The Federal government is continuing to announce awards from the USDA (just one in California and it’s not for our region) and the Dept. of Commerce (nothing for California) for the first round of broadband stimulus funds.
Now the second round of the application process is gearing up. They will be holding workshops around the country [...]
life and technology on the north coast of california
Category Archives: Local Tech Notes
Broadband Stimulus Funds Round 2
Getting Older, Not Giving Up
In one week I will turn f’ing 58! There is no reversing time. But you can get stuck on a rock as the river flows around you.
A friend asked me a couple weeks ago on his birthday if I ever felt like letting go of trying to keep up with new developments in technology. I [...]
FCC Looks at Barely Adequate Speeds for Rural Broadband
According to this Wall Street Journal blog post, the FCC is considering setting an average speed of 2-4 mbs for it plans for improved broadband coverage plan that will be released soon. While this is a much better target than the previous 200 kbs figure the FCC had previously defined as broadband, it still seems [...]
I’m Thankful for These Podcasts
I know I should be pronouncing my gratitude for health, family, friends, good fortune and all that. And I am truly thankful for those things. But who couldn’t say that? Instead, I thought I’d take today to make a categorized list of my favorite podcasts. I go to the gym 2-3 times per week, and [...]
Regional Broadband and Stimulus Funds
When the Federal government announced that $7 billion would become available to improve the broadband infrastructure, some folks around here got excited. When it became clear that much of the funding would be given to help rural and under served areas, some of those folks got to work.
At first it seemed the best approach would [...]
Humboldt State Switching to Drupal
I’d heard from some people that work at Humboldt State University that they are moving their web sites to Drupal. But a link from a friend on Facebook (thanks Grace!) confirmed it. Not only are they moving to Drupal, but they are installing the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) on the servers. So it [...]
Fight Crime With Social Media
I love this article about the Boston Police Dept. using social media to track down bicycle thieves. Where are our local law enforcement services with this stuff? Anyone know?
Share and Enjoy:
Technorati Tags: law enforcement, Social Media, social networking
Change Can Be Good
Things are changing at the local, state and national level. Most of the changes look horrible: Rising unemployment, lowering retail sales, budget deficits, foreclosures….
But out of this rubble some good thing may come. Sean McLaughlin from Access Humboldt sums up some of the positive changes that may create an more robust telecommunications infrastructure for us [...]
I’m Back!
I had to try 3 times, but I got my dang blog back after upgrading to WP 2.8. I have to say that as complex as Drupal can be, I’ve never had much problem upgrading within a version. But I always seem to have some glitch with Wordpress. And Drupal gets easier and easier, faster [...]
It’s Official. I’m An Old Guy!
As if I needed someone to tell me that at 57 I am, to most of the world, an old guy. One of the tools I use to monitor Twitter, let me know that someone tweeted the following: “ashromano : @rmorse8843 omg ur gonna die go look at bob morse he is this old guy!!!!! [...]
Broadband and the Stimulus Funds
Update (6/9/09): Access Humboldt recorded the event and the video is online.
Today the RTC sponsored a luncheon that was intended to elucidate the confusing information surrounding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), how it might affect our region and specifically the prospects of improved broadband deployment. The room at the Red Lion was full [...]
What’s a Follower Worth?
Hello, my name is Bob, and I’m a Twitterholic.
Yes. It’s affecting my work life, my social life, my sex life. OK, maybe not that…yet. But I am taking steps to control it. Really. I am. I have lots of 3rd party Twitter apps that give me much more control than you get with your basic [...]
Google Spams Itself?
I love Google, don’t get me wrong. I use their services for all kinds of things and what they do in general is astounding. Have you seen Google Wave (video), yet? But WTF? I have some Google alerts and I wasn’t getting any on a specific term that I know had daily news. So I [...]
Lay Fiber Everywhere Dammit!
Ars Technica points to a new bill introduced by Rep. Anna Eschoo. Here’s the essence of the bill/article:
The bill would require new federal road projects to include plastic conduits buried along the side of the roadway, and enough of them to “accommodate multiple broadband providers.” Conduits must meet industry best practices for size and depth, [...]
Interactive Voting Results Map
The Sacrament Bee has done a nice job presenting an interactive map showing the results of yesterday’s vote by county. It was a resounding defeat of all the tax measures and a ringing endorsement for limiting pay increasess for elected officials during budget deficit years. Are we headed for bankruptcy? Possibly. Drastic cuts to programs? [...]