Brookings: its not about ‘net neutrality, its about sound economics and policy
March 29, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Agree with this analysis or not..it provides clarity on the issues
as well as 2 sound recommendations for breaking the U.S. broadband
gridlock.
Why the debate over ‘net neutrality’ is misplaced
Robert W. Hahn and Scott Wallsten. March 2006.
Specifically, policymakers should consider whether some
factors are preventing more competition in high-speed Internet access,
and more choice for consumers.Two artificial barriers reduce competition and choice today.
The first is restrictions on the use of spectrum—those valuable
airwaves that carry wireless signals. Because of outdated regulations,
much spectrum simply cannot be put to its highest-valued use. Congress
and the FCC could give the economy a boost estimated to be in the
hundreds of billions of dollars by making more spectrum available and
allowing licenses to use it to be traded. One of these uses could very
well be more wireless broadband options that would add more choices for
consumers.Second, local governments also block competition by arbitrarily
determining who is allowed to enter the market and what types of
services can be provided over broadband lines. New firms wishing to
provide broadband services often must obtain local approval, access to
rights of way, pay fees, and meet regulatory obligations regarding
service provision. Firms already providing service must seek local
regulatory approval regarding what information can flow across their
broadband lines. Telephone companies hoping to provide video services,
for example, must negotiate approval separately with each city.
Congress could eliminate most of these wasteful and anti-consumer rules.
U.S. now 16th place in broadband
March 29, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Facts and Folly - New York Times: "
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 29, 2006
I was leaving for a trip the other day and scooped up
some reading material off my desk for the plane ride. I found myself
holding three documents: one was the Bush administration’s National
Security Strategy for 2006; another was a new study by the Economic
Strategy Institute entitled ‘America’s Technology Future at Risk,’
about how America is falling behind the world in broadband. And the
third was ‘Teaching at Risk,’ a new report by the Teaching Commission,
headed by the former I.B.M. chairman Louis Gerstner Jr., aboutFacts and Folly - New York Times the urgent need to upgrade the quality and pay of America’s K-12 teachers.
Meanwhile, the report by the Economic Strategy Institute, a
nonpartisan think tank, is equally harrowing. It notes that while the
U.S. led the world in broadband Internet access in 2000, it has now
fallen to 16th place. In 2000, 40 percent of the world’s telecom
equipment was produced in America. That share is now 21 percent and
falling.
SF Metro Connect’s citywide Wi-Fi model: digital inclusion and community benefit
March 28, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
The simplicity of the business model appeals to me:
free: you get the ads
pay: you don’t get the ads
SF Metro Connect’s citywide Wi-Fi model: digital inclusion and community benefit
SF Metro Connect, a collaboration of SeaKay, Cisco Systems and IBM,
announced today that they are launching a national program of municipal
wireless networks based upon a model of state of the art wireless
technology deployed toward the goals of digital inclusion and community
benefit.
xMax - a disruptive technology?
March 28, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
xMax Broadband: Snake-Oil or Revolution?
Claim: 40Mbps, 15 miles, less than a watt of power
Posted 2006-03-28 10:28:44
xG Technology, the makers of the xMax wireless
broadband technology, (previously discussed here) hope it will surpass
the much ballyhooed Wimax by using less power, and by operating in
lower-frequency spectrum. The company claims the technology is capable
of sending 40Mbit/s of data over 15 miles, using less than 1 watt of
power.
Taking a ‘culture of ideas’ to the next level
March 28, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Here’s an Idea: Let Everyone Have Ideas - New York Times: ”
By WILLIAM C. TAYLOR
Published: March 26, 2006
LIKE many top executives, James R. Lavoie and Joseph M. Marino keep a close eye on the stock market. But the two men, co-founders of Rite-Solutions, a software company that builds advanced — and highly classified — command-and-control systems for the Navy, don’t worry much about Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.
Instead, they focus on an internal market where any employee can propose that the company acquire a new technology, enter a new business or make an efficiency improvement. These proposals become stocks, complete with ticker symbols, discussion lists and e-mail alerts. Employees buy or sell the stocks, and prices change to reflect the sentiments of the company’s engineers, computer scientists and project managers — as well as its marketers, accountants and even the receptionist.
Inspiration for the anti-resume’
March 28, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
If you enjoy stories about successful, non-arrogant people who follow their own path, you will like this NYT ($) article about the circuitous route to success taken by president/CEO of Craigslist.org.
Not Easily Classified - New York Times: ”
As told to AMY ZIPKIN
Published: March 26, 2006
In late 1999, I posted my résumé on Craigslist.org. Craig Newmark, the founder, saw my résumé. He was looking for a programmer at the time. I took the job over a better-paying one, and became president and chief executive a year later. Craigslist was different in my eyes from other companies.
