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Funding has to come from somewhere

Editor, The Times:

This is a response to “Proposed state income tax will stymie job creation” [Opinion, April 25].

Let’s be honest. People who earn $40,000 to $80,000 per year pay a much higher tax rate than people who earn $100,000 or more and up. With a sales-tax rate of virtually 10 percent, lower-income earners pay on virtually their entire pay check because they spend nearly all of their earnings each year.

I know they do not pay taxes on groceries, but that is about the only break they get. Washington state has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. An income tax on high earners would somewhat even that out.

I disagree that small-business owners would be especially be hurt by this tax and would not have funds to reinvest in their companies. If they reinvest money in their businesses, it is no longer net income and therefore not taxable.

The citizens of our fine state want better schools, roads, etc. But they do not seem to want to fund these things. The money has to come from somewhere. Granted, there are still many things that could and should be cut, but there is a limit to that.

Two things that could be done right now are to eliminate the state printing plant and outlaw studded tires in Western Washington.

Studded tires add millions to cost of upkeep on our roads and they are necessary only a day or two each year. The state printing plant should have been closed years ago; most of the states surrounding Washington figured that out and eliminated them a long time ago.

— John Porter, Kirkland

With higher incomes come social obligation to pay fair share in taxes

Thank you Bill Gates Sr. for proposing a state income tax. The tax situation in this state is both unfair and unjust.

The sales tax is most regressive, requiring poor people to spend a greater percentage of their income than their better-off fellow citizens. Property taxes are way too high and the existence of the B&O tax is outrageous.

A state income tax is the only fair way to go.

My wife and I are retired and live on a pension, Social Security and some investment income.

My neighbor lives in a similar house and we both pay the same amount in property taxes. Three people live there: husband, wife and an adult child. All of them work. On the whole, they have three times the income we do, yet we pay the same taxes. They pay more sales tax than we do, but not by much.

People with higher incomes have a social obligation to pay their fair share in taxes, and that means an income tax.

— Walker Blincoe, Seattle

Thank you, Bill

A gentleman and a scholar, is Bill Gates Sr., as he signs Initiative 1077, which would target the earnings of Washington citizens and roll back property taxes on property owners and small businesses. I wish him much success as he and other proponents gather signatures.

I have introduced the income tax many times, always with the reduction of other taxes. Education and health-care forces could use $1 billion a year to bolster their needs. Thank you, Bill.

— Former Rep. Georgette Valle, Burien

Bill’s bills, bills

Too many people will think this income tax proposal is great —let the rich pay without recognizing the trickle-down effect.

Since Bill Gates Sr. is probably one of the wealthy who would have to pay the tax, it would seem on the surface that this would be a good idea.

Think again. The proof is the federal income tax that was for high earners only when it began 96 years ago with a cap of 7 percent. Does any average American fall into this category today? I think not.

This proposal is not acceptable. Do not vote for it.

— Roberta Tarr, Clinton

Give us your estate

If Bill Gates Sr. wants to give back, he is free to send in a check and donate his estate.

It is seductive to get the masses riled up to vote against the rich to take their money and send it to Ron Sim’s Unionized Army. But if we think 20 years ahead, the tax would be on everybody.

The other thing to consider is that state income taxes rely on submission of federal tax returns to state employees who would naturally study each one of us and ponder how to get a little more. How much about yourself do you want Olympia state employees to know: Your income, your Social Security number, your debt?

— Joe Wall, Seattle

The Washington Post is reporting that the porn-lovin’ employees of the SEC have not been fired. Here’s the breakdown:

Of the 28 employees investigated for accessing inappropriate images and Web sites, eight resigned and six were suspended for periods lasting one to 14 days, the inspector general, H. David Kotz, said in an letter Tuesday to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Five were issued formal reprimands, six were issued informal counseling or warning letters, and three are facing disciplinary action.

Five contractors who were investigated were removed from their contracts, Kotz added.

The SEC comes up with different numbers, but they also add up to no firings.

