Author: Serkadis

This post is part of the IT Innovation series, sponsored by Sun & Intel. Read more at ITInnovation.com.
Of course, the content of this post consists entirely of the thoughts and opinions of the author.

There’s a new study that’s making the rounds, noting that the average American consumes about 34 gigs worth of data/information each day. That number has been increasing at a pretty fast pace as well. This is, obviously, not just internet data. It includes TV, radio, mobile phones, newspapers, video games, etc. However, what struck me is that more and more of that is moving to the internet, and that seems like a trend that will continue. And, yet, we still hear stories of ISPs looking to put in place broadband caps that are as low as 5 gigs per month. Clearly, something has to give. Even Comcast’s relatively generous cap of 250 gigs per month could run into trouble at some point as well.

And, indeed, this is part of what concerns me most about efforts to put in place broadband caps. As we consume more data and a growing amount of that data consumption moves to the internet, more and more people may find themselves butting up against those caps. Even though plenty of studies (and many comments from the technology — not policy or marketing — people at ISPs) show that ISPs can easily invest in infrastructure upgrades to keep pace with the traffic, the move to put in place broadband caps may create serious unintended consequences for broadband. They add a mental transaction cost to any kind of internet usage (you have to think if it’s worth it) and limit the interest and/or ability to build newer, more powerful internet applications and services that can serve what we need.

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Heroes

Editor, The Times:

The Lakewood officers were doing ordinary police work; doing their jobs. And then in a moment they were executed. Does that make them heroes [“‘We will remember them always,’” page one, Dec. 9]?

Yes, forgive me for being a slow learner. The killings of the Lakewood police officers finally made it clear to me.

These officers had counseled troubled youth and comforted victims of crime. They kept us safe by being warriors against crime, and by being champions of community building.

We sat safely in our homes while these officers ensured the safety of us all — because we depend not only on our local police, but also on the police of the communities around us. Not only on our justice department, but on those of other states. Collectively, these systems form an armor that protects our entire society.

The state of Arkansas revoked their warrant for Maurice Clemmons, opening a chink in this armor, and we suffered a cruel cost: four people killed by a man who should have been jailed. They were killed because they represented that armor of safety.

How fitting that the officer who found Clemmons was doing ordinary police work: investigating a suspicious car. It’s ordinary police work, 24/7, that keeps us safe and makes them all heroes.

Let’s insist that our justice system mends the armor so that no one meets another Maurice Clemmons.

— Keith Logan, Seattle

Community should be proud, too

I was one of the thousands of officers who was privileged to attend the services for the Lakewood police officers on Dec. 8.

I would like to praise those who put together the service for the officers. It was truly beautiful.

I would also like to say how impressed I was with the citizens I met during my time there. Everywhere we went, people told us how thankful they were that we made the effort to attend. I watched as people in the streets stopped what they were doing and paid their respects.

Even in the airport as Sgt. Mark Renninger’s body was loaded on the plane, people throughout the airport stopped in their tracks.

If that is reflective of your community, you should be as proud of yourselves as you are of your officers.

— Lt. Pete Krall, Sparks Police Department, Sparks, Nev.

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Europe, Volkswagen, UK

The Volkswagen Scirocco R was recently introduced to the European motoring press, and all of its details have been delivered unto the people. The 2.0-liter, 265-horsepower front-wheel-drive hot hatch comes in two versions: six-speed manual and six-speed DSG, either of which will get you to 60 mph in six seconds or less.

The R is loaded with tech and mods: XDS electronic transverse differential lock to combat understeer, Dynamic Chassis Control for variable damping, Anti-Slip Regulation, and massive 17-inch brakes among other features. If that makes you want to see what one can do in the corners, VW’s already found out: two slightly more powerful Sciroccos won the 2.0-liter turbo class at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring earlier this year.

There’s an exhaustive press release after the jump that will tell you all about it, and a high-res gallery of photos below if you like your stories in pictures.

[Source: Volkswagen]

Continue reading (More) Pics Aplenty: VW plays up Scirocco R with new pics, details

(More) Pics Aplenty: VW plays up Scirocco R with new pics, details originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Excuses, excuses, excuses

Mike Huckabee’s excuses for commuting the sentence of Maurice Clemmons have the hollow ring of one who is desperately seeking to distance himself from the consequences of his own lapse of good judgment [“Huckabee explains pardon of Clemmons,” Opinion, guest commentary, Dec. 9].