Taking small biz risks in a culture of $$ fear
March 28, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Over Budget and Overjoyed - New York Times: "
By DAVID COLMAN
Published: March 26, 2006
Peter Thompson for The New York Times
Richard Wright, the auction house owner, saw his fortunes change with a George Nelson jewelry chest.
Generally there are two ways for dealers to do business. One: scavenge
flea markets for lots of cheap finds and jack up the price 5 or 10
times. Two: pay for the best quality you can afford and double the
price. The chest, which came to Mr. Wright as he was making that
transition, is a reminder that sometimes you need to break open a tin
of caviar to make a really good omelet.
Megalopolis - the new American frontier?
March 27, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
On Edge of Va. Sprawl, Labels Crumble, New Lives Thrive:
Maybe the question is not what we think we are, but what do we want to be?"
It is a question that might apply to any number of similar areas across
the country, places far down the highway and then a couple of exits
more, fast-changing places that demographers have struggled to describe.
Over the years, such areas have been called exurbs and
disurbs, edge counties and edgeless cities, exopoli, outtowns,
penturbias, rururbias, slurbs and, curiously, net of mixed beads. Still
other terms grasp at their relation to neighboring areas: archipelago
economy, global network of nodes and hubs, planetary urban networks.
Increasingly, Lang believes, technology will untether
people from long commutes and offices, making the outward expansion
ever more appealing and geographic centers less fixed and more relative.
(Via washingtonpost.com - Business.)
One ‘future of work’ scenario: telecommuting
March 27, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Not exactly ‘out of the box’ thinking..but its interesting. Who will
lead these AWA’s and what will be the new leadership competencies
required?
Pondering Alternatives To the Central Office: "
Pondering Alternatives To the Central Office
By Stephen Barr
Monday, March 27, 2006; Page D04
Hot desking. Hoteling. Virtual office.
Welcome to the future of federal work — ‘alternative workplace arrangements,’ or AWA, in the government’s jargon.
(Via .)
And I’d Like to Thank My Coach - New York Times
March 26, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
And I’d Like to Thank My Coach - New York Times: "
J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times
By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: March 26, 2006
LOS ANGELES
WHENEVER Bryce Dallas Howard teased her dad, the actor and director Ron
Howard, about how much actors are paid, he’d say, ‘It’s so that they
can afford their therapist.’But decades after her father made it in Hollywood, Ms. Howard, 25,
is making her own way in acting, and she’s therapist-free. She sees a
life coach instead. Ms. Howard, who is on location filming ‘Spider-Man
3,’ said her coach helps her navigate the demands of show business on
her own terms, including making time for writing and protecting a
degree of privacy during press interviews without losing her cool. "
I usually cringe over articles about life coaches, even though I am
one, and love being one. There are negative perceptions: its a fad, its
b.s., its new age, its unregulated.
Life coaching has become a staple on television, with
coaches helping sort out the lives of single men, ugly ducklings,
sexually unsatisfied wives and other women in shows like "Nip/Tuck,"
"The Swan," "Starting Over" and "Modern Men." Life coaches, with their
vague self-helpish title, have also come in for considerable skepticism
and ribbing. "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" just this week devoted a
sketch to poking fun at the coaching and "coachees" who become coaches
themselves.
Also, life coaching is hard to define. I think this ok:
"The
difference between life coaching and therapy is that psychotherapy is
about helping people heal their wounds," said Phil Towle, a
psychotherapist and life coach, "and coaching is about helping people
achieve the highest level of their fulfillment or happiness or success,
whether they’re wounded or not."
But I only partially agree with this (because I think emphasis on goal-setting is ineffective):
Life coaches, who are unregulated and vary widely in
their training and credentials, say they help clients define and pursue
career and personal goals. The action- and results-oriented approach,
they add, is appealing in a business where so much seems left to chance
and few are prepared for success when it happens.
Overall, I think this is one of the better stories about this
profession because it describes highly successful coaches who, like me,
also have industry/business experience and knowledge and who can fill
multiple roles: coach, consultant, facilitator…and even hands-on help
if needed. I use a picture to explain the roles which are defined
around content or process, or both (my graphic). If you read this article it is hard to dispute the value these coaches/consultants/facilitators bring to their clients.
Scott Zakarin, 42, a film and television producer who
most recently produced the reality series "Kill Reality" on E! and "The
Scorned," the movie spawned by the show, credits his coach with saving
his company. He said he turned to a life coach, David Brownstein, a few
years ago because of confrontations and finger pointing in his
production company and now has Mr. Brownstein on call as he strives to
run his business without subsuming what he calls the visionary nature
of his work.
Psychologists and other mental health therapists are entering the
coaching field. I think this is a tricky shift that is largely driven
by the decrease in what providers will pay for visits.
Mental Health Therapists Face Financial Stress as Fees Stagnate