can get an Internet connection that’s 16 times faster than the typical American DSL line for a mere $22 per month.Via David Isenberg.Across the globe, it’s the same story. In France, DSL service that is 10 times faster than the typical United States connection; 100 TV channels and unlimited telephone service cost only $38 per month. In South Korea, super-fast connections are common for less than $30 per month. Places as diverse as Finland, Canada and Hong Kong all have much faster Internet connections at a lower cost than what is available here. In fact, since 2001, the U.S. has slipped from fourth to 16th in the world in broadband use per capita. While other countries are taking advantage of the technological, business and education opportunities of the broadband era, America remains lost in transition.
How did this happen? Why has the U.S. fallen so far behind the rest of its economic peers? The answer is simple. These nations all have something the U.S. lacks: a national broadband policy, one that actively encourages competition among providers, leading to lower consumer prices and better service.