The chairman of the SEC sent a memo to staffers Friday stating that anyone who violates the agency’s computer rules will be fired, but the world is still waiting to hear why people haven’t already been canned.

SEC says no staffers were fired in porn investigation [Washington Post]

Posted by John Byrne at 2:02 p.m.; last updated at 5:40 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley today urged Chicagoans to turn in firearms in exchange for a prepaid credit card, but the city is going to have to pass the hat to come up with enough money to cover the yearly program.

Anyone turning in an assault weapon May 8 at one of 22 locations (for a list, click here) around the city will receive a $100 prepaid card. The payment is $75 for a gun other than an assault weapon, and $10 for a BB gun, air gun or a replica gun, the mayor said at a news conference.

Two years ago, $130,000 was raised for the annual drive. Last year, it
was down to $69,000 in donations and the mayor said the poor economy
continues to drive down donations this year. About $46,000 has been raised so far this year for the program, with more than 150 businesses contributing, according to mayoral spokesman Lance Lewis.

"The economy is going down, that’s why," Daley said.

The mayor was joined by Terry Hillard, the former police superintendent who is a co-chairman of the gun turn-in program. Hillard urged people to donate, and called for more publicity to convince companies to take part.

"Call one person and ask them to come up with $50 or $75 or $100, to put toward this initiative, so we can make this a successful drive next Saturday," Hillard said.

While the city cut back the reward for guns other than assault rifles
to $50 last year, officials increased the payment by $25 this year to $75.

"We asked more
contributors to contribute more and more money to the program, we hope
to expand, to make it more reasonable," Daley said.

Critics have questioned the gun buyback program’s effectiveness, pointing out that people sometimes turn in broken weapons to get a reward.

Since the gun turn-in began in 2006, "almost 19,000 illegal guns" have
been collected, including 1,900 last summer, according to a city news
release.

To read last year’s story on the program, please click here.

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ “Thoughts on Flash” memo is a rare glimpse into the mind of the rarest breed: A high-tech, cult figure who isn’t a geek. Apple posted the nearly 1,700-word essay earlier today, in response to the ongoing debate about Adobe Flash on iPhone OS devices. Or perhaps more directly: Adobe’s April 20 announcement that it had abandoned Flash development for iPhone OS devices; primary focus is shifting to Android.

The Flash debate got ugly earlier this month after Apple announced iPhone OS 4 would not support the Adobe technology and made developer agreement changes that prohibited use of cross-platform tools that could enable rival platforms like Adobe’s. Last week, Mike Chambers, Adobe’s Flash platform Principal Product Manager for developer relations, sounded the retreat in a blog post.

He wrote about the cross-platform tools: “We will still be shipping the ability to target the iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5. However, we are not currently planning any additional investments in that feature.” Adobe had already baked the feature into Creative Suite 5, which was announced on April 12. Additionally: “Personally, I am going to shift all of my mobile focus from iPhone to Android based devices (I am particularly interested in the Android based tablets coming out this year) and not focus on the iPhone stuff as much anymore.”

Adobe’s retreat seemingly should have been end of story, so why then did Apple’s CEO write a long essay giving six reasons why Flash is prohibited from the iPhone? I surmise two main reasons, although there are surely others:

• The Flash cross-platform tools will still be available with Creative Suite 5.
• Apple is still getting pushback from somewhere, presumably from developers who want more options on iPhone OS.

Letter of Lost Love

So Jobs penned a memo laying out reasons why no Flash on iPhone OS devices. In first reading “Thoughts on Flash,” the tone struck me as whiny. But in rereading I discerned something more complex, and I can’t detect whether it’s sincere or deliberate — the latter for marketing gain. The memo reads like a forlorn letter of lost love — like “if only” punctuates each of Jobs six points. If only you could be more “open,” we could be together. If only you embraced the “full Web,” we would never have parted. If only you would do things my way, I could embrace you.

