February 2018

AT&T CEO says the first 5G devices will be 'pucks' (C|Net)

Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 11:24

Smart Cities: Early Signs of Progress, but Still a Long Way to Go (PCMag.com)

Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 11:23

Internet providers pitch municipal broadband partnerships to Loveland (CO) City Council (Digital First Media)

Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 11:23

Google Can't Save ISP Competition, We Need to Save Ourselves

[Commentary] For a year now, I've been hoping that 5G networks will inject competition into the home Internet service provider market, but those plans appear to be stalled. iI's possible to use mobile internet as your primary home internet, but so far, mobile service providers have been unwilling to offer the gigabyte buckets that American homes generally seek. With the large, for-profit companies seemingly uninterested in competing with cable, maybe the only way for Americans to get more ISP choice is to roll up their sleeves and do it themselves. The cable monopolies on fast internet may

San Francisco Asks Vendors for Citywide Broadband Proposals, Mandates Net Neutrality

San Francisco’s (CA) attempt to bring affordable, high-speed Internet service to every home and business in the city is set to take a major step forward Jan 31 as city officials begin choosing private-sector partners to build the network at the lowest possible cost.

The rural connection

[Commentary] Rural America now has an opportunity to work with, and add to, the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network, FirstNet. A recent study in Arizona showed a number of businesses would relocate to rural areas with sufficient workforces if the areas weren’t lacking broadband coverage. It has also been reported by Connect America, a group under the direction of the federal government, that areas that deploy broadband services are more likely to keep businesses already located in their area.

America's Digital Infrastructure Is Crumbling, Too

In Jan 30's State of the Union message, President Donald Trump called on Congress to allocate at least $1.5 trillion for "the infrastructure investment we need." Much of the conversation relates to people's most tangible perception of infrastructure: roads, rails and bridges. The media rightly give us increasingly frequent images of derailed train cars, collapsed trestles, cracked stanchions and crumbling bridges. But in the 21st century, infrastructure is more than concrete and metal. Equally important is the digital infrastructure that underlies America’s economy and governments.

Twitter, Craigslist Co-Founders Back Fact-Checking Startup Factmata (Bloomberg)

Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 10:56

The pharmaceutical industry is no stranger to fake news

Accusations of “fake news” are all the rage now, with people often throwing around the term when they read an article that tells them something they don’t want to hear. But an entire industry called “product defense,” created years ago by the tobacco industry, uses falsehoods and misdirection to protect companies from bad media and regulatory scrutiny. The pharmaceutical industry is no stranger to these tactics. Document archives have revealed how tobacco companies helped create and hone product .defense strategies.

Get to know the city of Detroit's propaganda arm

Early in Jan, in the days after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he'd be moving forward with a plan to require thousands of Detroit businesses to buy into a costly surveillance program intended to reduce crime, a sponsored post that looked favorably upon the program appeared at the top of our Facebook timeline. The linked content — "Inside the Real Time Crime Center, DPD's 24-hour monitoring station" — had all of the trappings of a news story. There was a headline, a byline, a mix of quotes and information.

Benton

Search