Today’s Top Story? *definitely* Net Neutrality… with other goodies included:
Net Neutrality Rules Are Imminent From the F.C.C. – NYTimes.com – New York Times has a dimmer view of today’s FCC act:
“But a wide swath of public interest groups have lambasted the proposal as “fake net neutrality” and said it was rife with loopholes. One group, Public Knowledge, said that instead of providing clear protections, the F.C.C. “created a vague and shifting landscape open to interpretation. Consumers deserved better.”
“Notably, the rules are watered down for wireless Net providers like AT&T and Verizon, which would be prohibited from blocking Web sites, but not from blocking applications or services unless those applications directly compete with providers’ voice and video products, like Skype.”
FCC Gets Votes to Pass Net-Neutrality Rules – WSJ.com – WSJ’s down-the-middle take: “Phone and cable companies have offered some praise, as have some venture capitalists, including John Doerr, who called it “pragmatic balance of innovation, economic growth and crucial investment in the Internet.”
“For the most part, phone and cable companies have said they didn’t want new rules on Internet lines. But they have mostly backed AT&T Inc.’s push to compromise with Mr. Genachowski.
“Liberal activists and some consumer advocates have sharply criticized the proposal, saying it allows too much leeway to big broadband providers and falls well short of promises made by President Barack Obama, including limits on how the rules apply to mobile broadband networks.”
Four takes on why net neutrality matters – Useful review: “In Internet time, things change fast. Google is moving into television. WikiLeaks is changing the paradigm of international relations. Newspapers, movies, radio and TV are all available on handheld devices. And the FCC is poised to act on far-reaching rules of the road for the Internet. Four new books offer different maps of this territory from different angles, none capturing completely the thin line we tread between information utopia and a preprogrammed cultural dystopia.”
Al Franken: The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time – Important post from Sen. Franken:
“Imagine if Comcast customers couldn’t watch Netflix, but were limited only to Comcast’s Video On Demand service. Imagine if a cable news network could get its website to load faster on your computer than your favorite local political blog. Imagine if big corporations with their own agenda could decide who wins or loses online. The Internet as we know it would cease to exist.
“That’s why net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time. And that’s why, this Tuesday, when the FCC meets to discuss this badly flawed proposal, I’ll be watching. If they approve it as is, I’ll be outraged. And you should be, too.”
Net neutrality plan has the votes at FCC – Computerworld – IDG News Service – Michael Copps, the swing vote at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for a set of network neutrality rules, said Monday he will vote for the proposal.
E-Mail Use Falls as Young Chat and Text – NYTimes.com – Nice color piece on how Facebook’s email service is different. Doesn’t really work for business but fine for personal messages, in my humble…
Augmented Reality on Your Phone – NYTimes.com – “According to a new report released by Forrester research on Monday, the technology behind augmented reality apps has improved enough so that these apps may well become an integral part of using a mobile phone, augmenting real life with broad strokes of information and commentary.”
Law and the Multiverse Blog Mixes Lawyers and Superheroes – NYTimes.com – “You might not have thought to ask these questions. You might have, in other words, a life. But a new blog and the interest it is generating shows that there are people who look at an epic battle between superheroes and supervillains and really, really want to know who should be found liable for the broken buildings and shattered streets.
“Those people now have a blog called Law and the Multiverse: Superheroes, supervillains, and the law. Kicked off on Nov. 30, it addresses questions like: “What if someone is convicted for murder, and then the victim comes back to life?” And whether mutants are a legally recognizable class entitled to constitutional protection from discrimination. “
Let It Dough! – NYTimes.com – Very funny.
Targeted TV Ads Set for Takeoff – WSJ.com – “After years of promises and false starts, TV commercials targeted at individual homes may finally be ready for prime time.
“DirecTV Group Inc. is planning the biggest rollout yet of “addressable ads,” allowing advertisers to reach close to 10 million homes with commercials tailored to each household. Dog owners, for instance, could see ads for dog food, not kitty litter, while families with children could be shown minivan spots.
“The satellite-TV service provider has struck a partnership with Starcom MediaVest, a unit of Publicis Groupe SA that buys ad time on behalf of heavyweight marketers such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Coca-Cola Co. Starcom has committed to spend $10 million to $20 million on the new service next year.”
Skinnygirl Bethenny Frankel, of ‘Bethenny Ever After,’ Finds Having a Baby Is Good for Her Brands – WSJ.com – Fascinating in a train-wreck sorta way.
Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil – “Presentations largely stand or fall on the quality, relevance, and integrity of the content. If your numbers are boring, then you’ve got the wrong numbers. If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won’t make them relevant. Audience boredom is usually a content failure, not a decoration failure.
“At a minimum, a presentation format should do no harm. Yet the PowerPoint style routinely disrupts, dominates, and trivializes content. Thus PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a school play -very loud, very slow, and very simple.
“The practical conclusions are clear. PowerPoint is a competent slide manager and projector. But rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a substitute for it. Such misuse ignores the most important rule of speaking: Respect your audience.”
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