airshipjones

It looks like Google is selling out. They are in talks with Verizon to work a deal that will help to undermine net neutrality. More info here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/technology/05secret.html?_r=2


My big concern with ISPs selling at different prices is that it will lead to an Enron situation with bandwidth. I was talking with a network engineer recently who worked at a bandwidth provider when Enron was in the energy brokering business, if you can call their shell game brokering. They were trying to get into the bandwidth brokering business as well at that time and I am sure they would have tried the same thing with bandwidth they did with energy. I don't see how it will NOT lead to that until it is properly regulated. And the simplest regulation is net neutrality. It is best for everyone, and has helped to fuel the internet revolution. To change that will be to undermine the what is best about the internet, that we can connect to data, to each other, to more than we knew existed, in an unfettered manner. To limit that is to shackle our ability to discover, to learn and to grow.

I truly hope this turns out to be wrong, or that Google will decide not to go down this path. I hope that The government will regulate ISPs adn stop this from even being an issue. And I hope everyone stands up for Net Neutrality.

Here are the things I heard that really stood out from Obama's speech:

He said the 'A' word. Yup, Accountability. I really want to see that happen. And he put that right up front. Bravo.

Then there was the triumvirate of energy, health-care and education. And when Obama talks about energy, he means sustainable, renewal energy. And when he talks about health-care, he addresses the ridiculous rises in costs and the poor quality and access in the US. He really wants everyone in the US to have health-care. And education he really understands, unlike our last president, who didn't (couldn't?) read. He really pushes higher education, and I like that. Imagine college for *all* Americans. This means our kids.

Best line tho'. 'The responsibility not to pass on a debt to them [our children] that they cannot repay.' Got the whole house standing with that one.

Amusingly, he mentioned auditing the budget and that they had found $2T in saving over the next 10 years. I quipped "Halliburton" and then right after that he mentioned 'no-bid contracts' and we all broke out laughing. The more I listen to Obama on economic issues, the more I realize the guy is really a genius. He is not going to hide the cost of the wars under some separate budget item, so we might really get some idea of what the economy really looks like.

Obama has such a clear facing on our foreign policy, he makes it seem obvious. Though I did notice that the McCain voters reactions went down quite a bit when he started talking about closing Guantanamo and leading by example in world politics.

Another line that really struck a chord was the quote from a young girl who wrote a letter to the president. "We are not quitters."

Two things I noticed from the panning cameras. The cameras seems to show the Republicans with frowns or their eyes bugged out every time and Nancy Pelosi looks like a marionette puppet being jerked up and dropped by someone who doesn't know the play it is in.

Just 'cause it would mess with people's hedz.


That is all.

Found this on Daily Kos.


Candidate seeks textbooks as shields

OKLAHOMA CITY --A candidate for state superintendent of schools said Thursday he wants thick used textbooks placed under every student's desk so they can use them for self-defense during school shootings.

"People might think it's kind of weird, crazy," said Republican Bill Crozier of Union City, a teacher and former Air Force security officer. "It is a practical thing; it's something you can do. It might be a way to deflect those bullets until police go there."

Crozier and a group of aides produced a 10-minute video Tuesday in which they shoot math, language and telephone books with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol. The rifle bullet penetrated two books, including a calculus textbook, but the pistol bullet was stopped by a single book.


For details, see the full article here.