The former governor has never given a convincing reason for bestowing clemency on Clemmons.

Huckabee’s pathetic whining that he was relying on what turned out to be terrible advice, which resulted in tragedy, is hardly a recommendation for one who seeks to lead the free world.

— Arlene N. Heath, Seattle

I don’t care if he’s a Democrat, Republican or independent

I do not care if Mike Huckabee is a socialist, independent, Democrat or a Republican, when the clemency paper comes across that desk, and the inmate has only served about 10 percent of his 108-year sentence, you need to engage the mind.

That is something good leaders do.

If Huckabee had not commuted Maurice Clemmons’ sentence, there would most likely be four police officers alive tonight, and nine children would have their dads or mom home during the holidays.

— David Shaw, Everett

Commending The Times’ lengthy coverage of a tragedy

I highly commend The Seattle Times on the in-depth story of Maurice Clemmons [“A path to murder: The story of Maurice Clemmons,” page one, Dec. 6].

These tragic cases are not random, but the result of a person’s upbringing gone very wrong. Rehabilitation is beyond our systems’ capabilities and finances. Punishment appeases the victims, their family and society, and incarceration takes a dangerous person out of circulation for a length of time.

But as this case shows, often damages the person even further. Society feels helpless, but there is information the public should be aware of, and is available only to those who do their homework.

As I read this article, I anguished that Clemmons’ parole officer had not read the work of former parole officer Barbara Reed Stitt. She had an 80 percent nonrepeat offenders record, and used nutrition to balance brain chemistry gone awry with improper diet and lack of nutrients. Also, the work of cell biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton should be mandatory for anyone involved with children, in any capacity. What he discovered about cellular behavior from environmental stimuli spawned his passion for what he calls conscious parenting.

As a society, we are all responsible to educate ourselves to raise our children more consciously, and have a conscience and compassion toward our fellow man. For a nation that prides itself on scientific achievement, I simply do not understand why guiding scientific evidence has been scoffed at and ignored.

— Julie Craker, Tacoma

New question: How did Clemmons qualify for mortgages?

There are so many failures in this tragic, horrible case. In addition to the legal intricacies around granting bail to a pathological three-strikes criminal, The Times story also raises the question about how a felon with no job and no work history could qualify for mortgages on three homes.

This question is relevant because it was the collateral in this property that allowed Maurice Clemmons to post bail and free himself to commit the murders in the first place.

I would be interested in seeing details of these transactions and what banks saw fit to give money to this man, and on what basis. Undoubtedly it would reinforce my belief that the financial industry in this country deserves none of my support. It might even reveal that shoddy lending practices could be considered an accomplice in these senseless murders.

— Eric Perkunder, Seattle

Reward money should go to lone Seattle officer

Columnist Nicole Brodeur writes that Chrisceda Clemmons should be considered for the $120,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of her nephew, cop killer Maurice Clemmons [“No reward for turning in cop killer,” NWTuesday, Dec. 8].

I submit that the Seattle policeman who got Maurice Clemmons off our streets should receive the reward since he took care of the terrible situation. I’m sure his family could use the reward too.

— John Stubb, Kirkland

Jerry Large hits the nail on the head — treatment for youth

Kudos to Jerry Large for the very thoughtful column, “Looking at the whys of a tragedy” [NWThursday, Dec. 3], which can be summarized by his statement, “We’ll have less violence if we are willing to focus more attention on the underlying causes of violence.”

Those words put the responsibility where it properly belongs: upon all of us.

The events surrounding the death of four Lakewood police officers are extremely sad: the tragic murder of these public servants, the life of loss their families face, and the death of a very disturbed Maurice Clemmons.

An added tragedy is the likelihood that this may have been prevented. Clemmons was failed by the judicial and the mental-health systems in two states over many years. He clearly displayed symptoms of mental illness as a youth, but never received treatment.

We have programs to serve adults whose mental illness has led to incarceration. Now, we need more programs to serve children with serious emotional difficulties, before they get into trouble.

