Published in February 25th, 2005
I was the keynote speaker for the California Telephone Association’s (CTA) annual conference this year. CTA’s members are mostly small phone companies from around the state. It was interesting to listen to their thoughts about how their small businesses might survive all the changes going on in the telecommunications sector. Here’s a [...]
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Published in February 18th, 2005
RFID was a big topic of discussion this week at the RSA conference. The chips can be used to track almost anything from inventory to humans. Indeed, I met Joseph Krull, who has a Verichip implanted in his arm. He told me he doesn’t expect everyone to be using the technology in [...]
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Published in February 17th, 2005
Today, PRI released a new telecom study called “Crossed Lines: Regulatory Missteps in California Telecom Policy.” It explains how regulatory policies in the telecom sector are outdated and impose heavy economic and social costs on consumers. It also offers guidance on how to fix the problems. Here’s the press release and here’s [...]
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Published in February 17th, 2005
Recently the California Public Utilities Commission delayed the so-called “consumer bill of rights,” a courageous move that will benefit all Californians if the decision is made permanent.
That’s right, a bunch of regulators actually said that the telecommunications industry did not need any more regulation and rejected the bureaucratization of cell phone service. Indeed, the sector [...]
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Published in February 17th, 2005
The Stanley Cup will not be awarded for the first time since 1919. A sad situation for everyone: the players, fans, and others whose employment depends on the game.
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Published in February 14th, 2005
If you live in the Bay Area, you can watch me on the 10pm news tonight (KTVU) discussing the Verizon purchase of MCI. If you won’t be home, the summary version is that the deal is good for consumers, good for industry, and good for innovation. For too long, real competition and growth [...]
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Published in February 11th, 2005
The California PUC recently released a report on broadband deployment in California. It’s worth the read, but if you want a summary and analysis, see my column here.
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Published in February 5th, 2005
This year will see many important battles in the communications industry, one of which is currently playing out in the Virginia state legislature. On one side are cable companies and on the other telecommunications firms, but both sides should realize they have a common goal. If they do, and work together, everyone will [...]
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Published in February 5th, 2005
If you’re a hockey fan, the news last Friday wasn’t good. Already 775 of the season’s 1230 games have been cancelled and there’s still no end in sight. Maybe it’s time to switch to basketball — a game invented by Canadians.
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Published in February 5th, 2005
The newest geek trend is to attach a pedometer to oneself to see how many steps are taken in a day. I put mine on this morning, went to Starbucks and the bank, and now I’m up to 2046 steps. According to this article, active people should be shooting for 10,000 steps a [...]
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Published in February 3rd, 2005
There’s a restaurant in Chicago called Moto where the chef uses a Canon i560 inkjet printer to print images of sushi on pieces of edible paper made of soybeans and cornstarch. The ink is food-based and organic. Neat idea. Here’s info for the next time you’re in the windy city:
MOTO
(312) 491-0058
945 [...]
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Published in February 3rd, 2005
Those of you who were on my “Canadiansintheus” mailing list will by now have a note in your inbox saying that the list came to an end today. I moderated the list for a few years, but now it’s time to move all that commentary here, to my blog. Welcome, fellow ex-pats, to [...]
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Published in February 2nd, 2005
You and yours can star in your own novel. Check it
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Published in February 2nd, 2005
Here’s an interesting take on presidential speeches from one of PRI’s board members, Clark Judge:
“Reagan was symphonic: every range of meaning and tone,” Judge said. “Bush 41 was rock ‘n’ roll: simple driving beat. (Bill) Clinton was improvisational jazz: lots of brilliant riffs, didn’t necessarily hold together.
“Bush 43 is like country music: strong story line, [...]
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Published in February 2nd, 2005
This is a fascinating and important ruling on virtual property (thanks to Peter Harter for pointing it out to me). I would have expected something like this to happen in the litigious US first (and maybe it has and I don’t know about it), but it seems to follow a natural law theory of [...]
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Published in February 2nd, 2005
Read all about it here.
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Published in February 2nd, 2005
A supermarket chain in Seattle (Thriftway) has been allowing customers to use their fingerprints as an alternative method of payment. Debit and credit cards are connected in a database with customer’s fingerprints. To the surprise of some, this has been a popular program. Soon, I predict biometrics will be everywhere, so it [...]
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Published in February 1st, 2005
This is an interesting piece from Forbes.
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