Drive by newsish…

• Rumpke Landfill – I’m told its the highest point in Ohio. [ht regreaser]
• My favorite webcomic makes Wired Mag
• Why Science Will Triumph Only When Theory Becomes Law – Wired contributor Clive Thompson shares the secret to the evolution ‘debate’: semantics.

This one’s gonna be lame as I have work to do…

• Ric Flair Finance – Speakers/headphones required for full effect [ht Shane->Kevin]
• The Sadistic Wi-Fi Detector – Some people are odd.
• Someone killed Bangladesh’s internet – And you thought your internet service was sketchy.
• Fox Says Mandated PSAs Would Be Illegal – Interesting debate on educating the public about the upcoming digital television switchover.
• On a related spur from the previous item, we continue thinking about digital TV and the issue of multicast must-carry.
• 100Gbps copper – for short distances, so not applicable to most, but the problems of it are interesting…to me at least.
• From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm – via /.
• Uh-oh. It’s Enron all over again – delving headlong into the similarities of the Enron & Mortgage scandals
• And last but definately not least, a single picture editorial:
  Foxnews.com “Most Read” Stories at 1:50 PM CST, on November 14, 2007
  

Today’s Vocab words: arbitrage, eleemosynary

LATE ADDITION: Important though: Broadband data collection bill passes full House – This will hopefully give Congress reason to pressure broadband providers [telcos & cable] to get their butts in gear.

Another Late Addition: Cowbell Hero…

It’s back, and all up in your grill, like so much propane. Taste the heat! NEWSISH:

• Vvvvvvaldez does Videos Without Scenarios. Watch the series so far, then wait for more.
• Via State29, Tax Update Blog give notice of some nice developments out east and other thoughts on corporate tax giveaways here in Iowa. As S29 notes, that last link on TUB should be an eye opener.
• More PAULAs issued after 21 vote – I personally did not care about the 21 vote, it was truly a non-issue. There were/are laws on the books already prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors, all that was lacking was enforcement. The argument over the bars’ bottom lines was a cute distraction, but it’s nice to see that things are back to normal: students go to bars that serve them, police go after students, students get tickets to pay, bars keep their money, city gets some taxes. Doesn’t everyone win?
  PS – I am of the belief that the drinking age should be 18 and that parents should take a more active role in advising their kids EARLY on the responsibility required with consuming alcohol. It’s that idea of responsibility that seems to be sorely lacking…all around.
• Keep Separation of Local TV and Newspaper Ownership – Former FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson debates former DM Register editor Richard Doak on the important issue of media ownership consolidation. I bet you can guess who’s side I’m on.
• Cedar Rapids community rallies to buy art & UI considered selling most famous piece of art – Revenue is needed?
• What $100 Oil Means for Your Wallet – You can always turn your Suburban into a piece of lawn art.
• Online video bad for network TV, good for network web sites
• The AudioFile: Analog-to-digital conversion – A How-to from the folks at Ars.
• DARPA spies on analyst brains; hopes to offload image analysis to computers
• Plant goes off script – Salacious! Totally Not Surprising! While I don’t support Hillary for Pres [or anyone in the field, R or D], I hope the Cool Media Kidz do some digging into all campaigns, at least until OJ or Paris does something stupid.
• FCC’s fascination with cable regulation could lead to a la carte cable – I would say “good”, but then we’re still at just words: the regulatory ability implied is contingent on a specific amount of penetration [70%] and the only real way to get that number is from subscriber counts provided by the companies.

New feature! Regreaser’s Pile of Links

• Left Brain v Right Brain Test – Interesting mind trick, plus a shadowy naked woman.
• Judge to White House: Hold E-mails
• The Death of American Privacy – Because we the government need to protect you. From everything [but us].

Today’s vocab word: pericarp

¡Noviembre newsish, ahora mismo!

• No email privacy rights under Constitution, US gov claims – Of course, Big Brother has your best interests at heart. Expect an email encryption tutorial in the near future. Via ./
• Picketing begins in NY in writers strike – Beware the rabid Reality shows, they are a-comin’
• Season 1 of The Jubi Show is in the can! Well, maybe not ‘the can’, but it is grouped together on a magnetic storage medium, as well as an array of DVD discs.
• More Wreck and Salvage available. I’ll need 7 wheel chocks [octogonal], 73 left handed garden trowels, 3 dry erase markers, 1 gallon of kerosene, and 6 packs of Doublemint [Plent-T-Pak]. Place your orders now.
• Verizon DNS Redirection ‘Service’ Spreads – When you have a captive audience due to a mono/duopoly, you can do pretty much whatever you want.
• Senate Committee Approves Broadband Bill – You have to follow the links in the article to get the whole picture, but at first glance this seems like a great step forward for local responsiveness and control over broadband offerings.

maybe some more later. maybe not.

Better plump up those brains…do it with NEWSISH:

• UI police will be armed – I agree with most of Nick Johnson’s thoughts on the subject.
• Regents ok corporate naming – Again, see Nick Johnson for more insight
• Cinematic Titanic – This is extremely welcome news. I signed up for the newsletter.
• Do Not Track List – Everywhere you go online means money for someone, whether you know it or not.
• Internet access tax moratorium extended another seven years – followup from previous newsish
• There’s a city election coming. – Remember that you can vote early at these locations.
• Iowa City Council Candidates Consider Impact of 21 Bar Referendum – Mr. Deeth takes stock of the 21@10 situation.
• Evolving clocks – via HogBlog
• 720p? 1080i? OU812? – Wired does the new TV formats.