The solution is not a matter of limited resources, since it is less expensive to fund prevention and intervention programs than to pay for more prisons. The solution involves understanding that we can and must intervene to break this cycle of tragedy.

— David Stone, CEO, Sound Mental Health, Seattle

Social services failed cop killer

The column “Those who aided cop killer deserve full weight of the law” [Opinion, Lynne K. Varner editorial column, Dec. 2] is a myopic perspective on Maurice Clemmons’ tragic life.

Clemmons violently took the lives of four innocent police officers, however, his life was taken from him before he was killed. Varner stated there should be no expectation of slipping through the legal loopholes, as Clemmons did so many times.

There should also be no expectation of slipping through the social-service loopholes, as Clemmons did so many times.

The RCW 71.05 states that those who are a danger to themselves or others will be given treatment without consent. Involuntary treatment laws are put into effect to protect those in an acute phase of mental illness who, because of the illness, are not able to recognize when to seek help.

It was evident that Clemmons needed help, yet did not receive it. Varner scorns the callous disregard for the law by those who aided Clemmons. Shouldn’t it be recognized that there too was callous disregard for involuntary treatment laws?

— Alisa K. Pisciotta, Seattle

Thank goodness for traditional pie values

It is great to see two women upholding pie-making traditions [“The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit,” Seattletimes.com, Pacific Northwest, Nov. 25].

So many people today choose to buy mass-produced store pies, solely on their convenience and with no consideration of taste or tradition. We need to continue these old-style baking techniques so that the following generations can enjoy the great taste of a homemade pie, and the satisfaction of making it themselves.

So many food items today have been recreated to withstand cross-country transportation and a supermarket shelf life, but by doing this we are losing essential parts of the American food culture.

If people continue to pass down their family recipes, as featured friends Kate McDermott and Kathleen Triesch Saul have done, we can be assured of the continuation of the United States’ cultural food icons.

— Jillian Jackson, Seattle

Filed under: Truck, Work, Dodge

Motor Trend magazine’s 2010 Truck of the Year competition was an odd one this year. Only four models met MT’s criteria of being new or substantially changed from the previous model year. Of those, only two were actual work trucks: the 2010 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty and Toyota Tundra 4.6-liter work truck. The other two contenders, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor and Transit Connect, likely won’t ever do much of the work that we normally associate with trucks (hauling, towing, etc.). Perhaps that hindered their chances at winning the coveted Golden Calipers, because the truck that did win was the purest pickup of them all.

If you hadn’t guessed yet, the Motor Trend 2010 Truck of the Year is the Dodge Ram Heavy Duty, which was substantially redesigned for the 2010 model year. We’ll let the MT editors explain why the Ram HD was their unanimous choice, but the gist is that it arrives to market a full year ahead of substantially new versions of Ford and General Motors’ heavy-duty trucks. As such, it will be the reigning HD truck in nearly every category that matters to heavy-duty pickup buyers, at least for a model year or two.

Not to take away from the Dodge’s victory, but we would’ve chosen the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor if it were our award to give. While the Ram HD no doubt beats it in every measure as a work truck, the Raptor is extra special if for no other reason than that it shows this industry of ours still has a little spark of life left. Ford deserves credit for not only driving out on a limb with the Raptor but also handing its development over to SVT, which guaranteed the final product offer legitimate high performance.

What about you? Did Motor Trend get it right or is there a more deserving Truck of the Year? Sound off in the comments. Thanks to everyone for the tips!

[Source: Motor Trend]

Continue reading 2010 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty named Motor Trend Truck of the Year

2010 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty named Motor Trend Truck of the Year originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Published December 10, 2009
By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer

WEST RICHLAND — It’s always a day at the beach at Smitty’s Paradise, the most tropical convenience store in the country.

The West Richland business recently won the Best Interior Design award in a nationwide contest sponsored by Convenience Store News, a trade publication, for its island paradise look and feel.

Smitty’s Paradise, at 1400 Bombing Range Road, also has a gas station and car wash. But inside, its bamboo-covered ceiling gives the store a definite tropical quality that the magazine described as “Tommy Bahama meets Starbucks in Margaritaville.”

