-
Tech Policy is the new Economic Policy.
So, has anyone else been watching Wall Street do the 2000 style dot-com dance while the TechCrunch-watching, TechMeme-obsessed crowd throws parties like it’s 1999? I feel for the guys at Lehman and AIG, some of them my age, now out on the street. In fact, I feel even more sorry for them than I did…
-
Stop hating on Comcast. Really.
I’ll admit it. I’ve been guilty of being mean to the cable company. Which is surprising since I’ve spent most of my life around Cable, as the son of two former FCC attorneys and one who spent a good part of his career representing cable before the FCC. Bite the hand that feeds me? Nah.…
-
Issues don't go away when Congress goes home…
…is something a certain site editor said to me as I complained about lack of substantiative things to write about. This complaining also took place during a break in one of my classes on property. Today we’re talking about the right to exclude someone from using your property, which in some cases is absolute, and…
-
Witnesses, Gatekeepers and History
In an issue Washington Internet Daily last month there is (as one co-worker put it) “double-barreled” coverage of the Senate and House Judiciary hearings on the Google-Yahoo partnership (aka GooHoo, a term I will no longer be using). I covered the Senate hearing in the morning, coincidentally ending across the table from Kara Swisher, which…
-
When is a Vote not a Vote?
I love campaign season. I especially love campaign commercials that talk about voting records, and outrage generated over votes that wouldn’t change the outcome of a bill, amendment, motion, or resolution (all different kinds of votes). Why do I mean? Some bodies are simple. The FCC has five members. One member has a tremendous amount…
-
The Hidden Human Cost of Government Going Green
In the necessary push toward a greener nation, we are leaving some of our most valuable citizens behind. While I am all for “œgoing green” and the overall “œgreen technology” movement, I can’t help but notice that the way the government has chosen to go about doing it is disenfranchising huge segments of the population.…
-
You Don't have to be an Environmentalist to Have Green Habits
You don’t have to believe to be green Here’s some interesting facts you won’t read in your local newspaper: the world has stopped warming. Data from all four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA’s GISS, UAH, RSS) released in February this year show that the world cooled between 0.65-0.75C in 2007. The trend isn’t…
-
Telecommuting, anyone?
April may be the cruelest month, but not for news in Washington. That distinction is reserved for August. Congress recessed today (I’m writing this August 1) for a 5 week vacation. Bo-ring. No news, right? Well, maybe. A group of 50 House Republicans took the floor after the House recessed and continued debate. But it…
-
Why the "Techo Chamber"?
Q: How many candidates for political office do you see promising to “____________ to the Washington insiders and ___________”? A: Lots. People like reformers. They make voters feel good. Things will be different. Etc. Q: How many people complain about the same “talking heads” day after day, week after week, pontificating on the same shows,…
-
Do we really have to go through this again?
I was born in 1982. I remember my parents buying a VCR. That one broke, and we got another one. It was a Betamax. Anyone remember those? Sony had this great format for Video Cassettes, but they only manufactured it themselves. Someone else had a larger, lower quality format, but they licensed it to anyone…