Jobs sets the lost love tone right from the essay’s start:

Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage. Apple was their first big customer, adopting their Postscript language for our new Laserwriter printer. Apple invested in Adobe and owned around 20 percent of the company for many years. The two companies worked closely together to pioneer desktop publishing and there were many good times.

Since that golden era, the companies have grown apart. Apple went through its near death experience, and Adobe was drawn to the corporate market with their Acrobat products. Today the two companies still work together to serve their joint creative customers — Mac users buy around half of Adobe’s Creative Suite products — but beyond that there are few joint interests.

The “if only,” lost love theme permeates the entire essay, which makes Apple’s Flash divorce seem so reasonable — all with a strong emotional undercurrent. But Jobs presents a one-sided argument, which is anti-social in a computing era of commenting and crowdsourcing. His essay is posted to the PR section of Apple’s Website. No comments are possible. By comparison, Chambers posted to his blog, where comments are enabled. Chambers’ post encourages dialog and interaction. Jobs’ essay discourages it.

The one-sidedness also seeps through nearly all of Jobs’ six no-Flash justifications. I don’t doubt his sincerity about wanting to protect the iPhone OS device user experience, but there’s more. Apple calls iPad “magical and revolutionary,” but the same phrase applies to Jobs’ ability to make so reasonable arguments that emphasize the positives benefitting Apple products, while de-emphasizing or even ignoring the negatives. He is deservedly called a master marketer — more like master marketing magician.

Which Platform is More Closed?

I won’t critique all six no-Flash reasons but grab a couple to make the point: The reality Jobs evokes isn’t the only viewpoint. Jobs begins with “Open”:

Adobe’s Flash products are 100-percent proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

Now I’ll rewrite the same paragraph applied to Apple:

Apple’s iPhone OS products are 100-percent proprietary. They are only available from Apple, and Apple has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While iPhone OS products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Apple and available only from Apple. By almost any definition, iPhone/iPod touch/iPad is a closed system.

By Jobs’ logic, iPhone OS and devices running it are more closed. Adobe’s cross-platform approach lets developers directly distribute Flash content or applications on major browsers and operating systems. Development for iPhone requires Apple’s approval for App Store, and distribution is limited to three product categories — all controlled by Apple.

What About Adopted Standards?

“We strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the Web should be open,” Jobs writes. He doesn’t say pertaining to the iPhone platform. Jobs continues: “Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript — all open standards.” For that position on open standards Apple should be praised. But Jobs’ open-closed argument ignores an important reality: There is little practical difference between adopted standards and open standards, particularly when there are no onerous licensing fees attached to the adopted standards.

In fact, adopted standards are more commonly used everywhere. Flash is an adopted standard used by millions of Websites, and Apple has chosen to make content and interactive features unavailable to iPhone OS device users. How is the issue any more complicated than that? Flash is everywhere on the Web, but not Apple’s mobile Web.

Jobs writes: “Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access ‘the full Web’ because 75 percent of video on the Web is in Flash. What they don’t say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads.”

What Jobs ignores: Flash has supported H.264 since autumn 2007, with Flash 9 update 3. Also, H.264 is not an open standard. Like Flash, it is a proprietary adopted standard, for which license MPEG LA manages. By my count, there are 26 H.264 patent holders, among which is Apple.

H.264 isn’t free, either. In March, CNET’s Stephen Shankland asked: “Is H.264 a minefield for video pros?” Shankland wondered about licensing fees for H.264 content produced by Adobe or Apple products. In contacting MPEG LA he learned there are fees, depending on circumstances — hence the “minefield” reference. Something else: Firefox doesn’t support H.264, because Mozilla won’t pay the licensing fees. In January, after YouTube and Vimeo announced HTML5 support for video, Mozilla’s Mike Shaver posted:

Vimeo and YouTube seem to believe that reliance on proprietary plugins for video is a problem on the web. Mozilla believes that reliance on patent-encumbered formats is a problem on the Web…For Mozilla, H.264 is not currently a suitable technology choice. In many countries, it is a patented technology, meaning that it is illegal to use without paying license fees to the MPEG-LA.