The store, which opened in July 2008, has a raffia-covered tiki hut inside, a Caribbean mural and a large picture of Pacific Ocean waves and surfboards above the cooler doors. The restrooms even have decorative palm trees.

Employees wear Hawaiian shirts to enhance the beach feel, and soon the store will play Hawaiian Christmas music.

“Store sales are exceeding our expectations,” said Rod Smith, who owns Smitty’s with his brothers, Doug and Rick.

They chose the theme to reflect the nearby crossroad Paradise Way, Smith said.

“We thought, ‘That’s a natural theme,’ ” he said.

The idea was to make fuel-buying a fun experience for customers, Smith said.

The brothers also own R.H. Smith Distributing Co., a more than 60-year-old firm which provides fuel and convenience products to customers between the Cascades and the Columbia River.

The brothers and their wives worked with Paragon Solutions, of Fort Worth, Texas, to come up with the store’s design. The cost of decorating the interior with a tropical theme was about 5 percent of the total project cost of $2 million, Smith said.

He said he thinks the store’s welcoming feel has helped it become the No. 2 money maker for the company. With annual sales of about $4.2 million in the last financial year ending in September, it’s only behind the company’s Yakima store, which opened in 1986 and has a restaurant, Smith said.

Smitty’s has a Quiznos within the store, and a “green” car wash adjacent to it.

Smitty’s car wash uses 80 percent less water and 30 percent less energy than a typical car wash, and the cleaning agents it uses contain no phosphates and are biodegradable, Smith said.

One of the exterior car wash walls also sports a paradise-themed mural, about 12 feet by 35 feet.

The mural is based on a drawing, selected from 150 submissions by art students at Enterprise Middle School, Smith said, adding a Columbia Basin College art teacher and her students painted the mural.

Smith said his company has planned similar store projects in Yakima and the Tri-Cities.

“We’ll continue to have theme-oriented designs,” he said.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Gamers in the UK who pre-order Just Cause 2 will be getting a special limited edition pack for their trouble, Square Enix London Studios announced today. The LE pack will contain a set of in-box and downloadable

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Buick, GM, GMC

Nine days ago, we posted about Michael Richards getting Susan Docherty’s old post at General Motors, brand manager for Buick–GMC. Today, he walked away. According to The Detroit News, the official (yet still unofficial) reason is that Richards’ previous employer – Trinity Automotive in Austin, TX – made him a very strong counter offer. Though it seems to us that Trinity would have made the counter offer before Richards packed up and moved north, and we’ve also heard rumblings from Detroit insiders that there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

Whatever the actual reason for Richards’ abrupt departure, Buick-GMC is currently without a leader. Chevrolet is in a bit of a better position, even though just yesterday its vice president and 31-year company vet Brent Dewar suddenly retired. Dewar was appointed to his position in July by ex-CEO Fritz Henderson, who just resigned/was outsted from GM… nine days ago. Dewar was immediately replaced by Jim Campbell, Chevy’s Fleet and Commercial Operations manager.

It seems mostly obvious to us, that both Richards and Dewar’s sudden departures have to do with Henderson leaving. Because honestly, it sure as hell ain’t the weather outside the Renaissance Center. As for Richards specifically, it must have been odd and unsettling to start a new career on the very same day that the guy that hired you exits stage left.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Buick-GMC general manager Michael Richards leaves after just nine days on the job originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING ALOT OF MESSAGES WITH QUESTIONS AND I WILL GET TO THEM ALL TODAY. SO KEEP THEM COMING. RIGHT NOW IM GOING TO TRY TO CATCH UP WITH SOME INFORMATIVE BLOGS, A VIDEO OR TWO, I HAVE TO ALSO UPDATE MY LOG ON BULLNOX ANDRORUSH PRE WORKOUT WHICH SINCE I HAVE BEEN TAKEN IT IS QUITE AWESOME DEFINITELY LOOK IT UP IN THE STORE . AND CHECK OUT MY LOG I HAVE SO MUCH WRITTEN DOWN I HAVE TO TYPE IT IN TONIGHT. WILL BE DOING PROGRESS PICTURES SOON, PRIMORDIAL PERFORMANCE WHOM I AM BLOGGING FOR AS WELL, I WILL BE LOGGING THEIR PRE MAX AND PHYTOTEST AS SOON AS BULLNOX IS DONE.. A BIG THANKS TO THEM AS WELL. I ALSO HAVE TO RUN MYHERBALSUPPLEMENT.COM PRODUCTS .. I HAVE SO MUCH TO TAKE CARE OF SO IM GOING TO BE QUITE BUSY. BUT I WILL BE UPDATING ALL THE TIME NOW I JUST BEEN SICK.HOPE ALL OF YOU ARE WELL. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

One of the common claims that is brought up by patent system defenders when we discuss the idea of a greatly limited or eliminated patent system is that it doesn’t make sense for anyone to innovate, because others will just copy them. Of course, historically we have plenty of evidence that this isn’t true — and it makes sense if you think about it logically. Just copying something doesn’t give anyone a reason to buy from you — and depending on the product, copying them will take time, combined with the additional time to even let people know you’ve got a product in the market. By that time, the real innovator may be much further ahead. Steven points out that a recent Dilbert cartoon makes this point perfectly:

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Filed under: Europe, Plants/Manufacturing, Saab, Spyker

General Motors appears on track to either close or sell the ailing Saab brand by 2010. If they do, in fact, sell Saab, they are reportedly stipulating the following: the buyer must be well versed in small scale car production and they should be interested in keeping production in Saab’s homeland, Sweden. If you don’t know, Spyker fits that particular bill nicely.

Saab appears to be believing the deal will happen. “There are signals everywhere showing we are well on track,” says Saab spokesman Eric Greers. We heard last week that Spyker was interested in purchasing Saab, and today’s news only confirms it. Of course this wouldn’t be a Saab story without the threat of imminent disaster looming in the shadows.

The catch is that if GM and the prospective buyer can’t get the deal done by 2010, General Motors is just going to wash its hands of the perennial money loser and shut Saab down and sell off its assets. However, if the talks are going well but no deal has been reached by January, GM might consider funding Saab a little longer. Maybe. For their part, Spyker seems unaware of any looming deadline, though perhaps they should be.

[Sources: Reuters, Autocar | Image: Torsten Silz/Getty]

REPORT: Spyker takes the lead in the Saab bidding sweepstakes originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo Power may have brought us word that Mega Man 10 is headed for WiiWare, but the rumor mill will hand us a few of the finer details of the upcoming game. We’ve got the goods on

Tekken 6. Modern Warfare 2. Final Fantasy XIII. Three of the hottest titles in the scene right now. But no matter how many Mishimas pop into the story and how poor breathing control can make you miss

December brings a variety of activities, but also time away from school and the chance to recharge one’s batteries for the new year. Leaf through the December issue of Music Educators Journal and find some illuminating reading.
Features Include:

• Lift the Hood and Get Dirty! A Closer Look at Informances
• Capturing Student Progress via Portfolios in the Music Classroom
• Growing a New Generation of Music Teachers
• Saving the Spiritual for Your Students
• Sexual Orientation and Music Education: Continuing a Tradition
• Engaging Community Resources for Experiencing Brazilian Music

In the MENC Today section, catch up with news about MENC and music educators. Read about:

• MENC Executive Director John J. Mahlmann leaving MENC after nearly 27 years
• Preparations for the January 9, 2010 performance of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band In San Antonio, Texas
• Registration information for the Music Educators National Conference, March 25-27 in Anaheim, California
• Academy topics for Music Education Week in Washington, June 24-29
• MENC’s electronic elections, for which polls open on January 1, 2010
• A variety of upcoming MENC contest deadllines.
   

MENC members can read Music Educators Journal and other MENC journals online.
 

  —Roz Fehr, December 10, 2009. © MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Canada’s first Gigahertz phone is now available on Telus, with the LG IQ finally available for order on the carrier’s new HSDPA network.

The phone comes it pretty cheaply at $99, after a standard (for Canada at least) 3 year contract.  It beats the AT&T version, the LG eXpo, which was due to be released on the 2nd, but has been unaccountably delayed.

Strangely the pico-projector, the smartphone’s landmark accessory, does not seem to be on sale yet, but we can expect this to show up soon.

Are any of our readers picking up this smartphone?  Let us know in the comments below.

Via TheMobileninjas.com