The Google and Verizon deal. Man, it’s got to suck to be Verizon at this point. I bet they thought they had a powerful ally in Google and were slobbering at the chance to cash in.
It’s pretty plain to see that Google can’t lose in this scenario.
Net neutrality = big win.
Tiered internet = meh.
Google has forced the issue, and it seems it might actually come down on the side of the consumer, who is sick to death of being nickel and dimed by the telecoms. Come on EFF and FCC, take this opportunity to make it stick and keep the net neutral. Maybe Google can sabotage it’s own defense in this case. It will certainly work in their favor.
Kinda reminds me of the frog and the scorpion getting across the river. Except this time, the scorpion has wings. I’ve always liked Google, they have good products. I’ve also always kept a wary eye on them. It looks like Verizon should have been doing the same thing.
Seriously folks, he has turned into a serious hand-wringer. “Emergency Powers” to take control of civilian networks? What in the world is he thinking? If we get attacked, I say we just issue /b/ carte blanche to respond. I have more faith in those guys than I do in turning networks over to the government. /b/ would probably wreak some havoc on those they are defending, but with the gov’t we’d probably never get the networks back.
I just got through catching up on the news and read an article over at 9news on bicycle traffic at the Colorado National Monument.
Bike traffic appears to be up 31% since 2008. Here’s a quote from the article that has me a little perplexed:
Superintendent Joan Anzelmo tells The Daily Sentinel newspaper in Grand Junction that it’s “beyond belief” that no cyclists have been killed given how heavy traffic is.
Wow, even when there are no problems and bikes and cars manage to peacefully co-exist, someone always seems to want to impose restrictions.
For those not familiar with the Colorado National Monument, it’s not a statue, it’s kind of like a mini Grand Canyon:
It’s also the location of some of the climbing scenes in the “Hell of the West” portion of American Flyers:
It’s a park, not a highway. Eventually, someone will lose control and go shooting over the edge or into traffic, could be a biker or it could be a driver. It will happen. But imposing restrictions probably won’t make any difference. Cars are usually going so slowly there that I’m not sure what restrictions could be imposed that would improve on the 0% death-rate. It’s not a death-trap, so don’t take a good thing and muck it all up. Hopefully the concern is sincere. For my part, I’ll be watching for the “to protect the children” statement that usually follows.
Hmm, improving on a 0% death rate, the only way I can see that happening is if she brings in a Voodoo priest and suddenly we have zombie bikers appearing. If they keep it to a -3.0% rate, that would give plenty of cushion without them eating the brains of too many West Slopers.
Google pulled the plug on censoring in China. While I’m not quite convinced Google is always acting in my best interest, this time they’ve put their money where their mouth is and appear to be taking a stand. Microsoft, of course, is hemming and hawing and probably looking for a way to cash in. As it turns out, we’re not actually helpless, so, I’ll do my tiny bit to help turn the screws.
Today I’m blocking MSNBot and Baiduspider user agents until they pull the plug on censorship. If it comes down to it, I’ll start banning by IP. I haven’t checked to see what Yahoo! is doing, but if it is nothing, they’ll join the list, too. Feel free to join in. Maybe this is something that can actually be crowd sourced.
Looks like Yahoo! needs a bit of a nudge, too.
It looks like it’s working… Besides user agents, I’ve also blocked referrals from search engines that censor in China. Here’s the message they will get (hopefully).
You are either a bot from a company that censors in China or you’ve linked from a search engine that censors in China.
Try linking directly, using a search engine that doesn’t censor in China, or wait for your search engine to stop censoring and we’ll let you in.
No more Lala results floating at the top of my Google searches? Apple and Google seem to be locked in mortal combat. Who is going to lose this one? Probably not Microsoft or Amazon.
Michael Jackson is gone. One thing I think everyone can agree on is that he was a truly tragic figure. Where I differ from most is that I wasn’t a fan.
Get past Motown and I didn’t like his music. He was talented, but I thought it was over produced, over-hyped, and over the years, has served as the model for the likes of Madonna, the Jonas Brothers, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears. It’s the cynical hype machine music model. The model that says it is not about the music, it’s about the brand and the bottom line. I have trouble believing The King of Pop got any kind of release from his art.
Goodbye Michael Jackson, I hope you get a chance to express yourself where ever you are.
Payola in reverse? One bit I read compares the radio market in the U.S. to North Korea. Man, they are laying it on thick trying to get HR 848 passed. Making radio stations pay to play music. Pretty soon singing in the car will require a license, now that would be like living in North Korea.
I caught up on cycling news this weekend (again against my better judgement). Not much has changed on the doping front. People get caught and then say, “oh yeah, it’s easy to beat the system.” A blast from the past re-appeared, Simeoni.
I really like this guy. Simeoni could possibly be a tool, he could be a jerk, he could be a drama queen. But he gave the Italian National Champion’s Jersey back! Was he supposed to kiss Armstrong’s ring to be allowed in the Giro? That is one helluva refusal. Panache, that’s what this guy has.
So, Simeoni, I’m glad to see you are still around, still not taking shit from anyone, and doing it in a grandiose manner. My suggestion still stands, write that book! I still like my idea for a title: No, Really, It’s About the Bike.
It’s a nice Sunday morning, I seem to have defeated my riding headache from yesterday before it got a chance to really set itself up, and I’m enjoying coffee and catching up on the news. CBS Sunday morning is pretty innocuous, bubble gum news, and then Ben Stein shows up.
This is the same Ben Stein who told us the mortgage crisis was really nothing to worry about way back when:
Now he’s saying it should be ok for companies to be able to fully reap the benefits of their human capital and hold meetings, but they are scared it will bring the sharp light of critical review. No one is telling the companies that received bailout cash they can’t talk to their own people and benefit from their experiences. What is fairly self-evident is that they need to do it in a manner that is indicative of their financial state. No Bahamas, no charter flights, and maybe Motel 6 instead of the Waldorff-Astoria. If, when the harsh light of reality comes on, things are seen scuttling about looking for places to hide, that might be a sign of an infestation.
The question is why did shareholders not give a crap about the culture of entitlement management in these companies created. Why? These guys have lived beyond their means, are interested only in the next quarter, and will sacrifice the shareholders long term interests for their short term gains. The travel junkets are a symptom of the culture of looting. Pay me now, screw the consequences. It is not sustainable, was not sustainable, and will not be sustainable tomorrow. It’s time to extend our attention past a three month time horizon. Maybe it’s time for Reg Z and Glass-Steagall to make a comeback. Maybe it’s time to get all of our eggs out of the “too big to fail” companies and go all Teddy Roosevelt on them and break them up.
Good Sunday morning to you Mr. Stein. I was hoping you’d stay handcuffed to Shaq and out of my line of sight for at least the rest of the year.
I went down to the REI at Confluence today to pick up some odds and ends for the summer. Everything was going pretty well, I got my stuff and headed home.
I drove up Colfax and traffic was snarled. It took a few minutes before I saw why it was snarled. There was a woman lying in the street. She’d been hit by a car, a pickup truck, I think. Her bags were scattered all over the place and it didn’t look good at all. I pulled off on Emerson or Williams or one of those streets to get out and help. The ambulance showed up as I pulled over. None of my training covered auto accidents, and with much better help present, I moved on.
It’s been on my mind all day, I can’t shake the image of the scene. There is no mention of it on the local news sites so I’m not sure if she was OK or not. If you happen to know, email me at cjones at this URL minus the blog.
