Archive for April, 2007

The war over operating systems (Mac v Windows, Linux v Everyone, etc.) has a long and inglorious past. Mention of one OS in a favorable light in some circles will set off flame wars so it’s often best to avoid such advocacy. A couple incidents recently have caused me to swallow hard and not respond directly to what could be considered prime flame bait. But since I only have “6 readers” let’s assume this post is just among friends and won’t stir up an OS battle.

Incident #1: A friend of my daughter announced the other day her family had purchased a new computer. We half-jokingly asked, “Oh did you buy a Mac?” “No”, she said, “We’re solidly PC people and we’re not about to switch now.” I nodded understandingly. Made sense, why switch if they are happy with what they’ve got? Well, then she proceeded to tell me about her Dad’s computer and how it inconsistently stays connected to the Internet. In order to do anything on his computer over the network he would have to reboot over and over again, up to 10 times a day! My wife reminded me that it’s all about the games. Ah yes, there are more games made for PCs than any other Operating System.

Incident #2: Chris Crawford’s most recent North Coast Tech Blog post described a nightmare battle with his crashed PC. In the post, he gives a nod to Linux and Mac users but insists he has to stick with “Windoze” because all the people he works with are stuck in that world and he has to share files them.

Hellooo! Have none of these folks been reading tech news? Apple has moved all its new computers to run on Intel chips. The same chips that run PCs. So, now with new Intel based Mac you can have your cake and eat it to! Not only can you run Mac OS which has a unix based core, but with Parallels installed you can run Windows natively.

Granted, Macs still cost a little more than a comparable PC. But when you factor in the ease of use, the stability, the better security, you’re probably saving a bundle in improved productivity. That is, if you think your time has value.

We hardly ever got out  to the movies anymore. My daughter still goes, and ocassionally one of us will go with her. But most often she goes with friends. Since we have a big screen at home, I much prefer DVD rentals. For years we’ve been faithful customers of locally owned video stores such as Figuerido’s and Video Experience (when they had an outlet in Old Town.

But a few months back we decided to finally try Netflix because it finally seemed more convenient and a time saver where time has become such a precious commodity. It worked pretty well. We liked browsing online and putting movies in to the queue, waiting for a movie to arrive, and the ease of just plopping it back in the mail when we were done watching it. But often the timing was off. Movies arrived when we couldn’t really watch them. Or our mood changed and we wanted something else. Or the movie we really wanted would not get sent, while third or fourth choices kept arriving. Or we needed one for our daughter to watch while we watched something else. So, often we would end up going to a local store anyway.

And right after we started using Netflix I read this post in TechCrunch about why Michael Arrington was switching to Blockbuster. The idea that you could return a movie at any Blockbuster store and get one off the shelf for free, and still get credit from the online store so they could release another in your queue sounded great. So, after a few months with Netflix we switched to Blockbuster. Fortunately, there’s a store nearby and between work and home, so if we do want to returen a movie to store and pick up something else it’s pretty convenient.

As much as I like to support local buisness, I admt there are times when service, selection cost and convenience just outweigh loyalty. The local stores just can’t compete with the online services. Eventually, when movies and TV are delivered directly over the Internet they brick and mortar stores will be left even further behind, I’m afraind.

From the miasma of the US Congress a little light gleams. A new  bill that, if enacted, could help save music over the Internet. The bill has been proposed by two representatives (one Democrat, one Republican) and would reverse the nasty rate increasee recently imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. It’s unclear from the article what support the bill has but it’s a step in the right direction.

You can voice your support for Internet radio here.

Next week (May 3, 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM) Redwood Coast Rural Action (a group of community leaders from Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity and Mendocino Counties) will host Broadband Forum III at the Arcata Community Center.

This year’s theme is:
Rural Connections: Where Should We Fit in California’s Broadband Future?

The Keynote Speaker is Sunne Wright McPeak, President and Chief Executive Officer, of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF).

This Forum will also feature presentations from local members of the Governor’s Broadband Task Force, business and education members, and leaders in technology development.

Sounds good. I will be there. If you want to attend you should contact Connie Stewart by the 27th since there’s a freee lunch involved!

But really, I am getting exhausted by all the talking about broadband. We should get the alternate fiber built now and move on. We should get true broadband distributed to every nook and cranny of the region. There’s so much happening and that will happen that already presumes a healthy telcommunications infrastructure. I am hoping this Forum will be more about that than the nuts and bolts of laying pipe.

I apologize to all 5 6 readers of this blog for the lack of posts recently. I have been a bit depressed about blogging and conversation and all forms of discourse in general. This mood has been brought on by a confluence of events which include, but is not exclusive of, the shootings at Virginia Tech, the release of the shooter’s blather, the talk about the media coverage of the shootings, the talk about the release of the shooter’s blather, the talk about the talk about these events, the talk about main stream media v new media or citizen journalism or a whole bunch of people blathering on about blogging and how it’s so new and cool and whether bloggers and commenters on blogs or elsewhere should be allowed to be anonymous and what all that means and all the energy seemingly devoted to thoughts and opinions that don’t matter much including my own.

