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Net Neutrality 01-30-07

January 30, 2007 by Liz

Net Neutrality Links

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

Is Net Neutrality A Myth? [via Light Within]

The advocates of net neutrality have, at first blush, one overwhelming argument in their favor. The Internet was designed to be a dumb network, with all the brains and innovation residing at the ends of the system. As such, all bits of data traveling over the Internet would be treated equally. This “end-to-end” design principle is the essence of network neutrality and, the proponents of mandated net neutrality argue, must be maintained to secure the Internet as we know it.

This essential characteristic, it is argued, precludes the owners of the Internet’s “pipes” from engineering any intelligence into the network’s architecture–and thus any differential pricing–since all the intelligence must reside at the edges. Proponents of mandated net neutrality managed to force the adoption of some net neutrality provisions into the recent merger agreement between AT&T (nyse: T – news – people ) and Bell South.

But in ” The Myth of Network Neutrality and What We Should Do About It,” Robert Hahn and Robert Litan of the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies argue that, contrary to the claims of regulated neutrality proponents, “all bits of information are not treated equally from an economic standpoint.” They argue that “the Internet is not end-to-end now and was never designed to be strictly neutral.”

How can this be? The engineering architects of the Internet drafted the technical rules in informal papers called Requests for Comment. The early drafters of the Net’s architecture, according to Hahn and Litan, “recognized the need to offer priority to some packets over others.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Robert Hruzek Is a B.A.D Blogger!

January 29, 2007 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Robert there?

It was a while ago when Robert emailed me that he was ready to be be a B.A.D. blogger. He warned me, though, that if I was as bad at small talk as I profess to be, the resulting conversation could be rather slow. He said that was because he’s writer, not a talker. I told him I wasn’t worried about my ability to people talking with me.

You might call it irony — that we started by talking about bridges — the bridges in Chicago and in Portland. I live in Chicago, and we have lots of them over the river that flows backwards through our city. Bob remembered them and then told me about the bridges of Portland.

I kind of liked the idea of two bloggers who don’t take to small talk starting out by talking about bridges. It seemed to lie a perfect writer’s segue.

Somehow from there we got talking about “the mysteries.” We discussed people who use the details of their job to cloud the issues by making what they do sound “mysterious.” You’ve run into them, I bet. We mentioned the print buyers who say, “Oh no, that will never work on the press,” nixing what they don’t want to do by using the mysteries of the equipment most people don’t know. We talked about folks across every industry who do the same thing.

Then, Bob told me about his grandmother’s attic where he found a love of reading. He said she had a window there with hundreds of books and magazines. He said he’d sit in the window and read. I could picture him perched in the daylight of the attic window, nose in a book, unaware of the rest of the world.

When he spoke of blogging, Bob was speaking of the cosmopolitation nature of the community. “I’ve met people from every corner of the world . . . It’s fascinating . . . I can travel with my computer . . . It’s really fun.”

So was talking our way across bridge with a guy who doesn’t like small talk as much I don’t.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

It’s truly addictive to find a voice I didn’t know I had. — Robert Hruzek

Stop by Robert’s Blog, Middle Zone Musings, and say hi!

Thanks, Robert, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

10 Ways to Start a Blog Post — 01-29-07

January 29, 2007 by Liz

Start with a Few Words

Sometimes a few words can get a whole lot started.

When I look at the people around me . . .
If I could, I’d invent . . .
It happens the same way every time . . .
When I sit down with the news every morning, . . .
Every relationship has an ROI. . . .
When I was kid, I always thought that by now . . .
Can you help me out here? Is this a new thing? . . .
In this economy, anyone . . .
If you want to have a meaningful conversation with . . .
At this very moment, somewhere in the world, . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: Let People Out of the Boxes

January 29, 2007 by Liz

They Had made Up My Mind

I once worked in a highly political culture. It took a while to know that politica played a huge role there. I had moved to a new city and a new job. I had to sort what was the company and what was the culture in part of the country.

As any new employee, I got to know the folks in my department. They showed me the “ropes” of the company, how things worked, and who was who. I took what I was told on face value.

Time went by. I found feet and my way around. I got to know what worked for me. I got to know what didn’t work too. I figured out that some of those folks who showed me around in the early days had political reasons for telling me things they told me.

I didn’t take into account how my beliefs about the company had been affected by conversations with those political people. It was a while before I woke to realize something about me I didn’t like.

I had opinions about people — people I didn’t know. I had become part of a culture that put people in little boxes.

My mind had people organized by one or two traits and their political clout within the company. It was part of the cultural organizational chart, the oral history handed down to me when I arrived there. I had bought it, as fishers say, “hook, line and sinker.”

That morning I started over. I started talking to all of the folks at work with clear intent of getting to know them. The more I talked, the more I enjoyed the folks that I was getting to know. I found that I’d been missing out on some pretty cool, intelligent people.

The world changed that day, when I let the people out of the boxes.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

______________
If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

Bloggy Question 35: Rockin’ Blogger

January 28, 2007 by Liz

Road Trip

For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week. I offer this bloggy life hypothetical question. . . .

A long time friend, a rock promoter, is town with the coolest band. You’re jealous and jazzed at the same time. It’s the kickoff to the concert tour for their latest CD.

Folks have been waiting for three years. The concert has been sold out at the stadium for months now, and there you are with box seats and full back stage access. This is better than anything you and your friend pulled off in college.

You took a week off work just for the occasion.

You’re in with band. It’s like you’re with old friends during set up and sound checks. You’re no music slouch yourself. The sound guy lets you listen in on the headset.

As rehearsal moves on, you pull out your laptop and start blogging your usual blog posts for the week.

On a break, the band comes over to see what you’re doing. The lead singer says he tried blogging, but couldn’t blog and write music too. He asks you a string of questions about your blog and blogging in general.

Then the day before the band leaves town, your fine friend says, “They want you to come with. They want you to blog the entire road tour all 12 months of it — $10K/month, all expenses paid, fine hotels, great food, big cities, Europe, UK, South Africa, Singapore, Australia, Japan.

It means being out of your job, your apartment, and on the road for your life in a matter of days.

How do you respond?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: PicMaster

January 28, 2007 by Liz

How Do They Create Those Mosaics?

Great Find: PicMaster

Permalink: http://www.graphics-tools.com/

Target Audience: All Windows users

Content: This week we’re taking a look at a program called PicMaster. There are a number of features this program is known for, but the one I like the best is the mosaic function. I’ve seen those mosaics made with a lot of little photos and wanted to try it. This software makes it easy. Make sure you have a large selection of photos that can be made into thumbnails for the finished piece. Then it’s just a matter of telling the software what you want and waiting a few minutes.

VoilÃÂ¡! A mosaic for your viewing pleasure.

PicMaster is offered as Shareware so you can try it before paying the $29.90 U.S. fee. There are restrictions though, so if you like what this tool offers, you will want to purchase it to eliminate the watermark and realize the full potential of the software.

Here are seven things I like about PicMaster :

Create mosaics.
Remove red-eye with the image editor.
Manage your pictures with the image browser.
Print individual pages to make a huge poster.
Morph images (e.g., a cat into a dog).
Use the filters (preview first) to create neat effects.
Add sound comments to your pictures.

I had fun with this program. Let me know what you think.

Stay tuned… next week we’ll have a graphics tip!

–Sandy, Purple Wren