The point isn’t rocket science: Licensing fees will affect H.264 adoption, and to places where Flash content already is available. Flash that Apple won’t support on its iPhone OS platform.

H.264 isn’t a Competing Platform

The difference between Flash and H.264 is important to Apple. Flash is a development platform, whereas H.264 is not. Then there is Apple being one of the H.264 patent holders. Jobs’ essay isn’t difficult to interpret, when viewed logically rather than as presented: Apple is pushing open standards where it benefits, as Microsoft did at the turn of century, mainly around the browser and where HTML5 preserves and extends the iPhone OS platform. But Apple is closed where it most benefits iPhone OS and App Store.

Jobs makes a reasonable argument about technical issues, such as Flash’s impact on battery life. He also reasonably explains why Apple doesn’t want Flash or any other third-party development platform on iPhone OS:

If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.

I won’t quibble that reasoning, but must add perspective. Isn’t what Jobs’ describes the reality of iPhone developers? They are “at the mercy” of Apple deciding “if and when” it will make enhancements available to them. Apple also exercises editorial control over which applications are approved and even sets rules around their development.

Why is this developers’ situation? Because the iPhone OS platform is closed — at least as much as Flash, and in some ways much more. Plain, pure and simple.

[Editor’s Note: Headline was changed from “Steve Jobs’ ‘Thoughts on Flash’ is a snow job.” There was concern some readers wouldn’t understand snow job definition.]

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Drilling not so thrilling

This is a response to “Oil-platform explosion illustrates risks of Gulf of Mexico drilling,” News, April 28. In the last month, seven workers were killed by an explosion in an oil refinery in Anacortes, 29 coal miners were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in West Virginia and, on Earth Day, a dozen or so workers died when on oil rig off the Gulf Coast exploded and sank into the ocean.

None of these tragedies would have occurred if our country had switched to safe and clean energy sources. Now, several days after the sinking of the oil rig, people seem surprised to learn that oil is leaking out of the rig into the ocean.

Drilling for oil in the ocean would always pollute the aquatic environment. Tankers carrying oil always run the risk of capsizing and killing enormous amounts of fish, sea mammals, sea flora and seabirds.

President Obama has reopened ecologically fragile areas for oil drilling, threatening extinction of polar bears, whales and other species. The Senate needs to pass the Clean Energy bill before more tragedies occur.

— Janalee Roy, Tacoma

When state plays with profits, citizens lose

An organization called Modernize Washington has filed paperwork for an initiative that seeks to end the state’s monopoly on selling and distributing alcohol and tobacco products [“State’s control of liquor may be challenged,” NWSaturday, April 17].

These products have been proved dangerous to the health of citizens; alcohol-related traffic fatalities continue to mount. Rather than promoting and peddling these dangerous products, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB) should proactively discourage their use.

The 1933 Steele Act (Washington State Liquor Act) authorized the state to create the LCB to regulate the sale and distribution of alcohol during the problematic, post-Prohibition era. What has evolved is a large bureaucratic entity that is apparently more concerned about profit than the health and safety of citizens. State liquor stores number in the hundreds and the LCB website once boasted of generating more than $140 million in profit annually.

The necessity is now obsolete; only 18 states still have LCBs. Regulatory responsibility should be remanded back to legislative committees that would oversee a scaled-down commission, with funds redistributed to the counties for enforcement.

It is not likely that our Legislature, with its proven insatiable desire to raise taxes, would do anything to end its cash cow monopoly.

— Kerry Watkins, Everett

Safety from harassment starts with exposing R-71 signers

In today’s letters section, one writer mentions the “gay agenda.” [“Privacy protects people from harassment and intimidation,” Northwest Voices, April 28.]

I have noticed those who bring up the “gay agenda” are always a little vague on what exactly the “gay agenda” is. I would like to clear that up.