OK. Now that I got that off my chest I should be able to get back to more regular blathering, er blogging.

If you’re an aficianado of local blogs you’re sure to have read the Buhne Tribune. BTW, is it pronounced Buhner as in Buhne St. in Eureka or Buhne (no r) as in Buhne St. in King Salmon? I guess if it were “Buhner” it would also have to be Tribuner.

Anyway, yesterday the anonymous blogger was outed by Kevin Hoover of the Arcata Eye. The Humboldt County blogosphere has been all atwitter ever since. I thought I’d add my twit. The Times-Standard article covering the outing quoted a whole bunch of folks about how anonymous blogging is kinda lame. I’m a little miffed that they didn’t ask me. After all, I wrote about the lameness of anonymous blogging and in particular mentioned the Captain, way back when! The Captain graciously quoted my post under his “Raves”, extracting the word “disturbing”. I appreciate it as I got occasional hits from the link. Thanks, Capn’!

Just to reinforce the lameness of anonymous posting of any kind, read the stupid anonymous “Comments” on the Times-Standard article.

Anyway, welcome to the real world Mr. Hurley!

A few years ago Tina Nerat and I visited Blacksburg and Virgina Tech as part of an information gathering process for Redwood Technology Consortium. We got to know a little about the campus and the community and many people there. The region, a largely rural area has had the reputation for years as the original Electronic Village. We had gone there to learn how this rural area had become a leader in telecommunications and what we might emulate in our regions. So, the horrible events that took place there yesterday has a personal connection for me. It’s hard to imagine that peaceful town and beautiful campus could be so turned upside down by such insane violence.

But it’s important to remember that tragedy can strike anywhere whether caused by a group of terrorists, a single madman, or the inevitable eruption of natural forces. Communications in the advent of such an event is crucial to how a community is capable of dealing with it. Andrew Cohill who happens to live in Blacksburg (and has spoken here a few years ago - links to an mp3 of an interview I did with Andrew back in 2003) has a good post on how crucial the Internet proved to be during that crisis. His comments, as so often on his blog, apply directly to our own situation here on the north coast.

I offer Andrew and all the friends and acquaintances I made in Blacksburg my sympathy and wish you strength in dealing with this event.

It looks like Internet radio has taken another blow. The issue is a new policy set by the Copyright Royalty Board that, according to Cnet “prescribe rate hikes of .08 cents per song per listener retroactive to 2006. The rates would climb to .19 cents per song by 2010, which amounts to a 30 percent increase per year. Each station would also have to hand over a minimum $500 royalty payment under the ruling”. This policy will eseentially end Internet radio including streaming byt local stations such as KHUM.

Cnet’s article
Previous post on this issue

Update: There is a web site mobilizing support for Internet Radio.

Don Imus just went through a massive lambasting and lost his job for his racist and misogynist ‘joke’ about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. I am not going to defend this particular joke or many of the other outrageous statements that he’s made over the years. But I do defend his right to say them and I do believe he deserved better treatment by the press, the public and his bosses in Big Media.

I enjoyed listening to Imus in the Morning when it was broadcast on KINS for a couple years. I enjoyed being shocked by his shock jock schtick. So, it’s hard for me now to suddenly be so outraged by this latest outrage. I also found his interviews with authors, politicians and other news makers often insightful and entertaining. And many millions of others have done the same. Both CBS and MSNBC have been happy making money from the Imus show for many years. So, while this particular bad choice of words might have been especially foul, the indignation over them and the retribution heaped on Imus is hypocritical. It’s unclear to me what has created this ‘perfect storm’ over this particular Imus statement. But even if it was an order of magnitude more insulting and outrageous than others he has made (many have pointed out he has said worse) I don’t think it should have led to his dismissal. After all, he apologized. The Rutgers team accepted his apology. He promised to do better. People apologize all the time for the stupid things they say and do and for the most part they are given the opportunity to continue on with their lives and careers, chastened and perhaps better for it.

I also honestly don’t think Don Imus is a racist, misogynistic, homophobe. He says these things not because he believes them, but because he is playing a character who does. And the true target of his comedy is the actual racist, misogynistic homophobe who is usually too dense to realize these comments are held up as a fun house mirror to his face. At least, that’s how I always understood the act.

On balance, Don Imus has a lot to offer that is good. He has raised millions of dollars for charity. He runs a ranch for kids with cancer. He has championed many causes long before they became popular (autism, the treatment of injured veterans are couple that come to mind) . I think CBS and MSNBC ought to be ashamed at their cowardice for buckling under the fist shaking of the self-righteous.

So, what has this got to do with technology or the north coast? Well, it’s part of a larger conversation about public discourse in general and events that have been going on in the blog world. People have been putting horrible things on the Internet for as long as I can remember (I used to participate in Usenet newsgroups back before there was a web interface). Something about the impersonality of posting comments, sending email or even writing blogs seems to provide some people the cover they need to spew awful things they would not do in person, or certainly not as in the case of Don Imus, on a show heard and watched by millions. Many venues permit such vitriol to be posted anonymously which just further emboldens people to express ugly stuff.

