Successful Blog

Net Neutrality 9-12-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Amazon exec: net neutrality necessary because of “little choice” for consumers

In an interview [with ECT News] Amazon VP of Global Public Policy Paul Misener reinforces one of the reasons why we need net neutrality: our (lack of) choice when it comes to broadband. . . .

[ . . .]

By the FCC’s reckoning, that means I have broadband choice here on the northwest side of Chicago. Well, sort of. For cable, my sole choice is Comcast-and that’s what I use, with few service complaints. On the other hand, DSL is not an option for me because of the lousy infrastructure in my over 80-year-old neighborhood and my distance from the DSLAM. Broadband over power lines? Not yet. Citywide WiFi network? A gleam in Mayor Daley’s eye. WiMAX? Some day, maybe. Broadband choice? Not in any coherent sense of the word.

In Misener’s opinion, the lack of choice means net neutrality is a must because if an ISP decides to begin prioritizing certain traffic, consumers don’t have a meaningful alternative.

“[U]ltimately what can they do besides complain? Consumers have little choice when it comes to high speed Internet. If they had more choices of providers, this wouldn’t be such a dangerous situation.”

There are a number of other arguments for net neutrality, including the possibility of ISPs clamping down on traffic that they find objectionable. Misener outlines one such scenario involving a striking union and points out that while such scenarios may seem far fetched, there are no laws in place to prevent it from happening.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 9-11-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Net neutrality meets election-year reality Bill is stalling in Senate; telecom firms push for video [via freepress]

Although both sides continue to press lawmakers to act, most observers say Congress is too preoccupied with pre-election politics to tackle this complex issue before Sept. 29, when senators are expected to recess.

“Conventional wisdom is that the issue will simply sit there,” said Christopher Putala, executive vice president with EarthLink, a pro-neutrality Internet company.

[. . . ]

The dispute over Internet pricing, complicated enough in its own right, is joined to a separate issue — injecting more competition into the paid television market by giving phone companies what amounts to a nationwide franchise to deliver shows through their wires.

The bill that is stalled in Congress, therefore, is really designed to promote what proponents call video choice. It would pave the way for phone companies to compete with cable and satellite vendors by using their wire networks to pipe TV into homes.

The net neutrality proposals being pushed by the Internet coalition are contained in amendment to that video choice bill.

[. . . ]

But Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., put a hold on that bill — a maneuver that effectively requires 60 votes to lift — and Congress went into its summer recess leaving these twin issues of video choice and net neutrality awaiting a vote before the full Senate.

Now, most political insiders say it doesn’t look like proponents of video choice have the 60 votes they need to lift Wyden’s hold — and a Wyden staffer said he has no intention of lifting it unless he gets tough net neutrality language — making it unlikely that the full Senate will take any action soon.

[. . . there is more between after]

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 9-10-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Qwest CEO Speaks Out Against Net Neutrality

Dick Notebaert, the CEO of Qwest Communications, made claims last week that the concept of net neutrality is “really silly,” and could ultimately stifle competition and cost customers more.

“Competition is good, makes us better and makes us more creative,” the CEO commented. “That’s why when they talk about net neutrality, bad idea. Really silly. What we’re talking about has no basis in anything. It’s a nice move to make the consumer pay for everything.”

Notebaert went on to say that passing net neutrality legislation would be like telling FedEx that it can’t offer overnight service is UPS doesn’t.

In making this childish comparison, however, he’s avoiding the central issue under question. Internet service providers are free to cater to the needs of different subscribers by offering faster and more expensive packages to some customers than others. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Thanks to Week 46 SOBs

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muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this badge’s validity, send him or her directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Introducing Have Laptop Will Travel

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SOB Hall of Famer: Have Laptop Will Travel by SeanRox

HaveLapTopWillTravel.com went live on June 3, 1999 as the personal site of me, SeanRox, to have a place to post random thoughts, rants, jokes and photos, all hand coded and static.

Since that time, it’s no longer a static site. It’s now a database powered with the same content and has grown into a place for me to review technology, movies, music and to let people know what’s new and exciting around the world. Have Laptop Will Travel still reflects my fun, easy-going attitude which is who I am, a laid-back geek with social skills, who enjoys geektastic toys and likes to give people a hard time. If I like you, I needle you but it’s all in good fun. I’m a nice guy, really.

I hope the above helps motivate and stimulate your brain… that’s what I like to do, get people thinking.

Notes from Liz: When SeanRox and I had our first conversation about relationship blogging, he told me about a post in which he asked his readers whether he should be the next James Bond, and about two other posts in which he and his readers discussed two laptop art projects — one involving a dollar bill collection he’s started and a second that updated both the stencils rocking the cover of his laptop and the tech advances going on inside. SeanRox’s extensive background in computers also means that he knows what he’s talking about when he decides he talking tech.

The cool part is that what he says about being a fun, easy-going, laid-back geek with social skills is also true. He proved it when he stopped by Open Comment Night with food for everyone and lots to add! Can’t help but like a blogger like that.

Whether he’s talking movies, tech, geek toys, instant messaging, hacking, or about his dog, SeanRox has a way of making what he says fun to read. Take a look and tell him that I said I need a picture first before I decide on that James Bond thing. They’ve already chosen the new guy for this time around, so I don’t suppose he’s waiting on me anyway. . . .

Thanks, SeanRox, for all of the conversation that makes you part of Successful Blog.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Has your SOB Blog Been Introduced to US?
Blog Promotion: May I Introduce You?

Category Fun: Tom Bailey’s “Gotcha” . . .

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I've been thinking . . .

My day started laughing . . . not at a cartoon, about a real thing — something elegant and clever someone did — blogger’s “gotcha,” so to speak.

I’ve been “got.” 🙂

The other day I said, in passing, to Tom Bailey at Business Blog Hive that I would appreciate a link.

Tom’s no ordinary guy by any stretch. This morning he showed me what a link might look like.

The result is a blogger’s touché and a “gotcha” of the best, the most fun, and kindest sort. What’s cool about his response is that he found a way to make it NOT just between him and me. Tom wrote a post that is useful and entertaining for his readers at the same time as he got me.

[Picture: Kids and Liz as one of them, playing in the backyard. Space alien fight is going on. Liz puts hands to gut saying “Ugh, you got me,” and falls to the ground dramatically hit by a laser gun — a perfect shot has taken her out.]

Well, that’s the image I got reading it . . .

Excellent blogging. Tom Bailey likes what he does. Click the title to take a look.

Getting Started as a Successful and Outstanding Blogger

If you don’t know Tom Bailey at Business Blog Hive, he might appear All Work and No Humor and possibly a little too focused on this week’s Business Blog In The News. Don’t let that throw you! Despite the Newsy Theme, he does participate in Blogtipping and even tips SOBs!

Any friend of an SOB, well . . . I think Tom Bailey is worth checking out some. I did a lot of that this morning. He’s the real stuff, so is his blog.

I like this blog talk kind of interacting across our blogs. Let’s find ways to blog talk that other folks would never think of . .
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PS. Tom Bailey . . . you’ve gotten this mischievous mind in gear now . . . I am the nice one, but I sure do like to have fun.