March 23, 2006

FCC Complicity in the Corporate Murder of the Internet

As predicted, the FCC is lining itself up to favor corporate interests over the greater success of the Internet and the protection of consumers:

FCC Chief: AT&T Can Limit Net Bandwidth

No shock, I guess. The goal of this administration has always been to maximize profits of corporate interests. Who cares if it's short-sighted? The desire is to pocket as much as possible before the entire system collapses...

This is the next step in what I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.

So get ready to pay your ISP for service while Google and others pay for their service and then pay yet again to be allowed passage across an increasingly segmented and tiered Internet. Oh, and don't forget that those sites that can't pay up just won't even get a shot... thus ending much of the great revolution that was once the Internet as we know it.

Call me reactionary or fatalistic... but this is how it starts, folks (much like the Patriot Act and your ever-eroding civil rights).

UPDATE: Everybody is piling on the topic: dvorak.org/blog, Slashdot and Digg.

March 12, 2006

Nobody relaxes like a cat...

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My wife summoned me from my desk yesterday afternoon with that impish sparkle in her eye that says "you need to come here... the cat's up to something again". It was a beautiful day and we had opened all the windows in the house some hours earlier. This, of course, means the cat starts his somewhat manic circuit around the house, getting in every single window to better sniff the world outside the walls in which he is so sadly "imprisoned" (disregarding, of course, the two screened-in porches to which he has 24/7 access via his two cat doors.. approximately 21 huge windows... virtually every piece of furniture upon which to leave hair... a "staff" of two with laps... the list of limits to his ultimate happiness goes on).

Apparently he had tired of visiting every window repeatedly and decided it was time to nap. I suspect the direct sunlight heating up a large, carved stone bowl in the shape of a leaf was a big factor in his decision. From the day Elisabeth brought home this decorative bowl, the cat has claimed it as his bizarre plaything and occasional bed. He often jumps in it and peers over the edge in an attempt to entice you to come play his favorite game of swatting and grabbing while twisting in various contortions.

I couldn't pass up the chance to take some shots of him since the light and shadows were so interesting. A pure white cat in direct sunlight can be something of a challenge, but I actually like the sharp contrasts of light and shadow under these conditions.

I think this might be about the most photographed cat on planet earth. His antics provide all kinds of opportunities and I've taken pictures of him with every digital camera I've owned over the past few years. One of my upcoming projects is creating a gallery of shots of him over the years with each model camera... should be technically interesting if not mildly entertaining from a subject standpoint. :)

These shots were taken at ISO 100 with available light using my 20D and a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

P.S. The cat's name - Squinky - is a combination of two words: squeaky and stinky.

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March 9, 2006

The Greatest Thing EVER!

After all the incredible excitement and hype, Microsoft has finally unveiled what they promise to be the coolest thing ever for mobile computing.

Unfortunately, it turns out to be this:

Microsoft Origami UMPC

Wow. An over-large, limited-battery-life, not-sure-if-you-can-make-calls-on-it, not especially sexy handheld (plural, not singular) PC running Windows XP.

Put Linux on it and it might be mildly interesting in the right circumstances. Can't put it in my pocket... big enough that I might as well carry my far more powerful Mac laptop...

They sure are tone deaf at M$.

- Aaron

UPDATE: Heh... seems Waldo feels about the same. :)

March 7, 2006

The Ongoing Corporate Murder of the Internet

The stories cropping up everyone regarding lobbying efforts by telecom companies to start chopping up, tiering and otherwise murdering the smooth flow of information across the Internet have started to worry me more than just about any other technical issue of late. Typically, this whole situation is yet another example of corporate interests and their political partners working to maximize profits while limiting the choices of the consumer. From successful attempts to obliterate municipal wireless networks to decreasing regulation touching off more and more megamergers in the telecom and media world, we're likely to see the Internet we use today turn into another "gold", "silver" and "platinum", tiered, packaged and overpriced pile of crap not unlike satellite TV and cell phone service.

That might sound a little fatalistic or overblown... but look at the warning signs. Of the various articles I've read scattered about the web, this story on DailyKOS is a good starting place to get a taste of the political and corporate mix that is taking us down this road:

According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets -- corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers -- would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out.

Under the plans they are considering, all of us -- from content providers to individual users -- would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received.

Give it a read...