The “gay agenda” is a home, a family, a job and two cars in the garage. It sounds a lot like the American dream, doesn’t it?

The same writer also said, “The central nugget here is safety from harassment.” I could not agree more and we could take a small step toward that ideal by exposing the harassers who signed Referendum 71.

— Howard Hance, Snohomish

Hate mongering

Although he is a Republican, I support state Attorney General Rob McKenna on his stand in the Supreme Court regarding openness of the names on the R-71 Petition protest.

I have yet to hear —in my 82 years —of anyone being harassed because of what he or she signed on a petition.

In my view, the ne’er-do-wells who organized the petition (there were three), all of which had deplorable records concerning their marriages and finances, know they are wrong in further protesting human rights. They are hypocrites of the worst caliber.

Why are there protests regarding human rights for gay couples, in this case, their “marriage”? Does that take anything away from us? Will we have to support many unwanted children or spend dollars we do not have on police, domestic violence offenders and murders? Does it hurt us to let them share property and personal things in a will or otherwise? You know and I know it does not; the name of their game is hate mongering.

— Leonard Larson, Seattle

Managed by managers, glad to see him go

This is a response to “Seattle parks chief to resign May 10” [NWTuesday, April 27].

I am not a fan of Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher and I am happy to see him go.

While he was away on various park expeditions, he left his team of managers to bungle a restoration site on an unstable slope above a sensitive wetland near my home in the northeast section of Ravenna Park.

My husband and I tried on repeated occasions to reach Gallagher and arrange a meeting with officials to discuss this mutual concern. After being ignored, I learned the best way to get the park managers’ attention: block their enormous dump truck from dropping a load of fill in their ill-fated and negligent attempt to restore an unstable slope.

That worked briefly, until mid-April, when they next gave us short notice to remove a retaining wall at the site — one even the Department of Planning and Development would have red- tagged.

To get their attention again, we had to light up the phone lines at Mayor Mike McGinn’s office to ask their assistance for a stay. Not one person was in the office on that Monday afternoon to take our phone calls.

While Gallagher was in Australia discussing the health of our parks, he failed to see they were already on life support and his staff was all on furlough at home. This is a pathetic failure of leadership and gives me no reassurance we could expect them to prevent a failure of the steep slope next to our home.

— Jennifer Kennard, Seattle

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Audi

This Audi commercial for the R8 Spyder has a tagline that sounds more like two spies verifying each others’ identities – “Mirror. Signal. Outmaneuver.” – and it has a supporting cast stranger than a man in a nuclear-powered suit. Not that it needs to be comprehensible since it’s got that topless white beast in it, and we’ll be fine with that, thank you.

Follow the jump for a little Fellini-esque trip through Audi’s mind.

[Source: Audi via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Confusing, but awesome Audi R8 Spyder commercial

Video: Confusing, but awesome Audi R8 Spyder commercial originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Location, one of the hottest segments in mobile, is a key component not just in navigation apps but also social offerings such as Foursquare, Google Buzz and even Twitter. The nascent space still has plenty of wrinkles to iron out, of course, including thorny privacy concerns and the technical shortcomings of GPS and other positioning technologies. But even though some business models have yet to emerge, there’s plenty of opportunity in mobile location. And there will be for quite some time.

That’s one of the takeaways from our GigaOM Bunker Series event this week (watch the video here) that looked at some of the challenges and possibilities in mobile location. Unlike some other white-hot segments in high tech, location is a wide-open field with relatively few legitimate players, said GeoDelic’s Rahul Sonnad.

“There’s only a handful of quality location companies out there,” Sonnad said during a panel discussion on location business models. “This market is in a hyper-expansive, universe-type mode. I think even for newer people coming in, you’re going to get this massive new market and, if you have something that works properly, you can get traction.”

