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For the past year, job preparation for science, technology, engineering and math careers has been at the top of the priority list in The Windy City.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his staff have forged a series of pilots and partnerships that bring STEM education front and center. In the last year, five STEM schools launched with help from partner companies and city colleges. A pilot of Web development courses will start in the fall, and a new partnership with the Navy will provide more STEM education opportunities for students.
STEM Tops Education Agenda in Chicago
Comcast Spotlight, the local sales arm of the cable giant, will no longer take ads for guns. And no, the policy change has nothing to do with the ongoing gun violence debate in Washington. In a statement, Comcast said it decided this month it would adopt the advertising guidelines used by NBCUniversal, which will not accept ads for weapons or fireworks. Other networks, including Fox and ESPN, have similar policies against taking ads for firearms.
Comcast Bans Gun Ads
Technological Advisory Council
Federal Communications Commission
Monday, March 11, 2013
12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-13-240A1.pdf
Until very recently, America’s battles have all been waged somewhere in physical space—on land, in the air, on water or in outer space. Many of these domains come along with inherent features that make life harder or easier in battle. Americans are quickly learning now about a fifth domain: cyberspace.
In some ways, this battlespace is the same as the others. It’s an arena where countries are competing with one another for political or economic advantage. But it’s also different in some fundamental ways. And how the world decides to use this space will go a long way toward determining how disruptive -- or destructive -- war in this domain will become. Michael Hayden, the former CIA director under President George W. Bush, believes the United States has a lead role to play in setting up man-made institutions to shape state behavior. Unlike air, sea or land, Hayden told an audience at George Washington University Tuesday, cyberspace “is almost defenseless. There are no natural barriers up here in this domain.” There are a few ways to solve this problem. One is to make some cyber activities prohibitively costly. A more significant step would be for Americans to decide how they want to be protected in cyberspace. It’s a more complicated problem than today’s debates over information-sharing and privacy currently capture.
One If By land, Two If By Sea, 10101101 If By Cyberspace
The Republican Party is engaged in serious soul-searching about why they were so badly outgunned by the Democrats on the technology front in the last election. In conversations with leading Republican digital strategists, there’s an acknowledgment that the path to closing the tech gap will be difficult. Republicans are a more hierarchical party and rely on many of the same consultants that have been around since the days of Ronald Reagan. These digital-first Republican operatives argue that Democrats could have the advantage for years to come unless significant changes are made to the way the party conducts its business.
But they did offer myriad suggestions on how to shake things up, and help the party in the process.
Here are the most notable suggestions:
- Give ideas room to breathe, and engage GOP techies.
- Come to terms with the hierarchical nature of the party.
- Pour resources into digital nuts and bolts.
- Develop and test like crazy in 2013.
- But remember, technology isn’t the silver bullet.
How Republicans are Looking to Close the Digital Divide Against Democrats Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence? (NYTimes)
On February 8, Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to share recommendations on sustainable rural broadband deployment under the FCC’s Universal Service Fund Transformation Order.
The recommendations include:
- Accelerate broadband deployment in rural areas by establishing a separate Connect America Fund for rural rate of Return Carriers and modifying the existing universal service support to increase broadband investment and adoption among consumers of rural rate of return carriers.
- Combine the unused incremental support under CAF Phase 1, Round 1 with the second round of 2013 CAC Phase 1 funds for support and distribution to rural price capped carriers.
- Adjust Regression Analysis-based caps to correct the structural and data integrity concerns of rural carriers and apply the caps incrementally. Provide RUS with confidential access to the regression model to assist USDA in managing its lending programs.
- Defer adoption of the Further Notice of proposed Rulemaking that proposed additional caps and cost constraints on rural carriers until the impact of the existing caps are fully implemented and integrated into rural carrier business plans.
- Modify and expand the waiver process to support the maintenance or extension of broadband service in rural areas and the repayment of debt incurred prior to the Order.
Sec Vilsack Met with FCC Chairman Genachowski on USF Reform, Broadband
More than two-thirds (69%) of small telephone companies have postponed or canceled plans to upgrade their landline communications networks because of uncertainty about Universal Service and inter-carrier compensation reform, according to data released by rural broadband association NTCA.
The lobbying organization estimates the total value of canceled projects at $492.7 million based on data collected last month via a survey sent to NTCA member companies. A total of 185 companies responded – or 34% of the 538 unique e-mail addresses in NTCA’s membership e-mail database. Of those who said they had canceled or postponed projects, 62% said they had postponed projects, 18% said they had canceled projects and 11% said they had postponed and canceled projects.
NTCA: Uncertainty Drove 69% of Rural Telcos to Cancel Projects
[Commentary] Lots of people aspire to being “cord-cutters.” There’s an undeniable populist yearning to want to stick it to The Man for the evil of forcing them to pay “too much” money for TV news and entertainment. But how many have really done it, instead of just wishing they have? Some data on this topic is questionable. For example, according to a Cowen & Co. survey of 1,200 consumers released this week, about 23% of Netflix subscribers claimed they have canceled pay TV service. Wow. Really? As of the end of 2012, Netflix had 27.1 million U.S. streaming subscribers. That would mean some 6.2 million consumers have canceled their pay-TV service since Netflix launched its Internet streaming service, if the Cowen & Co. survey squares with reality. Now, as of Q3 2012, Nielsen estimated there were 5.3 million households with broadcast-only TV and broadband, as well as around 3.75 million with neither over-the-air or pay TV but with television sets. So that gives you in the neighborhood of about 9 million potential non-pay-TV homes that could be Netflix streamers. Is it likely that more than two-thirds of those homes both (a) canceled pay TV service in the last few years and (b) are currently Netflix subscribers? It’s technically possible but seems implausible.
Cord-Cutting: Wishing Doesn't Make It So
[Commentary] There are lies, damned lies, and the arguments the cable industry makes about broadband caps. As more Internet service providers cap their broadband service, more questions are raised about the practice, which has put cable providers on the defensive. I’m not actually against the 95 percent profit margins or even caps if the market for broadband were competitive. Unfortunately, when more than three-quarters of American homes have the choice between only two providers it’s clear that competition for the basic broadband service is limited. And when you look at how competitive the services are based on speeds there are big differences. For example, AT&T U-Verse tops out at 24 Mbps on the download side while cable tops out at 50 Mbps or even 100 Mbps. But as someone who has documented legitimate questions about caps; their size, their spread, their rationale and their effect on innovation, I’m hoping that more and more consumers, lawmakers and regulators wake up to the fact that these caps aren’t necessary and that they pose a tax on innovation.
Say it with me now. Data caps are about profits, not recovering fixed costs
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report and Order that furthers the goal of improving our nation’s wireless infrastructure by expanding the reach of wireless coverage for consumers. These new rules governing signal boosters – which amplify signals between wireless devices and wireless networks – will substantially improve signal booster design by requiring manufacturers to include safeguards that protect wireless networks. As a result, all four nationwide carriers, as well as many rural and regional carriers, have consented to the use of boosters on their networks, as long as those boosters meet the technical specifications outlined in the Order.
The Order addresses two classes of signal boosters – consumer and industrial – with distinct regulatory requirements for each. Specifically, consumer signal boosters must meet stringent technical specifications (Network Protection Standard), and are authorized under provider licenses subject to provider consent, voluntarily provided in this case by most carriers. Consumers must register their signal booster with their provider prior to use. Labeling requirements ensure that consumers understand these terms of use. Consumer boosters can be used on most mainstream wireless bands: cellular, PCS, AWS-1, 700 MHz, and ESMR (after rebanding). The use of consumer boosters may not cause interference to wireless networks even if a device meets the Network Protection Standard. The Order also details rules for industrial signal boosters designed to cover large areas such as stadiums, airports, and tunnels. Industrial signal boosters will continue to fall under the existing authorization process, and must be installed and operated in coordination with licensees.
FCC Acts to Enhance Consumers' Ability to Fill Mobile Broadband Coverage Gaps