Utopia – muni-network gold standard
April 13, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
I followed Utopia from the beginning..when it was predicted to be a colossal failure. More of these will be great for the consumer..especially small business consumers.
broadband » News » Utopia Woos More Cities - The allure of symmetrical fiber in Qwest-land: "
Utopia Woos More Cities
The allure of symmetrical fiber in Qwest-land
Posted 2006-04-12 16:23:11
Utah's Utopia fiber network, the largest muni-network in the country, continues to woo new communities, reports the Spectrum. The article explores how Washington City, Utah, may just be in love with the community built project, through which AT&T and other providers offer 8-15Mbps symmetrical fiber for $35-$45. 'We've looked for three years for the solution UTOPIA already has,' says local developer Dee Atkin. 'They are the solution for communications. They have leveled the playing field and businesses like Qwest can't hold us hostage anymore.'
Top Ten Questions for the Cable Industry
April 13, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
I'm thinking about #3 and #6.
Top Ten Questions for the Cable Industry
With the National Cable & Telecommunications Show kicking off today (I’m getting a late start and will head there tonight), Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield has prepared a very good list of ten questions facing the cable industry. (Richard will appear on a panel of financial analysts at the show.)
1 Why Go Thru With Adelphia? Could Comcast Get Out?
2 Why Not Accelerate the All-Digital Push? Be More Offensive.
3 Why Is Cable Industry Marketing So Poor?
4 Voice Should Be Included with Data Do Not Lose Data Subs to the Competition.
5 Are Wireless Joint Ventures Enough For Tomorrow's Customer?
6 What is the Risk of an IP-Delivered National Cable System?
7 Another Round of Set-top Boxes with DVD Burners?
8 Does Network-Based DVR Technology Make Sense, Even if Legal?
9 Why Are Regulators Coming Down So Hard on Cable?
10 Are Large Cable Operators Limiting the Creation of New Programming?
corporate leadership snapshot
April 13, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
What keeps executives up at night: - growth - extreme competition The solutions: - acquisitive growth (strategy) - knowledge of megatrends (knowledge) - management alignment (communications)Tension Headaches in the Corner Office - New York Times:
Tension Headaches in the Corner Office
By WILLIAM J. HOLSTEIN Published: March 12, 2006"Management alignment" sounds like a very obvious thing to say, but getting a large number of people operating in concert with the vision of a chief executive and a board is nontrivial. The process of translating objectives that have been articulated for shareholders, employees and customers, and cascading them down an organization, so people on the front line understand their role — all of these are nontrivial issues.
Net-Neutrality Amendment – Barton critics plan to include neutrality language
April 5, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
This is good news for innovation, small busines...and progress.
broadband » News » Net-Neutrality Amendment - Barton critics plan to include neutrality language: "
Net-Neutrality Amendment
Barton critics plan to include neutrality language
Posted on 2006-04-04 15:07:33
IP Democracy points out that four Democrats plan to unveil an amendment to the controversial Barton broadband bill discussed last week. The amendment states that 'if a telephone company or broadband provider of any kind decides to prioritize any content, then they have to offer that that same fast lane treatment to all content providers without charge.'
Muni Broadband is a Viable Business
April 5, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
IP Democracy April 04, 2006
F2C Panelists: Muni Broadband is a Viable Business
(Silver Spring, MD)
As the number of municipal broadband initiatives mount, skeptics await what they believe will be the inevitable collapse of these government-backed ventures. Although it’s relatively easy to build communications networks, running them in a financially viable manner is another matter altogether, the doubters say. But a group of muni-broadband proponents and industry representatives speaking here today at the Freedom-to-Connect (F2C) conference countered that proposition, pointing to a number of factors that make muni-broadband networks a success.
Among the muni-Wi-Fi models out there are ad supported networks, such as that proposed by Google in San Francisco, subscriber-sponsored services, typified by EarthLink’s Wi-Fi efforts, municipally sponsored services and private networks run for the sole benefits of cities, among other models.
Muni-broadband attorney Jim Baller said a key factor to the recent surge in muni-broadband activity is growing acceptance by the public. “A key factor to success is that the public is getting it.” Again, one thing holding back muni-broadband is anti-competitive behavior by the incumbents, Baller contended, with some phone companies undermining laws that permit municipalities to launch broadband services. Antitrust actions against these trouble makers, however, is not an option.
