USA National Broadband policy?

lol - funny article that I thought was an interesting adjunct from my post the other day about planned economies (http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/hana-linux.html)


http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080131-we-have-a-broadband-strategy-bush-administration-says-yes.html
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the US doesn't have a comprehensive national broadband policy. FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein don't think we have one either, and you'd expect them to know if such a thing existed. Yesterday's report from the academic technology group EDUCAUSE also lamented the lack of a comprehensive strategy and laid out a powerful, practical vision of fiber to every home.


Check out the comments in the forum, I thought this one was my personal favourite;

Plus, if they speed up internet too much the NSA will have to learn to read faster as well. That means a raise in pay, plus more Workers Compensation claims for eye fatigue on projects that "are too top secret for actual information regarding eye strain on the job".
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=222004510931&r=222004510931

Lol - and people wonder why I look at them funny when they say America is the worlds only real super power.


Cheers,
Dean

Open access for all: prime 700MHz Block C hits reserve price

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080131-open-access-for-all-prime-700mhz-block-c-hits-reserve-price.html

Yeh yeh I know......what the hell does this have to do with you and why do you care. Trust me this is the biggest thing happening in IT at the moment that is going to change (potentially depending on who wins) the way you deal with data and voice on a mobile basis.

(and that includes that joke of a bid from Microsoft for Yahoo....WTF were they thinking, more money than brains) - being nimble is the key to the future not having an extra 40% of staff in one foul hump of a merger.

It reminds me of watching fat people have sex, even if you aren't getting any you really dont want it to happen in front of you.


Cheers,
Dean

Funny Age Related Mistake

So I'm watching VH1 tonight and an advertisement for a show they have on Saturday night (it's not important what it's for), but the ad had a 'cartoon' image of a turntable with a record playing

.......only problem though was it was spinning counterclockwise (the arm was also incorrect in that it was dragging with the record anticlockwise as well).

I laughed to myself and realised - isn't that amazing - cd's have only been around for such a short time but whoever designed the cartoon has no idea that records turn clockwise and the arm dragsfrom the right.

It's funny no one else (older) in the production team picked it up......or maybe they didn't think anyone would notice.


Cheers,
Dean

The Web in 1996

People forget how far we've come and what we expect the norm to be today is so different from the past.

One thing I've learnt in my life is if you pay attention to the past it can guide you in the future.

Check out these websites in 1996 - it might give you some ideas for the future.
http://gizmodo.com/349333/old-websites-sure-are-funny


Cheers,
Dean

Clerks II

I keep wondering when I'm going to grow up.

I mean I love super serious deep and meaningful movies, I'll enjoy penetrating the most dense, intense plot you can throw at me.

But I'm sitting here watching Clerks II and cant believe how much I'm absolutely loving it. I don't know if it's because it reminds me of a simpler more fun time in my life (Clerks was originally released in 1994) but for some reason every second scene has amazingly wondrous connotations that just make me smile.

Question is do you need to grow up (watch the last scene) or should you revel in your life.


Cheers,
Dean

Snow Fun

Check out this video;
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2008/01/25/hardin.kid.creates.snow.katu
(sorry you need to click the link CNN haven't discovered embedding yet).















Kid decides to build his own snowmaking machine in his backyard and builds cool 'sledding park'. Who says winter weather sucks :)


Cheers,
Dean

Dell deploys Asterisk

http://vonmag.com/editorial/web-exclusives/fonality-teams-with-dell


Well it finally happened, Dell has moved into Asterisk.

The high margin business of Avaya, NEC, Nortel etc are going to take some serious beatings from this development.

It took a lot longer than I have been predicting/consulting on behalf of some of these legacy hardware providers but it's happened. May you live in interesting times as they say.


Cheers,
Dean

Heath Ledger - RIP

It's unfortunate to hear that Heath Ledger passed away this afternoon in New York at only 28.

Whether it was a accidental drug overdose or not it was sad thing to hear as he's been not only a great actor but a great Australian ambassador living for a number of years locally here in Brooklyn.

I didn't want to make a big deal about this as I'm sure they'll be a lot written about this but I did want to draw peoples attention to what I think was definitely his best but often overlooked movie "Candy" (check out this imdb link).

P.S. For those of you reading this locally in New York check out Candy this Friday on Ch 222 (showtime) at 11.00pm

who owns the customer?

Lol I loved this article this morning
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/21/nbcs-zucker-hints-at-content-returning-to-itunes/

Proves the point I had made in this article linked here http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/laurel-papworth-online-communities.html

He who owns the 'real estate' space (in this case the physical object space of the ipod) "owns the customer" and can therefor write all the rules.

You cant put too high a premium on being the front end of a food chain.


Cheers,
Dean

Hana Linux

Interesting development happening in Korea with Linux.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/17/linux.korea

I've been wondering when something like this was going to happen - actually I was thinking it would have been one of the Nordic countries.

The power of an entire country 'moving' to a free linux OS will have an enormous effect on the Windows platform. Creating the 'groundswell' or momentum to deliver paid support, additional applications, drivers and 'acceptance' can be easily delivered by a single committed government effort to move to linux and as we know governments that are prepared to 'plan' and not just worry about the next general election are the ones that can drive real change.

If you wonder about Korea's ability to deliver major change check out this report that suggests broadband penetration in Korea is about to cross 70% (USA is 20th in the world at penetration).

Watching how this one turns out with interest.


Cheers,
Dean