I don’t believe wireless and fiber will ever really compete. I think there will always be a place for both. They both have unique attributes: wi-fi’s portability, and fiber’s speeds. Each has it’s own place – they compliment each other. The main problem with wireless – at least at this early stage of the game – is that it just can’t provide enough bandwidth to effectively compete with fiber. I haven’t really kept close tabs, but it seems like most of the metro wi-fi projects are advertising speeds ranging between 1-3 mb/s. Now 3 mb/s may be just great for…
-
-
It’s been over a week now since the release of the Iraq Study Group report. The basis of the report is that the situation in Iraq is “grave and deteriorating,” and that there is no workable military solution. The report states that the only path with some potential for success is a joint diplomatic/political venture involving Iraq’s neighbors. Iraq Study Group Report The bipartisan panel includes heavy-hitters from both sides of the aisle: a former Supreme Court Justice, two former Secretary of States, a former Attorney General, a former Defense Secretary, a former White House Chief of Staff. Study Group…
-
BellSouth and a few others telecos have recently started advocating a “pay-by-the-byte” type of pricing scheme. Under those proposals, consumers who access high-bandwidth applications, like file sharing or VoIP or online gaming would pay more than people who just web surfed or read email. An example of the current justification for the proposed pay-by-the-byte pricing was given by BellSouth Chief Technology Officer, William Smith. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Smith, they said, “often laments the fact that his parents, who use the Internet for only low-capacity activities such as Web surfing and email, pay fees similar to those…
-
-
Movable Type is a royal pain to configure, but it’s the best platform around.
-
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my…
-
It’s amazing the amount of fuss that’s been stirred up on both sides of the aisle by the Bush administration’s approval of the sale of P&O Orient Lines to Dubai Ports World. Under the terms of that sale, Dubai Ports World would take over as operator of six container terminals in the United States. Those terminals are located in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami and New Orleans. The country of Dubai, a part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), wholly owns Dubai Ports World. The UAE are located at the southern end of the Persian Gulf. Dubai Ports…
-
Our hypocrite of the decade award goes to none other than George W. Bush. Mr. Bush, the world’s premier champion of the democratic form of government, has made spreading democracy Job Number One for the good ol’ US of A. This mantle of good-natured philanthropy surfaced, as you’ll no doubt recall, after it finally became apparent that there were no actual Weapons of mass Destruction in Iraq, and further, that Iraq and Saddam Hussein posed no threat to anyone at all beyond Iraq’s borders. Without the threat of WMD’s as a justification for the invasion, Mr. Bush obviously needed something…
-
In defense of his domestic spying program, George Bush said today, “When terrorist operatives are here in America communicating with someone overseas, we must understand what’s going on if we’re going to do our job to protect the people. The safety and security of the American people depend on our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, and what they’re planning.” He went on, “Federal courts have consistently ruled that a president has authority under the Constitution to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance against our enemies. My predecessors have used the same constitutional authority on numerous occasions. And…
-
There you are, you’re George W. Bush, you’re trailing badly in the polls, you’ve got this nasty little problem with domestic spying making headline news all over the place, your war in Iraq is continuing to go sour, and all your best buddies are getting indicted for corruption and bribery. So what do you do? You call out the heavy artillery, that’s what! Last week, after a year’s absence, George W. Bush’s biggest supporter, Osama bin Laden made a rare appearance, via an audiotape mailed to Aljazeera TV. In the tape, bin Laden alternately threatened to bring the war back…