The open nature of the Internet presents a problem for businesses like the Times-Standard that wishes to open up conversations with the public. How do you provide an open platform and not fall victim to idiots who post offensive or hateful comments? Frankly, I don’t think it’s possible. I do think that a business like the Times-Standard has the right to impose some rules about what is or is not allowed on its web site. I would suggest making it clear they have the right to delete any comments they deem inappropriate. This doesn’t curtail free speech. It just controls the speech that appears on that particular web site. The new web makes it easy for anyone to start their own web site and post whatever they like. I am also not a fan of anonymity on the Internet (except where the author’s life could be in danger by revealing their identity). I think it encourages bad behavior. So, I think the Times-Standard should require some personal accountability for comments. Requiring a one time registration with a valid, confirmed email address before posting would help.

But as for rules of speech on the Internet or the rest of the media as whole, I am for as open and free a publishing environment as possible. I am not in favor of even a voluntary code of ethics for bloggers as some have proposed after the Kathy Sierra dust up, mainly because I don’t think it would carry any meaning.

The answer to speech you don’t like  is more speech. Not less. Let the speech flow. Foul or fair.

A couple more local blogs have been added to the HumGuide Blogs category. I’m sure there are plenty more out there I don’t know about (but would be happy to add). The blogosphere just keeps on expanding, though according to this quarter’s State of the Blogosphere report from David Sifry, it appears to be expanding a little less rapidly. Sifry is the head of Technoarti which tracks these things and is a grreat source for finding what Sifry calls the ‘live web’. I guess that’s as opposed to the old style dead (static ) web sites.

The report is kind of long. Conveniently, Sifry has provided a summary of some of the more interesting statistics:

• 70 million weblogs
• About 120,000 new weblogs each day, or…
• 1.4 new blogs every second
• 3000-7000 new splogs (fake, or spam blogs) created every day
• Peak of 11,000 splogs per day last December
• 1.5 million posts per day, or…
• 17 posts per second
• Growing from 35 to 75 million blogs took 320 days
• 22 blogs among the top 100 blogs among the top 100 sources linked to in Q4 2006 - up from 12 in the prior quarter
• Japanese the #1 blogging language at 37%
• English second at 33%
• Chinese third at 8%
• Italian fourth at 3%
• Farsi a newcomer in the top 10 at 1%
• English the most even in postings around-the-clock
• Tracking 230 million posts with tags or categories
• 35% of all February 2007 posts used tags
• 2.5 million blogs posted at least one tagged post in February

What is it do you think that makes the Japanese so blog happy? There is no statistic for how many blogs are abandoned every day. That would be interesting to know. And how many blogs have a readership of more than 2 people? I would like to see that.

Over on the RTC mailing list there is more discussion of Suddenlink’s problems. Apparently people in certain areas are experiencing intermittent service failures. Personally, while I haven’t had complete service failures, I have had several days in which email service disappeared for hours at a time. These problems bring in to sharper focus the lack of choice in broadband service. In many areas you can only get cable so there is no choice. And of course, plenty of folks can’t get either. But hey! it’s Spring on the North Coast. What are you doing inside in front of the computer, anyway?

According to the Times-Standard, the little city of Rio Dell will be providing extensive wireless connectivity in multiple locations. While the article implies that it’s a city wide network, it’s really multipe hot spots. Since the city is so small, depending on the reach of each hot spot it could act almost like a mesh.

It’s also interesting that the ‘redundancy’ the article talks about is not really true redundancy in that the city has two seperate services: DSL from AT&T and a backhaul feed for the wireless service from 101 Netlink. They provide service via microwave from their location on top of Pratt Mountain. So according to Sean McLaughlin of Access Humboldt “Redundancy is achieved simply by logging on to the wi-fi service if your fiber goes down.”  Or vice versa I presume. True peering betweeen services will come at some later date.

Still, this another of the many small triumphs in bringing powerful, robust communication services to the region. In 5-7  years, though, these victories will seem like ancient history as broadband and redundant connections wherever weeare will be a part of the background fabric of our every day lives. It will be an assumed feature, not something we will have to work for, write articles about, or herald when it happens.

One of the more touching moments during the celebration of Don Wolski’s life this Sunday was when Don’s brother talked about all the support they had received from the community during Don’s illness. The rest of the family , he said, lived in big cities where they could never imagine such an upwelling of nuturing and caring. He wanted us to know what a special place Humboldt County is.

This was a beautiful thing to say. I have often had this feeling - that there is something special about this area and the people who make it their home. But is it true that this kind of coming together doesn’t happen elsewhere? I am sure it does. And others must feel the same sense of specialness about the places they live.

It brings to mind the reports I read and hear on the radio of Iraqis who have been forced to flee their country out of fear of death and how they all long to return and how in fact they intend to return as soon as possible. They love Baghdad or Falleujah. To them these are the special places.

I’ve lived here for over 20 years and I love it. But I still think about moving back to Sonora where I grew up, even though I hate what development has done to that once beautiful little town.

So I wonder - is there something unique about Humboldt County?