LaFayette, LA will soon start constructing a municipal fibre network (a citywide referendum passed Saturday). Madison, unfortunately, continues to lage far behind in the broadband game.
Sprawl & Tax Base
Flying around recently, a fellow traveller seated next to me mentioned that he had been in Madison quite often over the past five years and was amazed at the ongoing sprawl. I recalled this conversation while reading Mike Ivey’s recent column: “One Sprawl Project Begets Another“. I was further reminded of this discussion when I read Spencer Hsu and Dana Hedgpeth’s article on the tens of millions of dollars Washington, DC stands to gain from a proposed land transfer from the federal government to the City.
The intersection of an inexorable desire for tax base growth and the implications for our community are rather interesting and could use more attention.
Organic Farming 101
Apprentices leave the program at the end of their six-month term proficient at pest control, propagation, irrigation and maintaining soil fertility with organic matter. They also leave with a network of instructors, farmers and former apprentices to turn to when questions arise, and they often leave with a job offer in hand from a contact made at the apprenticeship. Most importantly, they leave firmly committed to practicing and promoting agricultural systems that work within the limitations imposed by natural resource cycles.
UC Santa Cruz’s Apprenticeship in Environmental Horticulture evolved from student interest in the 3-acre garden installed on campus by Alan Chadwick in the late 1960s. Using only hand tools and organic soil amendments, Chadwick molded a steep hillside near what was then the center of campus into a highly productive vegetable, fruit and flower garden.
Bold Air: Wisonsin Air Taxi Service
Radlinger’s vision is that business travelers would be able to pull up 15 minutes before departure at a smaller airport such as Timmerman Field, West Bend or Waukesha’s Crites Field, hop aboard a plane aRadlinger’s vision is that business travelers would be able to pull up 15 minutes before departure at a smaller airport such as Timmerman Field, West Bend or Waukesha’s Crites Field, hop aboard a plane and take off, making their total trip not much longer than the actual flying time.
“People are tired of the inefficient, cattle-call mentality of commercial and low-cost carriers, the lack of service and the inability to fly direct to a destination,” said Radlinger, executive vice president of Bold Air, which has headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. “If they can get where they’re going faster and in comfort, at a price competitive with what they’re currently paying, that’s a no-brainer.”
Bold Air would likely charge about the same or slightly more than the commercial fare on a route, Radlinger said. He hopes to begin offering flights by the second quarter of 2006.nd take off, making their total trip not much longer than the actual flying time.
“People are tired of the inefficient, cattle-call mentality of commercial and low-cost carriers, the lack of service and the inability to fly direct to a destination,” said Radlinger, executive vice president of Bold Air, which has headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. “If they can get where they’re going faster and in comfort, at a price competitive with what they’re currently paying, that’s a no-brainer.”
Bold Air would likely charge about the same or slightly more than the commercial fare on a route, Radlinger said. He hopes to begin offering flights by the second quarter of 2006.
Bold Air, with it’s non aircraft ownership approach is slightly different than the emerging “microjet” initiatives underway, including Dayjet as well as Pogo, among others.
3rd Party Cookes are Spyware – Mossberg
Suppose you bought a TV set that included a component to track what you watched, and then reported that data back to a company that used or sold it for advertising purposes. Only nobody told you the tracking technology was there or asked your permission to use it.
You would likely be outraged at this violation of privacy. Yet that kind of Big Brother intrusion goes on every day on the Internet, affecting millions of people. Many Web sites, even from respectable companies, place a secret computer file called a “tracking cookie” on your hard disk. This file records where you go on the Web on behalf of Internet advertising companies that later use the information for their own business purposes. In almost all cases, the user isn’t notified of the download of the tracking cookie, let alone asked for permission to install it.
Return of the Affordable Car?
The Renault Logan was designed to sell for 5,000 euros ($6K) in emerging markets like Poland. The car has found a number of buyers in Western Europe who seek a no frills, reliable car. Check it out. Gail Edmondson and Constance Faivre d’Arcier have more.
Green Bay Press Gazette (Gannett) Wants Teen Bloggers
In an effort to connect with teenagers, The Gannett owned Green Bay Press Gazette is looking for teen bloggers. I can see the Press-Gazette’s benefits (advertising), but what’s in it for the teens? Blogging software and domains are extremely cheap, if not free these days. Mark Deuze’s paper on Participatory Journalism is surely related. I’m not sure that the cathedral of newpapers is where it will happen, however.
We are using more media than ever before in history, yet this intensive engagement with media does not translate into more attention paid to the stories told by the two archetypical media professions: journalism and advertising”
Great Management: Southwest Grows Airline Profits
Southwest Airlines continues to make it happen in what is obviously a very difficult market – the airline business.
But Wall Street’s focus remains on Southwest’s ability to fight off the crippling effects of high oil prices with financial contracts that have essentially locked in lower fuel prices for the airline while its competitors groan under heavier costs. Though oil prices topped $60 a barrel in the quarter, Southwest has secured financial hedges that limit 85% of its fuel costs during the year to an equivalent average oil price of $26 a barrel.
The hedging strategy saved Southwest $196 million in fuel costs during the quarter, reducing the increase in Southwest’s per-gallon jet fuel expenses to 25%, compared to twice that for its competitors. Through other cost cuts and productivity improvements, Southwest said it was able to drive down its overall unit costs in the quarter by 3.5%, to 7.81 cents per available seat-mile flown from 8.09 cents a year earlier.
“Considering soaring oil prices and the enormous operational challenges our company and industry have faced over the past four years, our operating cost performance was exceptional and better than we expected,” said Mr. Kelly. Excluding fuel, expenses per seat-mile flown fell 7.7% to 6.27 cents.
If only they flew to Madison…
The Knowledge Worker Gap
A Good Idea: In Case of Emergency Contact Information on Your Cellphone
This seems like a pretty sensible thing that’s come out of last week’s bombings here in London – simple way to help the emergency services in case of a recurrence, by entering your next of kin under “I C E” in your mobil.