Here’s a look at several specific opportunities discussed at the event:

The App Revolution: As hot as location is now, it’s positioned to explode in the near term as new applications come to market and more users become willing to share their whereabouts via the handset. Foursquare, for instance, remains a forum for early adopters to advertise where they’re eating or what their favorite nightclubs are –- a pretty slim value proposition for most of us, to be sure. But as mobile social networks gain popularity, they enable users to instantly form communities based on location.

Augmented Reality: Augmented reality (AR) is currently a novelty but holds enormous promise as a way for users to access information about their surroundings with applications that use location information to deliver web-based content to end users. The emergence of AR will usher in a host of new applications and services, from local search offerings (which are already coming to market) to mobile games and other forms of entertainment.

Vertical Markets: Some vertical markets are fertile territory for location-based applications. Developers hoping to leverage location should consider building health and fitness apps that could combine location information with vital statistics, enabling users to track how their bodies respond to workout routines. Retailers, too, can leverage location not just to woo potential customers nearby but also to deliver sales information and other content to boost revenues and create customer stickiness.

Improving Accuracy & Specificity: Michael Liebhold, of the Institute for the Future, bemoaned the inability of GPS to pinpoint location close than 10-20 meters or to locate users indoors. That lack of precision can be partially mitigated by leveraging the positioning of other technologies (including cell networks and Wi-Fi), but more accurate positioning could open the door for a host of more targeted offerings. Other participants spoke of a lack of the kind of geodata that could be used both to identify specific places (such as GigaOM’s offices, which are on the fourth floor of the building) and to provide location-based histories (such as every important event that occurred at a specific address).

Other hurdles will surely emerge as location moves further into the mainstream and becomes a component of a wide variety of apps and services. But if 2010 is truly the year of location, as Om predicts, it will only provide a taste of what we’ll see in the coming years. And that means plenty of opportunity for developers and everyone else looking to tap the booming segment. Read my full analysis here.

Photo by Flickr user Rubin110.

Related Research Briefings & Analysis

• “Location: The Epicenter of Mobile Innovation” by Phil Hendrix
• “Is Geolocation a Real Business or Just a Feature?” by Mathew Ingram
• “Mobile Augmented Reality Today and Tomorrow” by John du pre Gauntt

In 1980, as an intern with the House Natural Resources Committee, I spent hours summarizing legislative proposals to address acid rain, an issue captivating public consciousness. Thirty years later, I can see the great progress we’ve made and, along with hard-working EPA staff, I’m pleased to spread the word about that progress.

On April 8, we launched the 20th Anniversary Acid Rain Program Discussion Forum to talk about what we’ve been doing to address acid rain over the past 20 years and to create a space for open dialogue on this issue. I encourage everyone to check out the discussion forum posts to learn about the large emission reductions and high compliance rates we’ve seen under the program. You’ll also find information about improvements in air quality and human health, recovering ecosystems, and improved visibility in our parks.

Assessing where we are with acid rain is also done every few years in the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) report. The newest report, scheduled to be sent to Congress later this year, is a collaboration among EPA, other government agencies and scientists. It contains hard data on the success we’ve had in addressing acid rain, but it also underlines the work we still need to do – work that EPA is ready to tackle.

Administrator Lisa Jackson’s seven priorities for EPA specifically list reducing SO2 and NOx as top priorities for improving air quality. And so, building on the success of the Acid Rain Program and other programs, the Agency is getting ready to propose a new rule this spring that will deepen SO2 and NOx emission reductions in the East. Until that rule is finalized (sometime in 2011), the Clean Air Interstate Rule is in place and already achieving NOx and SO2 reductions from power plants. Check back with us this summer to see our progress report on results from the first year of the CAIR annual and ozone season NOx programs.

We are certain that in another 20 years we will have even MORE environmental and public health progress to share with you.

We hope you’ve enjoyed all the posts and comments on our discussion forum. Please continue the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the author: Rick Haeuber is Chief of the Assessment and Communications Branch within the Clean Air Markets Division which implements the Acid Rain Program and other cap and trade programs.

