Here’s a good idea to bring high-speed Internet access to rural areas stuck back in those dark days of dial up: let them use the “white spaces” between TV channels.
Seems like a no-brainer. The Main Street Project estimates more than 20 million people in the U.S. still use dial-up Internet service, many of them in rural [...]
Archive for October, 2008
Can I borrow some of that white space?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Bill Gates, FCC, Google, white space on October 31, 2008 | Comments Off
10/29 Column: Bad economy takes toll on home projects
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged Borgstahl Plumbing, consumer confidence, Cowan's Painting, remodeling on October 29, 2008 | Comments Off
Folks are battening down the hatches in this economic storm, and the effects are being felt by the Corridor’s mom-and-pops.
Consumer confidence is, frankly, in the toilet — at an all-time low in October, the national Conference Board announced Tuesday.
Local business owners say homeowners are scaling back on home improvement plans, delaying projects or doing the [...]
Sorry, Monitor
Posted in Uncategorized on October 28, 2008 | Comments Off
I’m feeling pretty guilty about the Christian Science Monitor’s announcement they’ll go to an all Web edition next year, becoming the first nationally-circulating paperless daily newspaper.
They’ll keep a weekly print edition but most of the content will be online. “Eliminating the major production and distribution costs of a daily newspaper will allow the Monitor to ‘make progress [...]
Buffet to UI students: it’s going to be OK
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged University of Iowa, Warren Buffet on October 27, 2008 | Comments Off
A couple dozen local business students have returned from their trip to the oracle. The message? Everything is going to be OK.
The University of Iowa students met with Warren Buffet a week ago last Friday at his Omaha headquarters. He holds such meetings every once in a while with MBA students from all over the country.
The trip [...]
10/25 column: America Reads, but not enough
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged America Reads, Pierce Elementary on October 27, 2008 | Comments Off
The comics, by far, but the movie listings, too. And stories about car crashes. And sports.
One boy in Mrs. Kucera’s fourth-grade class said Friday he is following the election, but most, of course, don’t read much of the newspaper. If the show of hands was accurate, a lot of their parents don’t either.
I visited with [...]
10/22 column: News items make for a good scare
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged economy, Halloween, Sally Mason on October 22, 2008 | Comments Off
One of the best things about living in Iowa City is that the town really gets behind my favorite holiday — Halloween.
The celebration isn’t limited here to the occasional creepy lawn scenario or grown-ups doling out candy to trick-or-treaters. People dress in costume at banks, stores, doctor’s offices and even the courthouse.
You also can watch [...]
10/18 Column: Serious fun surrounds early voting
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged 2008 election, Jules Bakery on October 18, 2008 | Comments Off
Things are starting to heat up around here in the electoral home stretch.
Johnson County voters are already casting ballots like it’s going out of style. By Thursday’s end, more than 20 percent of the county’s registered voters had requested absentee ballots or voted early.
Auditor Tom Slockett has set up satellite locations at dorms, grocery stores, [...]
Dear Sir, I am writing to you with a most urgent request…
Posted in Uncategorized on October 17, 2008 | 2 Comments »
This funny spoof in my inbox from the SubGenious Foundation:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear American,
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship
with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country
has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of
800 billion [...]
Born too soon, too late?
Posted in Uncategorized on October 16, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Here’s a funny online photo tool . Upload a photo and you can create decades of mock yearbook pics.
Here are some of my favorites, although I won’t lie – the ’90s ones were still kind of painful for me.
Happy Hand Washing Day
Posted in Uncategorized on October 15, 2008 | 1 Comment »
You know you’re supposed to, but According to the American Society of Microbiology, one out of four women and nearly one in three men don’t wash their hands after using the restroom. Eeew.
I just got a news release from Johnson County Public Health announcing that today’s been proclaimed Global Hand Washing Day. Washing your hands is one of the [...]