Municipalities, on the other hand, could take the lead by building fiber-to-the-premises networks. “Municipalities may be the broadband savior,” Salter said. Atlantic Engineering has built 53 muni-fiber projects and “the average market share for these guys is between 50% to 60%. People flock to them because the service is so much better.”
Living on Impulse – New York Times
April 5, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Another way of looking at risk-takers, survivors, self-directed and resourceful people. I think it applies to entrepreneurs and SoLo's.
Living on Impulse - New York Times
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: April 4, 2006
Play hooky, disappear for the weekend, have a fling, binge-shop like a Wall Street divorcée. Spontaneity can be a healthy defiance of routine, an expression of starved desire, some psychologists say.
The people who can binge, gamble or try hard drugs and get away with it have a native cunning when it comes to risk, this and other studies suggest. They are prepared for the dangers like a mountain climber or they sample risk, in effect, by semiconsciously hedging their behavior — sipping their cocktails slowly, inhaling partly or keeping one toe on the cliff's edge, poised for retreat.
"These are highly self-directed people," said C. Robert Cloninger, a professor of psychiatry and genetics at Washington University in St. Louis and author of "Feeling Good: The Science of Well-Being." "They have goals and are resourceful in pursuing them."
Those who are upended by their own impulses, by contrast, are more likely to trust their first impressions implicitly and absolutely, the studies suggest.
Communication Leadership awareness: microinequities
April 5, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
I'm not sure if I find this 'critical' because it makes sense, or because I'm very sensitive to microgestures. I think of this as a component of leadership 'presence'.
TIME Magazine Archive Article -- Why Your Boss May Start Sweating The Small Stuff -- Mar. 20, 2006
: By JULIE RAWE Mar. 20, 2006
Ever had a boss tell you to keeptalking while she checked her BlackBerry? How about a team leader who pronounces your name wrong? Such slights may not mean much individually, but added up they can lead--at least in terms of employee retention--to death by a thousand paper cuts.
Part pop psychology, part human-resources jargon, the term microinequities puts a name on all the indirect offenses that can demoralize a talented employee.
This growing awareness is due largely to the efforts of globetrotting consultant Stephen Young, a former chief diversity officer at JPMorgan Chase who has addressed audiences as varied as rocket scientists at Raytheon and readers of Seventeen magazine on the power of small signals. "It's not so much what I say, but what you hear," he says. One of his most effective demonstrations--the one that has left even mighty CEOs stammering--has him role-playing a guy who is less and less interested in what a speaker is saying. "When you do this," Young says of the exercise, "you see performance change right on the spot."
(Via .)
Communication Leadership awareness: microinequities
April 5, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
I'm not sure if I find this 'critical' because it makes sense, or because I'm very sensitive to microgestures. I think of this as a component of leadership 'presence'.TIME Magazine Archive Article -- Why Your Boss May Start Sweating The Small Stuff -- Mar. 20, 2006
: By JULIE RAWE Mar. 20, 2006Ever had a boss tell you to keep talking while she checked her BlackBerry? How about a team leader who pronounces your name wrong? Such slights may not mean much individually, but added up they can lead--at least in terms of employee retention--to death by a thousand paper cuts.
Part pop psychology, part human-resources jargon, the term microinequities puts a name on all the indirect offenses that can demoralize a talented employee.
This growing awareness is due largely to the efforts of globetrotting consultant Stephen Young, a former chief diversity officer at JPMorgan Chase who has addressed audiences as varied as rocket scientists at Raytheon and readers of Seventeen magazine on the power of small signals. "It's not so much what I say, but what you hear," he says. One of his most effective demonstrations--the one that has left even mighty CEOs stammering--has him role-playing a guy who is less and less interested in what a speaker is saying. "When you do this," Young says of the exercise, "you see performance change right on the spot."
Purpose driven vs profit driven
April 5, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Something shifted in me when reading this. Maybe its no longer a black/white, profit/non-profit competitive world . Instead, align what you believe in with the business you start...and have a lot of patience and trust. Examples include Craigslist and LaLa.com.Death by Smiley Face: When Rivals Disdain Profit - New York Times: " By RICHARD SIKLOS Published: April 2, 2006
These are new-media ventures that leave the competition scratching their heads because they don't really aim to compete in the first place; their creators are merely taking advantage of the economics of the online medium to do something that they feel good about. They would certainly like to cover their costs and maybe make a buck or two, but really, they're not in it for the money. By purely commercial measures, they are illogical.
As far as Mr. Nguyen is concerned, pursuing his labor of love is enough reward in and of itself. "We just dig music," he said. "Karma plays a role, man."