As the FCC gets closer to crafting network neutrality rules (assuming they even have the authority to do so), AT&T lobbyists have worked overtime to push the idea that creating such rules would automatically result in job losses. To help nudge this scary meme into the press, they hired their old friend Bret Swanson, formerly employed at the Discovery Institute — a think tank that created both the “Exaflood” (debunked here countless times) and “Intelligent Design”. Back in February Swanson, like most AT&T hired policy wonks, used completely bogus “science” to insist that network neutrality rules would result in 1.5 million job losses. He came to that number simply by adding up all of the people employed by companies that submitted comments to the FCC opposing network neutrality (seriously).

Now AT&T is back at work again, this time pushing the job loss claims through an AT&T-backed group called Mobile Future. Mobile Future has sponsored a new study (pdf) claiming that network neutrality laws will result in 340,000 lost jobs over the next 10 years — and 1.5 million lost jobs across all sectors by 2020. Using the impact the 1996 Telecom Act and local loop unbundling requirements had on the broadband sector as a broad foundation, the study tries to somehow project that FCC neutrality rules would slow broadband revenues by one-sixth. But as Bob Cringley notes, linking the complicated fight over line sharing (however you felt about it) to network neutrality isn’t a coherent foundation:

"…it’s hard to see how government regulation was the problem when the Bells largely refused to comply with it. You’d think being forced to share aging copper lines with startups would have encouraged the Bells to invest in better, higher-speed networks, not the opposite. Extrapolating from that regulatory situation to Net neutrality is like taking laws regulating manure production by draft horses to make projections about the future of the space shuttle."

Just as with bogus piracy statistics, there’s simply too many moving parts to make these kinds of projections one way or the other (and the study doesn’t try too hard to support the idea that neutrality could bolster content industry employment). You’d be hard pressed to get a room full of people to agree on what network neutrality even is after years of muddled debate — much less find a way to tie concrete job loss figures to the nebulous concept. Meanwhile, the AT&T-funded study unsurprisingly skips over the fact that companies like AT&T and Verizon are already laying off a significant number of employees as they lose landline customers (or in Verizon’s case, intentionally hang up on rural markets and slow FiOS deployment).

There’s also the small fact that while the FCC has issued proposals for new network neutrality rules, they haven’t crafted any concrete rules yet or defined key terms — making job loss predictions premature at best and completely absurd at worst. Even if the FCC were to craft rules defining “fair” network management practices, it seems likely that the final rules (once they run the lobbyist gauntlet) would be just as timid as the agency’s national broadband plan, which avoided tackling competition or truly rattling the status quo for fear of upsetting powerful carriers. For all of the annoying and ridiculous hysteria surrounding network neutrality, the most the rules seem likely to cause is a few sleepless nights for carrier lobbyists — who have to stay up late designing scary-looking pie charts.

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From Green Right Now Reports

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced a new “LEED for Neighborhood Development” rating system today that aims to reward communities that try to reduce urban sprawl, increase walkability and transportation options, and decrease automobile dependence.

The new certification, developed with the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council, hopes to encourage development within or near existing communities and public infrastructure to reduce the impact of sprawl. It is the seventh rating system for the USGBC, which certifies residential, commercial and other properties based on their environmental footprint.

In an announcement of the new program, the USGBC noted that many studies have found that connecting communities— keeping them closer to amenities and retail services – provides economic and health benefits.

The health benefits come from reduced traffic and air pollution and increased walkability. The shortened travel times also save money, USGBC officials said, citing a 2008 study that showed “automobile dependent” communities devote 50 percent more money to transportation.

“Sustainable communities are prosperous communities for the occupants and businesses which inhabit them,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council in a statement. “LEED for Neighborhood Development projects are strategically located in or surrounding metropolitan areas – often times revitalizing brownfields, infills or other underutilized spaces, opening new revenue streams, creating jobs opportunities and helping to drive the local, state and national economies.”

The LEED for Neighborhood Development program will promote “safe and inclusive communities” with good access to jobs, businesses, schools and parks, as well as ways to get around for pedestrians, bicyclists and those wanting public transit, officials said.

