Thursday, January 20, 2005

broadband wireless networks Journal Lays Out Broadband Wireless Landscape. The Wall Street Journal exhaustively surveys the lay of the land for broadband wireless deployment: I estimate that this article took a few dozen hours and weeks of reporting--some of which surely found its way into other articles--to pull together because of the number of companies and technologies involved. It's a great overview that focuses on WiMax, metro Wi-Fi, and other broadband wireless as an alternative to the wirebase that's needed by cell companies and service providers who don't own copper. I particularly like the neat turn of phrase that encapsulates the entire WiMax branding and hype problem: One of the technologies drawing the most attention is WiMAX, which is similar to the popular Wi-Fi standard that millions of people have used to set up wireless networks in their homes but is slated to have a range of several miles. Since WiMAX has yet to be certified, companies are using precursors to the technology. Exactly. Precursors aren't necessarily worse, but they're not interoperable and they don't bring the benefits of mass-market standardization to reduce the CPE (customer premises equipment) that will ultimately make broadband wireless affordable to the average home instead of a subset. I love this bit of specious reasoning quoted about the landline side of things that are causing this competitive wireless marketplace to emerge. The Bells argue that they shouldn't be forced to share their lines. "We're incurring all of the costs of building these networks and we don't feel we have to share them with our competitors below what it costs us to build and maintain our network," says BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher. I don't think anyone has ever asked the Bells to subsidize the cost, but rather to provide an accounting that shows the true costs. It's clear that because the Bells can bundle services and make money across an entire customer package that they have every motivation to make their wire costs much higher to discourage having to resell access at a price that allows competition. In other words, if the Bell companies can arrange a markup over costs, why can't they resell at wholesale with a margin for competitors? They can, but they want it to appear as though they can't to preserve their bundling profits. Also, I guess nobody every explained to Mr. Battcher that monopolies, natural or regulated, are subject to different rules than companies competing without any advantage. The... [Wi-Fi Networking News] 10:43:16 PM

squid thing Hundreds of giant squid wash onto Calif. beaches. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Hundreds of giant squid are washing up on Orange County beaches, creating a scene more akin to ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' than ''The O.C.'' [azcentral.com | thebuzz] 9:56:18 PM

Vans and Fuel TV 24/7 ACTION SPORTS NET FUEL AND VANS BRING VANS TRIPLE CROWN SERIES LIBRARY AND ?OFF THE WALL? SERIES TO FUEL FSN Keeps Rights to Primary Telecast of ?Off the Wall? LOS ANGELES, CA ? VANS, Inc., one of the most recognized youth brands in the world, and FUEL, America?s first and only network of its kind dedicated to surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX, wakeboarding and motocross, have entered into agreements giving FUEL the television rights to the Vans Triple Crown Series library and second-window telecast rights for the VANS television series ?Off the Wall?, which will run initially on FUEL sister network FSN, it was announced today by Doug Palladini, Vans? Senior Director of Marketing and CJ Olivares, SVP and Assistant General Manager, FUEL. "Vans? renewed partnership with FSN, now paired with FUEL?s innovative network, gives us a powerful platform on which to share our all-new, progressive, action sports programming," said Doug Palladini, Vans' Senior Director of Marketing. "We have completely re-engineered the way Vans creates TV for our ?Off the Wall? hour; making it much more an accurate reflection of what is current in action sports. Along with historic Vans Triple Crown shows, FUEL viewers will be watching a full slate of Vans events this year." ?By partnering with Vans, we are bringing FUEL audiences a prestigious collection of existing and new events in all areas of action sports,? said Olivares. ?And by obtaining the Vans Triple Crown library, we are able to engage new and existing participants with a historic collection from the Vans Triple Crown Series franchise.? The deal makes FSN and now FUEL the television home of Vans? 2004 and 2005 event coverage. A minimum of 21 new episodes of ?Off the Wall? featuring Vans events will air over the course of the year. Coverage will include the 2004 and 2005 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, 2004 Vans Championships of BMX, 2004 Vans Championships of FMX, Vans Tahoe Cup, Vans Downtown Showdown, Pro-tec Pool Party, Vans BMX Open, 2004 Best of Skateboarding, 2004 Best of BMX and 2004 Best of Snowboarding. Additionally, the ?Rip Curl Search? with Rip Curl surfers combing the planet for the world?s best waves will be featured in five ?Off the Wall? episodes. New ?Off the Wall? episodes for 2005 began airing on FSN in early January at the new Thursday 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm time slot and will air on FUEL starting in February. In a separate deal, FUEL has licensed the Vans Triple Crown Series library consisting of 26 one-hour episodes featuring skateboarding, wakeboarding, surfing, snowboarding, freestyle motocross, supercross and BMX. These programs will air in a branded block later this year. Additional Note ? ?Orange Crush? at the Orange County Museum of Art FUEL and VANS are also teaming up to co-sponsor ?Orange Crush,? a series of Thursday night after-hours events at the Orange County Museum of Art from February 17 through May 12. Coinciding with the acclaimed Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture exhibit, ?Orange Crush? features live bands, film screenings and skate demos. ?Orange Crush? opens with special guests writer-director Stacy Peralta, producer Agi Orsi and editor Paul Crowder and a screening of their ground-breaking film ?Dogtown and Z-Boys.? Visit http://www.ocma.net for a calendar of events and more information. For more information on Vans visit http://www.vans.com. For local listings on FSN, visit http://www.foxsports.com. For more information on FUEL or to learn how to get FUEL, visit http://www.fuel.tv or call 1-877-4FUELTV. 9:51:56 PM

American Idiot Riding @ Number 1 Green Day at No. 1 via Yahoo News. 7:18:20 AM