Today’s vocab word: plenipotentiary

Some local, some telco, somebody put together some newsish:

• New development beginning to transform block hit hard by tornado – I’ve been wondering what the deal was with that building. Also in the article is info on Hieronymous Square and the Tim Dwight/Three Bulls project, now named “301” as opposed to the poor choice of “The Vu”, a moniker also belonging to a chain of strip clubs. Click here to see the area they are talking about.
• Bread Garden to move into Tait’s
• Aussie Claims Copper Broadband now 200x Faster
• Verizon discovers symmetry, offers 20/20 symmetrical FiOS service
• Comcast shooting itself in the foot with traffic shaping “explanations”
• Meet Your Future Employee– Supposedly, I belong to the group they are talking about in this article.
• Tancredo Calls ICE Against Durbin Press Conference
• ICANN probing “insider trading” allegations with domain name registrations – a follow up from a previous link about Verisign
• No Joke: Colbert’s Campaign May Run Afoul of Law – And this would be different than whose candidacy?
• Stupid stupid stupid. To reiterate: The current FCC Commisioners are either completely clueless or quite fond of fucking things up. Think I’m blowing up your ass? A small-time ISP employee puts it this way in a Fark comment:
  

  verizon and the other telco’s have no interest in playing ball with the small ISP’s they never have. The only reason they “allowed” us to use their last mile was because the Gov. told them to.

  They have been whittling away at the service offers to ISP’s since day 1. It first started when they stop allowing us to buy in to different markets, they grandfathered you in if you were already there but no longer allow companies to buy new latas. Then when FIOS started they began removing all the copper to the home so their customers had no choice who they would get phone service from because Verizon doesn’t have to share the FIBER network with anyone. So no copper = no phone service from anyone but Verizon, unless you go VOIP. Now they have just been told thatthey no longer need to share anything. This is waht they are going to do.

  They will no longer provide service to independent ISP’s, they will then fire all of the folks they have working at Verizon who deal exclusively with ISP’s (which they have been slowing cutting already anyway). So they will save $ on their employment costs and they will gain a bunch of customers simply by making a software switch in their systems which will point them from their existing ISP to Verizon.

  In our area, resellers would include X-Wires (Qwest) and quite a few of the smaller town cooperatives.

Today’s Vocab Word: noumenon

I’m hoping to head west to see my California compatriots in February, one of which [regreaser] lives in San Diego. Hopefully it will still be there when I’d like to visit.

View Larger Map

Here’s some more on the fires:

• ‘Fire blogging’ tech expert on how fellow evacuees and networks are holding up
• 350,000 homes evacuated in Calif. fires

We start the day with the IM buffer regreaser left me over the weekend:

• France’s new answer to youth crime: the building-less entry-hall
• McCain: Eats hot dogs, loves ABBA. Wants desperately to be cool?
• Good Dog, Bad Cat

Here’s some more:

• I Was a Hacker for the MPAA – not me personally, just the title of the article 😉
• Slideshow: Instant Housing and Designing for Disaster
• Russia’s Space City Frozen in Time
• Some of the students in my office made a Youtube video advertisement.
• After fight, airport embraces SUX code
• Waxman Accuses Blackwater of Millions in Tax Fraud, Cover-Up
• How to Make a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin – via HogBlog
  
  This thing looks awesome:
  
• Think Tank Recommends Broadband Regulation – First of most likely many links to Broadband Reports
• Comcast traffic blocking: even more apps, groupware clients affected

Today’s vocab words: phenomenology, flocking

I eat a burrito after work on Fridays, thusly I call them “Burrito Fridays.” Yes I understand the level of innovation on that naming convention. But thats not why you are here. BRING OUT THE NEWSISH!

• Western Iowans, this is your House Representative. Classy.
• Democratic Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash – impropriety is non-partisan
• Anonymous “good samaritans” produce Wikipedia’s best content, says study
• Dodd Will Filibuster Telecom Immunity Bill If Reid Brings It To Vote

Light posting today. Enjoy your weekend.

Today’s vocab word: mantrap

I haven’t the time to explain it to you, you just have to trust me. Now go, and take your newsish:

• The case of the missing CableCARD-ready set-top box
• President Colbert? Then who’s the VP, Carell or Stewart? Or Pappa Bear?
• House Votes to Extend Internet Tax Ban – Senate, you’re up.
• Coralville getting more retail – A ‘Galleria’ next to the mall? The comments in the article are intriguing.
• Mid-American franchise for IC moves forward – Good, bad? I have not a clue.
• Remember, Iowa Citians/Johnson Countonians: You can vote by mail [absentee] very, very easily.
• Read what one of your Iowa Senators is doing.
• Clapton Shreds!
  
  More on the author of the above piece.
• Second Earth
• F*&# the FCC: Appeals Court upholds FCC anti-line-sharing rules – For all the bruhaha about competition, the FCC sure does alot to stifle it. Be sure to read the comments on the article, some real gems and priceless links.
• 

I have a job. Back later?