“Half of the buildings we will have in 25 years are not yet on the ground,” said Kaid Benfield, Director of the Smart Growth Program, Natural Resources Defense Council, “Where we put them is even more important to the environment than how we build them, and NRDC is proud to stand alongside our partners with a system that helps guide them to the right places while avoiding the wrong ones.”

The NRDC helped develop the USGBC plans by working with Smart Growth America, a national coalition of organizations working for better communities.

The Congress for the New Urbanism brought leading city planners and architects from the New Urbanist movement to help develop the new rating system.

“LEED for Neighborhood Development contains the components for compact and complete neighborhoods. With walkable streets, appropriately-scaled schools, and a mix of amenities close by, residents can lower their environmental impact while improving their quality of life,” said John Norquist, President and CEO, Congress for the New Urbanism.

Might We Suggest…

• Google TV Coming to a Set Top Near You!
  Google is reportedly teaming up with Sony and Intel to create a set top box based on the Android OS to bring home viewers rich web content via Android like apps right on their TV screen….

This is probably the best deal around the web right now for any piece of technology. You can now head over to Amazon and purchase a Droid Incredible for $99 with activation and a new 2 year contract. And with many Verizon stores being sold out, this may be the quickest way for you to get your hands on this hot Android handset.

Orders usually ship within 9 – 10 business days. Verizon is expected to receive more Incredible’s on May 4th. Lately, HTC has had inventory problems so there’s a really good chance this date might get pushed back. But, I would go for the best deal and you can’t beat a price tag $99 anywhere. So head over to Amazon and place your order today.

Published April 28, 2010
By the Tri-City Herald staff

A solar-powered concert and tree planting are Thursday at Columbia Basin College in Pasco in honor of Earth Day and Arbor Day.

The solar-powered concert featuring Jonathan Kingham is from 11 a.m. to noon in the HUB, 2600 N. 20th Ave., Pasco. The tree planting follows at 1 p.m. east of the “W” building along 20th Avenue.

Franklin PUD is providing the solar power for the concert. People at the tree planting will be given seedlings.

CBC has been named a Tree Campus USA school by the Arbor Day Foundation, the only community college in the state with that designation.

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

My talk from Social Business Edge is embedded below (Flash required).

About a minute of set-up, but then I get going. No slides.

Some nice phrases pop up here: “continuous partial attention means continuous partial empathy” is probably my favorite.

According to an AutoWeek article, Tesla’s Elon Musk says that the company will be unveiling an ambitious line-up of EVs over the next several years.

With the $50,000, 4-door Model S sedan already in the works for 2012, Musk says they have even more exciting plans for 2013 and 2014, including introducing 4WD to all of their vehicles and bringing an all-electric crossover to market.

(more…)

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GUANTANAMO BAY — Crisis averted. With his right hand shielding his eyes and dabbing at his eyes with a tissue, Omar Khadr returned to court for his pre-trial hearing. Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman for the military commissions, confirmed there was no forced cell extraction. Khadr appeared voluntarily.

That doesn’t mean he’s doing well. Khadr’s lawyer, Barry Coburn, told Col. Patrick Parrish, the judge in the case, that Khadr “has been and is now in a lot of physical pain” as the result of “foreign bodies” that remain in his eyes as the result of 2002-era shrapnel wounds he sustained during his capture in Afghanistan. The foreign bodies, combined with “severe conjunctivitis” in his non-functional left eye and some in his right, as well as elevated blood pressure, left him in “extreme pain,” Coburn said. Parrish agreed to end the hearing today at 4 p.m. accordingly.

Coburn said that the blacked-out goggles that detention-facility officials wanted Khadr to wear to transport him from his cell to court were “exacerbating” the pain. Commander Brad Fagan, a spokesman for the detention command, contradicted an earlier claim by Coburn, saying that Khadr’s treatment this morning followed “longstanding security transport procedures.”