Successful Blog

When Did AT&T Become Not For Profit? Was I Absent that Day?

by

Net Neutrality Links

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

Tom Evslin at Fractals of Change has been following Mr. Whitacre of AT&T more closely than I have. Tom’s detailed account of the merger with BellSouth is quite clearly focused. I’ve only pulled highlights. Read his analysis at at&t Blames Commercial Entities for FCC Delay.

Mr. Evslin’s report begins with the fact that the FCC has again delayed voting on AT&T’s merger/acquisition with/of BellSouth. He includes these lines from the NY Times in which AT&T is quoted as saying:

“While we regret that the merger has been delayed by the self-interest of commercial entities and their litany of unreasonable demands, we look forward to the F.C.C.’s approval so that we can get about the business of providing the overwhelming benefits the merger represents to consumers, to the economy and to the public interest.”

. . . we regret self-interest of commercial entities?

Excuse me? Are you implying you’re not part of that group? When did AT&T become not for profit? Was I absent that day? If you’re going to imply something untrue to me, please have the decency to be convincing.

Dear Mr. Whitacre, CEO of AT&T, first you said you will charge me and my destination to use “your pipes.” Now your company says that commercial entities are in the way of your “overwhelming benefits to the public interest.”

Tom Evslin says,

It’s the hypocrisy that’s annoying. Much more important is that this acquisition is significantly anti-competitive and is NOT in the public interest, far from it.

I have to agree with him.

Refusing emergency wireless voicemail access is only one in the list of things NOT “in the public interest” AT&T and BellSouth have done to date. MA Bell is back. Do read on. I missed most of this until Tom Evslin put it in one place.
[Read more…]

SOB Business Cafe 11-03-06

by

SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Brightmeadow explains the fine art of writing instruments and why quality counts.

Essential Keystrokes demonstrates how search engines are interconnected in complicated ways.

Simplenomics educates us on the art and history of the compliment and how it applies in our business lives.

Fool for Five knows we can learn something from a Prison Break.

Trevor Hampel gives some thought about our audience, knowing full well that “for whom” is just stuffy talk.

Related ala carte selections include

Converstations lets us know that the frequencies are changing with the times.

Purple Wren reminds us to keep track of what’s going on around us.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Net Neutrality 11-03-2006

by

Net Neutrality Links

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

The Banned Site tool turns up something interesting

Over on Threadwatch they were discussing the newest MSN seach parameter, which allows the parameter LinkFromDomain. Russ Virante, one of the commenters, posted his newest tool based on that parameter, which will show you which of your outbound links that are banned from Google, pretty useful if you want to weed them out, though it only shows the first hundred, and this site has more outbounds than that. Be that as it may, it was useful in weeding out one from my webgeek directory.

also ran it on the Bitchslappin Political Blog to see what turned up over there. . . . But the other surprise was the Verizon PoliBlog, which I won’t link to, but you can find here:

http://poliblog.verizon.com/PoliBlog/blogs/poliblog/default.aspx

Hmm, one has to wonder why that is? Is it something in the algorithm? Did they do something shady? Have they been spammy? Or could it have something to do with Verizon’s stance on Net Neutrality?

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Business Rule 1: Working at Home and Doing it Right

by

What I Do for a Living

Business Rules Logo

I no longer work in an office. It’s been years. Now my desk is glass. It sits in my living room in Chicago behind a Chinese rice paper screen. Out the windows behind me is Lake Michigan and, in the wee hours when I have a chance, I can look at the water and think about what I’ll write next.

My office is the Internet. It’s inside my computer and inside yours. It’s open 24/7. My friends will attest that I’m almost here. I like it when you stop by or interrupt. It’s kind of lonely when no one’s around.

When folks ask me what I do every day, I say I write about thinking, and writing, and strategy. They usually get what I mean by that. But what I really do is try to share what I’ve learned and have fun while I’m doing it. It’s a rule of business and of life —

If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.

What work did you do that was fun today?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

You might have heard of my new service for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and folks who are forging a path of their own. I’m calling it PVM, the Perfect Virtual Manager. We all need Managers. It’s perfect because you get to decide your manager’s job description. What could more perfect than that?

11.3: Rajesh Setty — The Inner Game

by

The Five Ls

Yesterday, Raj discussed participation and differentiation. He explained that team loyalty and individual goals are not mutally exclusive. He pointed out that to be a strong team member, a person needs to be self-aware and to participate as an individual as well as a team player.

Today, Raj talks about how a professional looks inward to start with a solid foundation of personal skills. In his book, Beyond Code: Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps! Raj calls that the Inner Game.

Raj, in Beyond Code, you talk about the Inner Game — Learn, Laugh, Look, Leave a lasting Impression, Love — how might you mentor someone who takes life too seriously, who has too much negative “self talk” getting in the way?

In the “Inner Game” section of the book, I cover some topics or areas where a professional can focus and improve with limited external dependencies. There are five of them. Most of them are related to the person’s attitude and philosophy towards life, career and ambition.

Here is the basic premise of each of the five chapters:

[Read more…]

Net Neutrality 11-02–2006

by

Net Neutrality Links

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

Net Neutrality: Doc Searls : Saying What and How

I’ll cop to giving more weight to the future than to the present (because I prefer growth and dynamism over stasis). And to having a personal agenda: wanting the Net to be more than gravy on telephony or cable TV from the local duopoly. In both cases I want the marketplace to be free and open and not your-choice-of-silo.

How do we get that? I think we need something other than a choice between carrier regulation and carrier protectionism, which is how the two sides seem to line up right now.

As for evidence of harm, I’d cite the carrier’s asymmetrical bandwidth provisioning (not to mention port blockages) and tendentious arguments — “It’s what the market wants” — when the market has no other choice. The Net needs to enable and support production as well as consumption. It needs to support and not just prevent (or make difficult) new business in small and home offices. To name just two pro-market moves.

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE