Jason Joyce takes a humorous look at Mayor Dave’s weekly schedule.
One in Six Web Users Sell Online – Pew Internet
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.
More on Telco’s Entering the TV Business
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.
Cheaper Veggie Diesel Process
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.
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.
Slashdot discussion.
Amazing Japanese Fishing VR Scene
Via a Japanese VR Blog.
Coming to TV: Ads About You
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.
Turkey Fryer Product Safety Tip
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.”
O’Donnel’s Thanksgiving Recipes
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/seasonedgreetings/2005/11/the_morning_aft.html:
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.
WSJ on GM Janesville
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial pens a useful, cautious note:
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 Doubling Their Tree Canopy
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.