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.
Business Process Innovation at Ariens
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.
Winer turns 50
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.
West Coast Volcano Threats – USGS
USGS 2005-1164: A look at US volcano early warning systems:
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.
Economist Survey: Oil
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.”
The Wired 40
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.
Madison Area Income Growth
Lynn Welch on Madison’s 3.9% per capita personal income growth (2002 to 2003), which ranks it 30th among the 360 metropolitan areas measured by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. (interestingly, Appleton’s personal income growth rate was 4.1%) Here’s the BEA’s data (.xls file – 4.27.2005 BEA news release)
Welch credits the high tech economy for these results – perhaps so. Epic Systems has grown substantially as has Promega (mentioned in the article). Of course, Epic is moving to Verona and Promega is in Fitchburg.
Taxes
Wisconsin ranks 12th in per capita tax collections, according to the US Census Bureau. More on state tax comparisons from Kathleen Murphy.
Switching: Apple’s Latest Mac OS X – Tiger 10.4
There’s been no shortage of articles on Apple’s latest operating system aka “Tiger” or Mac OS X 10.4. I’ve been quite impressed. Spotlight, the ability to search everything on your computer is very handy – and fast. Read on:
- Ars Technica review
- Walt Mossberg
- David Pogue
Mossberg recently wrote that the “Windows computing platform is in a genuine crisis“. I wouldn’t spend a dime on a windows system these days.
Lind on Non-State Forces
Foreign Policy wonks & observers would do well to keep up with William Lind. His latest looks at non-state entities and the flow of drugs.
LA: Filling in broadband gaps
LA Mayor releases a report on gaps in broadband coverage. We’re still working on getting rolling in Madison. When on travel, I continue to be pleasantly at the amount of free wifi available around the country.