Successful Blog

Net Neutrality 8-8-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Even Giants Like Siemens Worry

Why would Siemens worry about net neutrality’s effects on smaller companies? Its customers aren’t necessarily big. “We sell to small and medium companies that are built on a low-cost structure and are net-dependent,” said [Ralph] Riley {Siemens senior executive] in Ann Arbor, Mich.

While the debate over net neutrality continues, users remain the forgotten stakeholders. Click here to read more.

He already sees potential for danger for his company’s markets and customers. “This would probably restrict much of the drive toward mobility that’s growing in American business,” Riley said. He said that with greater regulation, it could become impossible for users to roam freely from one carrier to another as they do now.

“What it would do is suppress much of the opportunity businesses have in expanding mobility,” he said. “How would you go anywhere without being charged too much or not getting access?”

But Riley said he also worries that too much regulation would be just as bad. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

7.4: Cat’s Advice and Her Favs

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Whew! Cat’s a Busy Designer!

Cat Morley

I’m not going to list all of the places we’ve been with Cat. From OZ to design for the Queen is enough said. Tonight questions are a little closer to home.

Cat, What do you do when you’re not sharing your great links and ideas at Successful Blog?

I still have clients in the wings (the last ones before taking off into
unemployment), I keep Designers who Blog running. I’m project manager for NO!SPEC which means I deal with design orgs when spec competitions come up, I send out letters of protest and galvanize people to send out letters, etc. As project manager for Creative Latitude I confer with my team before we update, deal with new authors, come up with angles, etc. As the president of Proscodi I put together committees to deal with each element of setting up a design org, I meet other heads of design orgs, go to meetings, etc.

What advice do you have for new bloggers and young designers?

Bloggers – it always takes more time than you planned so be sure to write about something you love. And be prepared to walk away if it’s taking up too much of your life.

Designers – there is not enough room here for all the advice I’d give to a young designer, so the top priority would have to be:

    – Get a degree. The best one you can afford. And then some.
    – Learn about business, accounting, dealing with clients,
    communicating, public speaking, hiring, etc.
    – Learn to write. The majority of the designers I know have appalling
    grammar. Myself included.
    – Latch onto a mentor.
    – Never stop learning.
    – Get a life. Preferably your own.

What design work online do you point to as well done?

Illustrator: (Von created the icons for Creative Latitude) –
http://www.vonglitschka.com/
Web designer: (Nigel designed the Creative Latitude website) –
http://www.commonsensedesign.net/
Blog designer: http://www.pearsonified.com/

One more part to go. Cat tells her BIG IDEA.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
Interview 7.1: Meet Cat Morley, World Designer
7.2 Interview: Cat Morley Becomes a Blogger
7.3: Cat, the Toothpaste, the Queen and Everyone

Net Neutrality 8-7-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Online Advocacy: Same As It Ever Was?

The net neutrality fight has many parallels to anti-Communications Decency Act battle that raged beginning in 1995. Online activists were emboldened by free-speech issues and teamed with established companies to fight the legislation. The activists lost the fight in Congress and with President Clinton who signed the bill, but generated enough momentum and support that they rallied considerable resources to their side to win in the Supreme Court, which struck down the law.

The activists…

  • Got sites like Yahoo! to go black for a day (Black Thursday)
  • Organized online petitions that got more than 100,000 signatures
  • Drove direct constituent communications to members of Congress

    • If we can learn from recent history, the CDA battle taught us that the Web can quickly bring people together to marshal forces for a common cause, but that if the driving issue goes away, so do many of the participants. You need a pressing, immediate battle to really rally the troops. . . .

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

    VOX: As Fun as Grandmas and Grandpas!

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    It’s Important to Share

    Vox

    After a couple of decades in publishing, I can tell you that you never get over that feeling. The best part is always that moment when all of the pieces come together into something done and whole. In blogging, it’s that second when you hit the button that says Publish. It feels satisfying and important.

    Six Apart understands that. VOX proves it.

    VOX is a new virtual-neighborhood blogging platform. It’s made for grandmas and grandpas and friends and families. Everything about it is geared toward sharing — sharing life with folks you invite in and sharing that feeling of doing something important.

    I made a gorgeous VOX blog in less time than will take to write this blog post.

    What VOX Has

    What VOX has going for it is that Six Apart knows and cares about the audience who will use it. It shows in the balance of fun to features. VOX is the platform for friends and families, people who want a more familiar blogging experience, and people who want a simple satisfying hobby. Here are just a few of the reasons:

    • The interface is natural and intuitive. The hardest part was picking a tagline.

    • Grandma could build a blog with a post and photo in less than 30 minutes. I think I opened my account and did all of that in about 15 minutes.

    • No one needs to learn to spell hard words such as CSS, PHP, or HTML.

    • Flickr, Photobucket, Amazon, youTube, iFilm, iStock photo are integrated. There’s no need to find them.

    • Past inserts of audio, video, and photos are easy to find and use again.

    • A comment feature after every post allows Grandpa to check “This is good,” to show he read my post. He doesn’t need to type at all.

    • Each post and the comments allow levels of privacy — public, friends and family, friends only, family only, you only.

    The sense of community is something special. It comes from the energy of the writing on the team blog. Here are the VOX Invitation Coloring Contest Winners.

    VoX Coloring Contest

    See what I mean about fun?

    For screenshots and to score an invitation turn the page. [Read more…]

    Net Neutrality 8-6-2006

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    Net Neutrality Links

    I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

    Net Neutrality Tool Misses the Point

    . . . However, what some are missing is critical to this whole net neutrality debate. It’s not that we won’t know or be able to detect if we’re experiencing packet discrimination. Heck, we already know broadband providers are going to discriminate because they’ve told us they will—AT&T’s Whitacre even said it recently again, in case there was any question.

    No the issue is this: we’ll know the discrimination is happening, but the internet surfing public and web-based businesses will be unable to do anything about it. Why? Because last year the FCC gave up that discrimination complaint-process role and in Congress’ telecom bills (House and proposed Senate), even if the FCC changed its mind and wanted to do something, its hands will be tied. . . .

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE